Extra, Extra Here's the Scoop!

      So you know all the characters of the Kingdom. Mickey and Minnie Goofy, Merlin, Simba, Scoop Sanderson, B.O.B., Gadget, Philoctetes, even Gurgi. From known to obscure, new to old the characters of the Kingdom......What?, you don't know a Scoop Sanderson! Scoop is one of the overlooked treasures of Walt Disney World. Scoop Sanderson is one of the Main Street USA characters that come out usually at around Easter time and the holidays. They are people who live on MainStreet USA. The Dapper Dans are the most recognizable, they are the Barbershop quartet that sings on Main Street USA, but there are other members to this unique ecosystem. Some of these are Mayor Weaver the Mayor of Main Street, Beatrice Starr, President of the local thespian group, Fire Chief  Smokey Miller, and Hildegard Olivia Harding the local woman's suffragette. They are not greatly advertised, but when you see them it's like they are always there.

     Now, I collect the pins ( and just about everything else) to the older rides and characters but especially the Haunted Mansion. I like it because it's cheaper way of collecting, my wife likes it because we get to talk to a myriad of people. It is really nice stopping looking at all the different pins where they got them, making the complete sets. About two years ago my wife and I went to the Magic Kingdom in April near Easter. We did not expect to see anything new since we come all the time. We were walking down Main Street and in front of the Emporium was this guy in a straw hat and old timey clothes dragging two little wooden dogs.

     So we went over and it was Scoop Sanderson the local Press, and pin trader extraordinaire! He started talking to the crowd and pulled out a lanyard that was almost as long as his body, with tons of pins on it. We watched him interact with the crowd for a bit and he kept joking with the kids and adults alike. He was pretending to pull pins out of kids ears, and taking photos with people, and telling his wooden dogs Butterscotch and Licorice to stay. So we thought it was cute and started to walk away, but thanks to the quickness of Tracy (my wife), she looks at me and reminded me I was missing a pin. Earlier in the trip I had acquired two other pins that were missing their third. I had gotten Gus and Phineas but was missing Ezra. To those of you who don't know these are the hitchhiking ghosts from WDW's Haunted Mansion, Gus is the little guy with the beard and ball and chain, Phineas is the chubby top hatted carpet bagger, and Ezra is the skeletal looking one.

    Ok usually I am the outspoken one and my wife just goes with it. Unfortunately when it is something for me like an autograph, or meeting someone, or (look at that) getting myself a pin I have no backbone. So Tracy tells me to go up and ask for Ezra, I get up the courage and make it to the front of the crowd. There stood Scoop in all his glory so I walked up and asked if he had Ezra, he looked up and down his lanyard and no sign of the elusive skeletal ghost. He looked at me and said " I don't have him here but I think I saw him somewhere, meet me back at 2pm in front of the Cinema." I told him ok and Tracy and I went about our business. 

    We went and walked around to Tomorrowland had lunch at Cosmic Rays and while listening to Sonny Eclipse croon pondered if he would really be back at 2. Is this what this guy does, is the magic this strong in the kingdom? Well 1:50 came around and Tracy and I walk back towards the Main Street Cinema and there he was, talking to some kids, Butterscotch and Licorice right  next to him being very obedient. All these things going through my mind, will he remember me, did he find Ezra, how awesome would this be. I see Scoop and he sees me, he smiles, and I twitch like I am a 8 year old and Santa just winked at me. I walk up and he tells the kids "Kids I gotta talk business with this gentleman." he turns to me. He pulls out the lanyard and holds it with his hands as though he is displaying them for all to see, and starts pointing at Ezra with his thumb asking if I saw anything interesting? I told him "Yeah that's the one!" with all the excitement I could muster. Then he takes it off and we trade, he palms it into my hand but does not let go of my hand. He asks me how big a Haunted Mansion fan I am, "A huge one." I reply. He sticks his loose hand in a pocket and hands me another button, I start to trade and he says "No trade this is a gift." he puts it in my hand, I look at it as if it were jewels from One Eyed Willie himself. Scoop tells me that it is a limited edition out of 500 made from a special dinner Disney did for the Haunted Mansion. I look at it and it is Madame Leota on her table, but when you open the table it has her spiel from the haunted mansion inside, Scoop says don't loose that. I thank him and  hastily I put it in my pocket, I look up and he has already grabbed Butterscotch and Licorice and off they go in the direction of the train station. 

   As I write this my hairs are on end and I am feeling as amazed as I did that day! This is why the Magic Kingdom calls you back, one word MAGIC. Where else can you feel this way.... don't try you can't! Well now you know of one more thing that Walt Disney's world has, and I hope that next time you can find some magic of your own.

To all who come to this happy place, Welcome.

Walt Disney World is a tribute to the philosophy and life of Walter Elias Disney... and to the talents, the dedication, and the loyalty of the entire Disney organization that made Walt Disney's dream come true. May Walt Disney World bring Joy and Inspiration and New Knowledge to all who come to this happy place ... a Magic Kingdom where the young at heart of all ages can laugh and play and learn — together.

—Roy Oliver Disney, October 25, 1971

Welcome. I have been in love with all things Disney since my first trip to Disney July 4th 1976. I was 2 years old, it was the centennial of the country and my little mind was BLOWN! So much for a 2 year old to take in the penny arcade, the magic shop, the smell of confections in the air. Of everything I saw that first time the parade was most memorable. The parade was awesome, characters that I had only seen in books on television and in my mind were dancing around for my enjoyment.My enjoyment, no one else was there just me those characters and my parents somewhere. Gepetto, Brer Bear, the seven dwarves, those weird big headed patriotic figures, all for me, waving at me, dancing for me I was immersed in Disney forever.I cannot describe the type of joy that walking through that train station fills me with every time I go. My wife says she can see me transform into a child as we pass the attraction posters and enter the main street hub.I have to visit all the spots on Mainstreet U.S.A. as if I am a postman on my daily route. 

I think of this as my family is gearing up to go to the Magic Kingdom for my nieces 2nd birthday. I cannot wait to see the wonder in her eyes. Just the other day my brother told me her favorite princess was Rapunzel, this made my wife and I ecstatic as we had gotten her a Rapunzel and Flynn dolls for her first Christmas and she could have cared less. He said he had walked by her play room and seen her playing with two dolls he had no idea who they were, later he realized that those two dolls were Rapunzel and Flynn. Yay us, another life started on the Disney path. Hopefully she will love Disney as much as me, so we will have a bond for life.

People like me are strange, you say something that has a remote connection to Disney and boom! Like a My Pal Mickey here comes a diatribe of useless information. Even when I am not at the parks or going, I am stalking the web like Johnny 5 for data. So you will get my thoughts, old stories, and new happenings.

This is the type of stuff the blog will be about. Stories, anecdotes, hidden Disney gems, rides that have disappeared or never were. I hope you will enjoy this trip and join me down Walt's rabbit hole. Now Welcome aboard the Walt Disney World Express Monorail, our highway in the sky to the Magic Kingdom. For those of you standing, please hold on to the handrails throughout our journey and stay clear of the doors. For the comfort of others, no smoking please. Thank you.