Patreon reward piece done by the one and only pacopanda.
This piece is not connected to any of the Drohan lore, this is based on my own personal experiences growing up and how every step of my life has seen many dreams made real, and to me, there is no better representation of that than Cinderella's Castle. Here is my story...
"Growing up, I always enjoyed watching Disney movies, cartoons and TV shows and I always knew it was Disney because of one thing; the castle. For me, the castle was always a sign that something magical and awesome was going to happen, whether it be the gorgeous and stunning visuals of "Sleeping Beauty" or the coming of age epic that is "The Lion King". As I grew older, I became aware that the "castle" existed in real life through Disney TV specials set at either Disneyland or Walt Disney World. Growing up a poor boy in a mountain village in Puerto Rico, I believed I could never visit the castle. The best I can get was watching the logo at the start of every movie. One day, while with my parents at the mall, we stop by the toy aisle and saw one special toy set; A Disney Castle playset that had Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and many guests as well as a trolley toy. I remember I saw it and I wanted it...RIGHT THERE AND THEN! My parents knew better and said that it wasn't the time for me to get something as "expensive" as that. I cried...nay I SCREAMED all day long that I didn't get the toy I wanted right there and then. But like most kids, I forgot about it.
Fast-forward to my Kindergarten graduation. As our teacher was calling us on stage to get our presents, mom and dad go up, take pictures, and I am handed a big box. After I step down from the stage, I open it up to see that it was...THE CASTLE PLAYSET I WANTED SO MUCH!!". Needless to say I was ecstatic. For a kid that age, something as simple as a toy you wanted made your whole year. I played with that castle so much, I made up stories with my other toys, imagining that they were either invading the castle or saving it.
As it is the nature with children, I soon grew tired of it, and to this day I don't know what happened to it, and honestly, I wish I did. Much like Charles Foster Kane had his beloved "Rosebud" be a symbol of his childhood, the castle really represented everything I desired for; a place where I could be myself and make my dreams come true. Come college-age, I began to look deeper into the Disney Theme Park fandom through YouTube, Livejournal and other sites. I grew fascinated by the history of the parks, as well as the attractions, the music and the characters. Soon enough, I became part of a group of Disney friends who loved going to the parks. It was during that time that I wanted a castle yet again, but this wasn't a toy, this was a real place. Soon, Cinderella Castle was the castle I wanted to see in person one day. But lacking a job made things hard so I had to live through someone else's experiences. Every day it felt like it was the impossible dream. But as the Cinderella song "Impossible" from the Broadway show say, "It's possible". In early 2012, I had gotten a temporary job that paid well, well enough that I decided to fund my first ever Walt Disney World Resort trip. I contacted my "Fairy Godmother" (ie a travel agent) that helped me make reservations, guide me through the process and more. I even had a best friend fly up from Miami to meet me for the first time in my visit!
But as with any story of achieving a dream, this one had many road blocks; my father suffered a major heart attack that left him in the hospital for nearly three months. That's when I had to make this decision "if he gets better, I will go". if he doesn't, I'll stay. Dad got indeed better and the trip was back on. As for the other roadblock...it was a summer flu that hit me a week before takeoff. I had to work hard yet again to feel better before the trip. And surely enough, I did recover.
This trip was meant to happen on this date in particular; July 17th, 2012. That would be my 30th birthday, and yes, I share the same birthday as Disneyland, the original park in which Walt Disney famously declared that "to all who come to this happy place...welcome". And feel welcome I did. On that fateful morning, I met up with my best friends and took a trolley ride down mainstream. I decided to close my eyes and tell my friends "when I get the perfect view of the castle, tell me to open my eyes". After a short countdown, they told me to open my eyes. I open my eyes, I look up and there it was; Cinderella's Castle. It was not footage from an old VHS, it was not a photo, it was not on a YouTube video, it was real. Much like when I got my playset at Kindergarten, I was more than elated, I was crying. For so long I felt that this country bumpkin would never get to see the view that adorned so many of the stories that comforted him growing up. From that moment on, I began to saw the Disney castles as being symbols of dreams made real and became synonymous with my birthday celebrations. In many of Disney's best stories, a castle is a status of a dream achieved, a goal accomplished, and happiness forever obtained. From that day, I truly learned that nothing was impossible.
Nearly ten years after that fated first visit, and many more after obtaining that castle playset, I bought myself for my birthday a Disney Theme Parks Toy Castle Playset, creating a full-circle moment as I am now a proud Cast Member of the resort, being now part of a family who will be celebrating 50 magical years, one which happened to be one of the most beautiful in my life. No dream is ever impossible, and every day that passes I picture castles in the sky and in my heart, knowing that I will live to see them one day. My belief has since been changed for good despite it all, and it was all because I wanted more than a castle playset or be content with YouTube vlogs, I wanted to live the real thing" - Drohan
This piece is not connected to any of the Drohan lore, this is based on my own personal experiences growing up and how every step of my life has seen many dreams made real, and to me, there is no better representation of that than Cinderella's Castle. Here is my story...
"Growing up, I always enjoyed watching Disney movies, cartoons and TV shows and I always knew it was Disney because of one thing; the castle. For me, the castle was always a sign that something magical and awesome was going to happen, whether it be the gorgeous and stunning visuals of "Sleeping Beauty" or the coming of age epic that is "The Lion King". As I grew older, I became aware that the "castle" existed in real life through Disney TV specials set at either Disneyland or Walt Disney World. Growing up a poor boy in a mountain village in Puerto Rico, I believed I could never visit the castle. The best I can get was watching the logo at the start of every movie. One day, while with my parents at the mall, we stop by the toy aisle and saw one special toy set; A Disney Castle playset that had Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and many guests as well as a trolley toy. I remember I saw it and I wanted it...RIGHT THERE AND THEN! My parents knew better and said that it wasn't the time for me to get something as "expensive" as that. I cried...nay I SCREAMED all day long that I didn't get the toy I wanted right there and then. But like most kids, I forgot about it.
Fast-forward to my Kindergarten graduation. As our teacher was calling us on stage to get our presents, mom and dad go up, take pictures, and I am handed a big box. After I step down from the stage, I open it up to see that it was...THE CASTLE PLAYSET I WANTED SO MUCH!!". Needless to say I was ecstatic. For a kid that age, something as simple as a toy you wanted made your whole year. I played with that castle so much, I made up stories with my other toys, imagining that they were either invading the castle or saving it.
As it is the nature with children, I soon grew tired of it, and to this day I don't know what happened to it, and honestly, I wish I did. Much like Charles Foster Kane had his beloved "Rosebud" be a symbol of his childhood, the castle really represented everything I desired for; a place where I could be myself and make my dreams come true. Come college-age, I began to look deeper into the Disney Theme Park fandom through YouTube, Livejournal and other sites. I grew fascinated by the history of the parks, as well as the attractions, the music and the characters. Soon enough, I became part of a group of Disney friends who loved going to the parks. It was during that time that I wanted a castle yet again, but this wasn't a toy, this was a real place. Soon, Cinderella Castle was the castle I wanted to see in person one day. But lacking a job made things hard so I had to live through someone else's experiences. Every day it felt like it was the impossible dream. But as the Cinderella song "Impossible" from the Broadway show say, "It's possible". In early 2012, I had gotten a temporary job that paid well, well enough that I decided to fund my first ever Walt Disney World Resort trip. I contacted my "Fairy Godmother" (ie a travel agent) that helped me make reservations, guide me through the process and more. I even had a best friend fly up from Miami to meet me for the first time in my visit!
But as with any story of achieving a dream, this one had many road blocks; my father suffered a major heart attack that left him in the hospital for nearly three months. That's when I had to make this decision "if he gets better, I will go". if he doesn't, I'll stay. Dad got indeed better and the trip was back on. As for the other roadblock...it was a summer flu that hit me a week before takeoff. I had to work hard yet again to feel better before the trip. And surely enough, I did recover.
This trip was meant to happen on this date in particular; July 17th, 2012. That would be my 30th birthday, and yes, I share the same birthday as Disneyland, the original park in which Walt Disney famously declared that "to all who come to this happy place...welcome". And feel welcome I did. On that fateful morning, I met up with my best friends and took a trolley ride down mainstream. I decided to close my eyes and tell my friends "when I get the perfect view of the castle, tell me to open my eyes". After a short countdown, they told me to open my eyes. I open my eyes, I look up and there it was; Cinderella's Castle. It was not footage from an old VHS, it was not a photo, it was not on a YouTube video, it was real. Much like when I got my playset at Kindergarten, I was more than elated, I was crying. For so long I felt that this country bumpkin would never get to see the view that adorned so many of the stories that comforted him growing up. From that moment on, I began to saw the Disney castles as being symbols of dreams made real and became synonymous with my birthday celebrations. In many of Disney's best stories, a castle is a status of a dream achieved, a goal accomplished, and happiness forever obtained. From that day, I truly learned that nothing was impossible.
Nearly ten years after that fated first visit, and many more after obtaining that castle playset, I bought myself for my birthday a Disney Theme Parks Toy Castle Playset, creating a full-circle moment as I am now a proud Cast Member of the resort, being now part of a family who will be celebrating 50 magical years, one which happened to be one of the most beautiful in my life. No dream is ever impossible, and every day that passes I picture castles in the sky and in my heart, knowing that I will live to see them one day. My belief has since been changed for good despite it all, and it was all because I wanted more than a castle playset or be content with YouTube vlogs, I wanted to live the real thing" - Drohan
Category Artwork (Digital) / All
Species Bear (Other)
Gender Male
Size 1280 x 639px
Oh yeah, i remember how seeing the fireworks blasting around the castle as the TV program The Wonderful World of Walt Disney was starting especially when it was an animated show every Sunday night at 7;30pm on NBC.
What a beautiful story!
I'm so happy your dreams finally came true and full circle after all these years.
Everyone deserves to have their dreams come true, and it can only happen at Disney!
I'm so happy your dreams finally came true and full circle after all these years.
Everyone deserves to have their dreams come true, and it can only happen at Disney!
That was quite a story and I'm glad to hear that you dream did come true at the end. Paco did an amazing job on this picture.
It's the Castle of Dreams, quite literally in fact. That's what it's known as in Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep. And well, similarly to Cinderella teaching Terra how powerful it is just to believe, you've inspired some hope in me. Thanks for that, Drohan.
This is really beautiful and touching! Thank you for sharing. You made my day wonderful.
this story gives me so much hope for my dream, my dream is to work for a circus, I have always loved circuses but as a kid was too poor to ever go to one but when I was 26 it was the best day ever, I'm still working to make it till I get to work one, but thank you for sharing your story it is super hopefully
Very magical! I miss Disney World. I want to go back.
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