Feb 9, 2019:
There are many things in this world that I will never outgrow; trips to Walt Disney World is just one of those things that will never leave me. Whenever I pass through the front gates into the Magic Kingdom, I am a kid again. It is a wonderful feeling that I hope never leaves my psyche and it just reminds all of us why we keep going, high prices and noisy children be damned. And my recent trip to the happiest place on Earth reminds me why. A trip made even special since I was staying at the Polynesian Resort Hotel, my favorite hotel in the entire resort. But this article isn’t just about my brief albeit wonderful stay at Orlando’s only South Seas-themed hotel with monorail. It is about me paying a visit to two of my favorite stars.
2016’s hit movie, Zootopia, became my new favorite movie. How much did I love it? Well, for starters, I saw it seven times and it was a breath of fresh air to see Disney going right back to its anthropomorphic animal roots, like 1973’s Robin Hood. In addition, it is one of the few Disney movies to break over $1 billion in ticket sales worldwide, not to mention take home both Golden Globe and Oscar for best animated picture. While I enjoyed the timely and meaningful animated parable about the ills of prejudice, racism, sexism in the work place and interspecies friendship, I was totally won over by Disney’s newest animated couple: Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde. I know that they weren’t a couple throughout the movie, but I saw such chemistry between the two characters; they were just perfect for each other. And like so many fanboys and weirdos of the internet, I shipped them as a couple; thus the hashtag #WildeHopps was born which confirmed them as a couple. When I learned that they were doing a meet and greet in the Magic Kingdom in the middle of Main Street U.S.A., I abandoned all my ride plans to do this one thing. I waited with such anticipation under the flagpole near the train station while sweating bullets in the central Florida sun. I saw several other fans sporting Zootopia shirts, fox ears and rabbit ears. Suddenly, I felt like I was thrust back to Anthrocon in Pittsburgh. That demographic, however, is another reason for the movie’s phenomenal success. Once they walked out on Main Street, everyone in line applauded as if they were at the World Series or the Oscars. By the time I stepped forward, I was frantically juggling my iPhone, digital camera and camcorder. I just threw them on the ground (gently) and embraced the cutest couple from the ZPD. Note to Hollywood: never underestimate the fan (and buying power) of the furry community. Little girls may love Frozen due to the whole princess panache, but imagine what gold could be mined from a Zootopia sequel?!
I was blushing crimson red (much like Nick’s fur!) as Judy hugged me. It wasn’t the first time I got choked up over meeting a giant rabbit. I mean, do I even need to mention my fondness for Reggie Rabbit?! As for Nick, I couldn’t help but laugh under my breath at the way his tail swished back and forth. It made me want to have a tail of my own, quite frankly. Speaking of Reggie, I wore my South Sydney Rabbitohs jumper to give a shoutout to my mates in Australia as well as show off to Judy the best sports team represented by a bunny! I did more hamming it up for the camera than a thirst-trap on the red carpet. Not to mention I had a genuine smile on my face. And this one was not faked or forced like in most pics. It was real.
Later that afternoon, my second encounter with the fuzzy members of the fuzz occurred on Main Street albeit with a more stealth-like strategy. Since they were hobnobbing with the fans and with no lines, I spent a good hour snapping scores of photos and scoring a few adorable selfies.
Now… if only Disney would get to work on designing a Zootopia-themed attraction or ride…
