Life's Greatest Lesson

Back in 2009, they told us we were not allowed to post this image anywhere. We could show friends, but not to publish it. Back then, this shot was only available to special cast members of the Disneyland Resort. Now this is part of the "Walk in Walt's Footsteps" tour that you can purchase while visiting the parks. This is Walt's Apartment! The one he used to
stay in during the creation of the park itself. The lamp that sits by the window has a bulb that must be replaced within 5 minutes of going out. Here I am sitting in the chair on the left with my best friend Lauren beside me. I was trying to show a face of being absolutely smug and proud of what I had accomplished. The guy on the other side standing up is Connor. He told me I could do what I did... Let's back up and I will teach you in two examples one of life's greatest lessons.

As a cast member and College Program student, we were allowed to do many great things that the public or even most cast members could not do. One of which was visit Walt's Apartment. I was scheduled for a 11:00 time slot to tour the apartment. My friend Lauren was scheduled for around 9:00. Instead of dropping her off while she did the tour and then play in the park for a bit before I had mine, I decided to see if I could join her tour, that way we could just play in the parks after that with no interruption. I came up with my plan the day before and told my roommates what I was going to do. Connor chimed in and told me I couldn't change my time and that it was against the rules. I refused to listen to that and the next day I asked if I would be able to join the earlier group. Well the picture explains what happened. I got what I wanted and all I had to do was ask.

Here is a picture of me with demon glowing eyes and a ton of us outside the Haunted Mansion attraction. Due to the high volume of students and the lack of tour times available, tours of the Haunted Mansion (MY FAVORITE) we limited to two groups and the people were going to be randomly selected from the pool of interested students. I was not lucky enough to be chosen for either tour. I was devastated. This is my favorite ride and I couldn't do the walk through? No No No! I was bent on making my own luck. I went to the office to talk with the coordinator and asked her if I could go. She informed me that the names were called so that was that. Knowing what had happened with Walt's Apartment I decided to just show up and ask if anyone had dropped out or if they could fit one more person. As the picture states I got in.

These stories have given me a wealth of experience and I plan to use it again while at Walt Disney World. But what is the moral of the story, you ask?

The moral of the story is simply this: "There is no harm in asking. If the answer is no, you're in the same place you were before you asked. If the answer is yes, well that's where magic happens." -Josh Pierce

What have you done by simply asking that others said it couldn't be