I’ve loved Disney since I was a little girl watching Snow White on the big screen. I grew up with Cinderella, Bambi and the Jungle Book staring at me from posters on my bedroom walls and the covers of books on the bookshelves. As I grew older, video became readily available and I started to collect my favorite movies. My dream was always to go to that magical place, Disney World.
With many things, when you wish so hard for something, the reality often becomes an anti-climax. You’ve dreamed so long about it that it can’t fail to fall short of your expectations. I was already an adult (over-grown child) when first I entered Disney World’s turnstiles and I knew that my preconceived ideas were setting me up for disappointment. But that disappointment never came. Disney was all that I ever imagined it could be and a whole lot more.
So what it is that makes Disney special? Is it the skill of the creators and artists who give us such wonderful characters on screen? Is it the mastery in which these are then transposed into rides and shows in the Disney theme parks? Is it all to do with business and knowing what kids will want, and little to do with creativity? Or could it be that Disney’s own wish came true and with a wave of a wand, some unknown hand granted his wish and put an invisible veil of magic over everything that Disney desired for his dream?
Whatever it was, Disney has the power to send chills of pleasure down the spine of young and old alike. The movies are more than just Mel Gibson and Owen Wilson speaking lines. The park is more than just fast rides and fun shows. The Disney package has something about it that just seems to appeal to most of us in ways that can’t be explained – whether you’re sitting in the dark in a movie theatre, or spinning around in a teacup in the Magic Kingdom. It’s a magical something that touches you. It makes you laugh, it makes you cry, but always it makes you feel – and perhaps it’s that ability to make people feel, and to feel the emotions in a positive way, that makes Disney special.
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