People often ask me, “Are you a Disney freak?” Surprisingly, the answer is no. I tell them that I am a Walt Disney and Walt Disney World freak. I am a student of Walt Disney. Like my dad, Walt was a man who loved spending time with his family. It was during one of his traditional Saturday outings with his daughters, in fact, that he first got the idea for Disneyland. He explained it this way:
“Well, it came about when my daughters were very young and Saturday was always Daddy’s day with the two daughters. So we’d start out and try to go someplace, you know, different things. I’d take them to the merry-go-round and I took them different places and I’d sit while they rode the merry-go-round. Sit on a bench, you know, eating peanuts. I felt that there should be something built where the parents and the children could have fun together.”
The merry-go-round Walt referred to was actually a carousel similar to the one found in Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom (pictured above). No matter how many times I visit WDW, I feel the same gentle tug at my heartstrings as I walk toward Prince Charming Regal Carrousel, formerly Cinderella’s Golden Carrousel. I can’t help but reflect on Walt’s words as I stare at this antique treasure in motion. As all the little princes and princesses go around, I revel in the thought that he would have loved to have seen all that’s been created for families to spend magical moments together.
