Disney

It's time I came clean about Burk family Disney activities.  You could call it an obsession.  I prefer to think of it as....a minor eccentricity?  First, some statistics.

Number of Burk family stays at a Disney resort - 58.

Number of days involved in the 58 stays - 259.

Number of days at least one Burk family member has visited a Disney theme park - 66.

Number of times I have been on Space Mountain - 0.  (Okay, that one's not so impressive.  So I'm a roller coaster wimp.  But my kids love them.)

You get the idea.  We like Disney.  The roots of this love affair come from several sources. There was the old Mickey Mouse Club when Nancy and I were kids, as well as the Walt Disney show on Sunday nights.  There was the long line of Disney animated films that crept into our lives and then those of our kids, first in theaters and later in videos, Laserdisks, DVDs and now Blu-ray (most of which are still within a few feet of where this post is unfolding).  With cable TV came the Disney channel.  And there was the family of stuffed animals that somehow made its way into our girls' rooms over the years, as well as a few other spots in our house.

Now, I realize Disney isn't for everyone.  You have to have a high tolerance for your fellow man, especially the little people.  It can be crowded.  It can be expensive.  People who have less consideration for others than you do (read - no consideration at all) are all over the place.  And there is a lot of walking involved.  But, it is also unique and very well managed.  The detail and quality with which attractions and rides are designed and presented is always impressive.  The performers at the many live shows are top-drawer.  And the variety of things to do seems endless.  So if you do a little planning, can outflank the crowds (and a fleet of strollers), and have any interest at all in people watching, it can be a great experience.  Anyway, that has been our family approach for years now, and it never seems to get old for us. 

But back to Memory Lane.  Our first visit to Walt Disney World, or WDW as it is commonly known, was in April of 1991.  We were neophytes.  We knew nothing.  We stopped by for a couple of days during a two-week Easter trip to Florida.  We stayed "off-World" as the Disney folks call it, which required us to drive a few miles to WDW and wait in line to pay for parking.  On the first day we even stopped at a sit-down restaurant for breakfast.  So we didn't actually arrive at our first theme park until a little before noon.  That's just nuts. 

But we had fun, exploring MGM Studios (now known as Hollywood Studios) and then the Magic Kingdom for the better part of two days.  It was sort of an introductory tour, learning where things were, when lines were long or short (they're mostly long, but with a little cunning you can outwit most of the other 40,000 people visiting the park on any given day), and what attractions lived up to their pre-visit hype and which really didn't.  We did go late into the night both days and went away somewhat awestruck and much more respectful of the challenge that is getting your money's worth out of a theme park.  This picture is the first one ever taken of the Burk family at WDW, specifically in the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" playscape at MGM.  I think the family is sitting on a giant ant.

 

This next shot was taken just after boarding the WDW Railroad which circumnavigates the Magic Kingdom.  Christy is still a little distraught over discovering the "jam-up" geek, a theoretical person whom she blamed for causing the traffic delays at the motor entrance to the park (remember, we were staying off-world). 

 

Here we have a shot of the girls part-way through the day, hanging in the vicinity of Cinderella's castle.  Christy remains deep in thought about ways to avoid jam-up geek problems in the future.

 

This is one of my all-time favorite shots of the girls, lost in the ecstasy of the Teacups in Fantasyland.

 

 

And a final shot of the girls (big and small) at the end of our first trip, barely hanging on waiting for the electric light parade to end the evening.  As you can see, Cathy is snuggled up in Dad's jacket (while Dad is out of the frame doing jumping jacks to keep warm).  

 

 

This is a shot of the kids, recovering in the van (our first) the following day as we head on to our next adventure.  This scene was to be repeated countless times as the family vanned over a fair amount of the country through the mid-late 90s.

 

   

This first WDW visit was certainly memorable, but the "big bang" of our relationship with Disney occurred with our second visit in 1994.  Wow.  We had reworked and analyzed all the mistakes we had made the first time around, and came with a plan.  We spent five nights at the Polynesian Resort on the Seven Seas Lagoon and four solid days attacking the then three major theme parks, from opening at 8:00 each morning until midnight each evening, determined to see every attraction at least once.  Of course, we didn't quite make it to everything, but that visit still holds the record after all these years for the most activity during a Burk family WDW vacation.  Here are some highlights.

This first shot caught a few of us on the carousel.  Notice the tight grip Ted has, no doubt fearing that at any moment his noble steed may saunter off the platform and over the country side, a la Mary Poppins.

 

On a more regal note, here are the Burk princesses sitting on their matching thrones in the grand lobby of the Polynesian (with big brother in the background straightening his Dino Ciccarelli jersey after a hard day at the parks).

 

The most popular ride at WDW at that time (according to local lore) was Dumbo.  I came to believe it as whenever we cruised by Dumbo on our way from Tomorrowland to Fantasyland the lines were enormous.  Finally we decided to bite the bullet and tough out the wait to see what all the fuss was about.  Here is a shot of a few of us finally soaring on an elephant.  As you can see, Cathy and I were thrilled.  As for Ted, well, once you've ridden one elephant......

 

On the other side of the Magic Kingdom, in Frontierland, is Splash Mountain.  This water ride winds through the Brer Patch and ends with a 50 foot 45 degree slide into a pool - ergo the splash.  Many come off this ride a bit damp.  Some, soaked.  Like the three proud Burk kids below.

 

Another of our favorites is the Grand Prix cars.  Here are a shot of Ted (a precurser to his later days navigating a Jeep Wrangler through the streets of Dallas) and the girls, walking down the exit ramp looking for another turn to duel their way around the course.

 

And finally, there are the character meals, always crowd pleasers.  Here are a few shots from a breakfast with Chip and Goofy.  The first is me with the kids waiting for our seating (Ted was especially excited).  The second is of the girls with Chip (although I think his nose is really supposed to be black?)

 



Of course, the highlight of the trip was Goofy posing with, well....Goofy.



 

And a closing shot of Christy giving up that old Alfred E. Neuman "What - me worry?" look, after Goofy (the one with the hat) muckled in her milk, crushed her cereal box and dropped it into her bowl.

 



So this ends our first look into the Burk Disney history.  As noted by the statistics above, there have been a lot of great Disney times over the years that I will try to cover in future posts - family reunions, trips with my parents to the Vero Beach and Hilton Head Disney resorts, a cruise, spring break trips with close friends and/or a gaggle of college kids in tow, and more. 

 

Actually, next week Nancy and I are flying to Florida and heading over to Disney's Vero Beach resort for a few days with my parents.  That will be our 59th visit to a Disney property :-)

But for now, M-I-C - see you real soon, K-E-Y - why, because we (I) like you!  M-O-U-S-E.