Magic Kingdom

The morning of the Bandell-Strachan wedding dawned cloudy and gray.By mid-afternoon, as the bridal party assembled at Walt Disney World's Grand Floridian Beach Resort, the talk was of rain.The air was misty as the guests were shepherded onto a triangular lawn bordered by the ornate, white tiers of the Victorian-style hotel, the soaring concrete arches of the Magic Kingdom monorail and the willow-dotted shores of Seven Seas Lagoon.A languid breeze stirred the white cloth covering a boardwalk that led between rows of gold chairs to a low platform.

Remember the E-ticket?Twenty-five years ago, before Walt Disney World went to a one-price admission, tickets labeled from A to E were required for each ride. An A-ticket, the least expensive, was good only for wimpy little rides. E-tickets were the most sought after, because they admitted you to the most sophisticated attractions, among them the Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Everyone wanted E-tickets.To celebrate its 25th anniversary, Disney World is staging an "E-ticket" celebration starting Oct. 1. You won't really need the once-coveted coupon to attend, but Disney is tagging the event as one of E-ticket caliber.

KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- It's breakfast time at one of the zillion hotels that feed off Disney World, and here we are with the Bravo family of Ecuador: Poppa Bravo, Momma Bravo and two little Bravos restlessly eating their porridge.Truth be told, all of the Bravos are pretty darned eager to head back to Disney World, and this is not because of the big anniversary celebration at the Theme Park of the Universe.It is because, well, because Disney World is Disney World, an ever-evolving mega-resort that has redefined the way Americans and many other people vacation.

"It's the Goofster,'' shouted the Daddy, scooping up Sam and Sophie and running across the crowded room toward a man in an orangish dog costume. ''Goofy! Goofy!'' the kids shouted.This is a ''Character Breakfast,'' a $9.95 feature on a fake Mississippi riverboat in an artificial lake in a make-believe universe called Disney World. The Daddy is one of the toughest guys I've ever known, Steven Brill, the founder of The American Lawyer and owner of about half the big law journals in this republic of lawyers.

When Walt Disney World opened in Orlando, Fla., in 1971, my parents wasted no time in taking my sister Nancy and me, and our best friend, Carolyn. We stayed in the Contemporary Resort, took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom, and could not imagine anything better. Universal Studios Florida debuted in 1990 and I showed up soon after to check it out - this time pushing my own little boys in a stroller, and meeting Carolyn and her son at the gate. We spent a lot of time in Fievel's Playland.

WALT DISNEY WORLD, Fla. You would think that Celine Dion would have gotten the best seat in the restaurant that night. But no, there the pop diva was -- our gossipy waiter had pointed her out -- filing in from the open-air observation deck with the rest of the crowd. Meanwhile, I sat regally at a table by a vast window and, between courses, enjoyed an unobstructed view of the very same fireworks that poor little Celine had schlepped out to see. I didn't have special tickets or celebrity status or Disney connections or even press privileges to pave my way. As a greenhorn to Walt Disney World, I didn't even have a prior visit for a frame of reference.

Paris. -- The American Dream arrived just outside Paris this week in the form of the EuroDisney amusement park, and while France welcomed Mickey Mouse and his friends with uncharacteristic enthusiasm, some here are wondering if the presence of an American enclave in the heart of Europe will not turn into a nightmare.Once proud of smirking at anything American, the French turned last Sunday's opening into a state occasion. The national press covered the inauguration as if it were one of the most important events in modern French history, and for weeks people seemed to have little else on their minds.

Things my family did not see during a recent trip to Walt Disney World:* Nancy Kerrigan, by herself or with her new pal, Mickey Mouse.* Michael Jackson's "Captain EO" film, which is still playing at Epcot Center despite the entertainer's recent public-relations problems. (The movie was apparently broken the night we went to see it.)* Disney Chairman Michael Eisner, who was too busy bailing out Euro Disney to vacation in Florida.Things my family did see at Disney World:* A business where service is not just a slogan.

THE FLICKER OF HOPE that tantalizes parents wanting to bequeath some of their warmest childhood memories grows dimmer with each year that the Enchanted Forest Theme Park in Ellicott City remains closed. A stern "No Trespassing" sign hangs on the white castle that for decades introduced a fantasy wonderland to young children. Sadly, the park will not reopen any time soon, or probably ever.The park began in 1954 -- a year before Disneyland -- targeting children who consider 10-year-olds to be grown-ups.

Members of the Blackburn family of Forest Hill didn't attend Sunday's Super Bowl in New Orleans, but they probably experienced the next best thing about the Baltimore Ravens' heart-stopping 34-31 win over the San Francisco 49ers. Scott and Kim Blackburn and their children, Brooke, 9, and Ethan, 5, were visiting Disney World in Orlando on Monday where they saw Ravens quarterback and Super Bowl MPV Joe Flacco make the traditional day after the game appearance at the Magic Kingdom. "It was cool," Scott Blackburn said by phone from Orlando, adding that the family vacation to Disney World this week ended up being perfectly scripted.