I’m borrowing a page from fellow MousePlaneteer, Steve Russo, and writing about my one-year anniversary here at MousePlanet. I enjoy Steve’s writing, and appreciated his anniversary article back in February, so I thought I could reflect on my own first year this time. Sorry to borrow, but thanks for the idea, Steve. Since April 25, 2008, there’s been 12 Disney Stuff articles, nine DVDs reviewed, two Disney Top Five lists, and one article about my first, and hopefully not last, visit to MouseFest. Not bad for a first year, really.
After writing for another Disney fan site for several years, I contacted the MousePlanet powers-that-be about maybe writing a piece for them. Like many of us Disneyphiles out there, I have a passion for collecting Disneyana and I felt that this segment of the Disney universe wasn’t being covered enough on the major Disney fan sites. Thus, Disney Stuff was born.
Over the past year, I’ve shared my thoughts and my collection of Disney paraphernalia with you, and you’ve shared your thoughts and collections as well. Let’s face it, we Disney fans like our stuff and there’s plenty of it to go around. With that in mind, I thought I’d take a look back on some of the stuff we’ve shared this past year. Needless to say, I’ve spent the past year accumulating more and more things for us to talk about for the year to come. I hope you continue to read along and share your thoughts and passion for collecting all that great Disney Stuff that’s out there.
Here are some of my favorite pieces of Disney Stuff that I’ve shared with you this past year:
The collection of Disney figures my daughter and I have amassed over the years. Photo by Chris Barry.
The best Happy Meal toys ever! Photo by Chris Barry.
The character sketches from the various DVD Collector Gift Sets. Photo by Chris Barry.
One of of my favorites from my collection of Disney News and Disney Magazines. Photo by Chris Barry.
Disney spooky stuff. Photo by Chris Barry.
My small, but growing collection of Disney Big Little Books. Photo by Chris Barry.
The Disney Village Christmas Collection Main Street Train Station. That’s some title. Photo by Chris Barry.
My favorite Disney Lenox piece of all. Photo By Chris Barry.
The pin given to castmembers after the 2004 Summer of Storms. Photo by Chris Barry.
Your responses and comments to all of my articles have been kind and thought provoking. You all seem to have the same passion as I do for collecting or accumulating all things Disney. It’s been great discussing them all with you. The things we collect remind us of the films, characters, or magic memories in the parks that make us all the Disney fans we are. They’re important pieces of our lives.
In addition to writing Disney Stuff and the DVD reviews, I found time to visit MouseFest for the first time in December. It was my first time at this grand “gathering of the tribes” at Walt Disney World and one of my favorite articles of the year ( “A Newbie Looks Back at MouseFest” December 30, 2008) came out of that trip. MouseFest was a blast. As I said in the article the defining moment of MouseFest was the realization that ,“Yeah, there are others like me out there, and they get it, too.” Here’s looking forward to MouseFest’s return after this year’s hiatus.
The brave Mini MouseAdventurers of MouseFest ’09. Photo By Mark Goldhaber.
My latest series for MousePlanet has been “My Disney Top Five.” After only two articles, I think I’ve gotten more email responses to this series than all of Disney Stuff combined. People like lists. Everybody has their own Top 5, Top 3, or Top 10 for everything in their life and they seem to love sharing them. I’m enjoying this series very much and I’m full of ideas for the future. The Disney universe is pretty huge and there’s plenty to pull from. Perhaps the best compliment of all was an email response from Disney Historian and Lead Story Consultant Paula Sigman Lowery regarding my last installment, (Top Five Things I Need to See at Disneyland. April 17, 2009.) Specifically, she responded to my number one thing; the lamp in Walt’s apartment window above the Main Street Firehouse. Paula wrote:
“Thank you for your article about the top 5 things you need to see and do when you come to Disneyland. I’m working with the Disney family on the soon-to-open Walt Disney Family Museum, and forwarded your article to Diane Disney Miller, reinforcing for her that there ARE people out there who appreciate her dad as a person. I’m sure you will be hearing from her.”
What a thrill to hear from Walt’s daughter. She thanked me as well for the article and said that they were building the museum for people like me who appreciate Walt the person. I assured her there were many of us out there. Someday, I’ll make it to Disneyland, and now I have to head back to San Francisco and see the Walt Disney Family Museum for sure.
Walt is always home. Photo by Lisa Perkis.
So, after a great first year here at MousePlanet, what’s next? Disney Stuff is still going strong. Top Five seems to be taking off. We have the best staff of writers, editors and administrators going. Most importantly, we have the best community of readers. You’re always a pleasure to hear from. You were a pleasure to meet at MouseFest. It’s my pleasure to write for you and I hope to keep doing so as long as you’ll have me. Thanks for a great year and I’ll see you next time with more DVD reviews, more Top Five lists, and of course, more great Disney Stuff.
