ENG 273 FD#5: Where Dreams Come True

Kristine Asato

ENG 273

FD#5

Where Dreams Come True

The trip happened so fast, it’s hard to believe we had spent ten days there.  My boyfriend and his family invited me to come along, and it would be my first time.  I didn’t realize what was in-store for me, and didn’t have too many expectations.  The moment I saw the castle, I knew it was real, and without even dreaming it, it was a dream come true.  Every minute I spent there was a cliché to my memory.  But what I took home was so much more.  While most people bring home stuffed animals, or t-shirts, I brought home a profound understanding of a great corporation based on the dreams of the people of the world.  [THESIS] My first trip to Disney World was more than just an unknown childhood fantasy come true, it was the beginning of an entirely knew appreciation for a cliché. [THESIS]

Within the ten days I spent in Orlando, I was able to see the usual attractions.  The Tree of Life, the Cinderella Castle, the Sorcerers Hat, and Spaceship Earth, were all on the agenda.  It was amazing to see all these attractions in real life, instead of looking in from my television set; I was here, where the magic began.  We did the whole tourist thing, took our pictures, and bought some souvenirs to take home.  Everything around me just made me feel like a child again.  But there was one attraction that changed the way I saw Disney forever.  In a small corner of the Disney Studios, was a museum with all of Walt Disney’s history, and how the Disney Corporation came to be.  Little did I realize I would be walking out a changed person, with a whole new look at every Disney catch-phrase.

The museum first introduced Disney as a child, and where he came from, laced with pictures from his childhood.  As you walk down the yellow pathway further into the museum, are actual replicates of his early work.  Different versions of Mickey Mouse, and it allowed people to see Mickey’s growth over the years, and have a glimpse of Disney’s train of thought.  I realized that Mickey along with Disney grew from something, into everything.  I saw how Mickey Mouse became the everlasting legacy of Walt Disney himself.  I found that I had more of an admiration for Mickey Mouse than before.

The museum continued to the line of work that Disney had created.  Steamboat Willy was the début of Mickey Mouse, followed by a parade of cartoons that was a culmination to Disney’s ultimate success.  Continuing through the line of achievements, were Disney’s releases of movies, establishing itself with Snow White.  This was the beginning of a line of amazing classics that will never die, and are continuously reborn into the hearts of children all over the world.  These characters, took us to places that we only dreamed of, and the imagination behind it was nothing short of groundbreaking.  It hit me that these Disney characters stood for more than a childhood memory; it was a statement that anything is possible if you believe.  I was no longer a child, and the happiness these movies brought me was a mere memory, but my appreciation for them grew.

The museum included a show that told the story of Walt Disney’s dream for Disney World, and how it all came true.  In the museum stood a picture of Walt’s brother Roy Disney with Mickey Mouse in front of the Cinderella Castle.  It was here I learned that before Walt Disney World opened, Walt Disney himself passed away.  Walt Disney wasn’t able to see his dreams come true, and so it seems only right that his dreams live on in those who come to this place of magic.  Maybe the cliché magic that is Disney World is the hopes and dreams of Walt Disney himself. 

When we think of Disney, we don’t think of Walt Disney the person.  We see Mickey Mouse and his friends and the Princesses from the movies.  We also think of children, and how, like Santa Clause, we must all grow out of Disney as we grow up.  The Disney name is followed closely by a long list of clichés, but the only way to have a cliché is if everyone understands their meaning. It is true what people say, that you don’t have to grow up, that Disney World is a place where you can be a kid again.  A place overflowing with happiness, that you begin to believe anything is possible, and you begin to believe that your dreams can come true.  Walt Disney wanted to create this place of dreams and magic, and a child-like imagination.  But this feeling of great euphoria can be achieved in our everyday lives, if we believe.  All of Disney’s clichés mean so much more, and are now my lessons to live by.  Believe in yourself, dreams come true, and even some day, maybe my prince will come.