Where It Began

It was May 1993 and I was on my first trip to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. I was on the trip because I was celebrating graduating with my Associate's Degree. 

I flew from NY to Miami, Florida and arrived very late. Soon I was headed up I-95 north and out of Miami and heading to Orlando. I was with others in a 15-passenger van. We pulled into Fort Wilderness Campground and set up in the dark. I slept on the trailer couch. A mocking bird woke me at day break.

I headed out to the bathrooms on my first Disney day. Looking up at the pine trees, I saw the spanish moss.

And I thought one thing, "Wow, Disney thinks of everything."

 

 

I trace my design journey to this moment. When I looked up at the trees, with the spanish moss dripping from nearly every branch. Not too much, or the trees would look sick. Not too little, or the decoration would look insincere. No, it was just the right amount of "dripping".  It looked just like a stylist play on a Louisiana bayou. 

That's why I call this story Where It Began.

Observing that moss was step one on a beautiful, long, sometimes painful journey of observing. Observing is a key factor in both science and design.

I should point that what struck me then as something that Disney did (drape the trees with hanging moss) was, of course, not something that Disney did at all!  For central Florida, moss on trees is a given!  But right off the bat, I thought Disney had done that and created atmosphere.  Plus, this was my FIRST daylight thought in the parks, not my millionteeth.  For some reason, I already knew that Disney was going to do design to the max.

I kept my secret in my heart. Something about observing people, spaces, places and how they are all used, interconnected....I just loved that. I'd found my design home and it was only the beginning.