Saturday, August 14, 2010

Hello Mr.Internet

Hello, I am Liz, and I am a 16 year old with a dream that I would like to share with you, the internet.




When I was a toddler my mom spoon fed me Disney. Everything I did, everywhere I went, there was something about Disney. I had dozens of Disney storybooks. I had Disney stuffed animals and hand puppets. I had Disney movies, and singalongs, and cassette tapes. I had Disney two-in-one shampoo. My first in-theatre movie was a Disney flick. I remember waking up super early and my mom putting on Disney's Ink and Paint. I remember being upset about having Saturday school because I would have to miss Recess and Pepper Anne. I remember turning five and asking my parents every day when we would go to Disney world and them replying "When you turn five and a half." I remember asking them this in the kitchen, in the yard, in the bathtub. And the most important moment of my life, stepping for the first time out of our vehicle and onto Disney property, I remember that moment. I remember my first stay, in the All Star Movie resort. I remember having my Bugs Life hat on. It was purple. It was way back before there was a fence around the giant Woody, and Will, my brother, climbed up on it while I struggled to and ended up failing and instead settling for climbing one of the shorter charecters. I was infatuated with the One Hundred and One Dalmations section. I was always the BIGGEST fan of One Hundred and One Dalmations. My parents had deffinitely picked a good first hotel.



That's gotta be another one of the things I love about Disney World. By no means was it a cheap vacation (I know that now after trying to pay for one myself), but my parents cut whatever costs they could, from eating PB&J's to staying in the cheapest room. But the thing about that that I love, is that even the cheapest hotel was still a magical experience. All the larger than life characters, the morning wake up call, rides at the front of the monorail. Every guest at Disney is the Guest of Honnor.



This was me, and my brothers, and my fathers first trip to Disney. It was my moms second. A few years later my dad lost his job. Money was tight, but we still made our annual (sometimes twice a year) trips to Disney World. When my dad got his new job it took us right to Florida, and much closer to the kingdom, but for my mom that still just wasn't enough. A year after that we moved to Celebration Florida. We spent 3 or 4 years there before having to go back to Texas, but man do I mean to tell you. It was a dream come true for me. My mom took a part time job at Disney in the summer and I had every birthday party I could there.



While I was there I must've done every book report, every historical figure report, and free-report, on Walt Disney. I even did my science fair project in the Animal Kingdom. My room was then decorated One Hundred and One Dalmations. I had three Disney Bears, hundreds of Disney pins and random other merchadise. I spent all my free time at Disney. If I saw a lost tourist I would ask them if they needed help. I would meet kids from around the world in the playgrounds and hang out with them until they had to go. I would go over to the hotel beaches to watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks like a sneaky snake. I knew which spots were gum, and which weren't. I could tell you the Original story behind the haunted mansion bride. I knew the best way to get out of going through the lines, and I knew how to maximize your time in the park so you could get everything worth doing done by 1. I was a princess, and it was my kingdom. Castle and all.



Moving back to Texas catapulted me into a harsh reality called Highschool, and Future, and Responsibility, and this odd place called Six Flags. Which by the way, after growing up in Disney, Six Flags was a bit of a let down, but don't tell them I said that. It was in moving to Texas that I realized what I was meant to do with my life. I was born to create the magic they had at Disney World. When I told my mom exactly what I wanted to be she laughed. She thinks there's no way I can do it. But all I have to say is that If you can dream it, you can do it. One of my favorite Walt Disney quotes. Or maybe It's sometimes fun to do the impossible would be appropriate? Whichever you choose, I knew what I wanted to be, and I knew Walt supported my dream. I want to be one of Disney's top Imagineers. I want to be the one who sits at some snazzy restaurant with my coworkers drawing on napkins and deciding the theme of the next big park. I want to bring magic and entertainment to millions of people everyday. I want to convert as many people as I can to the Church of the Mouse. I want to be responsible for the romantic dinner for two on property, or the dried tears after a fallen icecream cone, the baby's first visit, the 13 year olds 8th time riding Rock'n Roller Coaster. I want every person in the world to feel the same way I do everytime they step on property or think about what the name Disney means. It's a familly legacy, and everyone who wishes on stars, or talks to animals, or tries to educate through entertaining their audience is a member of this familly.



So I started this blog to share with you my journey into the wonderful world of Disney. Whether you're going the same direction, or you're already there, or you're just looking for something to kill time, I hope you can send your advice, your stories, or your ideas. Look forward to a lot more posts since this is going to be a very long and bumpy ride.

3 comments:

  1. Um, hi there! My name is Gustavo, I'm 16, and I live in Orlando, FL. Throughout my never-ceasing search regarding themed attractions, I ended up here, and I just so happened to not stop reading. Because your passion for Disney everything matches mine with Universal (haha, don't get me wrong at all, Disney's an infatuation of mine as well!). Like how you said that every day you imagine yourself at the parks. That is legitimately EXACTLY what I do, too, except I include Universal Orlando's parks. I wish I could keep going about this common passion, but I have to sleep soon. Regardless, I want you to know that I would want nothing else in the world than to be an Imagineer/Universal Creative member. The magic, the movies, the take-off on Mission: SPACE, the take-off on The Incredible Hulk Coaster. It's my source of life. It's my future NEED in life. And I can't believe that there's actually someone else out there that shares this common extreme (unhealthy at times, haha) goal. Anyway, I hope to be able to write again, next time with my version of my first "Orlando Encounter of the Theme Park Kind". :D

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  2. Up until this point i've never seen the appeal to 'follow' someone's blog before - but you have completely changed my mind!

    I can't say i'm as big a fan of disney as you are(can anyone really?) but recently my disney passion has been developing. I'm from England so my family and i normally go to disneyland paris every few years, but i've been to disneyworld in Florida once when i was 11 (i'm 16 now) - both parks are amazing! although i'd love to go to disneyland tokyo once to experience the mix of disney with japanese culture :)

    For a while i've been wanting to become an engineer - but with my growing disney passion i'm leaning towards changing the 'eng' letters of that career to 'imag'. However my question is this - would working with disney in such a way on a day to day basis kill the novelty and magic of it?

    For instance if you literally lived in the park, going on the same rides every single day - would the magic wear off? Could something similar happen if you made disney your career? I'm worried this could happen :(

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  3. I am very impressed with you drive at your age. There are people that spend their entire lives wondering what to be when they grow up and you seem to know. No post from you since Sept 2010. Whats on your horizon now? Have you found the Holy Graile to your dream job? Are you still going on that cruise?

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