Happy Birthday, Disneyland!

Today, July 17, marks Disneyland’s 69th birthday. Happy Birthday! Reflecting on nearly seven decades of joy, happiness, and magic, it’s astonishing to recall that many, including Walt’s own wife and brother, doubted the park’s success. They believed it would be…
What’s in a Name?

I’ve taken a page out of Dale Carnegie’s classic book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, by loving to learn people’s names, remember their names, and calling them by name in conversations. When I taught my first college class in…
America the Beautiful

I picked up Disney’s Land by Richard Snow again this summer, and on my second reading, a story really stood out for me. When writing about the twenty-thousand-plus American amusement parks that preceded Disneyland’s opening in 1955, Snow shares an…
Remembering Rolly Crump

We lost a legend recently. And not just any legend. We lost an Imagineering icon, Rolly Crump. What I loved most about Rolly wasn’t his unique gifts, his exceptional talents, or the multiple stamps he put on the Disney parks…