The magic is where you feel it

The magic is where you feel it
Tony Caggiano

Today’s article was inspired by the last minute trip down to Walt Disney World that I took the weekend before last, but actually started years ago.

While on our way to dinner at ‘Ohana back in the late 1990s, my sister-in-law and I were having a conversation as we walked through the lobby of the Polynesian Resort. We were admiring the foliage in the center of the lobby when she told me that as beautiful as the resort is, she thought that it lacked that special Disney magic. I was appalled, how on earth could this be?!?!? In my eyes there was no resort in all of Walt Disney World that held more of that Disney magic for me. What was she thinking? Clearly she had no idea what she was talking about!!!

Since that day, I have often though about her comments and why she would have felt that way. As a Walt Disney World vacationer, she had been visiting since around 1991. Nearly all of her trips to that point had been taken at, the then named, Dixie Landings Resort. As the resort which essentially brought her into the world of Disney vacations, it had always held a special place in her heart. An occasional dining excursion to a resort such as the Polynesian, while a lot of fun, didn’t bring her home to Walt Disney World the same way it did for me, someone who spent countless summer nights as a child running around the grounds by tiki torch light.

This concept of where people find their own Disney magic was brought back before me just a few weeks ago while I was planning my last minute trip. While considering which resort we should stay at for our weekend jaunt, I posted a question on my Facebook page as to what people thought of Pop Century, where we were planning to spend the weekend. The responses I received varied greatly, and ran from “Do yourself a favor and stay somewhere else” to “There is no place with more magic than Pop!” These responses got me thinking again about the conversation I had with my sister-in-law Kelly those many years ago.

My family and I spent six nights at Pop Century, and while we had an amazing trip and absolutely loved the resort, I couldn’t help but think how different the magic really from person to person. Those of us in this Disney community all have one thing in common: we get it, we all understand what the Disney magic is, and we all feel it. The fact of the matter is, however, that from person to person what makes the magic magical can be a very different thing. For some it mean the fast paced, hustle and bustle excitement of an early morning visit to Pop Century's food court on their way to the Magic Kingdom, while for others it might mean being the only person sitting at a picnic table by the waterfront outside of Good’s Food To Go at Disney’s Old Key West Resort, sipping a cup of coffee in the cool morning air planning a day at Epcot. The simple fact of the matter is, that no matter where you find it, or what it is that gives you that feeling, Disney magic is in the air everywhere you go in The World.

Even if it doesn’t look that way at first blush, you may just understand better what the magic is if you take the time to speak to others and ask where they find their own magic… it will no doubt be a labor of love to explore new ways to experience it for yourself.