Walt Disney World? AGAIN???

This evening I find myself sitting in my room at the Boardwalk Resort at Walt Disney World...and in less than an hour I will officially turn 40 years old.  Where did I decide a few months ago that I wanted to spend my birthday?  Walt Disney World of course!

Most people that know me are not a bit surprised by this of course.  After all, I've been coming here pretty regularly for the last 15 years.  However I am sure that many of them don't really understand this desire to be here of all places.  What is so GREAT about Walt Disney World?  You have to be a true "Disneyholic" like myself to really get it.

I had a few goals for this trip.  I did not manage to complete ALL of them but that's okay.  I was happy to get to as many as I did for such a short trip.  Then again, EVERY trip I take here always seems short.  It's hard to believe I'll be home at this time tomorrow.  It will be back to reality for me.

One of my most anticipated things for this trip was the Keys to the Kingdom tour at the Magic Kingdom.  Our guide was Trent and he was great.  During our four hour plus tour we learned quite a few new and interesting facts about not only the Magic Kingdom, but Walt Disney himself.  The highlight of this tour for most people was heading down into the utilidoors...the underground area of the Magic Kingdom.  It's a place where only the Cast Members of Walt Disney World (for the most part) get to frequent.  We also got to explore some of the backstage areas and learn some of the ins and outs of just how they keep the Magic Kingdom running.

We learned there are four "keys" to keep in mind when it comes to the World of Disney.  Courtesy, Show, Safety and Efficiency...though I may not have them in the correct order.  These were brought up time and time again and it's just one of the reasons for the success of the Disney parks.  There are so few places you can visit anymore where you are treated the way that almost all of the Cast Members treat you at Walt Disney World.  They focus on courtesy most of all and it makes such a huge difference.  I can't tell you how many times a cast member has gone out of their way to do something special for not only myself and my family but just other people in the park.  I've seen it time and time again.  It's simply something that you don't see often enough in the "real" world.

Walt Disney World is a place where you can escape, where you can become a kid again and it's okay.  There are grown people dressed up in funny hats and costumes...and nobody even looks at them twice.  So many cast members go out of their way to smile at you or to make you smile.  As far as I was concerned it was my birthday all week long and even non cast members would see my birthday button and wish me a happy birthday by name.  I will tell you it NEVER got old.  One particular cast member started singing Happy Birthday to me, grabbed me by the hands and danced with me in the park.  I had an entire boat full of people on the Jungle Cruise ride sing Happy Birthday to me, led by our boat captain.  Then tonight, on my last night here, I sat at a table with my husband and we watched the evening show on the castle and the Wishes Fireworks.  I could not have asked for a better last evening.

Sure these things happen in the real world...sometimes.  However they are the exception in the real world.  In Walt Disney World, they are more of a rule.  I've witness so many more random acts of kindness and courtesy here than in ANY other place.  It just makes me smile every single time.


Is it a perfect place?  Of course not.  Do I see cast members doing things they probably should not be doing or being LESS than happy at times?  Sure I do.  And yet, it does not stop me from wanting to keep coming back...over and over and over again.  

Even with all of the trips I've made here, I still find new things to discover, new things to see and do here.  I also enjoy doing some of the same rides and same shows over and over again as well...just because I enjoy them.  I still get a bit teary-eyed when I walk into Walt Disney's One Man's Dream and view everything that Walt designed and envisioned and accomplished.  The man died before I was even born.  Yet Walt Disney World was opened just a few months before I was born because Walt's family knew how much that dream meant to him and made sure it became a reality.  What better example of family love is there than that?

I grew up watching the Mickey Mouse Club on tv and spent evenings watching Walt on television and viewing the World of Disney shows and movies.  One of my very favorite movies growing up was The Rescuers.  The very first records that I owned included the Mickey Mouse Club album, the soundtrack album to The Rescuers, and Winnie the Pooh.  

I've been surrounded by Disney for almost all of the first 40 years of my life, and with any luck I'll be surrounded by it for 40 more years.  I'll share it with anybody that I can and I'll continue to bring my family back here as often as I can as well.  I wish everybody that wanted to visit Walt Disney World could do so and if I had the means to help people visit and make that happen, I certainly would do just that.  I don't expect everybody to understand that and that's okay.  After all, how can everybody expect to understand something that was all started by a mouse?