Hang on to them hats and glasses...

Greetings! If you are like myself, you love Disney; Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney films, anything and everything you can Disney. You may not always love their decisions, whether it means the removal of your favorite attraction, the addition of a gaudy icon (that’s right, I’m right there with the rest of you wand haters. Thank goodness it’s going the way of the dodo as we speak), or a movie that lacks the storytelling Walt instilled in his company, but you will always stick by Disney. If you are not like me, or the people I mentioned above, then you may be here looking for travel advice. I hope to reach both audiences, the casual Disney tourist and the Disney-ite gurus, with this blog.

We will talk about all the common topics here, news from the parks, films, and the company overall. My thoughts will be ever present in editorials on a variety of subject, up first Epcot’s 25th and Disney-MGM Studios, soon to be Disney’s Hollywood Studios. But I also hope to bring you some new ideas, something fresh, something with some, to use a phrase most of us will be familiar with, edutainment.

For those of you looking for travel advice, I hope to give you something new as well, especially if you are traveling with younger children. Instead of the same attraction synopsizes, you know the ones where they tell you that an attraction is a dark ride on a pirate ship flying over Neverland that may frighten some small children, I want to immerse you in the adventures, give you some scope on what you are walking, flying, sailing, or blasting off in to.

So, I suppose you probably want to know what makes me so seem so sure I can do this. Well, I don’t know if I can, but, as Walt said “You know better than to kill an idea without giving it a chance to live.” Now, what makes me feel equipped to handle such a daunting task as the one I set before me? Here are some credentials for you nay-sayers. I lived in Brandon/Plant City (approximately an hour from WDW) for a total of 19-20 years of my life, spending every weekend, and quite a few weekdays, in some section of the parks, resorts, or Downtown Disney. As a preschool teacher, a love, and knowledge, of all things Disney has come in handy. As well, for years I have been booking trips, making vacation guides, and pestering with trivia friends, family, and friends of twice-removed family members. Each and every time I do one of the things above I am always asked the same question, “Why don’t you try to make a living doing this?” Well, I don’t know that one can making a living doing what I love to do, but I certainly can share it with the rest of the World, and that’s exactly what I am doing here.

So, I have blathered on quite a bit tonight, haven’t I? I suppose that I have given you enough to chew on until I come back with some more wit. Until then, as we open this conversation I hope you’ll continue to join me for, let me just leave you with a few words from Roy O. Disney’s Dedication of the Magic Kingdom.

“Walt Disney World is a tribute to the philosophy and life of Walter Elias Disney... and to the talents, the dedication, and the loyalty of the entire Disney organization that made Walt Disney's dream come true.

May Walt Disney World bring Joy and Inspiration and New Knowledge to all who come to this happy place... a Magic Kingdom where the young at heart of all ages can laugh and play and learn together. Dedicated this 25th day of October, 1971.”