A Timeless Tradition

Good Morning! I'm Baaaaaaack!!!

I have always loved this picture. I have always loved this company. I could say I have always loved everything Disney, but let's be grown ups for a moment in the land of make believe and keep in the back of our minds that all in all, nowadays it is a company.

In my opinion, Walt Disney did something beyond what anyone anywhere could imagine or duplicate ever again. He had the unique ability to make everyone, regardless of age, race, or background remember what it was like to feel like a child.

Remember those days? When you didn't have a care in the world? I am aware that there are a great deal of children out there that don't know what its like not to have a care in the world. But you really don't even need to go to Walt Disney World in Florida, Disneyland in California, or to any other of the parks around the world to know that feeling. The reason that I am blogging this today is that even though I am a travel agent and the purpose of this blog is to book people's vacations, I thought it would be nice to ask everyone who reads this to stop and think for a moment about why you would be considering this trip.

For me, its a totally different reason than it was twelve years ago when this picture was taken. This is me and my good friend David R. in The Animation Gallery at The Disney Hollywood Studios in 1998 (when this picture was taken it was The Disney MGM Studios). I was on my college program and at the beginning of my career path. I wanted to be a Disney Animator. And what better place to start my journey than at Walt Disney World itself? I had studied art since I was five years old. I had practiced and given it all my available time in my youth. Never in a million years did I ever fathom where that College Program would take me. Orlando, Paris, and back again, I can't imagine the way my life would've gone had I never interviewed in 1997. Yes, as a former cast member I am biased, I love to help people book their Walt Disney World vacations and let them experience the kind of family fun that only a company like Disney can provide.

Last night I had a teary-eyed moment. My children watched Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs for the first time. They have seen other Disney animated classics before, but NEVER had I seen a reaction out of them that I witnessed last night. They pretended to cry along with the dwarfs when Snow White was poisoned by the Queen, were wide-eyed when the dwarfs were chasing the Wicked Queen up the mountain, they were happy when Snow White was awoken by her Prince, and finally CLAPPED at the end of the movie. It truly was "magical". And that was just at home in our living room!!

It always has amazed me how movies that were created 71 years ago can still keep children who are seeing them for the first time captivated like they were brand new and parents just as mesmerized because they are remember the first time they saw it, along with enjoying their children seeing it. Without high-tech special effects, live action mixed with animation, or famous celebrity voices, these movies endured the decades. I look forward to showing my children others and also watching them one day with my grandchildren as I remember my grandparents watching them with me.

And it something that is widely known, next time you're checking in at a Walt Disney World resort, while you're waiting in queue to get your information and you're kids are so excited they're about to burst, send them over to the TV. You can't miss it. It will be where there usually is a small bunch of kids waiting for their parents, watching the cartoons. Not Playhouse Disney or Hannah Montana, but the Silly Symphonies from the 30's; or the Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, or Goofy cartoons of the 40's or 50's. That time they're waiting for you to check in will fly by. And the best part for me, what I enjoy is every time I walk through the lobbies of one of the resorts, I look for that nook, that area where the kids are waiting. Take a moment to check out their expressions, they're mesmorized by the cartoons, the 60 YEAR OLD cartoons that are new every year to another child. They're timeless. It can also be summed up by a very popular commercial...

Purchasing a DVD: $20.00

Box of microwave popcorn: $3.50

Gettting everyone to settle down: 30 minutes

Watching your child's face the first time they watch Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs:

Priceless.

OK, I'm finished, that's enough being a grown up for now.... (we'll have no more of that!!) :)