Overhead conversation from Disney "Expert"

[musketeer]

The other day, we were out to dinner at a restaurant. By the way, nowhere near disney, 1000+ miles away. We overhead the older woman at the table next to us, talking to what was probably her kids and grandkids, telling of their recent Disney trip. The part we heard went someting like this:

"So we went to Epcot, and it was really cool, we rode this ride, right at the front of the park, where you sit down, and then the floor drops out from you, and you are completely surround by this screen, in front of you, above, and even behind you, where you are flying over all these different scenes of New York. It was great, it must have been in the area with all the countries, the USA part, because it was all over New York, and the very end was flying over New York City at night."

She also mentioned something about riding a train at Epcot, but I couldn't quite catch that part.

What is so interesting is trying to figure out why all of this came out the way it did. Did she not remember and was just trying to put together a story that didn't sound believable, or did she truly remember it that way? It sound like it was very recent.

And the family, which sounded like they had been there too recently said, "well, we don't remember that, it must be new since the last time we were there." So I wonder if that is code for: "whatever grandma, you have no clue what you're talking about."

Just a funny story I wanted to share.

 

[forevermickey]

You are probably right, no one wanted to make Grandma feel like she was coocoo:ROFLOL:

What a great interpretation of her Disney experience!

 

[SleepingMonk]

Granny was hittin' the sauce.

 

[WDWmazprty]

She got drunk off of too much Beverly :lol:. Yeah, I know...its non-alcoholic! :hammer:

 

[ddrongowski]

Sounds like a case of Pseudologia fantastica

 

[Master Yoda]

The human brain is a funny thing in the way it remembers things. Most of us think of it like a hard drive dutiful transcribing information in a near 100% accurate manner. The reality is our brains are much more like a schizophrenic with a poorly working pen and a scratch pad.

I have little doubt that grandma's description of Soarin was accurate to what she remembers even though it has little basis in reality.

 

[SMRT-1]

did she also recite the pledge of allegiance?

 

[Thorpyness]

There are so many of these "experts" that have no idea what they are talking about. Last time our driver taking us to Port orleans tried to tell us fantasmic was at the Magic Kingdom amongst other rubbish.

 

[Grizzly Hall 71]

This is pretty bad. I also heard one time that the monorail took you to Animal Kingdom.

 

[WDWmazprty]

'The ride with the tiki birds where the pirates dunk that poor man in the well, then that god awful dinosaur roars in your face and you go down that hill into that briar patch was so wonderful! I love going Disney Universal Kingdom!!!!................and the home of the braaave!!!!'

 

[Mammymouse]

Although her vacation got kind of scrambled I bet this Granny could tell you that last Tuesday she just paid $1.99 for a gallon of milk that was on sale at the Sav-a-lot that they drove clear across the other side of the county to get to!! I have relatives too. Our Aunt calls Magic Kingdom "Disney" and Animal Kingdom "Wild Kingdom". And she's been there 5 or 6 times and her granddaughter worked there on the College Program Internship! :lol:

 

[sweetpee_1993]

That is funny the way she pieced together memories of stuff she probably did at different times into a single memory experience. The mind is pretty incredible the way it works.

I am totally not one of those super-over-crazy sensitive people who think everything is mean, etc. Please don't take this that way. I thought the crazy Grandmaw story was cute as could be! What your story reminded me of was when my grandfather was in the earlier stages of Alzheimer's. The short term stuff is the 1st to go wonky. I hope the family realized and are keeping a close eye. The meds that they have now work best early on. Unfortunately, my grandfather was far more advanced when those things hit the market. We lost him in 2004 but his mind was gone long before that. I don't wish that on anyone. :wave:

 

[muteki]

SSE, golf ball, same difference.

 

[Mammymouse]

Dear Sweetpea - We are experiencing that with our Dad right now. He still recognizes us but he has had to be in an Ahlzeimer unit now for over a year for his safety. He'll be 85 in October. His mother (my grandmother) had it for more than 20 years and lived to 99. I don't mean to bring anyone down but this is such a rotten disease and strikes so much of our elder population now. Bless you, know where you've been.

 

[cemeb4dk]

wait that wasn't New York? Man my Gammy has it all wrong:shrug::shrug::shrug::shrug:

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Dear Sweetpea - We are experiencing that with our Dad right now. He still recognizes us but he has had to be in an Ahlzeimer unit now for over a year for his safety. He'll be 85 in October. His mother (my grandmother) had it for more than 20 years and lived to 99. I don't mean to bring anyone down but this is such a rotten disease and strikes so much of our elder population now. Bless you, know where you've been.

Thanks. :kiss: And I feel you, too. I'll send you a quicky PM if you don't mind.

Again, not trying to be the Debbie-Downer of the thread. If I'd overheard that I'd have been giggling, too! :lol:

 

[raven]

It's not only old people that get things mixed up. My brother-in-law went for his first trip for a few days on his honeymoon just about 4 yearts ago. When he came back last year he swore that the Tomorrowland Speedway was directly across from The Land.

I think people get caught up in the moment, especially if they are seeing all of the parks in a short time frame for their first time. This jumbles things in their mind but their experiences are almost always good anyway.

 

[Timekeeper]

I think people get caught up in the moment, especially if they are seeing all of the parks in a short time frame for their first time. This jumbles things in their mind but their experiences are almost always good anyway.

Exactly.

You (the OP) are posting a message on a WDW fan site discussion forum, to be read by other WDW fans. And let's face it, 99% of the world's population do not subscribe to or frequent WDW discussion forums; they are not as hard-core about Disney as all of you. As a result, it's common for someone to mix up details about an attraction, the park that it resides in, or even which company park it resides in (e.g. Universal Studios).

 

[fosse76]

The other day, we were out to dinner at a restaurant. By the way, nowhere near disney, 1000+ miles away. We overhead the older woman at the table next to us, talking to what was probably her kids and grandkids, telling of their recent Disney trip. The part we heard went someting like this:

"So we went to Epcot, and it was really cool, we rode this ride, right at the front of the park, where you sit down, and then the floor drops out from you, and you are completely surround by this screen, in front of you, above, and even behind you, where you are flying over all these different scenes of New York. It was great, it must have been in the area with all the countries, the USA part, because it was all over New York, and the very end was flying over New York City at night."

Well, I'm not sure what your complaint is. The memory can be a very tricky thing. It's obvious she's describing Soarin', and she was clearly not too attentive to know the difference between LA and New York. But LA is so indistinguishable at night that even I wouldn't have known from that little footage what city it is. And you never mention her describing herself as an expert. It was a woman describing her trip.

She also mentioned something about riding a train at Epcot, but I couldn't quite catch that part.

She was probably talking about the monorail. Which is a train.

What is so interesting is trying to figure out why all of this came out the way it did. Did she not remember and was just trying to put together a story that didn't sound believable, or did she truly remember it that way? It sound like it was very recent.

It sounds like that's how she remembered it. The first time I went to New York, I remembered very clearly (or at least I thought I did) the arrangement of Broadway theaters in conjunction with the subway entrance on 44th Street. When I made a return trip, none of the theaters nor the subway entrance were where I thought they were. I was confused because I had remembered it being different. So to me, this is just her memory playing tricks on her.

And the family, which sounded like they had been there too recently said, "well, we don't remember that, it must be new since the last time we were there." So I wonder if that is code for: "whatever grandma, you have no clue what you're talking about."

They were probably being polite to avoid telling her she was remembering wrong, especially since it really isn't important. Or perhaps her description didn't convey in their minds the attraction itself, so they truely didn't know what she was talking about.

Just a funny story I wanted to share.

It's amusing in that it can show how people remember things differently. Talk to a cop investigating a crime scene. There can be twenty witnesses, and you'll have twenty different stories.

 

[French Quarter]

"As soon as we walked through Snow White's Caslte, we each got on these beautiful horses and watched all these dolls singing 'You Can Fly' over and over again! And then, when we started spinning around and around, that's when the heffalumps showed up. Just as the ride was about to end, Dumbo came and gave us all Mickey bars. The best part was, the whole thing was in 3D! But no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get that sword out of that stone." - Fantasyland First-Timer