Good news – I have a picture with Minnie… bad news… it’s not the greatest, but my hair looks cool.
One of my fondest memories of my first trip to Disneyland is when I met Alice for the first time. This was pre-character-handlers, so there was no one assisting or regulating the meet and greets. Alice was swarmed quickly, but I still managed to be roughly around the front of the pack around her. Despite this others kept pushing and shoving and passing – as kids do when they are excited. My father kept trying to encourage me to take a step as well since I had been near the front of the mess – encouragement in a good way, not telling me to push others out-of-the-way. I wasn’t as confident back then as I am now, so telling people I was next was way out of my comfort zone. Happy Ending – it didn’t matter, because Alice noticed me. She had seen me near the front and witnessed me being pushed back and she purposely called me out as the next person.
Alice… brilliant, really… she used it as a way to discuss manners and etiquette, and she mentioned how patient I had been. It was one of the reasons why Disneyland became one of my happy places; it didn’t matter how shy or self-conscious I was because everyone was welcome.
Even though this isn’t the best picture of Minnie, something very similar as Alice happened when I met Minnie at Big Thunder Ranch. Although Disneyland is for everyone, I held back and waited because I didn’t want to push my way in front of a kid – I remember how it felt and it’s just rude for an adult to step ahead of a kid (even if they budged). Minnie noticed that I had been waiting off to the side and made a conscious effort to make her way over. Another parent pushed their kid up as she motioned to me, but I let them go ahead and made sure to vocalize that it was alright. Afterwards she was quick to put up her gloved hand and motion me over while shuffling the rest of the way, and it just reminded me Alice. So all of that aside, it’s the moment behind this picture that keeps it above the others. My sister took a few shots leading up to this moment, she was encouraging me to move forward like my father had but this time I had other reasons. Here are a few of those awkward shots, you can kind of see how my reaction changes:
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A. N. Stetzl 