The magic isn’t gone just yet.

I get a kick out of reading the message boards of the major Disney theme park fan web sites. I really do.

Be it the misplaced sense of entitlement, outrage at the merest mention of change, descriptions of peeling paint and burned out light bulbs… all make for good entertainment. If you take the opinions expressed as such.

A couple of points that the denizens of these Internet spaces might do well to consider?

First and foremost, you are the minority. I know that may come as a shock, but on the whole, you don’t really add up to much. As demographics go, the folks who post on such boards are a pretty small group. Vocal maybe, but when it comes to being counted, not so big actually.

Second, whatever issues you may have, from that’s not what Walt would do to an unnatural love of churros or calling the parks your second home, you don’t do what really counts. That is, spend. Sure, you may buy the Southern California Select Annual Pass, and you may spend a good month a year in days inside the gates, but as a rule, you don’t part with more of the disposable income than the average tourist. A pin here and there does not add up to what the folks from Peoria spend during their once a year visit.

In other words, you are a bump, a very small blip on the radar.

Sorry to have to break this news to you.

Disney has always and will always rely more upon the good word spread by folks who visit the parks once a year. You know, the neighbors just back from that week long visit. Be it California or Florida, those people share what they brought home. Happy memories of a wonderful time. And they share it with others who probably will enjoy their own vacations. Merrily giving Disney all of that saved disposable income in return.

The folks who post pictures of the family trip on Facebook. Because unlike Las Vegas, no code of silence exists. Disney wants them to share. Makes it easy to do so, too. Let that Photopass album go to family and friends. Because the happy memories created will influence others to do likewise.

That is why at park opening families from around the world can be found waiting in line to enter the Parks. They come to share the Disney magic that others have told them about. And they experience it for themselves. This may be the only time they ever do so.

Smiles aplenty. Memories to be treasured. Still available every day of the year.

Worked for Walt and still does for plenty of folks all these years later.

Count me in, too.