Dispatch From Disneyland
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About a dozen men and women in bright orange clean suits worked around the ship. Some of them were loading baggage, some cleaning off debris from previous flights, and a pair were performing a pre-flight inspection. As they walked closer John noticed the captain's bars on the outside of the taller one's suit. Overcome by excitement John saluted.

The captain immediately straightened up and snapped off a quick salute right back at him and John realized he must be visible through the glass. A little embarrassed, but much more impressed, John ran off to find mother and father and tell them about the space shuttle and the captain.

It seemed like hours had gone by, but it had only been a few minutes, and John's mom had just reached the end of the queue. Dad was no where to be seen.

Unfortunately, by this time, Lil'bro did have to use the restroom. So John was duty bound to take him to the restroom closer to the counter. When they returned his mom and dad were waiting for him.

"We have a few minutes to kill boys. How about a quick tour of the facility?" asked their father. To John that was like offering to hand him a year supply of jawbreakers or trading a 1999 for a 2055 Pokémon card.

•   •   •

Loaded up in their personal people mover pod, the Baxter family floated slowly around the Walt Disney Space Port facility. First stop was the baggage and freight facilities. Here auto-sort bots looked at the tagged baggage containers and routed them to their appropriate destination ("at least we hope so," quipped John's mom). Giant freight containers lay by the side with supplies and luxuries destined for those living in space.

Next along the route lay the central control room for the complex. Much of the work of launching space craft is performed by computer, but giant holographic displays make it easy for the average visitor to understand what's going on. A quick demonstration from the lab coat clad facility director, one Mr. Johnson, and the Baxter family was off again.

After a slow winding tour of the rest of the space port the Baxter family's time to launch approached and the tour came to an end at the departure gate. The people mover slowed down and let John and his family off into a comfortably appointed lounge setting. Dozens of families waited in plush chairs and snacked on wine and cheese to help calm any nervous feelings they might have about space travel. Some families gathered near the observation windows to view the majestic ship they would be travelling in. Off to the side, a moving sidewalk would lead them directly into their compartment on the space shuttle.

John looked out through the windows and noted with some excitement that it was the same VX Dl2000 space shuttle he had glimpsed earlier in the day. He started to tell his mom about the captain saluting him, but he heard his family name called over the speaker system. Before he knew it he, his dad, mom and brother, were all on the moving sidewalk progressing toward the great shuttle.

As they entered the shuttle John felt surprised to see a familiar face. The captain, this time in dress uniform, saluted and smiled at the family. When John saluted back the captain reached behind his back and pulled out a Mickey Mouse Spaceman's Cap.

"Welcome aboard. Honorary Pilot John." the Captain said. "Wear this cap and you're entitled to a tour of the flight deck once we're in space and it's safe to move about."

"Can I bring my brother?" asked John.

"Sure, I'll find him a spaceman's cap as well." The captain paused and affected a serious look, "Alright. Be sure to buckle up tight for launch. We depart in just a few minutes." Next thing John knew, he was gone.

The last few minutes were endless for John. He couldn't fidget around in his seat; the buckles were too tight. He just sat and looked out the window as the last of the passengers were loaded in.

Finally, the words the whole family were waiting for came... "you are cleared for takeoff..." and then... they were zooming down the track into space. With electric surf guitar, and his mom, screaming in the background, John held his hands up and let himself go. Finally, he had made it onto Space Mountain.