Luckiest photo opp ever. We just happened to be where they were planning to pose for photos on during out last night at the park.
We just returned from a family/dance trip to Disneyland in Anaheim, California.
This is the 60th Anniversary of the park and Disneyland is really going all out to celebrate their Diamond Anniversary, including special events in California Adventure Park.
To be honest, if my daughter’s dance team had not been planning to perform in one of the parks and at Downtown Disney, as well as taking a dance workshop there, I doubt our family would have made the trip this summer.
I am not sure if simply knowing it was the 60th anniversary would have been enough to compel me to go. But now that we have gone, I think skipping a visit during the Diamond Anniversary would have been a mistake.
Before we left, I remembered how much I was inspired by Disneyland the last couple of times we went. But on this visit, I could not help feeling that every creative person really needs to go to Disneyland at least once in their lifetime to reap the rewards. And the Diamond Anniversary Celebration is an extra-inspiring time to go.
Nobody invited me to write this post to promote Disneyland and California Adventure Park. This is purely my opinion as a longtime creative. If you are also a longtime creative, here are a few reasons why you might want to attend:
1. Creativity needs inspiration. There are probably a handful of exceptionally creative people, in my opinion, who maximized their creative gifts in their lifetimes. For me, Walt Disney was definitely one of the most creative and visionary men who ever lived. And any creative person attending the 60th celebration will catch the creative wave that Disney created and feel buoyed up by it.
2. Walt Disney was a creative visionary and a business person. I have been teaching creatives to become more professional since 2001. Disney did not combine the two skills perfectly all the time, but I have yet to meet anyone who does. Most creatives I know can stand to expand their professional skills. But you can’t help but think of your creativity as a business after a trip to Disneyland.
3. It’s fun to feel like a kid again. Taking your family to Disneyland is a lot of work. No matter how large your family, there is no way to avoid some of the logistical stress that accompanies any cross-country family vacation. But you know what? About fifteen minutes after you enter either of the two parks, Disneyland or California Adventure, you will forget about everything except how much fun you are having.
4. We live in cynical times. We compartmentalize things. We intellectualize. We justify feeling stuck by calling it “being a responsible adult.” But in doing so, we cut off our access to the magic that might otherwise seep into our everyday lives. At Disneyland, the staff is trained to turn up the magic. And this is a feeling you cannot help but catch and enjoy during your visit.
5. You are probably stuck in the ways that you think. No matter how much I already appreciated the way Disney used to think, and no matter how much I have always been inspired by previous visits to Disneyland, I am always struck by just how eye-opening the experience is each time. And to make matters better, I notice and appreciate new things every time I go.
6. Disney was global and multimedia before it was easy to accomplish either goal. Today, we can go global in the touch of a few buttons on a laptop. What would Disney have accomplished if this had been the case for him? And yet, despite the challenges in creating a progressive, evolving business model, he found ways to make it work. Check out this two-hour documentary on Walt Disney, below, for more background information.
7. It all started with a drawing of a mouse. Then Disney animated the mouse. Then he produced a few short films with the mouse. Then he produced Steamboat Willie. Then he kept doing more smart things with the mouse like adding merchandising and launching The Mickey Mouse Club. Eventually Mickey Mouse earned Walt Disney an honorary Oscar. All of this took time, of course. None of it happened overnight. But nothing happens overnight. And when you visit Disneyland, you will see for yourself what sustained commitment and consistency can produce.
Maybe you are cynical. Maybe you think Disneyland is kid stuff or a giant marketing machine.
You’d be right. It’s both. The price to get to Anaheim and enter the parks and keep your family fed and rested is high.
But as a creative business person, you really can’t afford to not go and experience it for yourself, whether it’s your first time or your tenth.
Besides, your kids will love you for it.
If you like, enjoy this two-hour documentary about Walt Disney produced by The Walt Disney Family Foundation. It’s called, Walt, The Man Behind The Myth.
You don’t have to be a die-hard fan to get inspired by Walt Disney and Disneyland.
You don’t even have to go on an anniversary year, if the timing does not work for you.
Are you planning to go to the Diamond Anniversary celebration? Why or why not?
Why not share your favorite memory or inspiration from Disneyland in the comments?
Comments on this entry are closed.
I was just down in Walt Disney World in Orlando a few weeks ago for a conference and I had a chance to hear a Disney customer service rep talk about all the things they do to create amazing experiences for visitors. One girl tossed her doll into a muddy construction zone near the park on a whim and the Disney staff cleaned and did the doll up like she was a princess and gave it back to the girl, who was beyond ecstatic. When you grow up, capturing the magic of youth can be difficult but I think Disney “gets” that this is what everyone wants–not just the kids but the adults too–and they work hard in so many different and creative ways to make it happen. Well done to their team and to Walt Disney who started it all.
I have a story too. We were trying to walk out of the Disneyland at the same time that the Light Up The Night Parade was going on. If you have ever tried to get somewhere during a parade, you know that it’s pretty slow going. The young lady who was staying with us wanted to check out the arcade on main street, so we went in. As we entered, we stopped to look back at the parade for a few more minutes. Turns out the arcade is an ice cream parlor, too. A young woman who worked there was walking out the door with a giant waffle cone all decorated in chocolate and jimmies with whipped cream and a cherry on top. She looked like she was looking for someone in the crowd to give the cone too, so as a joke, and both at the same time, my husband and I both said, “I’ll take that for you.” And you know what she did? She handed it to him, explaining that she made it on purpose to give away to someone just because she wanted to “make a little magic.” Seriously, she said that. And then she walked away. So we sat down passed the enormous cone between the four of us, and watched the end of the parade. What if we all made a little magic tomorrow? What if we all made a little magic every day?