The Walt Disney Company believes in being a good corporate citizen. That’s why their employees, aka Cast Members, give back in many ways throughout the year. Being generous of both time and resources is not just the right thing to do. It also benefits the community at large, Resort Guests, company employees, and business.

Last fall, the Walt Disney Company launched Disney Magic of Healthy Living, a program that promotes healthy lifestyle changes by teaching kids how to improve dietary habits and increase physical activity. Visit the website and the First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign to access recipes, play new games, and discover easy ways to get kids off the sofa and out of the snack cabinet!

Ever the forward thinker, Walt Disney felt that with the interstate highway system in its infancy, a ride that gave kids the wheel would be a great learning tool for the drivers of tomorrow. The original Autopia, located in Tomorrowland, opened with the Park in 1955 and featured four traffic lanes with no guide rails. The first several riders got a good taste of what it’s really like to drive on the Los Angeles area freeways. (Laugh!)

Ever seeking ways to improve, or plus, his theme park, the gears of Walt Disney’s imagination never ceased to crank. While on vacation in Europe on the set of the 1959 film, Third Man on the Mountain, Walt took in the majesty of the mountain on which he stood, and pieces of the what-to-build-next puzzle came together then and there.

We took our first vacation to Walt Disney World in September 2006 as part of the Ultimate Field Trip when my kids were 11, almost 3, and 9 months. My daughter, her grandma and I planned breakfast at Cinderella’s Royal Table the first morning we were in the Parks. Chloe’s reaction is etched in my mind forever!

Take the plunge! The 12-story, high-speed drop from the top of Mount Gushmore, that is. Instead of catching a wave like at Typhoon Lagoon, here Guests catch some air. The ride towers 30 feet above its mountain base and is built to resemble a ski jump. The 8-second zoom down the 360-foot flume sends riders slightly over vertical then straight down and through a short tunnel under the jump at 50-60 miles per hour.

Bienvenue à École de souris magique! We’ve joined our European friends for a visit to Disneyland Resort Paris this month. Our first stop is at an attraction whose thrills never stop : Moteurs…Action! Stunt Show Spectacular in the Backlot area of Walt Disney Studios Park.

The icon of Disneyland Park at Disneyland Resort Paris is Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant, or Sleeping Beauty Castle. It’s quite different from its Disneyland California counterpart, reaches taller height, possesses greater grandeur, stands high on a hill and is protected by a dragon.