Some say that what you do on your 18th birthday is what you will spend time doing the rest of your life. If that is true, then I will spend the rest of my life utterly humiliating myself.
We were in California for my 18th birthday so my family decided to take all of the family to Disneyland. Now, I have always loved Disney. Some of my best memories are at Disney World in Florida. This was my first time going to Disneyland. My parents even gave me a little freedom to go off on my own for a few hours!
At Disneyland they give you a big pin on your birthday that says “It’s My Birthday!” with your name in a blank spot. It’s really neat because all the Cast Members who walk by wish you a happy birthday by name, and sometimes they give you free stuff (I got a free cookie).
I even had a cute girl walk up to me and give me a hug.
She said,” It’s your birthday? It’s my birthday too! I turned 19 today!”
I awkwardly stood there and said, “Oh!” and that was the end of that conversation.
While I was awkwardly doing the opposite of picking up girls, my parents were planning something big. In fact, they were planning the biggest birthday surprise of all time. You see, earlier that day while we were walking down Main Street USA toward Sleeping Beauty Castle, something caught my dad’s eye. It was a sign that said “Celebrate Your Birthday with Us!” When I was away, my dad went back to this place and asked them about the birthday celebration.
They told him, “Oh yes! Everyday we have a birthday celebration at 2. Just bring your birthday boy and the rest of your family and we will take care of the rest!”
My dad was impressed. He asked, “Is this age appropriate for someone turning 18?”
They smiled and replied, “It’s fun for ages 5 to 95!” (This should have been his first clue…)
I was riding Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters when I got a text message from my dad, “Come to the Plaza Inn at 2pm”. I was curious.
At 2 o’clock I showed at the Plaza Inn, to the side of the restaurant there was a gated off section with colorful umbrella tables. My family was all sitting at one, waving at me to come to them. When I sat down at the table there were coloring pages at each spot and a drink cup with a plastic lid and a chunky straw. I was thirsty, so I took a sip. I thought I was getting a sip of soda, but what I got was a sip of watered down Kool Aid. It was at this moment that I looked around and saw that of all of the “birthday kids” I was the oldest, by at least a decade.
The speakers overhead played a nice little ditty, it was chipmunks singing “Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy, happy birthday to you.” And then, I kid you not, they started singing it backwards, “Yppah yadhtrib, yppah yadhtrib, yppah, yppah yadhtrib ot ouy!”
Suddenly, the music silenced. And a man with a birthday cake hat on his head came out and said, “My name is Patrick E. Cake! But you can call me Pat E Cake!”
The first thing on the agenda was a cupcake decorating contest. Mr. Cake told us that the best decorated cupcake would win a prize. A cupcake was placed in front of each of us and a separate platter with colored icings and sprinkles. Everyone got to work. My dad worked especially hard, he really wanted to win.
Patrick was walking around the tables, greeting all the birthday kids. I introduced myself and told him how old I was, he said, “Thanks for the job security, man!”
After a few minutes, Pat E. stood in front of everyone and announced, “At Disneyland, everyone is a winner! And the prize is… stickers!”
Pat then made his final announcement, “Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for our guests of honor, Mickey and Minnie Mouse! If you want to take a picture with them, join the conga line!”
I am not proud of what I did next, but you have to understand that getting a picture with Mickey and Minnie TOGETHER was a rare thing. I was not going to pass up this opportunity. So I grabbed the last kid in the conga line by the shoulders (he was 5ish) and congaed like a toddler to get my picture with Mickey and Minnie. To my surprise, Mickey and Minnie were shorter than me but I got my picture!
My 18th birthday was weird, but I will never forget it. I was surrounded by family and I got to meet Patrick E Cake!
One of my favorite memories! 😂 You’re a great writer!