Right off the bat, let’s answer that title question. No…I have not climbed Mt. Everest, the tallest mountain on the surface of the Earth. I readily admit that. Nowadays, it’s become something to do if you’ve got 20 or 30 thousand dollars and 2 months to kill. Even the barely trained seem to be climbing Everest. According to books and articles I have read, it’s a growing problem. I’ll state for the record that I don’t want to climb the highest peak in the world. That’ll be one less person in the way of the really experienced climbers who tackle this remarkable feat of standing on the top of the world. They deserve the glory. So, what does all this have to do with Disney Stuff you might ask? Of course there’s a story here, and, like so many things in my life, it has to do with Walt Disney World.
We all have lots of Disney Stuff around us. That’s what this series of articles has been about for the past two years. More importantly, it’s been about the different stories and memories that all this Disney Stuff brings back to us. Every day for the past two months I’ve been wearing a Mickey watch that my wife bought for me on our last trip. It was a very tender moment between us and I’ll probably wear it until it falls off my wrist. Every time we go back to Disney, I pin the Sorcerer Mickey pin that I got on our first trip onto my backpack and it reminds me of the trip that started it all for us. These are the types of stories and memories that these pieces of “Stuff” elicit for us. Today I want to talk about something that has a story behind it, and has continued to create its own story year after year: my Expedition Everest fleece jacket. It’s become one of my all time favorite articles of clothing and a great piece of my Disney collection.
My “official” expedition jacket. Photo by Chris Barry.
I bought the jacket in the shop in Serka Zong after a particularly chilly but always thrilling run on Animal Kingdom’s Expedition Everest. Warm, thick fleece and Orlando don’t seem to belong in the same sentence. That’s what I thought as I ventured down to MouseFest in December of ’08. I packed for Florida as I usually do—several pairs of shorts and T-shirts. I had the jeans and long sleeve shirt that I wore on the plane and that was it. It seemed a little chilly as I boarded my Magical Express bus but it was night and I didn’t think much of it. My flight was late, so when I arrived at Caribbean Beach I went straight to bed. Imagine my surprise when the alarm went off early the next morning and the television told me it was 40 degrees outside in sunny Florida.
We had been at Walt Disney World once before in December and had pleasant mid 70’s temps. It was a pleasure and a break from our usual, sweltering trips in August. Needless to say I wasn’t prepared. I shivered my way to the food court, got a hot chocolate, and made my way to the bus stop in shorts, a T-shirt, and my WDW windbreaker. It had to warm up. This was Florida after all. I struggled through several meet and greets that morning, chatting with other web site authors and talking to readers. I’m sure I looked uncomfortable shivering in Animal Kingdom—traditionally one of the hotter parks, but I was coping. That is, until the big drop on Expedition Everest. The air was cold, and speeding down that drop I might as well have been on top of a mountain in the Himalayas.
As I entered the Serka Zong Bazaar, I knew I had to find something warmer. I was thinking a nice thick sweatshirt, probably emblazoned with Mickey or the Animal Kingdom logo. That would be just fine. I spotted the fleece, felt its warmth, and it was all I could do to get to the register and put it on. I was toasty for the remainder of the trip, especially after the Mickey thermal shirt I bought at the Emporium on Main Street was on under my nice, new, warm fleece jacket. Welcome to December in Orlando!
What I like most about this jacket is that it’s not obviously Disney at all. As a matter of fact, you have to look hard to see and read the words “Disney’s Animal Kingdom” on the back. I ‘m certainly not opposed to wearing Disney clothing, but sometimes you need to take off the mouse and wear something else. I like the subtlety of a piece of Disney clothing like this—and that kind of thing seems to be harder to find. At first glance, this looks like a fairly standard active-sport-type of fleece, that maybe…just maybe…might be a legitimate expedition fleece.
A close-up of the back of the jacket. Photo by Chris Barry.
As soon as it gets chilly up here in New York, as it recently has, I raid the cedar closet and start to bring out my warmer clothes. When I get to the Expedition Everest jacket, I smile because it’s one of my favorites, but also because I know what’s coming.
“Wow…you climbed Mt. Everest?”
“When did you climb Everest?”
“Did you really climb Mt. Everest?”
If it says so on the jacket it must be the truth. Photo by Chris Barry.
If I had a dollar for every time I’ve been asked something like that while I’m wearing this jacket, I could probably pay for it all over again, and it wasn’t that cheap. It’s a guarantee. If I put it on and head out shopping, or wherever, I will get asked if I’ve been to the highest mountain in the world. I suppose it’s a compliment. Maybe I look that rugged and adventurous? I don’t really think so, but I like the fact that I may look that way. Of course, I let them all down and tell them, “No…but I’ve been on the ride at Disney World.” To us out here in Fantasyland, that’s impressive, to the rest of the world…maybe not so much. I guess, despite the commercialization of Everest, and the fact that inexperienced celebrities and rich executives are probably, as you read this, in a plush tent at Everest’s base camp, the mountain still fascinates people and always will. I suppose that’s why they ask. I’ve never actually met someone that reached the summit of Everest. I suppose if I did, I might want to speak to them too. It’s still one of the world’s great achievements.
The jacket is covered in cool patches that reinforce the attraction’s backstory. Here are the patches from the arms.
These are the patches on the back.
I swear I don’t wear it for the questions. It’s comfortable and warm. I like the way it looks and it reminds me of an amazing weekend at MouseFest and meeting all of you out there in the Disney online community. I hit all four parks in one day wearing this jacket, and who knows when that’s going to happen again. It’s just another example of something that we buy in the parks cementing itself into our lives—and that’s what this column has been all about, hasn’t it?
As I write this, it’s approaching 73 degrees in New York, so the fleece is staying in the closet today. But soon enough, I’ll be in the bagel store or in line at the bank and inevitably, someone will feel the urge to ask me the question. One of these days, maybe I’ll play along and see what it feels like to “climb” Everest in my mind and see how they react. I doubt it, though. I don’t think I could pull it off. I’m sure I can’t do the mountain justice, and out of respect to those who actually do summit, I’ll stick with my answer. Besides, riding a coaster like Expedition Everest probably excites more people in a given day than the real Everest does, so what’s wrong with my answer?
I’d be curious to see if there’s anyone else out there in the MousePlanet universe that happened to buy this jacket and has experienced the same thing.
Let me know your thoughts and I’ll see you next time with some more of that great Disney Stuff.
