I still get excited about going to Disney World (though up to now I’ve only visited Disneyland.)  When I was five years old, I got my first “Mickey ears”, and yes, I still have them.  Walt Disney did create a Magic Kingdom with that first theme park in L.A. because when you walked through those doors, you saw his world of imagination through a child’s eyes. 

And make no mistake the Magic Kingdom is geared for children from the array of kiddy rides to the many movies characters who stroll the park.  But there is also a great deal of adult appeal there as well.  Everything that Disney created, from the theme parks to the wide variety of caroons and movies, speaks to all ages – if you just listen. 

The reality of his dream became so globally huge that it’s hard to believe he started his first cartoon, called Alice’s Wonderland, in his second floor studio in Kansas City.  From the 1920s to the 1950s, Disney made many animated films and short cartoons that won countless awards.  The characters from his imagination became real around the world.  Mickey, Minnie, Dumbo, Pinocchio, Snow White, Cinderella, Bambi, just to name a few.  

   

Because he was always looking for a new creative mountain to climb, he turned his talents toward an amusement park.  Built in 1955, Disneyland was the place where parents and children could have fun together.  But Disney promised that his park would never be completed “as long as there was imagination left in the world.”

It’s been added to over the years, and before Disney’s death in 1966, he bought land in Florida to build a park that would dwarf Disneyland.  His brother Roy finished Walt’s dream in 1971, naming the new park Walt Disney World. 

And that’s where I am now!

Romance Writers of America is having their annual conference here this week.  What an awesome place to see the world through a child’s eyes again!  Are you a Disney fan?  Have to been to a Disney park more than once?  What’s your favorite Disney place?

Janette will be signing copies of her latest books at the RWA Literacy Signing Wednesday, July 28 from 5:30 to 7:30 at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort, Pacific Exhibit Hall, in Orlando, Florida.  All proceeds are donated to charity.