If you have ever been to a Disney theme park you have had the chance to walk around and notice the landscaping. Often you will see a sign that indicates the name of the type of plant, tree, or flower you are looking at. Keep that in mind as you read this little amazing tid-bit of Disney history.
A very special celebration for Disneyland cast members was held at the Disneyland Hotel Magnolia Room on July 17, 1965. As Disneyland celebrated 10 years both Walt and Roy were invited to speak. Walt’s speech was honest, fun, and sincere…the cast members loved it.
At one point in the speech he said the following…“A lot of people don’t realize we had some very serious problems here, keeping this thing going … getting it started. I remember when we opened we didn’t have enough money to finish the landscaping. I had Bill Evans go and put Latin tags on all of the weeds. We had a lot of inquiries. That’s a fact. You ask Bill Evans. Of course, every weed to Bill Evans has got a Latin name, you know.”
You have got to love it. The problem was that Walt was out of money, they didn’t have enough to plant nice new things for the people to see. The solution was wildly creative, just go out a give the weeds a fancy name. That is what they did, they named them, put a sign out, and that solved the landscaping problem.
Walt was so creative and talented that he had the ability to make weeds seem special and something that people wanted to see. (and know more about)
Now a weed is still a weed, you can dress it up, give it a fancy name, but at the end of the day-it is still a weed. But the ability to see something besides just a weed-now that is something truly special. And inspiring the imagination of others to see something more…that too is a gift.
Perhaps that is a part of the magic of Walt Disney. He could inspire and ignite dreams in people…he helped them see more and he had the ability to not only see what everyone else could see…but he could see more as well.
One of the greatest gifts you can give to others is the gift of inspiration. Your outlook, your way of viewing the world, and you way of facing life might just be the spark that inspires them to do just a little bit better, work just a little bit harder, smile just a little bit broader, or laugh just a little bit louder. And that little bit might make all the difference.