A T-Shirt Quest in Disney World

First off, if you're one of the 20 or so followers of "A Party For All Ages," rest assured that I am dying to continue this story just as soon as things in the real world get a little less crazy; I'm in rehearsals for a musical and opening night is beginning to loom on the metaphorical horizon. But I'm honestly having a lot of fun writing this tale. I expect to put out at least a couple more chapters sometime in October. Also, just looking ahead, I anticipate the whole story to be about six or seven chapters total. Maybe. (Perhaps you ought not quote me on that.)

Anyway, on to the blog post proper...

I have come to the sad end of an all-too-short vacation with my wife in Orlando. I've always been a sucker for theme parks. I even grew up with a few miles of one. And this particular trip marks the first since I became, well, shall we say, bronified.

Universal Studios and Walt Disney World attract roughly a bizillion international visitors each year, a much much broader cross-section of people than I find at home. So, naturally, I anticipated the possibility of spotting another FiM fan in the roar of the crowds.

This also afforded me the ability to advertise my own particular inclinations though the universal language of t-shirts. I own two pony shirts One is of Derpy adopting the famous pose from Da Vinci's "Vitrtuvian Man" sketch, and the other says, "Daring Do's Adventure Tours" in a bold Indiana Jones font, with Ms. Do herself swinging on a vine. (In retrospect, I've found the latter shirt to be kind of odd since Daring is yellow and lacks eyelashes. But, hey, it's not about authenticity, right?) So, would anyone identify these characters on these shirts in the parks, as I walk alongside my loving, pony-tolerant wife?

I figured my chances were somewhat higher at the Disney Parks. An adult fan of Disney shares the same kind of mindset as a brony after all; it's that whole appreciation for quality animation, but also, that whole triumph of sincerity over irony thing.

Naturally, there was that moment of hesitation when we entered the first park, a nagging feeling that I looked ridiculous. But ten minutes of milling about in Epcot put those fears to bed. There were t-shirts of every pop culture phenomena imaginable: Scooby Doo, Archer, Spongebob-a-plenty, Adventure Time, even Danger Mouse. (The 80s British cartoon, not the more recent musician.)

The results?

After four Disney days, two people out of thousands knew who was on my pony shirt. Both were Disney employees.

At Epcot guest relations, the guy behind the counter murmured low, "That shirt is pretty fantastic" when he beheld the Vitruvian Mare. And that was the entirety of that exchange; we moved right on to dinner reservations, and I, being a natural introvert, didn't pursue the matter further.

At Hollywood Studios, I was about to leave The Art of Disney store when a voice shouted out from behind me, "Daring Do!" She was an artist; they usually have someone there who does sample sketches of various Disney characters. She told me she was dying to see season four, and she pulled open a drawer and flashed me her Pinkie Pie keychain. We chatted for about a minute.

She became the first confirmed brony I've met with in person, and the first evidence I've had that such people really do exist and that I wasn't just the victim of an incredibly elaborate Internet hoax. It was...comforting. Oddly so.

The entire trip, I spotted exactly one other person wearing a pony shirt of their own. It said "Trust Me, I'm a Doctor" above the smiling visage of Doctor Whooves. She walked right by me, deep in conversation with a friend. If I'd blinked or looked another direction, I would've missed it. Never got a chance to say hi or anything. All too fleeting, yet I will admit to being secretly thrilled by the sighting.

(If I may be permitted a brief, dorky tangent: one afternoon as we strolled around Epcot, I found myself imagining an alternate world where Disney and Hasbro had reached some sort of promotional deal thing, and it occurred to me that the mane six could easily host the six pavilions of Epcot's Future World, vis: Applejack would host The Land, off course, Pinkie Pie's wackiness would be a welcome addition to Journey To Imagination, Fluttershy would mix in with Nemo at The Seas, Rainbow Dash would guide you through Test Track, astronomically-minded Twilight would prepare you at Mission: Space, and...well, I guess that leaves Rarity to take Ellen's place at Universe of Energy, but she'd make it work. And naturally the flight-simulator ride Soarin' would be introduced by -- well, see, this stuff just writes itself. End of tangent.)

Anyway, that's my (admittedly meager) brony report from Orlando. Not much, I know. I wish my introversion hadn't gotten the better of me in those brief encounters. (How I ever asked out my wife of eleven years in the first place, I'll never know.) But it was a fantastic trip all the same. I feel like I should have taken away something more, I dunno, more profound from all this, but maybe I didn't have to.

If you actually read this entire post, have a cookie on me, and thank you for indulging me in this rumination.

Comments

[RandomBlank]

"Incredibly elaborate Internet hoax"

Look for some ponymeets of your area. I've met a couple dozen bronies on several local meets and now we bump into each other while on the bus, walking through the city and so on. No T-shirts required. Other than that, I met one slightly crazy brony on a train, he had a rather big Twilight plushie dangling on a "leash" from his neck. Met another on my way to a music festival, we became rather good friends, never mind there was a whole brony camp there, the festival being an excuse for a rather large and extended ponymeet gathering bronies from all over the country, engaging in various spontaneous activities ("wall of fame" with hundreds of pony badges, or these more artistically inclined drawing ponies directly on skin of other bronies with permanent marker - clop art included...)
Nope, definitely not a hoax, although meeting a brony "out in the wild" if you don't pick a "biased environment" is fairly rare.