How Sweet It Is...

"Speak up, take a stand, and there's someone to write about it.
That's how things get better.
Give life's little guys some ink,
and when it dries just watch what happens."

 - "Watch What Happens" from Disney's Newsies on Broadway

Newsies taught me the words above. I'm gonna go ahead and guess it wasn't referring to confusing punctuation.
Alas, what I knew I needed to speak out about? An apostrophe.

Let me set the scene for you: Strolling along with the shore to your left. The bells of surrey bikes in your ears. The setting sun warming your shoulders. Wooden boards clapping under your feet. Enjoying your day on the picture perfect BoardWalk.

Except you're not on the Jersey shore - you're in Disney World. Even MORE perfect, right? Well, almost. Look to your right.

Welcome to Seashore Sweets'.

"Confections Served with Affection."  

And look closer - see the window?

Seashore Sweets.

Ugh. When I tell you that this has bothered me for YEARS, I am not kidding. That apostrophe - or lack thereof - is the only thing I can see when I look at the sign.






So finally I had to speak. I had to know why the apostrophes were inconsistent because - come on! - this is Disney. There HAD to be a good reason. And so there was. 

An excerpt from my letter to the BoardWalk Resort GM

With that letter, I attached a photo to illustrate the signs in question. Now that I've pointed it out, you are 100% never again going to be able to stroll the BoardWalk without thinking of me.

You're welcome.

The offending apostrophe

So today, as I sat at my desk willing time to go by a little faster so that we could end this loooooong week, a 407 area code appeared on my phone. As any Disney World fan knows, you don't ignore a 407 area code. Especially not when your next trip is just two weeks away.

To be honest? I had totally forgotten about the letter. I thought something was up with my reservation. I thought maybe I won something. I thought...well, basically I don't know what I thought, but it wasn't that the BoardWalk GM would be on the other end of the line.


There IS a story behind Seashore Sweets' - and, as expected, Disney was prepared to tell it.

GM - whose name I regretfully can't recall - began by telling me he had received my letter, and that he and his secretary had initially spent time discussing it earlier this week. Oh, and ps? I want that job. Can you imagine? The GM and his secretary just sitting at the hotel, taking field trips out on the boardwalk to debate an apostrophe at the candy shop. Sign me up.

Anyway, they talked about it and eventually, he told me, went to "WDI to get them involved. Oh - sorry, that's Walt Disney Imagineering, we just call it WDI here."

I laughed. Did he really think he needed to explain that to me?

"Ha - you don't need to explain that to me, I'm totally with you." Yes, I definitely told him that.

So they called WDI to find out what the story was, but before he shared it with me, he told me about how there's another sign (in Epcot) that a guest had similarly written in to question. WDI had an answer for that one, too. He said that every once in a while, a guest will write in with something that makes them have to dig a little.

Like my letter.

I apologized and told him I'd hoped he didn't think my letter was rude or a bad thing because it wasn't intended that way.

"Oh no, I knew. I could tell you really love the resort, and I could tell - you say you're an English nerd? I could tell you were a Disney nerd too."

GAH, WHY DO PEOPLE ASSUME THINGS? Just because I wrote to you about an apostrophe and spent five minutes talking to you about a sign in Epcot, that doesn't make me a-ohhhhh...wait. Yeah, wait a second.

Disney nerd? Guilty as charged.

At this point, as he's telling me that my letter was passed around to their WDI friends, my mind starts to wander. I'm wishing I could have recorded the call, and I'm wondering if these conversations with WDI could be thrown on a little "Magical Moment" certificate or something. I mean, not all of you will understand this, but for me?

It was kind of a big deal.

After he told me the story (which I will get to in just a second), I thanked him for clearing it up. I would've expected nothing less than for Disney to have a story for me. I told him that if I could do anything with my life, it'd be to work for WDI.

That's only partially true. Really? If I could do ANYTHING? I'd probably do nothing but ride the People Mover all day every day for the rest of forever. Telling stories, however, is a very close second. The histories woven into every inch of a Disney park or resort are what make it all so special. I guarantee you will appreciate your vacation for more than just rides on Space Mountain and pictures with Mickey if you know the story of Master Gracey's widow at the Haunted Mansion.

The phone call only lasted about five minutes, but by the time he told me the stories about the signs and talked to me about my trip in a couple weeks, it was enough pixie dust to make up for everything that has gone wrong to stress me out over the last couple of weeks.

So you wanna know about the signage:

First, the Epcot sign he referred to was one near Test Track that read (maybe reads? I haven't been there since Tron Track opened, so I'm not sure if signage was changed) "Play Safe." The guest believed it should be "Play Safely," but WDI determined that "Play Safe" was more kid friendly - moms are constantly yelling "PLAY SAFE!" so that's how the sign reads, too.

As for my girl, Seashore Sweets? WDI told GM that I actually answered my own question in my letter - they ARE both correct, and for exactly the reasons I stated.

The official line on Seashore Sweets' (the shop) is that it is owned by sisters, pictured in the sign above the store, who were former queens of the BoardWalk. Those of you who visit will recall the collection of Miss America regalia, paying homage to the pageants of Atlantic City's past. (I personally like to visit Miss America 1979, Kylene Barker.)

And the window? Also correct - the store is selling sweets on the seashore.

So there ya have it - mystery solved. I can now enjoy my confections with affection and not want to use a chocolate chip as a makeshift apostrophe on the window.

Before we hung up with a "see ya real soon!", GM told me he really wanted to call this afternoon so that he could end his week on a happy note. He said again that he could tell how special Disney World and the BoardWalk are to me, and he knew our conversation was going to be a great end to his day.

I was super excited after hanging up, of course, but it also made me wonder if it was actually a different kind of calling. It's not every day that something you write finds its way into the hands of Walt Disney Imagineering. But maybe it should be.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what we here in Fantasyland call a magical moment.