Tribute to Walt

This was originally submitted to SaveDisney.com and was posted to their site for some time.

I’ve been more fortunate than most kids in the simple fact that I lived within minutes of Walt’s dream. I remember my first time going through those gates with my family and seeing that castle at the end of Main Street, USA. I can still here the sounds of the penny arcade. I can still see the people everywhere smiling, laughing. I can still smell the sweet shop and the hot dogs on the corner.

Fast forward 6 years. I’m 11 and I’m at the end of Main Street USA looking at Cinderella’s castle. It’s about 8:45 in the morning. My best friend and I are on our first day of summer vacation. We’re standing behind a rope, which is the only thing between us and a full day of excitement. The rope drops and we’re off! Screaming at the top of our lungs – “Pirates!!!”, and racing for our favorite ride.

Fast forward again, 12 years. I’m in Crystal Palace, just off Main Street USA. Eeyore is at our table tapping my girlfriend on her shoulder. She turns to see him holding a small box in his hands. Eeyore slowly opens the box and she begins to cry. She turns back to me and I’m down on one knee, asking her to spend the rest of her life with me. She says yes…

Today, I’m 31 years old. I’m still that kid I was on that hot summer day I walked into the park for the first time. Even now when I walk through those gates with my family, I get misty eyed. There are so many memories for me here. So many good times. The best part is that I get to see the Disney as Walt intended it, through my children’s eyes, all over again.

I’ve studied the man that made all these dreams come true, for myself and so many others. So much in fact, that I feel like I knew him. He was an inspiration to those around him and he continues to be an inspiration to this very day. He’s been a role model for me in both life and in business, but most of all, he helped me to stay a kid.

Thanks Walt. For everything.

"Or heritage and ideals, our code and standards - the things we live by and teach our children - are preserved or diminished by how freely we exchange ideas and feelings." - Walt Disney

Contemporary Tiles

Contemporary Tiles

My wife Tina and I took the baby to dinner Sat. night at Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary Resort. When we got there, Drew had to "potty" so we headed for the bathrooms. Tina took her in to do her thing and I went to sit on the bench near the tower with the tiles.

A little nostalgia came drifting back to me as I sat looking at the mosaic of tiles on the walls near the monorail. Most everyone who knows me, knows that my grandfather help set those tiles that have been there long before any cast member or family ever set foot in the hotel. A lot of people had family who worked on these parks, I'm sure, but it fills me with pride to look at them. Not just the things my grandfather did, but the whole world of Disney. The time and detail that is taken to make these things look and feel like a part of the world is just amazing to me. Other parks try to reproduce it, but in my opinion, fall really short.

The tiles are outdated. They don't fit the theme of the "Contemporary"
hotel anymore. Still, they are beautiful in their own right and should not be removed. It's history to me. A part of the park from yesteryear that remains untouched and still perfectly intact. I know that things need to change. I would love to visit the old "Tomorrowland" with "If you had wings" and "Mission to Mars", but I know in my heart that if it were not for the new attractions, people would stop coming. Walt knew this too and so did the countless guests that passed by and commented on how wonderful or beautiful the tiles were.

Still, it brings to mind my time as a child. Walking those parks with my best friend Jim during those hot summer months, standing at the rope drop and racing to our favorite ride to be the first one on. Times that I will forever remember, but never get back. I know everyone feels this way at some point in life, but why at 31 am I so concerned with time passing me by? I still feel like that kid. Maybe a few more aches and a little more winded, but still the 10 year old I remember.

And those feelings get more deep as the holidays approach. Jim asked what was my favorite Christmas gift as a child and as an adult. My fondest memory of Christmas is the year I received the snowspeeder from Star Wars and a Space Invader hand held game. I woke up at 3AM that year and couldn't go back to sleep no matter how hard I tried. I remember my Grandmother and Grandfather coming over every Christmas morning with gifts piled so high, my Grandfather had to make 2 trips. I remember my Grandmother wrapping them so tightly, the tape showing signs of stress and to further complicate the removal of the paper, she tied ribbons of colored yarn around the boxes that needed a hacksaw to remove.

I remember my Grandfather raking leaves in the yard and waving to us as my Mom and I went shopping for Christmas just weeks before. That same day, the temperature got so cold, the door locks froze and we couldn't get back in the car. The smell of cookies from the kitchen. The delivery of fudge from the Delaports across the street. The sounds of Burl Ives on the TV while I curled up to watch Rudolph for the millionth time in my life. The lights on our tree, which sometimes included the bubble lights from my mom's childhood Christmas trees. My Grandfathers laugh.

But I have good recent memories too. My first trip with my wife to Tennessee, also during Christmas. My fourth child 2 years ago and everyday she calls me "Da" when I come home. Winning the battle for my kids. Our first family trip to North Carolina. Our first cruise, dressing up like famous people and going to dinner and a play. Passing my certification tests. And the few precious days with just my loving wife, riding roller coasters or browsing the stores.

It's just nostalgia, but for me it's more than that too. It's a part of me that I take with me everywhere. Memories are like home movies in your mind. The ones you play back when you're feeling down or hear that song on the radio. The ones that remind you why life is worth living and why some things should never change.

And to think I got all of this from looking at some tile.

Past Ghosts

Past Ghosts 

My friend Jim has been writing a lot lately, so it kinda got me thinking about things too. So, here I am putting down some thoughts on electronic paper.

First let me say that this isn't going to be anything political, I care too little about politics anyway, none of them can be trusted. Furthermore, it isn't going to be anything special at all. Just some things that float through my mind, even more so this time of year.

A couple of weekends ago, I took Drew to MGM Studios for the day. Just the baby and I, while Tina was working. We had a good time together even though there's little for her to enjoy at that particular park, aside from Bear in the Big Blue House. After the day was drawing to a close, we left the park and went to get some dinner before picking up Mommy.

We settled on Steak and Shake on 535 and had a nice meal. At some point in the meal, I heard the sound of the china plates they use at Steak and Shake clinking together and it sparked a memory for me that's been haunting me since. It's a nice enough memory, but one that makes you miss your childhood, regardless of how bad things may have been.

There used to be an old Woolworth store in the old Colonial Plaza Mall on Colonial Drive. Half outside and half inside of that store was a restaurant or diner, to be more exact, that my mom and I used to eat at, just the two of us. The food was good and the atmosphere was nice too, kinda like an old movie or something. The waitress with the missing teeth and the southern drawl, smoking a cigarette while she took your order because you could still do those things back then. The sounds of the plates clinking together in the kitchen someplace. The cook hollering out orders. We ate there every so often, but the times I remember the most were from October to December.

It was a time my mom and I got to sit down and be ourselves. It was a time to shop for Christmas and see Santa. It was colder out and the Christmas tunes were playing throughout the mall. It's a good memory.

I realized at some point, that I was sharing a moment like this with Drew.
She may be too little to remember it now, but these are the things I want to do with my kids. I decided that this year I'm going to try and spend moments like this with each of the kids, one on one, during the holiday season. The following year I'll try and continue that at least once a month with each of them. My wife and I will spend more time together too.

My life has been too "busy". The past few years, I've barely been able to watch my favorite Christmas movies, with the family. I feel like I've been away from them too long. I took for granted, the time my mom and I spent together doing these things. I just want to slow things down a bit and enjoy my life. Savor these memories. I want the kids to have something fond to look back on.

I'm done.

Opening Day

So my friend Jim tells me I should write more.  Just random bits of thought to short stories and everything in between.  He does this often and I enjoy reading his material.  This will be the starting point of my writing attempts and you'll find all sorts of things here in the near future.

 

I'll warn you, I'm not an english major by any means and this is just an experiment to see what I can come up with.  Like so many other blogs and web spaces I've seen, I'm sure I'll have some good and bad days, so expect to come here and find me ranting about some odd bit of crap that's ticked me off.

Still, there'll be plenty of other good stuff.  I hope you enjoy.