Tag: Disney History

The Armor We Choose: Finding Grace in Painful Places

Disney Cicerone December 30, 2022 0 Comments
Armor. That's what she had to put on, every day. Amidst cat calls, pranks, and those who watched and waited for her to fail so they could pounce, Grace Huntington walked a daily minefield with invisible protective gear making her not as invisible as she wished she could be. Walt had warned her about this in her job interview for the story department at Walt Disney Studios. He was honest with...

The Lost Jungle Book that Never Was

Disney Cicerone August 29, 2022 1 Comment
I recently had the privilege of visiting The Walt Disney Family Museum's special exhibit for the Jungle Book called Walt Disney's Jungle Book: Making a Masterpiece, and, to be honest, I was only mildly excited about it walking into the experience. Don't get me wrong, I have always liked The Jungle Book, but it had never been a top 10 (or even 20) Disney movie for me. But after watching the...

“Did you know that… ?” Seeking the Truth in Disney Stories

Disney Cicerone June 14, 2022 0 Comments
I once had a conversation with a former Imagineer who told me something along the lines of, "Disney people are storytellers." And boy, isn't that the truth? Sometimes Disney fans, creators, and even Cast Members hear a story about something in Disney history and get so excited to hear a "secret" that they immediately pass it on as fact without tracking down the primary source (my professor...

Repurposing The Magic: How We Reimagine Our Moments

Disney Cicerone November 2, 2021 0 Comments
It occurred to me the other day that so much of what we see at Disney isn't actually what we think it is. Or it used to be something very different, but we don't realize it. Let me explain. When you ride on Splash Mountain and sing along (jubilantly, if you're anything like me) with the geese and the swamp critters at the end, you probably aren't thinking about how they were all...

How Disney Gives Us the Magic of Confidence

Disney Cicerone August 3, 2021 2 Comments
On a recent visit to Avenger’s Campus, I witnessed a kind of Disney magic I had never seen before. Now, this is really saying something. I’ve held my babies with teary eyes during fireworks, I’ve been pixie-dusted for once-in-a-lifetime moments, and I have witnessed a gentle snow falling on Main Street USA in Disneyland Paris at Christmastime. But this moment was one that will go down in...

Disney Parks Hidden History & Secrets Scavenger Hunt – Magic Kingdom Edition

Disney Cicerone June 21, 2021 1 Comment
Hey Disney friends! If you're headed to Walt Disney World for the first time this year (or just the first time in FOREVER!), I've put together this scavenger hunt full of unique items to look out for, along with some fun facts about each one! I tried to include many things from Disney history that are overlooked or not widely known, and some of my favorite Magic Kingdom secrets. You can use them...

Every turn of the Disney carousel – Words + History

Disney Cicerone May 3, 2021 1 Comment
I climb aboard my majestic steedand scenes from my life begin to circle around meone by oneblurry but visible between the linesPulling desperately on the sword forever in stone, believing this timeit might just grant me a crownRacing from exit to entrancesplash after splashagain and againcarefree and wildEating endless kernels and mickey-shaped delightsin pineapple heaven beneath the...

How Disney’s hidden magic makes us look closer

Disney Cicerone November 16, 2020 2 Comments
As I shuffled around the MDE (My Disney Experience) app to make my next mobile food order, I found myself having walked to a completely new land without ever remembering how I got there. I stopped abruptly and turned around, aghast at what I had missed. Because every time I walk through Disney, I see something new. An unexpected detail I've never noticed before. A color palette I'd never fully...