My story is hardly unique among former Disney cast members. But learning that I can find joy in what I create - whether it ultimately connects with people or not - was the final step I needed in my recovery from my mid-college funk. Of course, when you see the joy and satisfaction on their faces, that doubles your emotional reward. When you create something truly wonderful, you feel that joy and satisfaction even before the first guest experiences your work. To be a cast member is to be a creator - a creator of entertainment, of customer service, of comfort, of storytelling, of ground-breaking engineering. Unlike other Hollywood studios, which at times have become enmeshed in unrelated businesses - from telephone companies to water utilities - Disney always has stayed grounded in the creative business. Throughout the time I have been publishing Theme Park Insider, I have tried to remember the lesson that I learned as a new cast member in the Magic Kingdom - the best way to help yourself is to help others.īeyond that, Disney has taught me how to find joy in the act of creating. But my newspaper career eventually led me back to Disney, as I started what is now Theme Park Insider seven years later as an experiment in online, community-driven reporting. I worked five summers at the Magic Kingdom, including a full year between graduating Northwestern and starting graduate school in journalism. My only photo of me working at Disney, rolling out the afternoon parade route in Liberty Square A year of sulking around, waiting for other people to come make me happy, did not bring the joy that going out and making others happy did. Disney told me to go out, smile, and help people. (For the details of that moment, see Smile if you want to work for a theme park.)Īt Disney, my despair melted away - not because of my surroundings, but because of what my job required me to do. But as I sat in the old casting trailers on Reams Road, north of the Magic Kingdom, I summoned what might be the most important lesson in show business.įake it until you make it. Cue the sad trombone.Ī distressed person who had lost his ability to connect with people emotionally might not seem the ideal candidate to work at the Most Magical Place on Earth - the emotional refuge to which millions of people escape each year, looking for a fresh dose of joy in their lives. To complete the clichéd story, my long-distance girlfriend had just dumped me, and my roommate had moved out, too. A year serving as student government vice president had sucked from my life what little remaining joy I had left after studying. I had just finished the second year of a brutal academic program at Northwestern, where cold winds blowing off Lake Michigan made the dark winter days even more depressing. My parents had moved from Indianapolis to Orlando while I was away at college, where I was not exactly thriving. I did not come to Disney from a happy place. Three years later, my relationship with Disney changed from fan to cast member when I got a job working at the Walt Disney World Resort. Then, in 1984, Michael Eisner and Frank Wells took charge at Disney, ending the company's slow downturn after Walt's death. I grew up as The Walt Disney Company was falling back. While I loved going to Disneyland, and later Walt Disney World, most kids in my class wanted to go to Six Flags, because they had the cool, exciting roller coasters that Disney did not have. My favorite cartoons were from Jay Ward, not Walt Disney. Like millions of other GenX American children, I grew up with Disney’s movies and TV shows, but I also grew up with Universal and Warner Bros. (Thanks for having me on, Miss Mary Ann! I still remember that foot-long taffy in the goodie bag.) I wore that costume for a Halloween episode of Romper Room here in Los Angeles as soon as I was old enough to appear on that classic children’s television show. I make my living today in media, and my very first media appearance was. But my take on Disney's 100 years is a bit more personal, though I hope that the lessons I have learned will feel universal.īeing a Los Angeles native, Disney has been part of my life ever since I can remember. Arthur Levine of About Theme Parks suggested the topic, and he has posted his own take on Disney's first 100 years, focusing on the company's social and cultural impact.
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