Back to top | Meeting the Rest of the Team

Friday morning brought me the chance to meet the other half of the 2008 Walt Disney World Ambassador Team: Kerri MacPherson. We arrived at the Magic Kingdom® Park before the opening and prepared to greet the Guests. Our role this morning was to help spread a little extra cheer as people arrived for an exhilarating day in the park. This was set to be a very special day in the park! We met up with a member of the Dream Squad to help select some lucky families for a VIP Princess photo opportunity in Exposition Hall and we met and assisted as many Guests as possible with whatever questions they had!

We handed out maps and Park guides to guests as they made their way under the Train Station toward the Main Street U.S.A® Area. One of the many wonderful things that have happened during my year is that I’ve met people, formed friendships, and connected in ways I never thought possible. Just within a few minutes that morning I rand into old and new friends from all over the country who had followed the contest closely. Some local, some from far away! I even saw and received an excited update from the family awarded the Cinderella Castle Suite on my first day in town!

Back to top | Celebrating an Olympic Hero

As it happened, my visit coincided with a very special appearance at Magic Kingdom® Park. Mt every visit to the Walt Disney World® Park has been filled with unexpected surprises and special magical experiences around every corner. For all the guests at the Magic Kingdom on August 29th, 2008 however, there was a whole new, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: Michael Phelps would be visiting the park!

Michael Phelps (Yes, the same Olympic swimmer who conquered the Beijing Olympics and captured the hearts and imagination of the whole world as he brought home an unprecedented 8 Gold Medals from on Olympic Games!) was celebrating, Disney style! The big event of the day was a unique morning parade in his honor. Imagine the excitement in the air and the throngs of people gathered to get a glimpse of the most celebrated athlete of this generation. Since they say a picture is worth a thousand words, I’ll let some of my pictures do (most of) the explaining!

Back to top | Another Dream Come True!

Following the parade I joined the Disney Parks Promotions and Public Relations teams who were headed up Main Street, U.S.A toward the Rose Garden (a clear grassy area situated in front of Cinderella Castle) for another special event. Michael Phelps was set to do some brief interviews with the media in attendance and spend some time talking about his experiences in the Olympics with a group of local swimmers. The crowds were eager to get a closer look and quickly surrounded the Rose Garden, taking pictures and chanting for this American hero. I stood with Mickey Mouse, awaiting Mr. Phelps and keeping bystanders entertained and engaged as they waited for their glimpse of Michael Phelps.

Looking on as so many dreams were coming true I was once again overjoyed to be a part of an experience like this. The biggest surprise of the day was still to come, though! One of the final parts of the celebration was a special presentation where Mickey was set to give Michael Phelps an honorary ‘Key to the Kingdom’. Moments before the ceremony started, I learned that Mickey could use an assistant, and he was going to let ME help! That’s right, I had the chance to meet Michael, shake his hand, congratulate him on his remarkable accomplishments and help pass along some of the Disney magic! It was incredible to meet Michael Phelps in person, but perhaps the most humbling part of the experience was that I was meeting on behalf of Walt Disney World. I never get tired of putting on my best smile and representing the company and theme parks that I love, but the chance to be a part of the face of Disney for an international Olympic hero is a privilege and an honor!

Back to top | A Thrilling Dose of Magic

Believe it or not, my incredible day did not end there! As if that wasn’t already more magical experiences than you should safely pack into any one day, later that evening I headed over to Downtown Disney West Side for another heart-warming, awe-inspiring experience that really gets to the heart of what being the CMO has meant to me.

Located at Downtown Disney® West Side – just past DisneyQuest® – is a striking, tent-like structure that houses the incredible Cirque du Soleil®, La Nouba™. Unique to the Walt Disney World Resort, this show features dancers, acrobats, gymnasts, clowns, incredible music and stunning special effects to create a mind-blowing, unforgettable spectacle that shouldn’t be missed. The magical part of this evening was that Cirque du Soleil and my team at Disney had arranged to have a few of the very best seats reserved, with a magical twist, of course!

As the audience was filing into the theater I headed into the ticket booth to meet up with the squad who was going to help me pull off a wonderful surprise. We located four seats near the top and back of the theater that were already occupied and formulated our plan. Balto – one of the delightful clowns from La Nouba – and I were going to head up to the unsuspecting family in those four seats and offer them the chance to move down to the front row, with seats right on an aisle that would bring them unbelievably close to the action.

We arrived at the randomly selected seats and found a family of four – John and Tina from North Carolina and their sons Thomas (11) and William (7). Again, I tell you, we could not have found a more delightful, endearing, appreciative, or fun family if we had held auditions. Even though we picked the four seats off of a computer screen without any knowledge of who was sitting in those seats, there is no question that this was the family I was supposed to meet.

Balto and I made our offer (well, I did the talking and Balto mostly just clowned around!) and the family willingly followed us all the way down to the front row. The catch – if you can call it that – was that in order to get the seats down front, they had to let me stay and watch the show with them. I used the few remaining minutes before the show started to get to know the boys and to hear about life in North Carolina where John worked as a fire-fighter. Once the lights dimmed we found we were unable to speak; we were suddenly surrounded by one of the most immersive, captivating performances I have ever experienced. High wire experiences, acrobatics, amazing talent and powerful music permeated the building. The production of La Nouba was an absolute highlight for me, but it paled in comparison to the chance to share it with this remarkable family.

Following the show we strolled through Downtown Disney and made a sweet stop at the Candy Cauldron where I picked up a special treat for William and Thomas. I could not have asked to meet a kinder family and I consider it an honor to spend time with people like John and Tina, who are both heroes in my book. As has happened so often during my time as CMO, we set the stage to give me a chance to make someone else’s dreams come true, yet it was my life that was changed for the better by the encounter. Thank you.

Following one of the most exhilarating days of my life, I was on cloud nine as I made my way back to the Boardwalk Inn for a peaceful night’s sleep. As I lie there in a deeply content state-of-mind, one startling thought occurred to me: this trip wasn’t over yet! Despite all I had seen and done, the people I had met, and the joy I had experienced, I still had another magical day to go!

Have a magical day!

Justin Muchoney
Disney Parks Chief Magic Official