Finding Disney (part deux ) and the little girl who believes

Following on from yesterday’s post, this is part deux of my trip to Disneyland Paris…

On the first night, we went to watch Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show(featuring Mickey and Friends). It was a dinner show, meaning that we got to wear cowboy hats, watch the show and eat cornbread, chili, Texan skillet, corn on the cob, potato wedges and warm apple pie with ice cream (yum). The food was good and even Littlest (who is a very fussy eater) ate and giggled her way through it all. As we ate, we watched a herd of wild buffalo, cowboys, Native American Indians, Buffalo Bill and Sitting Bull all showing us just how the West was won.

Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show was truly a family experience. We were all given cowboy hats with a coloured band, as we entered the show. We were then guided to sit in coloured sections (to match the colour of our hats’ bands) and audience participation (swinging of the cowboy hats in the air and the odd ‘yee-ha’) was irresistible. We were in the (great) green corner (not yucky yellow, rubbish red or boring blue) and our clown/jester cowboy was really fabulous. He had us all cheering on our cowboy, banging the tables with spoons and shouting out ‘yee-ha’. Greens won the tournament - hooray - and a rooting-tooting fun time was had by all.

Oh, and (I feel the need to add) the cowboys were mighty fine, especially Goofy. Unfortunately since you get to keep your hats after the show, G is now convinced that he’s a cowboy. (sigh)

On the second night, we had a reservation at Café Mickey in the Disney Village. This meant that as we ate some Disney characters came to our table, signed autographs and posed for photographs. The kiddies were thrilled, even Eldest had his photo taken with Tigger and Mickey. The food and service were both excellent. The restaurant was super child-friendly, with the staff eager to please and happy to burst into moments of dancing on tables and chairs. You couldn’t help but clap along. We had a fabulously fun-filled meal and the kiddies came away with their autograph books jam packed.

But, and this is the but that has really made me think.

In Disney, for every fabulous goodie I guess there is an evil baddie. And if you believe, then you believe in all that Disney tells you. Littlest loved having her photograph taken with all of her favourite princesses and on each and every photograph she is sparkling. So when Captain Hook walked into Café Mickey, she quickly jumped to the floor, cried real tears, hid under the table and refused to come out until he had gone.

Because, in Littlest’s world, Captain Hook is a baddie and not someone she wanted to be near. No amount of coaxing (by me or the lovely staff) could get her out or convince her that Captain Hook was nice or good. Because Littlest believes in Disney’s world with all of her heart and her super logical mind.

And that’s the thing that I am taking away from this whole experience. As writers we tell stories, we create characters and want our readers to invest emotionally, to connect with and to have reaction to them. Good writing will maintain strong characters and leave the reader with formed opinions and reaction. That’s the magic of writing.

I love that Littlest believes so much in the Disney characters and (regardless of how you feel about Disney), strong characterisation is surely something that each and every writer should strive to achieve.

And, forgive my sounding like a travel agent, but I feel the need to point out that Disney currently offer kiddies under 7 to stay and play for free and the fabulous Mickey’s Magical Party is being celebrated in the park. There’s the new ‘Cars n Stars parade’ in Walt Disney Studios and the ‘It’s Party Time Show’ with Mickey and Friends is happening daily on the Hub in Disneyland Park. Now is the time to visit for a reasonable price, especially if you’ve littlies, and I’m sure that you’ll all have a ball.

Coming soon: ‘When Caroline meets Goofy’.