Rereading My Childhood: The Baby-Sitters Club

Super Special #1: Baby-Sitters on Board!

Last year, after learning that my partner's parents took him to Disneyland while he was a baby, my partner and I decided to take a trip to Disneyland. I went when I was eight, but I hadn't been back since. In the months leading up to the trip, I did what I normally do before a trip: I researched the hell out of the destination. I found myself steeped in Walt Disney history: the man, the park, the opening day problems. I explored the lore behind every attraction: the inspiration behind the Matterhorn and how it may be the first steel rollercoaster in the United States, the opposing ideas for the Haunted Mansion, the various iterations of the submarine adventure. I already knew the layout of the park before we left. I understood the Fast Pass system. I had reservations at what is considered the best restaurant in the park, Cafe Orleans, and the restaurant Walt Disney considered "his" restaurant, The Carnation Cafe. I was on the lookout for the lamp over the Firehouse Station.

This is not a story that leads up to my disappointment when I got to the park. In fact, the park exceeded my expectations and I found a new obsession in the Haunted Mansion. The Disneyland attention to detail is a real thing, the cast members are wonderful, and the park operations are no joke. I also got to see many parents yelling at their kids, and the juxtaposition of parents yelling at their children at "The Happiest Place On Earth" is, frankly, hilarious.

This is leading to my hatred of boats. Let me explain. The first BSC Super Special is split into two parts: the first part on a boat and a second part at Disney World. I realize that Disneyland is different from Disney World. The book features actual Disney World attractions, and while I did exclusively research Disneyland, Disney World is an important part of Disney Parks lore, and the parks aren't that different, especially in 1989, without Disney's Animal Kingdom and Disney-MGM Studios (future Hollywood Studios), both of which had not been built yet.

I love Disneyland, but boy I hate boats. Have I ever been on a luxury cruiser? No. But I haven't murdered anyone and I hate murder. Did I just compare cruise ships to murder? Yes. I did and I'm proud of it. Pooping over the side of a boat after eating expired shrimp and watching a fifty-year-old couple do a jazz cover of "DNA." by Kendrick Lamar does not sound like a good time to me.

Anyway, let's get to the book.

Super Specials are, well, super special. A normal BSC book is about 120-pages of one character's story in first-person narration. A Super Special is about 220-pages of switching POV. It's still first-person but now each chapter focuses on a new character. Each babysitter (and a few others) get their own story, that may or may not intersect with another story (and if it does, it's in such a tangential way to make the paragraph pointless, we'll get to that). So, as I go through the book beat-by-beat, I will put the POV character in italics. Let's hope this works:

Kristy

Baby-Sitters on Board! starts with Kristy explaining how every member of the BSC, plus relevant family members, got a trip on a cruise to Disney World. I should also mention that while the BSC timeline is nebulous, this book seems to take place before Stacey leaves. One clue is that Stacey is still a part of the BSC, hasn't left, and Mallory, nor Jessi, is a part of the BSC. However, it is the Pikes who start this chain of events.

Basically, Mr. Pike won a naming contest/got off a crime boss at his job as a lawyer for a large company/mob. They invited Mary Anne and Stacey to go with them to watch over the children on the cruise. Watson, who you'll remember is Kristy's stepdad, can't let this mob lawyer have all the fun, so he spends his riches to ensure that his family and the rest of the BSC comes along, minus Jessi, because she has not moved to Stoneybrook yet. This must take place before .

Anyway, the Pikes, the BSC, Watson, Kristy's Mom (Elizabeth), David Michael, Karen, and Andrew all get on a plane, where there's some barf bag talk, and arrive in Florida and we switch perspectives as we board The Ocean Princess.