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!

Meeting the Mouse Himself!

As a child, my nursery was Mickey Mouse themed. My first birthday cake had Mickey on it. I had Mickey outfits, Mickey sunglasses, and a Mickey hat. I was raised with a love of the Mouse. In 1990, when I was two years old, my parents took me to Walt Disney World for the first time and took me to what was then his house in Toontown to meet Mickey in person. So exciting, right? Well, as the submitted picture shows, I froze, like so many young kids, in front of my favorite character, clinging to my mother for my very first picture with Mickey Mouse. The good news is that I froze from awe (and the sheer fact of being two years old) rather than fear, and I’ve continued to love Mickey and even take a successful photograph with him. In the years since this photograph, my family has grown, with the additions of my younger brother and my new husband. In February 2016, it will grow again when we have our first child. I’ve collected more Mickey items.  When I moved out of my parents’ home, and the room I’d grown up in, I took with me the light switch plate that had hung on the wall for over twenty years. It features baby Mickey and baby Minnie in their pajamas, playing with balloons.  I plan to place it in the WDW themed nursery I'm creating, the beginning, I hope, of their own love of Mickey Mouse and all things Disney.