Assistant Laura & I have been working online today, most recently reading through Facebook and an article on the Walt Disney World blog about the Hidden Mickey’s on the Trading Pins .
For those who don’t know - Disney has been selling themed pins for the last decade, a huge success for the company, and big deal with Pin Traders. There are a set of these pins, given to Cast members that they are supposed to trade with guests, and have a “hidden” Mickey placed somewhere on them.
We ourselves have bought some, have some we’d like to get, and think they’re a fun way to remember visits and special occasions - such as my first visit when I was 4 years old in December 1971.
So I read the article and found it to be interesting. I’ve always loved knowing the stories behind Walt Disney World (specifically - Disney in general). I love that Walt would get into line with people, that Ub is remembered on a window on Main Street, that the light burns in the window to remind everyone that Walt is still there…
Laura read the article and spouted out, “who cares! I could care less that this guy’s wedding anniversary is on the pin”.
(By the way - his wedding anniversary is the same date as my birthday - April 29).
So I looked at her, stunned, and explained a little something that some don’t really know - everything about Disney is created by people who put their personal stamp on it.
When you look up at the windows on Main Street and see those names, those are the people who, along with Walt, created what you see today. The Hidden Mickey’s you hear about, and may search for yourself, were put there by the men and women who design and create the rides - their personal stamp on what they’re creating. Artists who bring to life a dream and make it with their stamp.
How they choose the things they place can be based on their own lives, dates, people, whatever something special they come up with.
Disney is a place literally decorated with the people who made it, a world of graffiti made with a purpose for all of us to see yet never know.
Disney even gave each of us the chance to stamp our own graffiti onto their worlds when they sold bricks to be placed at the entrance.
It may be a major corporation lost in its own world of politics, it may be a place loathed by some, beloved by others, it may be a place you visit once in your lifetime, or once every year.
But at its core, its a place created in the heart and mind of a man who believed in dreams, and in his footsteps, designed and built by the men and women who carried the torch. And just like you’ve seen in so many places, how they leave their stamp simple means, “I was here”.
May it be that we all, in our way, leave the same message - I was here.
