On my most recent trip to Walt Disney World from Nov 6-11th I travelled with my family and my in-laws in a group of 10. There were several fun moments on that trip but I had 1 hour in which I probably enjoyed the most.
On Sunday the 9th we went to spend the night at Hollywood Studios to check out the The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. This is the one thing I was looking forward to the most on this trip. I am a huge Christmas fan and I just love looking at the lights. My wife and I often drive around in December looking at peoples displays enjoying a tasty Holiday Drink from Starbucks. I always had a fascination with Christmas lights and I would cry when the Christmas Tree would come down on January 1st as a kid. So when I see the Osborne lights the kid in me really comes out and I immediately feel like a child and no longer an adult.
Being with a group of 10 everyone really just wanted to see the lights quickly and move on. So this was hard to me to just quickly walk through and try to soak in the lights and music in a rapid pace. Really to the point we were also going to Fantasmic at 8pm this night so we didn’t have much time to see the lights.
My wife decided to take our daughter back to the room because she was tired. So I took my son and went with the rest of the group to Fantasmic. We got to our seats at 7:52 so we cut it pretty close but had good seats in the third section from the end on the left. I didn’t think my son was really going to enjoy the show. At 4 years old he does not like anything scary or too dark and even the loudness would startle him. Well about halfway through he wanted to leave. So I grabbed him and started to walk out. But I noticed he kept watching the show as I was walking along the back. I told him if he did not like it to stop watching but he couldn’t keep his eyes off the stage. I decided to stay as far back in the amphitheater as I could while holding him and explain how this is all pretend and that Mickey will save the day. I told him how Mickey would beat up the evil dragon but my son said he wanted to see Mickey eat the dragon. In the end my son ended up really enjoying the show. He loved how Mickey won the day using fireworks from his sword.
As the crowds started to pile out we grabbed the stroller and began to leave. Well we got to the end of Hollywood Boulevard and I asked my son if he wanted to get a picture with me and he said yes. I picked him up out of the stroller and we got our picture with the Sorceror’s Hat in the back. (Which will be the last time I get my picture there). After that my son wanted to do more pics and see some more Christmas Lights. So I asked him if he wanted to go back to see the Osborne lights and he said yes.
We spent the last 15 minutes before the lights went off enjoying the music and atmosphere. My son enjoyed spotting all the hidden gems like a Plush Mickey in a fire truck or the basketball hoop with lights on it. But more importantly I had those little moments as a parent you don’t often get. I had alone time with my son. He loved the time with me and I loved the time with him. I loved the look on his face seeing the small things in the Osborne Display. It’s not all about dancing lights and music. It’s about that 1 moment that was 15 minutes that I got uninterrupted with my son. I got to see the joy in his eyes as we were discovering things together.
It’s not often you have little moments of perfection on a daily basis. But they really seem to come out more when we are in Disney. Walt Disney World is a place where magic happens. Sometimes a Cast member goes out of there way for you and sometimes you make your own magic. But sometimes it’s just the 1 moment where you get to enjoy the presence of someone else that makes a lasting memory and that proves magic comes what’s inside all of us. LOVE.
Sean
The Enchanted Tiki Talk Blog 