A dream come true

There are plenty of dreams to be realized throughout Walt Disney World. To name just a few, your dreams could come true while watching your child experience a nighttime spectacular like Wishes for the very first time, their first meeting with Mickey, or a pirate hat that causes a complete transformation, taking your spouse to see La Nouba, giving them that one of a kind view of the savannah when they wake up, or that one perfect meal at Flying Fish that they have been dying for. Some dreams are easy to acquire and occasionally they are driven by astounding Cast Members creating an extra special moment, seemingly out of thin air. There are times, however, when to capture your dreams you have to take a more proactive stance.

Now, I’m not saying you need to bowl through small children in order to be the first person to greet Mickey Mouse in the Judge’s Tent, but sometimes you don’t know what you can do without asking. For instance, I knew a boy who was in love with all the vehicles of the Magic Kingdom, but the whistle of the Liberty Belle beckoned him in like no other. It was his dream to pilot that ship down the Rivers of America from high atop the deck. It took that boy twenty-some-odd years to work up the courage to ask the Captain of the ship, but those few moments up there, and being able to blow that horn turned me back into that seven year old again.

That same boy also had a dream of fighting alongside his heroes, Luke Skywalker and Indiana Jones. By now, you all know of my adventures in being an extra in the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. There isn’t a trip that goes by that I don’t at least attempt to get myself on that trap door so I can cheer on Indy and throw fake uppercuts into the air, as if I were coaching the weathered archeologist. To take on that role means I have to leave my serious self outside of the turnstiles and make a fool of myself in order to be selected, but it is well worth the potential embarrassment if I get to share a scene with my hero one more time.

We all have dreams, and we all hope to bring a little extra spark to our trips to Walt Disney World. Sometimes we stumble into a bit of magic, sometimes it finds us, and sometimes we have to be the ones who have to work to make our wishes come true. If there is something you’ve always wanted to do at Walt Disney World, go ahead and ask. The worst that could happen is that you are told ‘no,’ but then again you could find yourself living your own personal dreams.