jungle jeff

Disney Parks Magic Kingdom

A little fun and celebration from the happiest place on earth, Disney.

Click here to go to Disney Parks Blog and the video of Drew Brees and Mickey Mouse leading the Magic Kingdom Parade.

Mickey Mouse and Drew Brees share the Parade Motorcade lead vehicle, in this very brief (23 sec) Disney video.

Have a Magical and Wonderful day.

Here’s a Disneyland You Tube Jungle Cruise Video, reportedly from 1956.

Fast forward to January 1982. Orlando, Florida. Disney’s Magic Kingdom Park. Straw hat, 100% polyester Disney costume, Disney haircut, Disney smile, ten-minute Disney spiel in hand.

Humor was not the focus in 1956, as it was when I was a Disney Jungle Cruise Skipper, “jungle jeff“, at The Walt Disney World Resort’s Magic Kingdom Park in 1982.

Most Jungle Cruise Skippers added a word, like “jungle” in front of their real name, as part Disney tradition and part Disney show. All these years later, it still means something.  FUN!

Happy Birthday Walt Disney World.  Disney World opened to the public on October 1, 1971, nearly five years after Walt Disney died from cardiac arrest (brought on from the removal of his cancerous left lung on November 7, 1966).

Walt’s older brother Roy O. Disney, at 73 years old, and enjoying retirement, had a big decision after Walt died on December 15, 1966.

Sell or develop.

Disney had purchased 27,443 acres, or 43 square miles, of alligator, snake and mosquito infested swampland during the mid-1960′s.  It is said the purchase price averaged less than $200 an acre.

Bought it cheap, sell it cheap.  Or, build?  And build Roy did.

Thank you to Walt Disney, Roy O. Disney, and the entire Disney organization for making Walt Disney’s biggest dream come to life.

My Family has enjoyed hundreds of visits to Walt Disney World.  Our home is located just a few miles from Cinderella Castle. Every night we see and hear the Magic Kingdom fireworks.

It’s been a dream come true to live so close to the most Magical place on Planet Earth.

“Money, Money, Money….Money“.  The O’Jays, 1974, For The Love of Money.

I want to make a ton of money.  Seriously.  Enough to buy whatever I want.

First on my list:

1. A Cure for Crohn’s disease

To take action, – to “put my money where my mouth is” – I’ve returned to school to earn my MBA.

Maybe that’ll be second on the list – pay off school loans.

Ted.com

Ideas worth sharing.

David Hoffman talks on Losing Everything.

I often wonder who I’d be if I lost everything.  Just yesterday, I was tempted (for a very brief moment) to think I actually had.

It was one of the best, and briefest, moments of my career.

Carpe diem, jungle jeff

September 11, 2001.

911,  9-11, 9/11.  What has 911 taught you?

It has taught (or maybe re-taught)  me the power of a hug.  That there is never a better time than right now to give someone a hug.  I hug more people, more often, even at work.

Remember how crowded (assuming you went) Church was that first Sunday?

Funny thing, I remember a lot of Christians sort of complaining about “all those people”.

And I quietly thought to myself, “This is the way Church ought to be every Sunday”.

Facebook thread today said, “You get what you give”.

In business and in life, you get what you give.  We all know this yet sometimes we forget.

One of the reasons we forget is that as humans we are easily distracted, because we are so busy doing all the things humans do.

And occasionally, like now, we get on with surviving an economic tsunami.

Meanwhile, life passes by.  I take solace in the fact that for 35 years, I have never faltered from trying to make my professional contribution exceptional.

Even if people are too busy too notice.

Einstein.  Genius, right?

So you might be asking yourself, “What the heck does this jungle jeff guy know about life’s four big decisions”?

“A ton”! This doesn’t make me a genius, but not being a genius doesn’t make me not an expert.

So, however you found jungle jeff and for whatever reason(s) you stay, just want you to know that I am addicted to excellence.

This blog, written by me for me (and my son), may also benefit you.

A word of caution.  I do not slow down so that people can keep up.  If you are truly interested in excellence, you have to pay attention, a lot.

Ya with me?  Carpe diem, jungle jeff  :)

This blog is for my son. Since it’s inception, it has always been for my son.  Period.

People who know me well, are crystal clear that I do things purposefully.

And when it looks like the path I’m walking is leading away from where we’re headed, it’s only because heading away is the best path at the moment.

jungle jeff’s focus has always been on what I call the “money quadrant“.

Money is one of life’s big choices.  There are only four big life choices.

More tomorrow.  Meanwhile, carpe diem, jungle jeff :)

Why daily?  “Seriously, you mean this doesn’t make immediate sense to you”?

Commonly known as a habit, doing something over and over eventually makes it routine.  You knew that right?

So did I.  And yet, the temptation, subconscious and conscious, to forget this fact is astronomical.

Which brings us back to doing daily feats of courage.  “Yeah, jungle jeff, but do you practice what you preach”?

What I did yesterday consumed nearly the entire day.

I invested that time in pursuit of excellence and peace of mind.  But it took courage. And I had a lot of it yesterday.

Huh? Exactly.  Carpe diem, jeff noel