Captain EO PostWhen I started this blogging adventure, I knew that I didn’t want to be a writer who simply reacted to whatever was happening in late-breaking Disney news.  I like even less to expound upon big new events and aid in the media over-coverage of those events.  But the death of iconic Michael Jackson has made me reminisce about some really fun memories I have of the Captain EO attraction at Disneyland… so I wanted to share them here.

When my family was planning my first trip to Disneyland at age eight, I knew that Captain EO was a MUST-do.  Decked out in my stretch pants, leg warmers and bangle bracelets, I was a child of the 80s… right down to the adoration for 80s icon Michael Jackson.  I had never seen a real 3-D “movie” before and I knew that anything that had the Thriller star singing, dancing and cavorting with “Muppets” had to be totally rad!  My grandma thought otherwise…

My grandma was accompanying my mom and I to Disneyland and the thought of “the Thriller star singing, dancing and cavorting with ‘Muppets,’ ” had her less than thrilled.  We warned her that it would be loud and that made her even less excited… but, set on making my first trip to Disneyland everything I wanted it to be, she grabbed a set of ear plugs and bravely entered the theater in Tomorrowland.

As the show went on, we could tell that grandma was enjoying herself more than she would probably admit later… but we were wrong… She was more than happy to share how much she enjoyed Michael, the music and even the cavorting.  She raved, and more importantly, she smiled… really smiled.

Nearly 20 years later my grandma isn’t the same as she used to be… she’s 92 and healthy but shows some signs of dementia.  My years of Disney trips while she was still able to join us are some of my best memories, and that smile on her face after Captain EO is a beautiful memory.  And, my grandma might not remember what she did yesterday, but every so often she will ask me if I remember that neat Michael Jackson show that we saw at Disneyland all those years ago…

I found a really nice full version of Captain EO on YouTube that I’ve embedded here.  Take a look and remember to savor the moments that make your loved ones truly smile.

Part One

Part Two

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