Magic Kingdom

The 76ers' presidency could have been Julius Erving's for the asking. Sixers president Pat Croce confirmed he made that offer because he did not want to see Erving, who played 11 seasons for Sixers, leave the Philadelphia area. "He's part of the fabric of the Sixers, he is the Sixers," Croce said yesterday, a few hours before Erving was named executive vice president of the Orlando Magic and vice president of RDV Sports, the team's parent company. Croce attempted to add Erving to the Sixers' organization last year, and had additional discussions the last few weeks.

We took a cruise with 912 children, 911 of whom were not ours. For people who don't like other people's kids in such quantities, or who believe that cruise ships are floating tubs of gluttony and indolence, this must all sound like a nightmare. There was a moment when the poolside noise level was enough to make Davy Jones himself swim up to the surface and tell us to hold it down, but Davy Jones was actually at the party. At least everyone went quiet when the ship launched the fireworks.

I have made my peace with Walt Disney World. I walked right into the Magic Kingdom and surrendered. Goofy saw me do it. He laughed. It was not easy. I had resisted going to these Disney things for years. They seemed dangerously close to thought control - George Orwell's 1984, with Old Walt as the Minister of Fun. That scares me, even when it's all in fun. I finally came here earlier this year, and for a couple of reasons: To be with Mara, a 4-year-old I'm fond of, and Margo, her grandmother, whom I'm also fond of; to be away from winter, which I am definitely not fond of, and just to satisfy my curiosity.

With the help of a couple of celebrities, a dozen foreign-exchange students from the Overbrook School for the Blind were introduced to ice skating yesterday. Walt Disney's "Magic Kingdom on Ice" is in town, and the students were invited to the Spectrum for some personal instruction. Above, Yayoi Ishahra, 17, of Japan, and other students gather round to get acquainted with Mickey Mouse. In photo at right, Linda Fratianne (left), a silver medalist in the 1980 Winter Olympics and a former two-time world champion, helps Sabriye Tenberker, 17, of West Germany, negotiate the ice on one skate.

You have to start somewhere. For Cafe Lift, born on the ground floor of a loft-conversion building, it was at 13th and Callowhill, in the middle - no, make that on the edge - of nowhere. That was in 2003. The start was shaky and the crowds thin; now five years later, it has its sea legs, serves a great lunch to a full house, and its owners are about to open a second spot featuring craft beer and solid, farm-fresh pub fare. The point is, you can't always predict the future of a place from its first few faltering steps.

THIS WEEK'S regret resurfaces from Dec. 11, 1998. Philadelphia was buzzing with anticipation over DisneyQuest, the Mickey Mouse megaplex chock-full of restaurants, virtual reality games and other dazzling Disney devices. Even before the first brick was laid, DisneyQuest was deemed the Magic Kingdom of Market Street, a giant stride in the city's plan to revitalize Center City. The People Paper had this to say about the Disney invasion: "That's why a DisneyQuest in Center City is ultimately a good thing and the $7.5 million the city intends to spend on improving East Market Street, where the theme park will locate, is a good investment . . . Mayor Rendell is right to feel the Disney deal is a win for the city.

Men have faced the headsman's ax with more enthusiasm than I took to Walt Disney World. But misery loves company, and so we went to the Magic Kingdom with our closest friends. "If we have to do this, you have to do this, too. " We went for a loooong weekend, five days and four nights, the object being to entertain four small children - three girls (two age 7, one 6) and a 2-year-old boy who was basically carry-on luggage. We went because everyone else goes or had gone or was going.

Why didn't I know about this before? Television commercials boast of the great time I could have at Walt Disney World with the grandchildren, or what a romantic adventure it would be with a spouse/partner. But an adult going to the Magic Kingdom alone? Maybe Michael Jackson, but moi? I was in Orlando on an unrelated assignment and thought how I hadn't visited Mickey and his pals in more than a decade. Still, I couldn't quite picture myself riding Space Mountain all by my lonesome.

When my daughter slyly suggested running the Disney World half marathon, I sweetly suggested she was nuts. I ran track in high school. Now I'm in my walking phase of life. My daughter, currently on her high school track team, thought a run through the Magic Kingdom sounded like fun. After much debate, I told her we could sign up, and start training. If we completed the training (ha!), we'd do it. People who run marathons say the exhilaration is unbelievable. Run one, and you're hooked.

I have come to think of it as the Disney World March: the adult, wearing shirts and shorts emblazoned with Disney characters, shoulder sagging from the weight of still cameras, video cameras, carryalls and pocketbooks, trudging endlessly through the Magic Kingdom. Also on his (or her) shoulders is borne the weight of a child: some sleeping; some, with boundless energy, urging their parent on to the next diversion; some wailing with hunger, thirst, weariness, or a special combination that, sooner or later, appears to drive every parent here into threats which, in other arenas, would draw the suspicious attention of a child-abuse-prevention agent.

We took a cruise with 912 children, 911 of whom were not ours. For people who don't like other people's kids in such quantities, or who believe that cruise ships are floating tubs of gluttony and indolence, this must all sound like a nightmare. There was a moment when the poolside noise level was enough to make Davy Jones himself swim up to the surface and tell us to hold it down, but Davy Jones was actually at the party. At least everyone went quiet when the ship launched the fireworks.

Thursday night's forecast of snow is a tad iffy, but I fearlessly predict Gov. Christie will not be on vacation. Instead, he'll be doing whatever a governor does in Trenton when a street in, say, Toms River needs a plow. Rest assured: Long before the next sighting of flakes over Freehold, the Big Guy will be out there. Shoveling. "This administration's always going to be about substance first," Christie boldly told Sean Hannity during a mini-blizzard of talk radio interviews this week.

You have to start somewhere. For Cafe Lift, born on the ground floor of a loft-conversion building, it was at 13th and Callowhill, in the middle - no, make that on the edge - of nowhere. That was in 2003. The start was shaky and the crowds thin; now five years later, it has its sea legs, serves a great lunch to a full house, and its owners are about to open a second spot featuring craft beer and solid, farm-fresh pub fare. The point is, you can't always predict the future of a place from its first few faltering steps.

My eldest daughter has picked out her wedding dress, and I have to say it's a big load off my mind. You never want to delay such an important decision until the last minute. Sure, she probably could have waited for, say, 20 years - she's 6 - but when the perfect dress comes along, a girl doesn't dare miss it. Other pesky wedding-day details, such as choosing a groom, have to take a backseat. Jin Yu's choice is a creamy off-the-shoulder number called Cinderella - it looks like it sounds.

Billy Donovan is finally leaving the Gators, hoping he isn't done winning titles in Florida. Donovan yesterday agreed to become coach of the Orlando Magic, the team confirmed last night. A news confererence was scheduled for today. He accepted a 5-year, $27.5 million contract, a source told the Associated Press. After winning the last two NCAA championships at Florida, Donovan is set to join the core of those Gators teams in the pros. Also yesterday, the Memphis Grizzlies hired Phoenix assistant Marc Iavaroni, who was a starter on the Sixers' 1983 championship team, and the Indiana Pacers chose ex-Sixers coach Jim O'Brien to replace Rick Carlisle.

When my daughter slyly suggested running the Disney World half marathon, I sweetly suggested she was nuts. I ran track in high school. Now I'm in my walking phase of life. My daughter, currently on her high school track team, thought a run through the Magic Kingdom sounded like fun. After much debate, I told her we could sign up, and start training. If we completed the training (ha!), we'd do it. People who run marathons say the exhilaration is unbelievable. Run one, and you're hooked.

You're walking through Walt Disney World Resort, snapping photos, dodging children, waiting in an hour-long line to ride Space Mountain, when a park employee taps you on the shoulder with a wand. You turn around to learn that you've been picked to receive a prize. The gift could be as simple as a $12 set of Mickey Mouse ears. Or it could be as grand as a $17,000 Disney cruise or an $84,000 membership in Disney's timeshare Vacation Club. Disney is giving away a million such prizes as part of its "Year of a Million Dreams" at the Florida theme park and at California's Disneyland Resort (and through mail-in entries)

ESPN has "declared dominoes the next big spectator sport," says the New York Times. The sports network will promote dominoes as "both a colorful, cultural touchstone and a highly competitive game, complete with rankings, formal tournaments, celebrity events and sponsors," the paper reported. Think of the scheduling possibilities: 6 a.m. Senior Leaf-Raking. 73-year-old Roland Griffiths defends his title against Australian Trevor Dudley, a mere 68, who is fresh off winning the All Commonwealth Leafing Crown.

In a season when mean girls stalk the multiplex, it's a rarity to see teenagers making nice. If this is faint praise for The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, then so be it. The pleasant sequel to the 2001 hit stars gallant Julie Andrews as Clarisse, queen of Genovia (and posture queen of everywhere else), and fetching Anne Hathaway as her granddaughter Mia, an appealingly odd duck tweezed and tweaked to swan specs consistent with Teen People's cover-girl requirements. The Disney film is set in a mythical realm that looks an awful lot like the Magic Kingdom - that is, if Sleeping Beauty's Castle were next door to the Galleria.

THIS WEEK'S regret resurfaces from Dec. 11, 1998. Philadelphia was buzzing with anticipation over DisneyQuest, the Mickey Mouse megaplex chock-full of restaurants, virtual reality games and other dazzling Disney devices. Even before the first brick was laid, DisneyQuest was deemed the Magic Kingdom of Market Street, a giant stride in the city's plan to revitalize Center City. The People Paper had this to say about the Disney invasion: "That's why a DisneyQuest in Center City is ultimately a good thing and the $7.5 million the city intends to spend on improving East Market Street, where the theme park will locate, is a good investment . . . Mayor Rendell is right to feel the Disney deal is a win for the city.