Celebrating the 55th Anniversary of Walt Disney World, Part 2: "Magic Moments"
Celebrating the 55th Anniversary of Walt Disney World, Part 2: "Magic Moments"
By Michael Lyons
“Where Magic Lives.” That was Walt Disney World's marketing campaign in 2003. It’s wonderful, but just the sound of it could conjure up cynics and scoffers.
Really? A theme park and resort? Where Magic Lives? Rides, restaurants, and characters? Where Magic Lives? Souvenirs, parades, and hotel rooms? Where Magic Lives? Hot, muggy days in the summer and crowded nights during the holidays? Where Magic Lives?
Really?
Yes, really.
Get ready to scoff, laugh, or snark, but I saw magic happen during my twenty years with Disney.
We all know that magic in real life is an ethereal thing. When people talk about it, it’s often in situations where fantasy seems to have invaded reality, like a castle in the middle of Central Florida.
Sure, we all realistically know that the magic we know of, particularly with Disney, is usually the stuff found in Disney’s movies – Blue Fairies, Fairy Godmothers, Beasts who transform into princes and queens who control the snow – but the magic I was lucky enough to be a part of at Disney brought this same sense of wonder.
They all grew out of times of serendipity, those rare occasions when the stars align, and everything works out.
But, trust me, they really were magic moments.
I experienced one while working at the Walt Disney World shops at Orlando International Airport. One day, one of the Coordinators, Romy, came to me to tell me that a young Guest was in the shop with a letter.
When I went over to talk to the young girl, she told me she had written a letter to Tinker Bell and the other Disney fairies before she flew home. Could she leave the note with us, and could we ensure that Tinker Bell and her friends received it?
She even added that she knew exactly which tree in Fantasyland Tinker Bell lived in and showed me a photo on her mother’s phone. Additionally, she had a return envelope, hoping that if Tinker Bell and her friends had a chance, they could write back to her.
Romy and I, of course, took her letter and return envelope and assured her we would make sure her correspondence reached Ms. Bell. We waved goodbye to the young guest and her grateful family, and as they made their way toward TSA, Romy and I turned to each other with the same thought:
What the heck do we do now?
The only thing that came to our mind was to reach out to Magic Kingdom Guest Relations. As luck would have it, I knew a leader there named Nathaniel.
He had served as a Walt Disney World Ambassador and loved creating moments like this for Guests. He asked that we drop off the letter, and he would take it from there. Not long after, we received an e-mail from Nathaniel letting us know how he followed up, and when Romy and I read the note, our jaws dropped.
Nathaniel located the tree the young Guest referenced, took a picture of the letter in the envelope propped against it, and left it there for Tinker Bell. He also had another picture from when Tinker Bell retrieved the letter.
He also sent us Tinker Bell's response to the young Guest, which would be accompanied by an autograph in the Tinker Bell flourishes of a signature. All of this was sent to the Guest in the envelope she provided.
Romy and I thought about that young girl’s (and her parents') reaction when that envelope arrived in their mailbox.
All of this came from a chance encounter: a young girl stopped into a shop before getting on a plane to go home and gave an envelope to two strangers. Her parents hoped that she would get a response, and the young girl knew that she would.
She believed in magic. As she grew older, she may have recalled that story with her family, potentially realizing there really is magic in this world.
All that magic happens when others take a chance to do something for a stranger.
These stories happen every day at Walt Disney World, where Cast Members take extra time and creativity to bring this magic to life for others. A beloved lost baseball cap returns to the Guest with a note that includes a story of the adventure it’s been on; a character that a Guest didn’t have a chance to meet in the park suddenly signs an autograph that appears in that Guest’s resort room; those same rooms might also be decorated for a birthday or an anniversary, maybe just because a Cast Member at the front desk “overheard Mickey mention something,”; and that same Mouse mentioning something might also get that Guest invited onstage to be part of a show to celebrate a special day, or maybe even serenaded by a server, who leads an entire restaurant in a celebratory chorus of “Happy Birthday.”
There are also life moments. In addition to engagements that happen in front of Cinderella Castle, sometimes in the evening, just as fireworks illuminate the sky, and a military veteran who is presented with the American flag at the Magic Kingdom’s flag retreat ceremony, a Disney character on a parade float may spot their biggest fan eagerly waiting below and point to them as they wave.
In their book, A Portrait of Walt Disney World: 50 Years of the Most Magical Place on Earth, authors Kevin M. Hern, Tim O’Day, and Steve Vagnini sum up the ethereal feeling Cast Members provide to Guests when they visit:
“The giddy anticipation of arriving through the WELCOME portals sparks excited chatter among eager travelers; they are primed to disengage and revel in the fun because of the realm's decades-long, hard-earned reputation. To enjoy this place in the company of loved ones is the ultimate form of wish fulfillment, an opportunity to feel most alive. The awe of discovery, the tonic of laughter, and the joy of togetherness – each complex and almost fleeting emotions – are what govern the hope and happiness provided by this Vacation Kingdom.”
Yes, Walt Disney World is the place “Where magic lives.”
And this magic is rooted in Walt himself and the company's rich history. I worked at Walt Disney World when that Disney history came alive, and I will discuss it in the final part of my article.
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