True confession time: Disney World does not excite me.

This is not to say I am anti-Disney. Nor is it to say I’m not excited and curious and really looking forward to this weekend’s journey to Orlando, Fla. and the wonderful world of Disney Marathon weekend. But I don’t ever remember being overly jazzed about Disney World. I was more a Muppets girl (and yes, I realize that Disney acquired the Muppets back in 2004, but they were separate during my formative years). Nothing at all against Mickey and Minnie and company. I liked them and all, but there was something about Kermit and Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear and of course Gonzo the Great.

Maybe it comes from not being an amusement park girl. While the idea of amusement parks was enticing, I’m much more of a county fair kind of girl. Heck, I don’t even remember dreaming of a Walt Disney World vacation. I was more interested in Cooperstown, Toronto, the Reading Rainbow van and Laura Ingalls Wilder.

But that does not mean I’m devoid of the Disney spirit.

It’s just that my Disney spirit is a bit outside of my generational scope.

Somewhere in the television universe during my youth lived reruns of the Mickey Mouse Club. Not the slick 1980s version but the original back-and-white versions my mother grew up watching. Also inherited was an album of songs from the Mickey Mouse Club. For some reason, this is the Disney that caught my eye. And my ear.

To this day I can sing some of the odd-ball songs from the original Mickey Mouse Club.

Today is Tuesday. You know what that means. We’re gonna have a special guest. So get out the broom. Sweep the place clean. And dust off the mat so the welcome can be seen. (ba-dah-dah-dah) Roll out the carpet. Strike up the band. And give a little hip-hooray. (Hip Hooray!) Wiggle your ears. Like good Mousketeers. We’re gonna present a guest today. ‘Cuz Tuesday is guest start day.

I also know a few verses of the “Talent Rodeo,” the theme of Friday shows, but I’ll save that for my friends in Orlando. And don’t forget the sign-off:

M-I-C see ya real soon. K-E-Y why? because we like you! M-O-U-S-E

Ah, never did I claim to be typical either in my youth or my so-called adulthood.

But now, the excitement of traveling to Disney is starting to grow. Hey there! Hi there! Ho there! How many sayings and songs from my childhood can I trot out this weekend? After all, it doesn’t have to be all about the Mouse. Who says I can’t spontaneously burst into the theme song from Reading Rainbow?

And now that some logic starts to kick in … if Disney purchased the Muppets, might I actually get to meet Gonzo? Or Kermit? Or Miss Piggy?

Hmm. Perhaps I’m starting to understand the wonder of Disney.