There’s certain rides at Disneyworld where, if you don’t go on it while you’re there, you just don’t feel like you’ve actually visited (although your next month’s Amex bill will probably provide confirmation that you did.) It’s different rides for different folks. In my case, it’s always been the Peter Pan ride, one of the very first rides I ever went on back when I was on a high school trip to the Magic Kingdom.
As it so happens, it was also Carol Kalish’s favorite ride. Carol, Marvel’s former direct sales head and a good friend who died far too soon, loved the Peter Pan ride (although it was marred for her during one outing when she went on with a comic book retailer and he spent the whole ride talking about Marvel’s rack credit program).
So I was very interested in how her namesake, Caroline, would react on her first excursion on that same ride.
As we stood in line, I pointed at the passing pirate ships and told Caroline we were going to fly. “Fly?” she said uncertainly. “Fly in ships?” She wasn’t sanguine about it at all. When we clambered into the vessel (Kath and Ariel were in the one in front of us) Caroline clutched tightly and nervously to the lap bar that settled on us. Her eyes went wide as we moved forward, up, and then appeared to be hurtling into thin air (naturally she didn’t look up to see that we were being carried on an overhead track.)
“See, Caroline? We’re flying,” I told her, and pointed at the “night sky” over London. “See? There’s the stars. And there’s the city, way down there!”
“Stars,” she whispered in astonishment. And then, as we went higher, she suddenly pointed and gasped in delirious joy, “It’s the moon!”
Sure enough, just to our left was a large full moon. The silhouettes of Peter, Wendy et al were moving across it as it turned. I had my arm wrapped around Caroline just to make sure nothing happened. And she stretched out her little fingers, desperate to touch it, not quite succeeding. Completely enthralled in Disney magic, she cried out, “Oh, Da! It’s the moon!”
She watched the rest of Neverland with proper amazement. And although there were any number of rides and character greetings she enjoyed, that was the one moment in the park where she was totally swept away by pure fantasy-made-real. For a few seconds, one little girl sailed through the stars in a pirate ship and came justthatclose to touching the moon.
If Carol was watching through her eyes, I think she liked what she saw.
PAD
• 
Wow.
Awesome. Truly awesome.
Let’s see. It was twenty years ago, and my mind had wiped out most of it, but I remember forcing my family back on to the Epcot ball twice.
My dad was a huge Firesign theatre fan, so he liked it alot too.
“Now entering…Wall Of Science.”
Disneyworld’s great, can’t wait to take my kids.
Matt
That’s awesome, Peter.
According to my folks, I spent most of our first trip to Disneyland with my hands covering my eyes. Mickey? Hands over eyes. Matterhorn? Hands over eyes. Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride? Hands over eyes, except for one part where I removed them and was promptly warped for life by a giant cutout of some character that was three times as big as I was.
I do remember, however, the one place that didn’t scare the crap out of me: Tom Sawyer’s Island. I spent what felt like hours but was probably more like 30 minutes wandering around, exploring the tunnels, just having a little ball. My parents, of course, were freaking out because I’d given them the slip, but what did I care? I was Tom friggin’ Sawyer.
I was much more sanguine (good word; I simply must steal it more often) during our trip to Disney World when I was ten or so. My favorite ride there was Pirates of the Carribbean. Looking back, I’m not sure why, but we went on it three or four times over the course of two days. I also didn’t freak out when I met Mickey this time, although I do remember wanting to kick Chip and Dale in the nuts. Ah, childhood.
very cool little story Pete.
My wife an I have friends with a just under 1 year old, another who are due any day (they’ve just been sent home after a failed inducement attempt) and between them and, now, your stories, my “want to be a Dad” genes are really kicking in!
and as a side note – I was last at Disney so long ago they had signs up that said “In October we will begin construction of our Epcot Center”
Peter: Were you able to see the Discovery Shuttle launch from your vantage point?
And this is exactly why I love Disneyworld so much. Can’t wait to be able to take my kids some day.
Yup. The Peter Pan ride is pure magic, always has been and always will be. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that I had a major crush on both Tinkerbell and Wendy growing up ^_^
My little girl is now 16 months old, so we’re going to have to wait a bit to see it again through her eyes.
And the thing is, unlike most men, you know just how lucky you are.
You have experienced the One Perfect Moment.
…and I cry with envy.
Bless you.
Lovely, touching story. You may wish to change “See, Ariel?” to “See, Caroline?” unless I’m reading incorrectly…
If that story gets around we can expect a sudden jump in brith rates in about 9 or 10 months. Perfectly, perfectly sweet.
Thanks, yet once again, PAD for allowing us access to that moment in your life. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, THAT’S why I keep coming back to this site.
I personally must not have had a great childhood because I can only remember being scared at DisneyWorld.The Haunted House scared me, the Peter Pan ride scared me….the only two rides I wasn’t scared on was the Pirates Of The Carribean (which may have something to do with why I love pirates so much now) and the 20,000 Leauges ride. Something about going underwater gave me no problems at all, even when my brother tried to convince me at age 7 that we were going to be trapped down there. Didn’t bother me at all.
Michael
Thats great peter. I felt exactly the same way about the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in Disney Land. Soon I will take my daughter there.
Peter Pan is, bar none, the most romantic ride at Disney.
(The Dinosaur Ride at Animal Kingdom, though… made the stupid mistake of taking the kids before previewing it myself. Aly tucked her head into my shoulder for most of it, managing to come up for air only once, when the giant T-Rex head swoops down and ROARS at the car… my daughter matched the scream and up the ante by several hundred decibles… couldn’t hear out of that ear for days).
A couple hundred of my fellow employees went out to the parking lot to watch the shuttle launch. Tacturn bunch… when it went off without hitch, there were no screams of joy, just a giant hissing “YESSSS”.
Oh, forgot to mention… Pirates is in the design phase of a major upgrade, including free ranging scenes of Jack Sparrow, the Black Pearl replacing the current ship, and various movie related scenes. The designers are having a ball!
Sniff.
S’cuse me, there’s something in my eye. 🙂
The last time I was at Disneyworld, the monorail was the newest ride there.
Thanks for sharing, Peter.
Marvelous. Just marvelous.
I haven’t been a big Disneyland fan myself (living in LA for ten years will do that to most people, I’m told), but I’ve also never really seen it through a child’s eyes, since the first time I went I was something like 23.
Katherine’s almost 1 now — methinks we may have to do a Disneyland or Disney World trip at some point.
Very nice story.
TWL
It never ceases to amaze me how well PAD writes. A simple little throwaway story that is probably experienced by thousands of less articulate parents (or who experience it and it doesn’t register with them) can now be shared by all of us. Really nice. Thanks
My parents met while they were younger and both living in Orlando. My Dad and my Mom’s father (Grandpa) were both carpenters on MainStreet USA and the Haunted Mansion. My Mom and her mother (Mema) both worked at the emporium when it opened.
My family is full of Disney stories but I always enjoy hearing others tell theirs. It gives me a surge of pride to know that my family had a little something to do with that wonderful place.
btw Peter Pan was my favorite ride as a child but now there is no way I can leave the park without visiting the small world (and it doesn’t count if you don’t sing the song while riding).
I’m about the make a totally disjointed statement:
I recently saw Kill Bill (v. 1 and 2). During v. 2, there’s a couple points where Bill is telling the Bride a couple stories. Fairly simple, nothing overly special. But the way he tells them really struck what a rare talent true storytellers have, how with just a few simple words, phrases, and images, they can totally transport you away from wherever it is that you currently are, and into the world the storyteller has created. Lee makes a similar comment about PAD’s talent, and I couldn’t agree more. I think it’s a big part of the reason why many of us, his fans, lurk around here and post.
My wife has told me several times now that we have to take our kids to Disney as soon as we can…and, seeing as how we’re a single income household, all I can think about is how are we going to afford that, it’s crowded, the rides aren’t all that great anyway…all from my own perspective. The only memories I have of going there were as a 19 year old, and while it was fun, by that age, I enjoyed amusement parks more dedicated to rollar coasters than Epcot and It’s a Small World.
PAD’s reminded me that it’s not about me…it’s about the kids, and the wonder and magic they experience when they see something like that for the first time.
It’s amazing how the simplest rides work the best. How a solid story and surroundings, and characters you like, can do so much more than all the CGI and hype in the world.
I just wish that the Disney execs, from Iger on down, would read Mr. David’s story with an eye towards applying it to their movies and TV shows.
(Forgive my lack of eloquence, but I just had to say -)
Wow. That is so cool.
Little kids are magic in the Magic Kingdom. One of the best rides of my life was Pirates of the Caribbean when I took my (then) 3 and 5 year olds. I must have gone on that ride fifteen times with them while we were at Disneyland.
Robbnn: My boys absolutely LOVED the Dinosaur ride. I, personally, found it to be pale in comparison to Indiana Jones at Disneyland, but they loved it (and that’s all that really mattered). The theme park that no one wanted to leave, on the other hand, was actually Universal’s Islands of Adventure. I don’t think I’ve ever had as much fun at a theme park in my life as I did at IOA. And, funnily enough, the same thing went for every single member of my family (and there was something like 20 of us there that day).
Those are the moments that great memories are made of. Its great that you were able to spare such a special moment with your daughter.
Richard
Ðámņ, Peter. My fiancee talks about getting cases of the “mommies,” but I think you just gave me a case of the “daddies.” I’m actually looking forward to having kids to take to Disney. Last time I was there, Epcot was still under construction and I was too young to remember a whole lot anyway.
-Rex Hondo-
My mother and I love the Small World Ride and when we reach the area which covers Guatemala (where she was born), we realize how she’s come since arriving in the U.S. back in 1964.
A very touching ride and neither of us have got a dry eye after hearing that particular song.
Sorry.
That should read “how far she’s come”. 🙂
Beautiful Story. I think Disneyland has that effect on most people of any age. When my wife and I went on our honeymoon in Disneyland Paris in 2003, we went on the Aerosmith Rock ‘N’ Rollercoaster. It was my first rollercoaster ride, and my wife was afraid that I’d get scared, sick or somthing. I was looking around at the lights and things with wonderment as I was doing the classic having fun on a ride scream. I had so much fun on it that I went back on it two other times afterwards during our trip there.
JHL
You really get it, Peter. And so will Caroline. Unfortunately too many parents don’t seem to. Walking around the mall last night with Brian being, well, goofy, and just having a good time and I saw lots of parents dragging their kids around scowls etched so deep on their faces that you’d swear that that’s how their skulls were formed.
Just remember, magic is everywhere, and fantasy is just reality that’s too shy to show itself very often. Ya gotta look.
Listening to NPR this morning, it occurred to me that your essay about the Peter Pan ride would make a great on-air essay for “Morning Edition” or “All Things Considered.” Other listeners contribute personal essays, and yours has that moving, heartfelt quality that makes many of those so memorable. You’d have to rework some areas of your piece to explain the Carol references to non-comic book readers, but otherwise this would be a great broadcast essay. You should consider submitting it.
PAD: I second Tom’s Suggestion!!
I had a similar exoerience with my goddaughter on the ET ride at Universal studios.
At the begining of the ride, as you’re getting into the ride car, they ask you your name and at the end of the ride ET says goodbye to you by name.
For the rest of the day, little Tasha was saying, “He knew my name! He knew my name! He knew my name!”
“You’d have to rework some areas of your piece to explain the Carol references to non-comic book readers, but otherwise this would be a great broadcast essay. You should consider submitting it.”
To whom would I submit it? Do I need to record it or do they do it or what?
PAD
http://www.npr.org/about/pitch/commentary.html
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I agree with the others–this would be fantastic.
Just something to Lee from above, meant to put it in the earlier post but as ALWAYS I get down here and get so caught up in what everyone else is saying that I forget what I really wanted to say in the first place. Anyways, that’s one of the whole points of the story. What some people would consider of little moment or not even take notice of has been beautifully portrayed in a moving, meaningful piece. I don’t think that it’s a throwaway story at all. But that’s just me.
Just back from Disney World in Florida and — thanks to this article — for the first time ever, I sought out the Peter Pan ride and took my 4-year-old daughter on it. It had the same effect on her that it had on your daughter, so much so that we went on it 6 times over 9 days. Thanks for the advice; it made my trip special — or in Disney terms, Magical.