Disney Magical Mindset Podcast

He Did See It: The Walt Disney World Mindset

• Ruben R. Rios • Episode 73

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 18:56

Someone once said it was a shame Walt Disney never got to see Walt Disney World.

The response? "He did see it. That's why it's here."

In this episode of Disney Magical Mindset, we're exploring one of the most powerful lessons Walt Disney ever taught us: every dream is seen twice, first in your mind and then in reality.

From Walt Disney World to EPCOT, Walt constantly looked beyond what was and imagined what could be. His example challenges us to stop waiting for proof, start believing in possibility, and always have a new frontier ahead of us.

Because before the magic appears in your life, you have to see it first.

Helping you reimagine what's possible and step into it! 

Welcome And A Disney Story

Ruben

Hey Reimagineers, welcome back to another episode of the Disney Magical Mindset Podcast. My name is Ruben. I'm so glad you're here, and this week is a special one because I'm recording this while getting ready to spend time at Walt Disney World, the most magical place on earth. And whenever I think about Walt Disney World, I always come back to one story. It's a story that has become one of my favorite Walt Disney stories because it's about so much more than a theme park. It's about vision, it's about belief, and it's about what becomes possible when you're willing to see something before anyone else can.

He Did See It

Ruben

And in 1971, Walt Disney World open to the world, Magic Kingdom in October, and then two resorts that I know many of you love, the contemporary and Polynesian. And on opening day in 1971, someone reportedly turned to Disney executive Mike Vance and said, Isn't it too bad Walt Disney didn't live to see this? And Mike's response was simple but powerful. He did see it, is what Mike said. That's why it's here. Think about that for a moment. He did see it. That's why Walt Disney World is Walt Disney World. That's why it's there. Because Walt did see it. And today I want to talk about what that means for us. Because I think one of the greatest lessons Walt Disney ever taught wasn't about castles or attractions or even Disney parks, although we love it all. It was about learning to see possibility before it becomes reality. And there's so much magic there. Learning to see possibility before it becomes reality. So if you're ready, come on, let's do this, because here we go.

Dreams Are Created Twice

Ruben

One thing I've noticed about dreams is that they are always created twice. First in the imagination and then in reality. Think about that. Isn't that where it happens? It happens in your mind, in your heart, imagination, and then it becomes reality. You know, before Disneyland existed, it existed in Walt's mind. Before Walt Disney World existed, it existed in Walt's mind. Before Epcot existed, it existed in Walt's mind. Long before the construction cruise, you know, before those permits, uh, before the grand opening, Walt could already see it. He could already see it. And and most people struggle because they reverse the order. I think that's the challenge that that we face sometimes. They they'll say things or we'll say things like, I'll believe it when I see it. But when you look at Walt and you study his life and this dreamer, this this imagination that he had, he he just lived differently. And he essentially said, Well, I see it, therefore I believe it. Like I I already know, I see the castle. I know, I know you guys see orange groves and you see dirt, but but I see the castle, and and so he he believes in it with all his heart and he goes forward with it. Um, and he worked for it. And that's such an important distinction because vision is important. You need vision. We all want that, right? The ability to see something that's not there and to cast that vision and to share that vision. But vision alone isn't enough. You still have to do the work, and that's what you hear Walt say a lot. Often, you know, you the secret to success is you do it by working. Uh, so you have to do the work. Walt wasn't sitting around wishing and hoping someday my castle will come, right? Uh, using the words of Snow White, someday my prince will come. But he wasn't just sitting around wishing and hoping. It's like he believed that he had to do the work. So, yes, keep wishing, keep dreaming, keep hoping, keep believing. But then you gotta do it, right? Um, and and that's what he was doing. He was building, he was planning, he was, he was failing as well. And he was trying again. He was getting back up and moving forward. But the work was fueled by a vision that existed before anyone else could see the finished product. I wonder how many dreams people abandon because they can't see immediate evidence. Man, maybe, maybe you've been working towards something, a healthier version of yourself, a new career, uh, a business, entrepreneur, a relationship, a goal that you've carried for years. And and because progress feels slow, you start questioning whether it's possible. And we all do this. We all do this from time to time, right? We all have these feelings where, like, man, we're putting in the work. We're we're we're doing everything we we seem to be doing. And man, we're giving it like everything we've got, right? We're working towards this goal that we have in our hearts. And I know the feeling. I get it, man, because it it can feel like that sometimes where it's just slow, and you just wonder, is this gonna happen or what's going on here? Um, but what if you're standing where Walt once stood? Okay, let's let's go there for a sec. Not on opening day, not after the success, not after everyone finally understands and they're like, oh, wow, now we get it. Everything that Walt talks about is gonna happen, right? Because we've seen the evidence of it. I'm not talking about there quite yet. All right. But I want you to go to the

The Dirt Phase Before The Castle

Ruben

construction phase. Let's go there with Walt, like that messy phase, the uncertain phase. You know, the phase where nobody else sees what you see, the phase where everyone's telling you, don't do this because it's like gonna be a big failure. Are you really serious that you want to do this? Yeah, let's go to that phase because the truth is Walt Disney World didn't suddenly appear one morning. And I know we go there, and I can't wait. I'm so glad. If you're if you're hearing this today, I am in Walt Disney World, and it's so amazing. It's a it's such an exciting, magical place to be. I'm so grateful. But I want you to think about how it didn't just appear one one day, right? This this is a process, and some of that process is very slow, but for years it looked like dirt. Construction, equipment, blueprints, and a giant risk that Walt was taking. I mean, he had the success that was happening in in Anaheim, right? In Disneyland. It was amazing. I mean, again, building Disneyland in one year. And so Walt wants more. And he's like, man, we we got to do more because he understands that everything that he wanted to do, right? The land was limited, like he didn't have enough space. So, like, he's working with his team and they're being secretive about it, buying land in Florida, and and it, you know, as we know, the rest is history. But think about the risks, and the castle always comes later, right? Those icons that we love and we see Spaceship Earth and these other things that that we we look at and we're like, wow, that is that is quintessential Walt Disney World. Those things always come later. And sometimes we're so focused on the dirt that we forget there's a castle being built. Sometimes it's so easy to focus on what you don't see that you actually forget what's happening in the process. And that's kind of where our mind sometimes wants to go. It wants to go to the dirt, it wants to go to the construction, it wants to go to the messy phases, and it's sometimes hard to push through that because that's all we're seeing in the moment. We're just focusing on that dirt part, but we don't realize that in that process, actually something greater is being built, something bigger is being built. That's the magic right there. That's how powerful this thing is, that we cannot lose sight of what is actually being built in the process.

Feel The Future Now

Ruben

One of the things I love about Disneyland, and it just fascinates me, is that every attraction it started as an idea. Whenever you walk through the parks, wherever you are, whatever park you choose and that you love, just remember the attraction that you're on, it starts with an idea. There's so much power there. Don't miss it. Walt, imagine Pirates of the Caribbean before guests sail through it. And now it's a classic, and we love this attraction, right? Someone imagines Space Mountain before rockets blasted through the darkness. What are the best like attractions in Disneyland Walt Disney World, right? We love it. Someone imagine Main Street, and that's someone Walt Disney. He's like, hey, I want to create this little town that looks like the one I grew up in in Marceline, Missouri, that people walk through on their way to the castle to remind them of this beauty of small town America, right? Like to give them this feeling that you get. Like there's something that happens when you walk down the middle of Main Street. You all know it. If you've been there, and guess what? Walt imagined that before guests are walking beneath the train station, you know, the berm, and they're walking through on their way to Main Street. Every detail started as imagination. And the same, the same exact principle applies to our lives. The life you want tomorrow begins with what you're willing to imagine today. That's the power of believing in that thing that you see, that feeling that it gives you. Sometimes we just wait until it happens to feel a certain way, but what if you begin to feel that feeling of joy and excitement, like if you're actually in it today and see what it does to your life? Let me ask you a question. If the future you're hoping for actually happen, what emotion would you feel? You know what you would feel. You would feel joy, maybe peace, freedom, confidence, gratitude, excitement. So here's the challenge. Here's what I want to encourage you with. Practice feeling that emotion today. Not when you finally arrive, not when the goal is accomplished, not when the dream becomes reality. Today. Because when you start thinking, acting, and showing up from a place of gratitude, confidence, hope, or excitement, something, I'm telling you, it begins to shift. It just does. You make different decisions, you notice different opportunities, you carry yourself differently. And in many ways, that's exactly what Walt did. Walt Disney World didn't exist yet. Epcot didn't exist yet, but Walt could already feel the excitement of what it would become. He saw it before he saw it. Woohoo! The life you want tomorrow begins with what you're willing to imagine today, not fantasy, not wishful thinking. I'm talking about vision and purpose and direction. Because if you don't know where you're headed, it's hard to move toward it. Yes, the path changed. Maybe um the obstacle changed, the timeline changed, but the vision remains. Like you see it, and you see that in the life of Walt Disney. Things changed. There were obstacles coming his way, but that vision, that vision remained, and that's what kept him going. He saw it before he saw it, and you can too. You know, one of the many

Keep A Next Frontier

Ruben

things I admire about Walt is he was always just thinking about the next project or something else that he wanted to do, like that was on his heart. While Disneyland was becoming successful, Walt was dreaming about Florida. While planning Florida, he was dreaming about Epcot. And while others were celebrating what had already been accomplished, Walt was like, hey, what other fun thing can we do? What's next? Not because he wasn't grateful, but because curiosity never stopped. Growth never stopped, learning never stopped. And I think that's one of the reasons so many people lose momentum in life. Because they stop dreaming or they stop imagining, they stop looking forward. Listen, the future becomes something they endure rather than something they create. And when you look at Walt again, I mean, he just teaches us something different. Always have a next, a next goal, a next lesson, a next adventure, a next chapter, something that stretches you beyond where you are today. And I'm not talking about like that never being happy or never being content. I think for all visionaries, there's always that struggle. There's always that tension. What I'm saying is let us let's never get to a place where we just stop. Or even in the words of Walt when Disneyland was built, and he's like, all right, don't even think about resting on your laurels. I mean, it's so easy to do sometimes when you get to something and you become successful or you experience a bit of success, and it's like, nah, man, we we can't just settle. So we have to constantly be people who are willing to grow, willing to be challenged, willing to not be closed-minded, but to be open-minded, willing to just continue to be pushed and use that creativity and imagination because that's really what it is. It the moment you lose imagination is the moment that you you get stuck. The moment you you no longer are dreaming is the moment that you're like, that you're just satisfied. That's what I'm talking about. And and Walt is just a prime example. Man just built Disneyland and he's like, he was dreaming already of more than he could do. Think about your next adventure or your next frontier. In fact, think about Frontierland for just a moment. When you think of Frontierland, you think of maybe covered wagons or river boats. Back in the day, Disneyland had Mind Train through Nature's Wonderland, which became the classic Thunder Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain. But the real frontier isn't a place, it's possibility. And that's why I love the different lands in Disneyland, because while it is a land, it reminds us of something more. There's something deeper. It keeps pushing us to believe that there is actually something more. There is a frontier out there, there is an adventure out there for me to go for. It's possibility. And the frontier is whatever challenge, dream, or opportunity lies in front of you right now. Whatever that frontier is, right? That's the joy of that frontier, is that you're going to try something new. You're you're going to explore something different. And for Walt, the frontier became Disney World. And then it was Epcot. For you, it might be something completely different. Maybe it's writing a book, which I'm working on and wrestling through right now, that frontier. Maybe it's starting a podcast or launching the business or repairing that relationship or going back to school and being like, I'm going to do this, or it's taking care of your health, or having the courage to say, you know what, today's the day I'm going to start again. Um, your frontier doesn't have to be enormous, it just simply needs to be forward. So when you think of frontier, think of forward momentum, forward movement. That's your frontier. So as I walk through Disney World, Walt Disney World this week, I'll probably think about that famous quote again. He did see it. That's why it's here. Walt did see it. That's why it's here. Wow. And I'll be reminded that every meaningful thing begins the same way. Someone sees it first, before the applause, before the results, before the evidence, before the success, they see it. Before anyone else sees it, they see it. And then they

Questions To Carry This Week

Ruben

build it. So I want to leave you with an important question to think about this week. What can you see that nobody else sees yet? What dream keeps showing up in your heart? What possibility have you stopped believing in because it hasn't happened fast enough? Maybe it's time to see it again. Maybe it's time to start building uh building again. Because before the magic becomes reality, you have to see it first. I want to thank you so much for joining me on this episode of the Disney Magical Mindset Podcast. I really appreciate being able to share these moments with you, um, these magical moments weekly. It is just brought me so much joy to my life and so much purpose and excitement.

Summer Schedule And Staying Connected

Ruben

And I'm just truly, truly grateful for you being here. I want to let you know that um this next month, the summer months, I'm going to um produce two podcast episodes a month. So uh for um 72 weeks now, I have been dropping a new episode since 2025, since the beginning of January 2025. And um I'm gonna be doing a lot of traveling uh this month of June that's coming up and a lot of exciting things uh that I can't wait to share with you. And so I thought, you know, these summer months, this would be uh an opportunity for me to um scale back a little bit and uh to drop two new episodes monthly for the summer and then kind of see where it goes from there, and then I'll re-um uh reassess, reevaluate uh as we hit the fall and see uh what we'll do beginning uh later this year. But at least for the summer months, I'm going to um go from a new episode every single week to two episodes a month. You'll still get the notifications, you'll still get uh that wonderful reminder in your email. If you're following along in emails, then you get that. If you if you don't, uh it's easy to do. You can just uh go to the description in uh the podcast episodes and you can sign up there. Um still please, I I'll be super active online uh on my social media accounts, uh, and I'd love for you to join me there. But uh I just want to give you the heads up and let you know that starting in June, we will go to two episodes a month. And uh I I can't wait to continue to share with you. But thank you for being here. Thank you so much for your support. I received a notification the other day that I reached 5,000 podcast downloads, and so wow, it just it's amazing, man. I'm so honored and and just overjoyed that I get this opportunity. I remember starting out last year in January 2025, knowing nothing really about podcasting. And I'm like, we're gonna do this, we're gonna go on that frontier, right? And it's been one of the best things uh since I started. So I cherish these moments, and we will still be having uh our magical mindset, Disney Magical Mindset podcasts. But with just uh summer months, again, just a reminder, I'm going to go from four episodes every single week, which I've been doing that since 2025. I've not missed a weekly episode. I love it, I really do. Uh, but in the summer months, we're gonna go to two times a month. Uh I hope that uh you'll be okay and you'll continue to still uh love and support. I'm here to cheer you on, and we're gonna still bring you that magic, and we're gonna take it to another level. And that's the other thing, too. It gives me an opportunity to just kind of see what else we can do, how else I can be the best that I can be to bring you

Gratitude And Final Reminder

Ruben

the magic, to help, to serve you, to man, to just like to just love on you. I love this. So thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. As always, as always, remember you are the magic because the magic is in you.