Going Back for Some More...

[MadEye]

Unbelievable. I get one line and it's about being hungry when Len needs help? And I'm wanting just a regular burger? Not something from one of the table service restaurants? C'mon...

It did seem uncharacteristic of you...maybe it's because it's a different character altogether!

Shaggy... Oy!!!

[Amy]

Sorcerer Mickey and Tink! Yay! And mousketainment that needs to go in the subictionary

[mindflipper]

EDIT: Muppet Labs manage to separate Day 8 from Day 9 after the error caused by an interruption on Len90's iphone. Remember, this technology has not be used in the field before Len90's trip. In fact, they are amazed there has not been any injuries. In the lab tests the iphone app had been known to explode or electrocute its owners, but Muppet Labs felt reasonably sure they finally got those bugs out before they installed the app on his iphone for this field test.

DAY 8: JULY 03, 2010
Data transmission resumed – 07/03/2010 10:44 AM

“I’m awake!”said Len loudly.

Len found himself in his bed back in his room at the Yacht Club Resort. He was dressed in clothes he normally sleeps in. Len was momentarily discombobulated as he was getting his bearings. There were so many questions. What happened? How did he get back here? How did ….

“Are you feeling better, Len?” asked his mother, who was seated with his father at a table in the room reading the newspaper.

“Mom! Dad!” exclaimed Len. “I found Mark!”

His father looked at him sternly. “Why, Len? Did you lose him again? Where did you misplace him this time?”

“Your father is joking,” said Len’s mother. “Your brother said you were having bad dreams last night before the fever broke. You’ve been really sick the last two days.”

“You picked up a really nasty flu bug from someone on the plane or the airport.”

Fever? Len had no recollection of having a fever. Len felt confident he had not been ill. He was sure of it. But as doubts crept in his confident “sure” was reduced to a “maybe”. Len had wondered if he had been ill. He did feel exhausted, but Len felt that was perfectly natural after the hectic chaos of the past 30 or more hours.

At that time to door to the room opened and closed, and Mark appeared before them. “How’s my little brother?”

“Your brother stayed up last night with you until the fever broke early this morning,” their mother said. Len was disappointed; it seemed his brother recalled the past few days no differently than his parents.

“Come on everybody,” said their father. “It’s getting late. If Len can get dressed quickly, we can still make breakfast.”

As Len ate breakfast at one of the resort’s restaurants with his family he felt more and more certain the crazy events he remembered did in fact happened. He knew they were not a dream. He did not understand why everyone else could not remember, but he was sure that his memories were real and not imaginary. Then he had an idea. After breakfast he went by the front desk. “Excuse me, but is it possible to get a copy of my room charges to date,” asked Len. Len remembered the large dollar amount of room charges Iago had managed to spend the other day. That would be his proof. However, when he got the print-out of bill, there were no charges to the room. All of Iago’s charges had been wiped clean.

He went back up to the rooms with his family as they prepared to spend their last day of their trip at the Magic Kingdom. Upon getting his camera and iphone, he found a business card. It was Fred. P. Milpin’s business card. Finally, he had his proof! It was not a fantasy! “Who’s business card is this?” Len asked his parents.

“That’s the doctor who visited you. He prescribed the antibiotics,” explained his father.
Len looked at the card again, and this time noticed it actually said Dr. Fred P. Milpin, M.D. Could it be a crazy coincidence his name is an anagram for Mindflipper?

Len gave up. He would just have to somehow accept that what he remembered isn’t what really happened. It was his last day at Walt Disney World, as tomorrow he flew back to New Jersey so he wasn’t going to waste it. It would be his last day in any of the theme parks, so he was going to make the most of it. Using his trusty iphone, Len mapped out the best course to utilize fast passes and shortest stand-by line wait times to maximize the number of rides they could enjoy on their last day.

He saw a Minnie Mouse twice that day, but never THE Minnie Mouse. Even if his memory was in doubt, his ability to tell the difference between a Disney Character and THE Disney Character was never in question. But as he recalled the events he remembered, he couldn’t help but think it was a crazy coincidence that many things that happened to him or he saw were connected to topic threads from the Subsonic Boards. Could it be as Mindflipper – no, make that Yogi Bear really – had said about the things get thrown away his mind? That the subconscious “goes dumpster diving in that trash to use that junk in your dreams”?

The family dined at Tony’s for dinner that night, and afterwards found a good spot on Main Street to watch the Disney’s Electrical Parade again for the final time this trip. On the previous night they had watched, there was a brief technical glitch, but it didn’t spoil it all for Len although it gave Mark another chance to record it all without the glitch.

They stayed and watched the fireworks, which were the special fireworks show just for that Fourth of July weekend. Len enjoyed the fact he got to see two different fireworks shows during this trip to Disney World. After the fireworks show, Len’s parents decided to head back to the Yacht Club, while each brother decided to spend their last night in the Magic Kingdom going their own separate ways. Len wanted to spend every last second of every last minute he could in the park, and luckily the park was open late tonight.



Len took the opportunity to get some more night shots for the “Disney In The Dark - Photo Tribute to Disney Magic at Night” on Subsonic. When looking at the pictures stored on his camera of pictures he took during the trip, there were many picture he could not remember taking. Why not? He could not understand why the dream made him forget everything. It was nagging at him. He checked his iphone pictures and found the same results. Even the photos he had of Dr. Drakken and Dr. Doofenschmirtz weren’t there. Len decided he would go and get a Dole Whip. He needed one, even if it wasn’t spiked like the ones Mousekedude would enjoy.

As Len walked along, something grasped his shoulder and startled him. A large red parrot had landed on his shoulder to perch. “Iago?” asked Len stunned by the bird’s appearance. The bird did not reply, for it had something in its beak. It dropped the object into Len’s left hand, and having done so, flew off quickly without making or noise or saying a word. Len looked down at the object. It was sunglasses, with each lens of the glasses being Mickey shaped. It looked just like the sunglasses in his dream that Mindflipper - no, make that Yogi Bear really – had fixed the negate Disney’s Misperception Field. Then Len wondered – could it really be the exact same sunglasses?

Len had always felt that Disney Magic was real, but he never imagined the true scope of Disney Magic. Could the sunglasses from his dreams be real? Len felt daring and put the Mickey shaped sunglasses on, and was overwhelmed with awe with what he saw. There was dozens…perhaps hundreds…of tiny lights as the fairies flew around Adventure land spreading the sparkling, glowing magic dust upon the park guests. Everywhere Len went, he beheld such incredible things that he never imagine. At the Haunted Mansion, ethereal ghosts flew through the queue sniffing out the first-time riders and gently blowing a chill down their spine. At the Pirates of the Caribbean he could see the unseen pirates instill the pirate spirit into guests with the lilting scents from their magical bottles of rum. Len wondered if Boilerdude had exposed to these one bottles one too many times on a previous trip to Disney World. But Len knew beyond any doubt now that he had not been ill, and everything he remembered was not the result of a delusional fever. Tomorrow, he would bring his family here and show them with the glasses the truth about….

Then Len realized. Tomorrow the family flies back home. Today was the last day his family would be in the parks until their next trip to Disney World. His family would never know the truth, and Len would have to be just satisfied with knowing the truth of what happened, even if no one else would.

11:59 PM 07/03/2010 CATASTROPHE system trip report cut-off
System recording for next report starts with 12:00 AM 07/04/2010

[Amy]

In the lab tests the iphone app had been known to explode or electrocute its owners, but Muppet Labs felt reasonably sure they finally got those bugs out before they installed the app on his iphone for this field test

reasonable insurance -
That would be so cool to actually have those glasses to see the fairies spreading fairy dust and the ephemeral ghosties lurking about

[Sleepy90]

Sheer Brilliance Mindflipper.......and now in honour of your achievement may I bestow you with the title.

Subsonic Imagineer of the Year 2009-10

Stand up and take your applause

[mindflipper]

DAY 9: JULY 04, 2010


Len woke up, and noticed Mark’s bed was empty and his bags were already packed. He tried to find his brother last night at the Magic Kingdom so he could see the things he saw in the sunglasses that Mindflipper – no, make that Yogi Bear – had enhanced with Disney Magic, but he never found him. Mark did not answer his phone calls. When the park closed, Len returned the Yacht Club and went to bed, but his brother wasn’t there already. He woke up briefly in the night when his brother sneaked in, but he was asleep when he sneaked out of the room early. Where was Mark? What was he doing?

Len got up, got dressed, and went down to meet his parents for breakfast. Today was his last day in Disney World. They would be flying back home, which made it the saddest day on the trip for Len. He wished the trip didn’t have to end. After breakfast, he got back up to his room to pack as a bellhop was dropping off a package to his room. “This was left downstairs for you. We were told it had to be delivered urgently.”

Len gave the bellhop and took the package. It was a box, chocolate brown in color, wrapped in bright green ribbon and had a bright green bow on top. He opened the box to find a plush Yogi Bear toy inside with a note card that read: Len, thanks for your help in stopping Dastardly and Muttley. We couldn’t have done it without you. It was signed with the initials “YB”. He noticed something was written on the back as well: P.S., remember how I said that the fairy magic dust could make people forget the outside world and open their eyes to the joy of Disney World? It can make them forget even more, too. Mousekecontainment Level One. Again, signed with the initials “YB”.

As Len walked to the elevators everything became clear to him. He had heard THE Mickey Mouse use those words – “Mousekecontianment Level One” – to THE Tinkerbell down in the Disney Magic Core chamber of Vault Disney. It had to be reason his family did not remember anything about Mark’s abduction or why no at all anywhere seemed to be aware of the take-over of Disney World by duplicates of Dick Dastardly and Muttley. Tinkerbell and her legion of fairies used their magic dust to make people forget such events. But why did he remember? Why didn’t the magic dust work on him?

Len went to the elevator to return to his room, and was surprised when the elevator opened to discover Minnie Mouse waiting for him inside the elevator. Not a Minnie Mouse – but THE Minnie Mouse. Finally, on the eve of his departure, Len was once more reunited with THE Minnie Mouse. Len got into the elevator and the door closed. “Len, I had to see you before you go back home,” said Minnie Mouse. “I wanted to thank you personally for saving Walt Disney World.”

“Minnie,” said Len. “Why don’t you come back with me? We can be together just….”

But Minnie Mouse interrupted. “Len, you will always be dear to my heart and we will share a friendship special to us both, but…I’m sorry, Len…my heart will always belong to Mickey.”

Len was hurt, but he did not show it. He had a smile on his face as he lied to Minnie by telling her he understood. He got out of the elevator and returned to his room, where he finished all of his packing. The bellhop arrived to collect all the luggage from both rooms, and Len and his parents descended together to the lobby – but the absence of Mark was Len’s mind during the time. It helped him to forget about the rejection he received earlier. Where was Mark?

Upon reaching the lobby Len and his parents found a well-dressed chaffeur in a black cap holding a sign with Len’s name. It was the family’s intent to use the Disney bus service to the airport but a limousine had been provided to Len and his family free-of-charge. Len was headed a letter and read its content: Dear Len, Thanks for everything you did! I hope you and your family enjoy the limousine ride back to the airport. Your friend, Mickey.

In smaller print below Len saw the following added: P.S., keep your hands off my gal, pal!

As the bellhops loaded the luggage into the trunk of the limousine, Mark finally appeared and apologized for his tardiness in joining them so late before departure. Mark had a large grin on his face as he seemed to be happy. Happy? Why? Len couldn’t understand. Leaving Walt Disney World only generated misery for himself. He didn’t understand his brother’s odd sense of joy.

The grin on Mark’s face persisted all through the airport and upon boarding the plan. The entire journey through the Orlando airport presented no hazards or delays that would cause any ill humor or anger, but nothing that would put such a grin on anybody’s face. Aboard the airplane, Mark took the window seat and Len the seat next to him. Len studied his brother and his grin, and for the first time noticed some discoloration on the side of Mark’s face. Len took a closer look, and said to his brother, “Mark, what’s that on your face? Is it…lipstick?”

Mark’s face quickly blushed, and turned a red as nearly intense in color as that of the lipstick smudge left on his cheek. Mark awkwardly nodded his head. Len noted his brother’s silence and continued, “Who’s lipstick, Mark?”

The grin on Mark’s face got wider, if such feat was in fact accomplishable. “Daisy,” Mark answered with a small cough afterwards.

“Daisy…..Duck??”

“That’s right,” replied Mark as he held up his hand to his brother. “She even wrote her phone number on my hand.”

Len was shocked to see that there was in fact a phone number written with a marker on the back of Mark’s hand. Len pressed his brother to provide further details as he was genuinely shocked by this unexpected revelation. As Mark told his brother his tale, Len’s imagination flash-backed to those events:

On the final night of Len and his family being in Magic Kingdom, their parents returned to the Yacht Club shortly after the holiday fireworks show. Len and his brother decided to enjoy their final time in the parks separately that night. Shortly after Len went off in his own direction Mark encountered a man whom he had never met. He was tall, wore a brown suit with a green tie, and engendered some sense of familiarity that contradicted the fact that Mark had never seen him before. He called him by name, and told Mark he was returning something he had lost. Mark opened the bag and removed from it a red fez hat. Mark seemed to remember that he purchased one at EPCOT, but could not recollect how he lost. He thought about it more and slowly images came to his mind. “I lost it…at EPCOT…when I was with Len…on top of Spaceship Earth…”

Then Mark remember everything that magic fairy dust made him forget. He turned to thank Mindflipper – no, make that Yogi Bear – but he was already gone. As he scanned the crowds for him, he saw Daisy Duck. Mark knew it was not a Daisy Duck, but THE Daisy Duck. Daisy winked flirtatiously at Mark, who awkwardly pointed to himself in disbelief. “I wanted to say how brave you and your brother were in saving Disney World. We all are so grateful. I was wondering…would you like to share a Dole Whip with me?”

And with that a whirlwind romance blossomed between Mark and Daisy Duck.

“We spent last night together into the early hours of the morning,” explained Mark to Len. “This morning too. We had breakfast together. It turns out that she and Donald are not in any kind of a committed relationship. He’s never even proposed to her.”

Len found it so hard to take all the information his brother imparted to him on the plane. His brother had a spontaneous passionate affair with Daisy Duck while he suffered painfully from the heartbreak caused from rejection he received from Minnie Mouse. Not only did Len try to deny the sibling jealousy he felt towards Mark, but he spent the rest of the flight trying not to let it show. He should have been happy that at least now his brother remembered everything that happened but he couldn't get past his newfound relationship with Minnie Mouse. Len saved Disney World and...his brother ended up with girl? It did not feel right to Len.

The plane landed in New Jersey, the family retrieved their luggage, and drove to their home. Upon entering his room at home, he only unpacked one or two items before leaving the rest of his luggage and its contents untouched. He wasn’t in the mood. He flopped down on his bed, between a plush Minnie Mouse toy and a plush Yogi Bear toy, and just stared up at the ceiling. He laid there on his bed, not moving and not making a sound….

“Is Len Okay?” asked the brothers’ Mother of Mark.

“Len’s okay,” replied Mark. “You know how he gets after a trip to Disney World.”

“He just seems worse this time.”

“Give him time,” advised Mark.

“Alright,” said the Mother. “Meanwhile, let’s talk about this new girlfriend of yours. When do we get to meet her? Maybe you could have her over? We can go out to that new Chinese restaurant. I’ve heard they have a fabulous Peking Duck.”

The awkward situation left Mark speechless.

Len overheard every word of the conversation in the hall outside his room, but he didn’t move. Len was suffering from Post Trip Traumatic Syndrome (PTTS), a consuming melancholy resulting from returning back from extended visit to Walt Disney World. It was far worse than any PTTS he had before. It could be worse because he had days of excitement, adventure, and really wild things happening to him in the most magical place on the planet and now he felt marooned in the polar opposite of that – New Jersey. It could also be worse by the fact of the heartache he felt after his break-up with Minnie Mouse. And on top of that, his brother is dating Daisy Duck after he lost Minnie. Len was downright miserable. And yet, far back in his mind there were sparks of his imagination, thinking and planning another trip to Walt Disney World. And who knows? There could always be some more excitement, adventure and really wild things…

08:00 PM 07/04/2010 CATASTROPHE system trip report cut-off
System recording terminated – completion of field test for subject Len90

EDIT: This completes the field test of Muppet Labs field test of the CATASTROPHE field test. So far, given that no one received an injuries as a result of using the product under development, Muppet Labs considers it so far to be a great success. If you wish to discuss this field test in further detail, a new topic thread has been created:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6456

[Amy]

Len saved Disney World and...his brother ended up with girl?

It is always the quiet ones

[Future Guy]

So, both Len and Mark have a giant-headed anthropomorphic animal fetish?

[mindflipper]

So, both Len and Mark have a giant-headed anthropomorphic animal fetish?

Not "a" Disney Character, "THE" Disney character, so that would make it...wait, no, we must keep this Rated G, people!!!!

[mindflipper]

I want to say THANKS! to both Len90 and Mark86 for being good humored about the trip report, and look forward to them posting their actual trip reports soon.

[NaCler]

Excellent job mindflipper. I guess we can consider the Story Time With... thread closed. I don't think we could top this.

[mindflipper]

Excellent job mindflipper. I guess we can consider the Story Time With... thread closed. I don't think we could top this.

Not closed, but needing to be re-imagined? Problem with the collaborative format is that it makes it hard to devise a well developed plot. Maybe we need to do it as a short-story posting?

[Amy]

Excellent job mindflipper. I guess we can consider the Story Time With... thread closed. I don't think we could top this.

Not closed, but needing to be re-imagined? Problem with the collaborative format is that it makes it hard to devise a well developed plot. Maybe we need to do it as a short-story posting?

A re-furbishing if you will...

[MmeLeota]

Mindflipper! You are such an amazing writer, and I have thoroughly enjoyed every moment of this story...er...experiment!

[mindflipper]

Mindflipper! You are such an amazing writer, and I have thoroughly enjoyed every moment of this story...er...experiment!

I'm kinda disappointed, MmeLeota. I hoped it at least would have gotten a "Holy Crap on Stick!" from you.