Adam Blake - 20. Chapter 20

Arriving at Disney it was hard to keep Scotty in his seat. “Scotty, look that is where we will be staying.”

“Are we going to see Mickey?”

“Maybe tomorrow when we go to the park. He’s probably sleeping now.”

Checking in to our hotel Scotty kept looking around. He wanted to see Mickey and of course, there was no Mickey. We followed the bell boy to our room. I booked a single room with two double beds. I thought that Scotty and Billy could share one bed and I would have the other bed. Didn’t work out like that, Billy had a bed by himself and Scotty was in bed with me.

I had scheduled an early dinner at one of Disney’s restaurants. I knew that Disney characters would be there. Sitting at our table, I could see one of the Disney characters approaching our table, it was Goofy. Billy looked at me and smiled. I watched Scotty when Goofy touched him on the shoulder. Scotty turned and his eyes became three times larger.

“Goofy, I love you.”

Typical of a 7-year-old boy’s reaction, Goofy hugged him. Billy took out his phone and took a picture. Goofy waved goodbye and left for the next table. The surprise of a Disney character at dinner was over. Scotty hardly ate his dinner, between taking a bite and looking over at other Disney characters as they moved around the dining room. I just smiled at Billy, he nodded indicating that he was happy for Scotty.

Getting Scotty settled that night was something else. He never stopped talking. To say he was excited would have been an understatement.

“Scotty, we need to get to sleep. Tomorrow we’ll have breakfast with Mickey and you need to be ready and not fall asleep or miss breakfast.”

Magic words, as the boys got ready for bed, I waited until they finished in the bathroom. When I exited the bathroom, Scotty was in my bed. Billy just shrugged his shoulders as to say that’s what he wanted.

Crawling in bed, I noticed Scotty was sound asleep. I thought he was tired from traveling but tomorrow he will be tired from the park.

When I awoke in the morning, Scotty was laying there awake. “You ready for breakfast?”

With a big smile, “Will we see Mickey?”

“I think that’s a possibility. We need to get ready. Wake Billy and he can help you get a shower and dressed. Then as soon as I get dressed we can go and have breakfast.”

No sooner did I say that when there was a flash to Billy’s bed. I heard an umph as Scotty jumped on Billy. Then the laughter as Billy grabbed him and started to tickle him. I thought if he kept that up there would be an accident.

Billy took Scotty and helped him get clean and dressed, the TV helped also, it kept Scotty calm until we were all ready to go. “Billy, I have a meeting this morning so after breakfast, you can take Scotty to the Park. Make sure your phone is charged and I’ll call you when I’m finished.”

Breakfast with Mickey was something else. We ordered our breakfast, Mickey pancakes for Scotty. I made sure that Scotty sat with his back to the dining room so he wouldn’t see any of the Disney characters approach our table. Billy kept talking to him about what they were going to ride, to keep him looking at the table.

The waitress brought us our breakfast and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mickey and Minnie Mouse enter the restaurant. Mickey took one side and Minnie took the other side as they moved among the tables. I was hoping Mickey would come to our table, when I watched Minnie and him split up I was glad he was on our side of the restaurant.

I looked at Billy, he was watching Mickey move closer to our table. Scotty was eating his pancake and didn’t notice someone standing next to him. Mickey tapped him on his shoulder, he turned and when he saw Mickey I thought he was going to cry. He jumped up and gave Mickey a big hug. Billy had his camera ready and took a picture. Mickey tapped Scotty on the head and pointed toward his breakfast.

“Scotty, I think Mickey wants you to finish your breakfast. You’ll see him again in the park.”

Scotty smiled and watched Mickey move toward another table. Billy showed him the picture, “Can we print this? I want to hang it in my room.”

“When we get home I’ll take it to a store and have them print the picture. You’ll have a lot more before we go home.”

That seemed to satisfy Scotty as he finished his pancake. Then he wanted to go to the park right away. Billy took his time eating, he really likes to tease.

“Billy, here’s some money for snacks. You won’t need any money for rides since you have a park pass. I’ll text you when I’m finished and tell you where we can meet. Scotty, be sure to stay with Billy, and don’t wander off. Billy, keep an eye on him.”

I watched as they headed out to the park. I had a meeting with Disney’s Director of Training. I was hoping to pick up a few ideas that I could use in teaching. Disney has a school that is used to train the character actors as well as training the various hosts and workers. Their concept of running Disney as a theatrical production was intriguing to me. I was wondering if that approach could be used in a classroom. If I could teach kids to act as one of the historical figures, they might be able to learn history more actively. I could also apply this to other disciplines. I could imagine a class where each student was assigned a role, the training would be prep work from textbooks and then they could play out the role in class. I wasn’t 100 percent sure it would work but I wanted to know how Disney did it and then I could pilot my ideas in a small class or even one pupil I’d be tutoring.

I met the instructors and monitored several classes. As a result, I discarded some of my ideas but I learned “a lot about education in a different venue than a classroom. I walked away with a few ideas that I’d need to develop before putting together a trial classroom experience.