I Had a Disney Living Dream

February 3, 2012

On a mild winter’s day, I decided with a few days off from work it was time to take a little road trip to the land where dreams come true. So, I packed my clothes, went into my fridge and grabbed a six pack of ice cold Diet Coke along with a bag of Wise potato chips. Do you know why they call them Wise? Because they get wise with age and this was a very old bag of potato chips!

Then I went through my checklist to make sure I had all the necessary accoutrements to take along. Suitcase – check, GPS – check, cell phone – check, a complete set of Lou Mongello’s Audio Guides to Walt Disney World – check. Checklist complete! So, I hopped in my car ready to get on my way. I headed down Route 9, onto to 195, to 295, and across the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. I continued driving south for miles and miles.

Now, I was starting to get hungry, it was getting dark, and I would soon need gas. I pulled off the highway to check my GPS for nearby places to eat and a gas station. That’s when my troubles started. My GPS suddenly shut down. At that moment I could feel the wind picking up and the temperatures starting to drop. I reached for my cell phone but it had no power. Then all of a sudden my car CD player stopped working and then the radio died. I was starting to panic and fear was setting in. I was confused, I didn’t know what state I was in, or where I was going so, I just kept driving.

I came to a four way railroad stop and I could see a glimmering light in the distance. As I got closer I could see the sign where the light was coming from. It said “Cheap Gas, only $6.49 per gallon.” So I drove into the station as my empty gas tank light went on. The gas station was turn of the century old and only had one pump. I filled the tank and gave the gentleman working there my credit card. He looked at me and said “what’s this?” I said my credit card to pay for the gas. He laughed and said “I’ve never seen one of these before, we only take cash.” So, I asked do you have an ATM? He looked dumbfounded so before he could answer I said let me guess you don’t know what that is? He answered, “yep and that will be $85 dollars!” I only had $60 in cash I had to think fast. That’s when I noticed Lou Mongello’s Audio Guides to Walt Disney World on the passenger seat of my car. I asked him if he had a CD player and luckily he did. I then asked if he would accept the audio guides to make up the difference in cash. He wanted to know about the audio guides. So I told him to get his CD player and see for himself. As he started listening I could see he was getting more and more intrigued by them. He clung to every word spoken. Suddenly, he turned towards me and excitedly screamed “This is the best thing I’ve heard since Elvis! I must have these CD’s and you don’t have to give me a penny of cash.” I said thank you kind sir and asked if he knew of a nearby restaurant. He pointed me down this road and said just follow the signs to Gurgi’s Munchies and Crunchies.

As I drove off it started to rain heavily, then it got real foggy, and you could even hear the wind whistling. It got so bad I couldn’t see where I was going so I had to pull off to the side of the road. I looked all around to see where I was. one thing I know for sure I wasn’t in Marceline, Kansas. As I looked around there was a place boarded up called the Mile Long Bar and next door was Merlin’s Magic Shop. Suddenly, there was a knock on the driver’s side window of my car. It was this strange looking lady. I opened the window. She introduced herself as Miss Bianca and said I looked like I could use a little help. She invited me into Merlin’s Magic Shop. This didn’t look like any magic shop I’ve ever seen before. She then said it was customary to offer me a hot beverage and I gladly accepted. We sat down at this small round table that had a crystal ball but this was no ordinary crystal ball, it had mouse ears. Then Miss Bianca gazed into the crystal ball and it started to glow and I could see the magic, the memories, it was illuminating inside the ball. She told me that I wasn’t going to make it to Disney World this time but she did see a trip in my near future. I said that’s right, I’m going in November on Lou Mongello’s WDW Radio Dream Cruise 2.0. Miss Bianca said “yes, I see the boat trip and it will be great but I see you in Disney World before that.” She told me it would be very hot and that I would need to drink plenty of water. Then, unexpectedly Miss Bianca jumped out of her chair. She said “I see your future. Your children all grown up. Your son is a handsome college boy and your daughter a beautiful girl ready to start college. I see your daughter leaving to go to college from a home, your home in Florida near the mouse.” Miss Bianca then looked me in the eyes and said “don’t you worry your house in New Jersey will sell for a good price and you will find the right house near the place they call the Magic Kingdom and you will live your dream.”

I thanked Miss Bianca for the hot beverage. She said my GPS would be working fine now and that I should go home and start planning my next trip to Walt Disney World.

Stuart Sternberg is a founder of WDW Fan Zone you can find him on Google +, Facebook, and follow him on twitter @disneygeekdad.

One Response to I Had a Disney Living Dream

Derek Hoffman on February 12, 2012 at 9:33 pm

Awesome story Stuart! If I had a nickel for everytime I’ve been southbound on I-95 and thought “I could just keep on driving and head down to Disney World,” then I could have paid for that $85 tank of gas with a trunk full of nickels. It sure is tempting some times.