Disney Magical Mindset Podcast

Disneyland Handcrafted – Part One: Built From Dirt (Reframing the Negative)

• Ruben R. Rios • Episode 56

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Before Disneyland became the Happiest Place on Earth, it was just dirt, orange groves, and a dream most people didn’t believe in.

In Part One of this Disneyland Handcrafted series, I share a powerful mindset lesson inspired by watching the documentary inside Disneyland itself standing in the very place that once existed only as an idea.

This episode is all about reframing the negative:
Why criticism isn’t a stop sign
Why people love to magnify cracks in your story
And how Walt Disney used doubt as fuel, not a verdict

If you’ve ever felt discouraged, misunderstood, or tempted to quit because of what others think, this episode is a reminder that every meaningful dream starts the same way Disneyland did, with belief, courage, and the willingness to begin before everything makes sense.

✨ Next week in Part Two, we’ll talk about why waiting is often the real danger and how action creates clarity.

Helping you silence the villain in your mind and become the hero of your story!

Handcrafted Sparks A Two-Part Series

Ruben

Welcome back to the Disney Magical Mindset Podcast. My name is Ruben, your Disney Magic mentor. And this week I want to start a short two-part series inspired by the Disneyland Handcrafted Documentary. And what made it extra meaningful for me is that I actually watched it in Disneyland. I'm going to tell you all about that. The best documentary on Disneyland I have ever seen. I mean, there is nothing like the feeling of being right there with Walt Disney and his team members, the Imagineers, these Disneyland artists to bring it to life in one year. I mean, this is one of those documentaries that you go back and you watch again and again and again, especially when you want to be encouraged, inspired, and motivated. So I'm ready for this two-part series. It requires two parts, so much that I learned, and I want to share some important things, some important magical mindset life lessons that I took from this documentary, and I want to share it with you today. Because standing in the place that once existed only as dirt, think about it, orange groves and an idea that people didn't quite believe in. And yet it reminded me of something we don't talk about enough when it comes to dreams, calling, purpose, that thing that you are destined for in this life. That before Disneyland was magic, it was nothing. Let that sink in for a moment. Everyone had an opinion about why it wouldn't work. So today, in part one, it's all about reframing the negative. I want to show you the power of taking something that someone tells you that seems negative or is negative and actually flipping it around to make it magic. I'm going to show you that today because criticism isn't a stop sign. It's often proof that you're doing something that matters. So are you ready to take a trip back to 1955 and be inspired and encouraged by the Disneyland, Waltz Disneyland, that he built in one year? All right, let's do this. Here we go. All right, so before we jump into the powerful, magical life lessons, and I'm there's so much, I have to take a moment to just share with you what it was like to be in Disneyland. Got my laptop open there at the Jolly Holiday Bakery, sitting at the table, looking at the castle while watching the documentary. I'm telling you, it is a day I will never ever forget. These are one of those, you know, we all have moments in life that we look back on, those pivotal, life-changing moments that really just impact you. And this was one of them. I'll never forget it. Just there, being emotional, listening, watching, seeing it come to life in a year while I'm actually in the park that Walt built. It is something that makes me love Disneyland even more. Walt Disney. Every time I'm there, I just have just a greater love for it. And and this documentary just elevated it. I mean, I already love Disneyland and Walt, you know, but this one just it just took took you to a place that, again, nobody has ever taken us before unless you were actually there. And it this documentary made you feel like you were there. I mean, the anticipation leading up to opening day as as you get closer and closer and things not being done, and and you know, all the tension and some of the anxiety that that you feel because you're like, what? Is this thing gonna happen? So it was amazing, and I'll never forget thank you to Leslie IWorks and her amazing team. Um, it was so special to be in Disneyland while watching this documentary. So if you've not done so yet, you have to watch it. I promise you, this is one that you will go back to again and again. Now, that being said, grateful for this opportunity that I get to be in Disneyland, to go uh regularly like I do. It's just it's just something that I just I love it and I don't take it for granted. Like I'm so grateful every time I get the opportunity. It's so special to so many of us. And so thinking about that as I'm watching this documentary, I want you to think about how when we look at Disneyland now, we see castles, fireworks, joy, nostalgia. We see the characters, right? We we we walk down Main Street, we see the lights and the smells, and it's just amazing. But what we forget is how uncomfortable the beginning was, right? And that's what you see through the documentary. How uncomfortable, like it was there was a lot going on. There was a lot of moving parts. And and I realized that Walt Disney wasn't really surrounded by cheerleaders. I mean, truthfully, he was surrounded by skeptics. Uh, and and maybe even some people on his team that thought, I don't know if we're gonna do this, right? Um, you had your bankers, you had the experts, and you had the people who always think they know better. And they told him, it's too expensive, it's unrealistic, it won't last, families won't come, right? They they kept telling him about the amusement parks that that were all around the country. And he's like, I'm not building an amusement park, I'm building a theme park. And here's the mindset shift that hit me hard while I was watching this documentary there in Disneyland. The more people tell you that you can't, the more you let it remind you that you can. Yes, I'm gonna say that again. I'm pumping myself up. You need to hear this. Let me shout it again. The more people tell you that you can't, the more you let it remind you that you can. See, Walt didn't take doubt as a verdict, he took it as fuel. Ooh, yes. And that's the mindset shift. That's what gets you to that next level. To stop taking doubt as a verdict, but to use it as fuel, as fire to keep you going. People told Walt it wouldn't work. And he didn't internalize it, he outworked it. Ooh, come on, Walt Disney. Uh, and if you're hearing resistance right now, I want you to hear this clearly. Criticism doesn't always mean you're wrong. Sometimes it means you're early. It doesn't mean that you're not going in the right direction. It means that you're actually getting a head start. And this is what I love about this Walt Disney and building Disneyland in a year, because it reminds you and me that when people tell you to your face you can't do it, instead of walking away and being discouraged and taking it like a hit and giving up and saying, I'm done, I want you to see, just like Walt, you can flip it and turn it around and say, Thank you. I needed that to motivate me to keep going. Thank you. I needed that to remind me how far I've come. Thank you for letting me know that I can actually do what you think I can't do. See, when you reframe that and you start pivoting, you start seeing dirt turn to a castle. You start seeing the ability to take what people are telling you, something that you can't do, and allowing it to fuel you to finish it in a year, like Walt Disney did. Ooh, y'all getting me started today. So much power when you believe in yourself. When you believe that what people tell you is not something that is to stop you, but you use it as fuel. Thank you so much. I needed that today. Here we go. Oh man, it's so good. This is so good. Okay, okay, so so the first powerful takeaway from this documentary is that the more people tell you that you can't, you need to let it remind you that you can. Look at what happens when you start taking that approach. It will do something to you like it did for Walt Disney. All right? Okay, now here's another powerful takeaway from the documentary. And honestly, just from life. Here's the truth. People are always looking for cracks. They always are. Uh, they zoom in on what's unfinished, what's imperfect, what's still under construction. And that doesn't mean they're right. It means they're human because that's what we all do. I mean, we have the ability to see the spots and the cracks, right? We do it ourselves. You know, if we're looking at a photo of ourselves or we're walking into a room and we see a crack, or or we go to our brand new car and we see a scratch, right? That's that's just what we do. But here's where this magical mindset matters. If people are going to magnify something anyway, let it be your belief, not their fear. Yeah, if people are going to magnify something anyway, let it be your belief, not their fear. Because what you magnify grows. That's what I've been saying. Whatever you magnify becomes the focus. So if you magnify fear, you're gonna hesitate. If you magnify doubt, you're gonna shrink back. But if you magnify belief, even in perfect belief, guess what? You're gonna move. You're gonna move. Disneyland didn't become magical because it started perfect, it became magical because someone believed in something before it existed. Yeah, someone actually believed in something, even if it wasn't all there. And here's the truth. Maybe right now you're still in the dirt stage, still unseen, still misunderstood. That doesn't mean you're failing. It means you're starting. And so you you gotta go into it with the understanding that what you set out to do, you will always have people who are looking for cracks, who are looking for the faults, who are looking to point out your error and your wrong. And you know, truthfully, that's not always a bad thing. I mean, listen, I'm grateful that the co-pilot is looking for uh cracks or looking for things when they do their check around the plane because I want to stay airborne. I uh, you know, we want to get to our destination safely, which is part of why they do what they do. So it's not always a bad thing. Now you have people who are intentional about trying to point all these things out. But what I do again is just to reframe it. Thank you. I appreciate you sharing because now I know what I need to do to grow, if I want to receive that feedback, or you know, and it always depends on who it's coming from, right? You just know. There are some people who are just looking for ways to always sync your dream. I mean, those are the people who are looking for cracks to blow it up. But then you have some people who really care. And and, you know, I believe that's what it was too. When they're building Disneyland, you had people going around and identifying, okay, we need to fix this, and here's this crack, and let's do this. But but it all was a desire to get to that destination of opening day on July uh 17, 1955. So people are always gonna magnify things. That's just what human beings do. I mean, especially magnifying the flaws, the cracks, the holes. That's just what people, I'm telling you, that's what they're gonna do. So you magnify belief. You magnify the castle that you see, even though no one else sees it. You magnify walking down Main Street, even though people are like, What are you talking about? Are you really thinking that you're gonna be able to create a place for families to come and enjoy and have fun together? You keep magnifying your belief because people are always going to look for ways to silence that belief. They're always gonna look for ways to find the cracks to keep you down and discourage. I mean, that's just what people are gonna do. So you have to expect it and you have to keep magnifying your belief anyway. Because as you do, here's what happens before you know it. Like Walt, in a year from now, you're seeing a castle when everyone else only saw dirt. That's what I'm talking about, magnifying your belief. So here's the reminder I want to leave you with today. Disneyland didn't start as the happiest place on earth, it started as dirt. It started as dirt, it started as a field of orange groves and and of course belief, which was huge. And as we wrap up today, remember, remember some important takeaways. The more people tell you that you can't, the more you let it remind you that you can. And the second thing we learned was that people are always, always gonna look for cracks in your dream, in your story, in your vision, in your goal. But you know what you do? You keep creating anyway. They're gonna, because that's just what they're gonna do. They're gonna look for cracks, you keep creating anyway. And understand that's how everything meaningful starts. It all starts like dirt, it all starts like a blank canvas, which is exciting because you get to be an artist and create when people see nothing. So today, if you've been discouraged by criticism or feeling like it's just you know, you start off the year and it's been it's been tough. If people have been pointing out the cracks in your dream, don't take it as a sign to stop. Take it as confirmation that you're building something that matters. Because every time you build something that matters, remember it starts off as dirt. Has that orange grove, has that field of nothing? Yeah, and then like Walt, a year later, or maybe for you, it's two or or or three or whatever, I don't know, six months, but it's coming, it's coming, it's coming, right? That's your castle that you see far off in the distance as you're walking there on Main Street or whatever your main street is today. Okay? So next week, I would love for you to join me for part two, because we're not stopped. Uh, we haven't finished yet. It's gonna be really, really good. We're gonna talk about why waiting is often the real danger and how Disneyland was built by people who moved before they felt ready. Oh, it's gonna be so good. And guess what's happening today? If you're listening to this on Wednesday, January 28th, today, my very first online workshop is happening, the Disneyland mindset, right? To silence the villain in your mind so you become the hero of your story. It's happening today, and I'm so pumped. And if you're gonna be part of that, thank you. I can't wait to see you in this online workshop today. It's so good. I'm so excited. This free online workshop. And if you want to be part of that, you can still join in. Please see the link in the description so you can be part of this free, fun event. All right. I love you. Go out there, live your magic because you are the magic. Keep dreaming, keep believing. Even if it's messy, even if it's just a field of dirt, your magic kingdom is being created. Every day you keep moving forward. I'll see you then.