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My Dad
When I was a kid, I lived and breathed baseball. The Team I was on was really good. The two seasons we played when I was eleven and twelve years old we lost only 2 games. Our team was so good that when they put together the All-Star team, when I was twelve, to represent our league, they only added two extra kids and took off one that was too young to play. At that time, my dad was coaching the teams. He was a good manager and believed we were good enough to win the Little League World Series. He actually would schedule his vacation for the last week in August, because if we went to the World Series it would be played before the end of August. This memory came back to me today, because the Little League World Series started in Williamsport Pennsylvania this week. As an adult, I still follow the LLWS, and I still follow baseball, but it isn’t the same as when you’re a kid. I remember one place we played that had a great refreshment stand. They had great fries and hot dogs. I remember sitting on the wooden bleachers and eating between games. There is a wonderful eating spot in the Magic Kingdom, where you can do this. It’s called Casey’s Corner. So, I present for you today the Unknown Magic of reliving childhood memories, in Casey’s Corner.

Casey’s Corner is a hot dog stand, plain and simple. They don’t serve burgers; they don’t serve chicken fingers; they serve hot dogs! They do have corn dog nuggets, a side of chili, and fries. But that’s it. It is a hot dog stand. As a kid, a Hot Dog Stand is like heaven. Its food you can eat with your hands. Your mom can’t yell at you for doing it, you’re supposed to eat it this way. Grab it, chomp on it and wash it down with some soda. And this Hot Dog stand is a Magical Experience just waiting for you.

If you catch it right, (which applies to any Magic Kingdom eatery) there isn’t any line. Of course at the normal lunch and dinner hours they are busy, especially at lunch. But there have been times when we have been in Casey’s Corner, that there wasn’t a person in line or even better, in the back of the shop, where you eat. This eating area is what makes Casey’s Corner Magical. There are a few tables in this area, but they
also have a set of old wooden bleachers to sit on while you enjoy your dogs. What a great way to eat. This is a childhood memory that everyone should have, eating a hot dog or fries while sitting on wooden bleachers. If you didn’t do this as a kid, now is your chance to do it.

As you are sitting on the bleachers eating, across the room from the bleachers is a wall size screen. On the screen, they play old cartoons. Most of them are Goofy cartoons, the ones where he is playing sports. Things like: How to Play Baseball, How to Play Baseball and Double dribble. All great Disney Shorts that have sports themes. Along with these great old shorts, there are baseball pictures, a scoreboard and a field marked off on the floor, it is such a neat place to sit and eat and get out of the sun for a few minutes.
The sitting area of the shop opens into Main Street Athletic Club a great shop that sells Disney sports related merchandise (This shop is part of the row of shops that connects the whole side of the street to the Main Street Emporium). It also opens onto the very end of Main Street and looks directly at Cinderella Castle.

So, now you know, when you walk down Main Street USA and you’re a little hungry, you can stop in and get yourself a hot Dog and have Magical Experience of reliving childhood memories, or create some while you‘re in Casey’s Corner.

** This post was originally titled “Don’t Strike Out” and was posted at the end of April. For the few people that read it, I apologize for repeating the post, but in re-reading it, I wanted to re-work it to make it closer to one of our current blogs. I also wanted to add some pictures from our recent trip.