Saying Goodbye to a Family Favorite

This weekend a family favorite closed at Hollywood Studios, and we were all sad to hear it.  Although, the Muppets in 3-D had needed to be updated for a decade or so, we would all miss it.  Bean and the 3-D character Waldo had been on my nerves for years, but even though I wasn't quite ready to say goodbye.  There had been a lot of fun family memories made in the show, and I know that all of the Heinisch children could recite the pre-show verbatim, tripping exactly when Gonzo demonstrated why it was important to find a seat before putting on the 3-D glasses.  Sam the Eagle's line "It's a glorious three-hour finale" followed by Kermit's response "You've got a minute and a half" could still bring a laugh in our home.  

Making the event even more bittersweet was seeing all of the goodbye pictures and finding out that Jim Henson's daughter had been the last person to walk out of the theater after the final showing.  I could still remember when the Muppets' creator died of pneumonia over thirty years ago.  Finding out that Muppets 3-D had been the last project he had worked on made it even sadder especially since I was there the year it opened.  Even before that, I had always been a Muppets fan starting from the moment I first saw Kermit on Sesame Street. I was glad that I passed that love along to my own children.  Nothing showed that more than the Sam the Eagle shirt that Brett wanted to wear to his rehearsal dinner or Cal asking Paw Paw to build him a bed for his beloved Kermit doll.  Although Meg had the most Muppet stuffed animals out of all of the Heinisch children, nothing proved loyalty more to the famed group than Cameron's infamous line "What if we all become Muppets when we grow up?"  

I guess that all good things must come to an end.  Thankfully, we got to experience the show many times over the years.  The other good thing that has come out of it closing is that the Muppets will now be taking over Rock N Roller Coaster.  Doug and I probably won't see them on that ride, but I know that all of our children will be glad to hear that.