In my 39 years on this blue rock, I had never been to Disney World.  My parents never took me there when I was a kid, but then again, we did live just a very short distance from Hersheypark, so I've been there alot (and it is better than Disney World).  A couple of weeks ago, me, Mrs. Commissioner and the Little Deputies headed to see the Mouse.

I'm not sure what I was expecting.  You win the Super Bowl, apparently you immediately NEED to go to Disney World. Figure skating gold in the Olympics, express flight to the Mouse.  I think I was expecting an amusement park the size of the Grand Canyon.  I was surprised it wasn't that big. 

We spent a day at the Magic Kingdom, and one day at Epcot.  The lines were not oppresive, as I had been led to believe they were.  There were surprisingly few roller coasters.  The little deputy and I rode Space Mountain.  As we got off the ride, I asked my blossoming 5 year old roller coaster enthusiast what he thought, and he replied, "it didn't go upside down".

When I told some of my friends about going to see the Mouse, EVERYONE suggested I drink beers around the world at Epcot.  As Beer Commissioner, they just thought that I should drink 13 different beers in 13 different pretend countries.  That is an excellent idea in theory.  There is only one small problem in practice.  I simply forgot to get a second mortgage on my house before I left on the trip.

We went to Epcot on the first day.  Mrs. Commissioner, who is simply the greatest wife on the planet, made reservations at the German Biergarten.  She knows how much I love Germans, and she knows how much I love beer.  And she knows how much I love the chicken dance.  All of those things were at the German Biergarten.  There were 6 people in our party.  The Biergarten is an all you can eat buffet, which means the little deputies ate chicken nuggets and mac and cheese.  I had exactly 1 beer, 2 potatoes, some sauerkraut, 3 sausages, and a piece of chicken.

We heard some great German beer drinking songs,and then they brought the bill.  There were no prices on the menu, and in fact, there was no menu.  I was thinking the bill would be in the $120 ish neighborhood.  Sadly, I wasn't even in the neighborhood.  I had to pawn my autograph book to a 7 year old to pay the bill.  After getting the bill, I did get more pudding, but didn't dare order another beer.

That night, when we got back to the hotel, I immediately checked my stock portfolio.  I secretly prayed the market went up.  I didn't know how I was going to fund the rest of the trip.  After buying dinner, lollipops, a spray bottle with a little helicopter propeller on it, and 227 bottles of water, I calculated I spent the Gross Domestic Product of Andorra.  I did figure out why they call it the happiest place on earth.  They aren't talking about the parents.  They are talking about the big smile Mickey has when he walks to the bank every day.

The Little Deputies had fun, which in the end is all that counts.  I did not drink the beers from around the world, as I determined, it would actually be WAY cheaper to actually travel all around the world to buy the beer, but I had a good time watching the boys have a good time.