When I was 11, my family went to Disney World for the first (and only) time. It was everything and more I had dreamed about. At the time I was already an established TMNT fan. One day we took a trip to MGM studios and went on one of the many tours to see objects from famous movies and television shows. It got boring after a while so on one of the scheduled stops, we got off and went exploring. I remember turning a corner, looking up and going wide-eyed...I saw a sign that read "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Welcome to MGM Studios".
Of course, I went absolutely nuts. I jumped up and down, screamed my head off and pointed to the poster. My parents knew how much I loved the Turtles so we looked around for them. A man taking care of a food stand next to the stage with the sign told my father that they had just finished a show half an hour ago. He also gave us a newspaper of sorts which had an article about the TMNT in MGM Studios. Much to my dismay, the show we had just missed was the last one before their official induction into the theme park...the day after we were going home. I was positively heartbroken. The man said I could go on the stage and have a picture taken under the sign, but I sure wasn't smiling for this photo.
Dad spoke with the man while I was on the stage and soon, we were on our way out of the park. I told my parents I didn't want to go back to MGM Studios anymore during the trip, but that night dad said we'd have to go back first thing in the morning because 'he left something at the stand'. The next morning we were there a half hour before the park was scheduled to open. The man from the stand met us at the gate and took us in, telling dad his camera case was at the stand. We turned the corner to see the stage...and there they were!!! The Ninja Turtles were on the stage!! Well...my parents went crazy, pointing them out to me...all I could do was stand there with tears rolling down my face in shock. After a minute Leonardo came down and took my hand, leading me up on the stage. Once I came to my sences I bolted at Raph and jumped into his arms, giving him the biggest hug I could!! I didn't utter one word of sence, a few "I.." and "You're here"'s managed to come out at first, but I was too excited to speak. I got to spend 20 minutes with them on that stage, just running around, having dozens of pictures taken, jumping off the wooden boxes and just having fun. After a few minutes I got my voice back and couldn't speak fast enough about how much I loved them, telling each Turtle what I liked about him the best. All they could do was nod and give me a thumbs up...but that was ok. I spent the last few minutes with Raph, sitting in his lap. He had his arms around me and my head was just resting on his chest. He didn't say a word of course, but at that moment as a kid...I felt understood. I had a temper of my own and it was hard to control at the time, but just sitting there with my hero...it made me feel understood. Like someone out there knew what I was all about.
When it was time for them to go I was very sad, but it was ok. I gave each of them a hug, said goodbye, thank you and that I loved them...oh...and to say hi to Master Splinter for me. Once they left, my dad explained that the man who runs the food stand knew the Turtles personally and told them that their biggest fan wanted to say hello. I gave him a huge hug and told him thank you. Years later during a conversation at dinner, we were talking about Disney World and I asked my dad what really happened. He said that the man couldn't stand to see a child disappointed at Disney World, that it was supposed to be a place where dreams came true. He wanted to help make one more dream come true, so he arranged the meeting.
I'll never forget that day.
