Bwana Bob’s (a souvenir cart in Adventureland) is our last stop at the Magic Kingdom before we leave the park. It’s a Family Tradition. Dad firmly believes that family traditions are important. Disney World traditions make for great vacations.
THE PLAN
THE PLAN, for the Magic Kingdom, (make sure you read about THE PLAN if you haven’t already) always ends our day in Adventureland. It’s one of our Disney World family traditions. (Insert useless explanation: Dad likes riding the Jungle Cruise in the dark, the wild animals and things that crawl around in the swamp aren’t as scary.)
From the very first trip we took to the Magic Kingdom, Bwana Bob’s been the Man-Child’s favorite place to buy Disney World souvenirs. Even our last trip when he was almost 20 years old, he had to buy something there.
The First Time
The first time we went to the Magic Kingdom the Man-Child was only 4 years old. He was head-strong even back then. We had given each of the kids some money to spend however they wanted. THE PLAN had us in Adventureland in the afternoon. We passed by Bob’s on our way out to Tomorrowland and…
“STOP!!!!” The Man-Child screamed.
Daddy, can I get that gun, please. (He’s all boy, our son.) What gun? I asked.
He had seen a 3 foot long toy “hunting rifle” that he just had to have. Are you sure you want that son? Wouldn’t you like a nice set of Mickey Ears, or something more Disney? No, he was adamant, he wanted that gun. Not the toy pistol, not some other gun, but that 3 foot long toy “hunting rifle”. That was going to be his Disney World souvenir.
It was his money, and there was no talking the Man-Child out of buying a gun. We did convince him that we would come back just before we left the park (this was before you could have items purchased in the parks delivered to your rooms) so he wouldn’t have to carry it around the rest of the day. Even that was a tough sell. He wanted that 3 foot long “hunting rifle” now.
I don’t know how many times during the rest of the day he asked about the gun. So at the end of the day the four of us traipsed back to Adventureland and The Man-Child purchased his 3 foot long hunting rifle. (I think it’s still in his closet.)
That’s how our Family Tradition of ending our Magic Kingdom Day at Bwana Bob’s in Adventureland began.
