Why the Magic is Magical

As an unashamed lifelong Disney fan, one question people commonly ask me is, "Why do you love Disney so much?" For the everyday Disney obsessed person, the answer to this question seems so blatantly obvious. It's Disney, for crying out loud! However, it wasn't until recently that I actually stopped and thought about why it is that Disney holds such a near and dear place in my heart. For as long as I can remember, Disney has been an integral part of my life. From singing along to all of the songs with my family to watching every movie and television show imaginable to even venturing to a whole new world at the Disney parks, my life wouldn't look the same without Disney. That may sound cliché, and that may sound strange coming from a current twenty year old college student, but that's the truth. That's the beauty about telling your story too: it's your story. No one can take that away from you.

So why do I love Disney so much? Of the countless reasons that immediately flooded my mind whenever I was first thinking about what my answer would be, I somehow managed to narrow my list of reasons down to three key reasons that encompass a wide variety of reasons. I love Disney because of the entertainment, the escape, and the inspiration.

First of all, and probably the main reason a majority of people love Disney, the entertainment value with Disney is truly unparalleled. Everyone, including myself, can remember the first time they watched a Disney movie and beheld its majesty. For me, I vividly remember to this day watching The Little Mermaid with my grandfather who watched it with me almost every single time I went over to his house, which was quite often. There's just something about Disney that reminds you that life is meant to be enjoyed even if only for that hour and a half you're watching a Disney movie.
Some of the greatest songs ever to be written and recorded have come from Disney as well. I was born in 1995, the year Toy Story was released, so as a child, my first encounter with Disney music was the magnificent "You've Got a Friend in Me" performed by the incomparable Randy Newman. From the very first note to the final fade out of that song, life couldn't be better, as is the case with most of Disney's music. I have yet to meet a person who refuses to acknowledge that their day is not vastly improved upon after listening to such songs as "Be Our Guest" or "Hakuna Matata." I have also yet to meet someone who doesn't feel some sort of emotion upon hearing "A Whole New World" or "You'll Be In My Heart." If you are one of those people who disagree with those statements, I question the presence of your soul.
All in all, though, the entertainment value is unrivaled when it comes to visiting a Disney park. Whenever my family discusses destinations for a possible vacation, we always throw out a variety of ideas, but we always end at the Walt Disney World Resort. Why is that? I believe that it is because once you go once, nothing else truly compares. You can never be entertained by Disney enough. We can all recall the first time we were daring enough to ride one of Disney's more thrilling attractions, like the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror or Space Mountain, and we can all remember disembarking those rides anxiously awaiting the next opportunity to do it again. Plus, we all have our personal favorite attractions that will forever be special to us not only for their sentimental value, but for their entertainment value as well. For me, I can ride The Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean two hundred straight times, and then, I'll get right back in line for ride two hundred and one.
At the core of all that Disney does, entertainment shines. In reality, that was the original vision of the master himself, Walt Disney. He wanted to entertain the world, which he very successfully did, and now today, we still applaud the entertainment of Disney.

In addition to entertainment, the prospect of escaping into someone else's imagination (or for that matter, your own imagination) for a period of time is something Disney alone has been able to master. Think back to the most recent time you watched a Disney movie. For me, it was this little film you may or may not have heard of called Frozen. If you haven't heard of it, it's a pretty big deal so you might want to check it out sometime. Now with whatever movie you thought of in mind, think about how you felt while watching that movie. Distractions are a given and various other thoughts are unavoidable, but in large part, you were more than likely completely immersed in whatever was transpiring on the screen. For me, I never wanted to punch an animated character in the face as hard as I wanted to punch Hans! That's the power and beauty of Disney. As long as Disney is around, we all have the incredible opportunity to escape the world for a brief amount of time and get caught up exclusively in the lives of characters we grow to love and claim as our own.
If you've ever traveled to the Magic Kingdom in Disney World, picture this along with me if you will. You get off the classical monorail and instantly, you're surrounded with familiar sights, sounds, and smells. You proceed to the front gate of the Magic Kingdom and are welcomed by an always-smiling Cast Member. You behold the legendary Main Street Railroad Station and the beautiful site of multi-colored flowers. You walk through the gates, pick up your guide map and times guide, and finally, you are immersed in Main Street USA. Smells of the Main Street Bakery and Confectionery starve you from the beginning while sounds of the Dapper Dans illuminate your walk down the street. Then, one of the most magical moments of life is about to take place: you place your eyes on Cinderella Castle, and you know without a shadow of a doubt that this day is going to be magical. I don't know about you, but I'm getting chills just thinking about it. That's something only Disney can do. No mater how your life is before your vacation or before you watch a movie, for the amount of time Disney is in charge, everything else just fades away and your biggest concern is how do I get a Fastpass for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

Finally, every day, Disney absolutely inspires me. To be specific, the man behind the magic, Walt Disney, has inspired me beyond my wildest dreams. If you study the life of Walt, and I highly recommend that you do, you'll discover that Walt wasn't anybody special. He had his own unique gifts and blessings for sure, but at his core, he was just a man from Missouri who simply had an incredible dream. Once I came to that realization, his adage, "If you can dream it, you can do it," came alive to me like never before. Suddenly, I understood where Walt was coming and why he could say such a thing, and that's because he lived by that mantra every day he woke up, and that influence carried over to his films and theme parks. At the core of most Disney movies, you have a character with an insane dream that society tells them not to pursue. Then, you have a character who refuses to give up on their dreams no matter what the world may tell them to do. In a world nowadays that seems to constantly squander someone's dreams, what a radical statement Walt proclaimed over fifty years ago! Another one of my favorite quotes from Walt (in fact I have a shirt with the quote on it) is, "It's kind of fun to do the impossible." Dreams are often seen as impossibilities, but here's what I wonder though: what's so wrong with having dreams? Will having a dream prevent me from being a better person when I get older? In fact, I propose that dreams actually help us along that journey to become better people because as Princess Tiana tells us in The Princess and the Frog, "Fairytales can come true. You got to make them happen, it all depends on you." That's a revolutionary thought and an inspiring idea. That will get me through the highest points of life as well as the days that I hit rock bottom. It all depends on me.

I know I'm not alone in my love for Disney. In fact, it hasn't been until recently that I realized just how common us Disney fanatics really are, but one thing I think we all can agree on is that Disney has been, is, and always will be special to us all in some way, shape, or form. Whether you love Disney for the entertainment, the escape, the inspiration, or for a variety of other reasons, one thing is clear: we love Disney, and that's why the magic is magical.

-Cody Fleenor