Disney Never Leaves Your Heart
Attending Mickey's Halloween Party at Disneyland has been an 8 year tradition for our family. This October marked the second year that we attended without my son. Family traditions can be emotional when you're missing someone you love.
First some background on myself in relation to Disney.
I'm Disney obsessed. It probably started as a young child growing up just blocks away from Disneyland. Two years after High School I packed up my car and moved to Orlando, Florida. No, I didn't have an interview. No, I didn't have a place to live. In fact, I didn't know a soul in Florida. It was just me and my cat named Kitty. I was determined to work for The Mouse himself and nobody was going to stop me.
I will never forget checking into that little Days Inn across from Universal Studios and hiding my cat. This was going to be home until I started working for Disney. There was no room for IF.
I showed up at the Disney Casting Center dressed professionally, with my resume in hand. It was the most beautiful building I had ever seen! Disney characters presented in creative ways throughout, from the outside to the inside. I was in Heaven! I filled out an application and was asked to have a brief chat with an interviewer. I told this person that if I didn't get a position today, I would be back tomorrow and the next day and the next! ...and so, I was granted an interview!
Little did I know that the interviewing process with Disney isn't quick or easy. The position I wanted was working in hotel reservations. I had office experience and passed the typing test with flying colors! There was also a phone interview and I was asked those silly types of questions like, "On a scale of 1 to 10 which blah, blah or blah?" By the end of the interview I asked, "On a scale of 1 to 10 how well did I do?" Two days later I was hired! The best part of beginning a career as a Cast Member is attending the "Traditions" class. This class takes you through the footsteps of Walt and the many traditions of the Disney Company. Traditions that Walt held near and dear to his heart. This is wear you earn your "Disney Ears" and you realize Disney will never leave your heart. I did eventually get an apartment and stopped pretending to be a tourist at the Days Inn. I was young and motivated. It was one of the most thrilling times in my life! I worked for Disney for 7 years and eventually moved to Nashville. Yeah, that's another story. But, gosh Disney stole my heart! Our little o'hana has Disneyland Annual Passes. My family drank the "Mickey Kool-Aid" and became Disney fans too. My kids grew up going to Disneyland and it is a family tradition. The first time returning to Disneyland without my son was difficult, as I previously wrote about in an earlier blog. Traditions are emotional when you're missing someone who was a part of it.
One such tradition is Mickey's Halloween Party. It is a special event that runs through late September and all of October. It requires a special ticket that you purchase for a particular night and includes trick or treating inside the park! There are special Halloween decorations that are displayed only for the event and everyone can wear costumes! The last time my son attended with us he was Pikachu and my daughter was Alice in Wonderland.
Two Halloween parties have passed since he's been gone. Last year was the most difficult and this year was better. It's just, well... How do you go on with family traditions when you miss someone that should be there with you? It's a strange feeling and the void of their presence is so loud. It hurts.
I would never take away this special tradition from my daughter. After all, it isn't her fault that her brother decided to leave. In fact, I think I would be more sad if we didn't attend! It's Mickey's Halloween Party and it makes me so giddy when I'm there! All the fabulous costumes, the special fireworks, the candy, the Mickey ghosts! I love it all too much to give it up because I'm missing someone I love. I carry my son in my heart and in a way he's still there with us.
If you're missing someone you love, don't shy away from your traditions. If it was something that made you happy while that person was in your life, why would you stop? Perhaps the best thing you can do is move forward with the tradition in their memory or in their honor. I thought about my son last week when we attended the Halloween Party. As the fireworks began, I looked up and said silently, "I love you and miss you so much." I wiped a small tear from my cheek and joined in singing to the firework music from Nightmare Before Christmas, "This is Halloween, This is Halloween!" That will be my new tradition every year until he returns. I will send him my words through the Disneyland fireworks. ...because Disneyland will always be our tradition, and I know in my heart he hasn't forgotten. Disney never leaves your heart.
