As many of you know, nine years ago I worked at Walt Disney World and declared to the world, slowly but surely, that I am a homosexual and intend to live my life as such. As you might imagine, this was one of the most liberating and traumatic times of my life. Orlando is a place I often dream about. A place that I revisit fond memories of. So about 6 months ago, I decided to go back and visit my friend Brandon who lives there and who I also hadn't seen in 9 years. We've maintained a successful long distance friendship with the use of modern conveniences like text messages and phone calls and Christmas cards and Facebook. I had the disposable income for the first time so I planned a pilgrimage back to the holy land.
I watched Tangled on the plane during the second leg of my journey from Portland to Florida. I wanted to knock two movies off my list while I traveled, one on my way and one returning. I decided on Tangled because it was the most readily available on my Kindle.
I saw the movie the first time at a beer theater in Portland with Amanda during the middle of the day with a bunch of kids surrounding us. I liked it and she liked it and then I kind of forgot about it existing.
The premise is that Rapunzel is stuck in a tower and every year on her birthday she sees floating lights in the distance which she dreams about visiting. For years and years, she doesn't do it and finally on her 18th birthday she musters the courage to escape her tower and see the lights.
So I cried on the plane. There is this scene when Rapunzel finally sees the lights in person (which turn out to be paper lanterns they float each year on the lost princess's birthday) and is just knows somehow this is where she was meant to be.
I tend to have all of the feelings all the time and I am pretty good at finding meaning in almost everything but as I watched Tangled I got more and more excited for my trip. For my return to a place I had loved so much and hadn't revisited in so long.
My new friend Sam, who works at Magic Kingdom, had offered to take me and Brandon and Brandon's boyfriend Jason to all of the Disney parks. We had a whirlwind adventure in which we visited all 4 parks in 15 hours that culminated with watching "Wishes", the nightly firework show above Cinderella's castle which I spend countless hours watching in my year at Disney.
They added a new section to the show were they use digital projectors to make the castle look like different things are happening. Towards the end, the play the music from "I See The Light" from Tangled and project the floating lanterns on the castle. Sam had told me how this was one of his favorite things about Disney. It was a simple little display but it was such an awesome moment to sum up everything meant to go back to a place that had meant so much.
I saw the movie the first time at a beer theater in Portland with Amanda during the middle of the day with a bunch of kids surrounding us. I liked it and she liked it and then I kind of forgot about it existing.
The premise is that Rapunzel is stuck in a tower and every year on her birthday she sees floating lights in the distance which she dreams about visiting. For years and years, she doesn't do it and finally on her 18th birthday she musters the courage to escape her tower and see the lights.
So I cried on the plane. There is this scene when Rapunzel finally sees the lights in person (which turn out to be paper lanterns they float each year on the lost princess's birthday) and is just knows somehow this is where she was meant to be.
I tend to have all of the feelings all the time and I am pretty good at finding meaning in almost everything but as I watched Tangled I got more and more excited for my trip. For my return to a place I had loved so much and hadn't revisited in so long.
My new friend Sam, who works at Magic Kingdom, had offered to take me and Brandon and Brandon's boyfriend Jason to all of the Disney parks. We had a whirlwind adventure in which we visited all 4 parks in 15 hours that culminated with watching "Wishes", the nightly firework show above Cinderella's castle which I spend countless hours watching in my year at Disney.
They added a new section to the show were they use digital projectors to make the castle look like different things are happening. Towards the end, the play the music from "I See The Light" from Tangled and project the floating lanterns on the castle. Sam had told me how this was one of his favorite things about Disney. It was a simple little display but it was such an awesome moment to sum up everything meant to go back to a place that had meant so much.
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