We swim together

As I am prone to saying, the best memories of a trip to Walt Disney World never come from getting on Soarin’ three times in one hour or the lights coming on while you’re sitting in your Time Rover just before the Carnotaurus dives headlong at you. No, the most memorable moments come from quiet corners of the parks, usually a good meal is also involved, when you are surrounded by good friends.

Good friends are hard to come by, and great friends are even more rare, so today I wanted to take a few minutes to look at some new endeavors of some of the Gazette’s friends. I hope you will take some time to check each of them out.

Glenn Whelan, known to some as Doc Terminus, has for a number of years taken up residence in Passamaquoddy. Recently, however, he has taken to the film industry and launched The Pretty Good Movie Ride. The site features three of the compilation endings to The Great Movie Ride, where all the stars shine brightly. Glenn has painstakingly recreated the original, ten year, and twenty year endings, as well as crafted his own version of the ending. In addition to these monumental achievements, he also showcases the The Great Movie Ride’s preshow trailer and The Magic of Disney Animation film montage.

Tony Caggiano has been an inspiration to many with the Disney community. He has inspired us to dig deeper into the history of Walt Disney World and deeper into our photo albums for pictures of some of our first visits to Florida. With the wealth of information and history stored within Tony’s noggin and treasure chests, it is no wonder, and about time, that he has finally created a place where he can release his own thoughts and takes on the world as he knows it. Look for his tremendous collection of art and artifacts, history and photography, at THE W.E.D. PAGE.

J. Jeff Kober has been a fixture amongst the Disney writing community for a while now, both at MousePlanet and on his own site Disney at Work. Recently he, along with his company Performance Journeys, released his first app for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Disney at Work: Magic Kingdom walks you through the parks focusing on the lessons of customer service, leadership, innovation, and teamwork. The application is fantastic for strengthening your own business, but is also perfect if you are simply looking for some insight into the culture and trade tricks of Disney.

After much trial and tribulation, Elizabeth Caran and April Baker, both well-known amongst in the Disney circles, have finally launched their own site. Take the Monorail is going to offer practical advice for every Walt Disney World touring situation with families. I also suspect, knowing these two as I do, that they will have some hilarious stories and wonderful content, including articles on photography and craft projects, along the way. As a side note, look for Elizabeth as a guest columnist here on the Gazette tomorrow.

I love the success I have had with the Main Street Gazette, from the sparks of creativity it has given me to the feeling of accomplishment it has instilled in me. Mostly, however, I treasure the new and long-lasting friendships it has brought to me. As any good friend will tell you, you want to see your friends succeed, and I hope each of the friends I talked about above, each with their own unique and tremendous talents, have success and I hope that each of you are a part of it.