Response to Sedona's Show and Tell

Hi Sedona,

I personally love Disney as well, so I thoroughly enjoyed your presentation and video! I have always put aside the thought that Disney is a monopoly because of the magical aura that you mentioned. Truthfully, it's always only been a magical and happy place to me! I never considered the expenses, the time it takes to get there, the amount of walking and waiting for rides, or the number of workers required to keep up that magical touch.

My boyfriend also participated in the Disney College Program in Fall 2015, and he absolutely loved it. However, he did realize that same feeling of smallness you mentioned. It's so hard to stand out in such a large corporation like Disney, and I think he felt that was the only downside. In my opinion (based on what my boyfriend shared with me), I totally agree with everything you discussed in your show-and-tell! He is still just as in love with the magic of Disney as he was going into the program, but he seems to have more enlightened view of HOW this magic works. It takes an incredible number of workers to maintain, obviously, the physical appearance of the park, but also the wonderful aura of it.

Your presentation stood out to me because it made me realize how relevant Disney, of all things, is to our course and the media of the world. I agree with you when you don't think this magic is lying, but I also think that its original intentions back with Walt Disney were to entertain people and make them experience magic that they can't get anywhere else. Over time, though, I do feel that Disney has had to adapt to the world and the media surrounding it so it can still live up to everybody’s expectations. Even though it is ever-changing, I feel like it has the same magical aura, just evolved into something that matches the world’s desires. Does that mean it’s not the original Disney?

I would compare it to modern dance; modern dance began back in early 1900s and has evolved since, but we still call it “modern” dance. Isn’t the definition of modern to operate in the modern day, 21^st century? We are continually changing how we dance in a "modern" style, but it still has the naturalistic and simple feel (aura) to it. It’s just adjusted to how we feel we can best express ourselves in a naturalistic and simple way, which varies constantly and varies between persons as well. The aura and the appreciation of it is still there.

I don’t think that Disney will ever lose its aura, but it will always be changing in some way, even if we don’t notice it. It might be small changes, like taking away selfie sticks; or it might be large changes, like adding Star Wars Land. Either way, Disney hasn’t lost any of its magic (yet) as a result of adapting to media, but I guess we don’t know what the future holds!

Thank you for the awesome and thought provoking presentation, Sedona—and thank you for choosing Disney!

Have a great weekend! :)