The Walt Disney Company is involved in numerous businesses, ranging from theme parks and movies, to Mickey shaped ice cream sandwiches and kitchen utensils. Easily the most valuable business to the company, however, doesn't generate a dime in revenue. It's the business of memories.

Oftentimes, the memories Disney creates are in the form of unexpected and over the top experiences for their guests that they claim comes from a sprinkling of pixie dust. In nearly 30 years of visiting Disney parks, I have never encountered the elusive fairy that supposedly carries this magical dust. That is until just a few nights ago...

Yeah...this happens every night...

As we wrapped up dinner with a group of friends at one of my favorite restaurants on the planet - Narcoossee's - a man approached our table wearing a different uniform from the rest of the staff. "Who is up for a fireworks cruise?" he asked, while the rest of us looked around at each other in confusion. About 3 seconds later, it simultaneously sunk in with all of us exactly what he was offering. The reason he was in a different uniform was he worked for the resort's marina, and it seemed this lovable guy named Louie was also the keeper of the dust.

In one coordinated motion we all leaped from our chairs, shouted a promise to return to pay our bill to our server, and bounded out of the restaurant to the marina around the corner. It was 9:53pm, and the fireworks were only 7 minutes away.

MJ and I aboard the yacht.

We hopped aboard the pontoon boat, and Louie navigated us directly in front of the Magic Kingdom just in time for the first shot...

What followed was simply 15 minutes of sheer awesome.

Always my favorite part for some reason...





I must credit the wife with this one....

I have seen Wishes no less than a hundred times, and this was obviously the best one of the bunch. The combination of great company, being on the water, and the reflection of each explosion on the lake, made for one spectacular experience.

We later learned the reason for our good fortune was that someone had paid for the cruise and not shown up. Being the masters that they are, Disney parleyed this into a magical moment for all of us that won't soon be forgotten. While they can't list those memories on their balance sheet, the Mouse knows just how valuable those assets really are.

~Insert Dude-like Closing Here~

Deej

This post is part of Travel Photo Thursday at Budget Travelers Sandbox. Head on over and take a look around!