Tuesday, September 8, 2015

My First Mickey Bar

My first Mickey bar!

My parents first took me to Walt Disney World in 1990, when I was two and a half years old. In doing so, they passed their love of all things Disney to me and gave me the first of what I hope to be a lifetime of Walt Disney World Memories. Having been only two my first Disney memories are a bit fuzzy, but a few very distinct ones come to mind, including my very first Mickey bar. It was purchased at Dinosaur Gertie’s at what was then MGM and enjoyed from my stroller, and as soon as I bit into one of the crisp, chocolate-y ears, I was hooked. Is there anything like the joy of the first bite of the ear of a Mickey-shaped food? The smile on my face in this photo suggests not. I remember the ice cream melting down my hands when I didn’t get to it fast enough-who knows how many wipes it took to clean it all off!  Still, the classic combination of cool vanilla ice cream and chocolate shell on a warm day in a Disney Park is about as good as it gets, as I learned on the trip when this photo was taken. The Mickey bar and I have both changed in the last 24 years, of course. I’ve gotten married, moved out of my parents’ home, and can now (usually) eat an ice cream bar without getting it all over my face. The iconic Mickey bar has replaced the chocolate ice cream face and is now totally covered in delicate, delicious chocolate. The excitement of that first bite, however, has remained as I’ve gotten older and the Mickey bar has evolved. For me, that is representative of Disney World as a whole-the parks change, those who visit grow, but the excitement and magic of a visit to Walt Disney World never goes away. In the nearly quarter of a century since this photo was taken my family has grown, but I know that every time I go back, the first bite of a Mickey bar will be just as special as it was for me when I was two. 

My husband's first Mickey bar!