I have sent my first batch of letters off. Here is my second letter that I will mail and I will include slinkyman's and my flats in with them.
Dear Mr. Iger,
I am writing to tell you about a magical place. A place where young and old can gather to play, learn and enjoy the Disney Magic. A place envisioned by an amazing man who dreamed of places where families could gather and have fun leaving behind the real world when they entered. A place that only the magic and creativity of Disney could build.
Where is this place you may ask? It sounds magical and fun. The first thought you may have of course is that it is
Disneyland- but this is not the place I speak of. It is a form of Disneyland in a different technological age. The place I speak of is Virtual Magic Kingdom.
VMK started out as what Disney thought would be a promotion for the 50th anniversary of Disneyland. So they built this amazing virtual world to replicate Walt’s amazing Disneyland.
They threw open the gates and invited us in. We came slowly at first but once word spread we grew. VMK did not become an online park where we entered for a while then left. It became a community built by its players. A community of young and old, sick and well, and people of all races from near to far off distant countries. Here we found a place that evoked the Disney spirit in all of us. We played, danced, built rooms and formed friendships in the spirit of the man himself Walt Disney.
VMK was growing and becoming more popular so that when the promotion ended the gates were left open and our community flourished. There is no place like it on the Web where children and adults can play in a safe controlled atmosphere. I personally found a place where I and my 13 year old son could be together. We shared in this wonderful kingdom built only as Disney can do-amazing graphics, fun games, a sense of being part of the parks and much pixie dust.
They created our characters to look lifelike, like little people. We named them, dressed them, and formed their personalities. They became part of us. We look forward and enjoy seeing our little people everyday.
Suddenly on April 7th we were hit with an unbelievable devastating blow. On May 21, 2008 our kingdom, our community will cease to exist. The shock that took over was beyond belief. I felt numb, weak, and sick to my stomach, like I had been hit by a bat. How can this happen? How can a company as compassionate as Disney allow the doors of our Kingdom to close?
The news crushed my 15 year old son (slinkyman). VMK has become part of his life, part of his daily routine. A day is not complete without seeing his little person who he created to look like himself. After a few moments the shock and reality sank in and the tears started to flow. WE hugged and just cried asking how, why, how can they?
You see VMK is not just a mere game to us. Six months after slinkyman started playing VMK he was diagnosed with cancer. A shocking blow to any family made worst it being a child. I found my strength to get him through this, and then an amazing thing happened. Thanks to the spirit of Disney he took refuge in his Kingdom. In VMK he was not sick. He was a normal kid that still had hair and he had many friends. He had a support team in this community that was not available elsewhere. Cancer scares many people and our family pulled back-offering no support or visits. Here in VMK slinkyman and I have a community of amazing friends. They talked, listened, comforted us, prayed for us and sent mountains of pixie dust our way.
Through out his treatment whenever we were at the hospital slinkyman would take along the laptop with him. During these painful and scary days of treatment he would play VMK as the poisons to kill the cancer were pumped into his body. Doctors and nurses would ask him what he was playing and he would passionately tell them of a place only envisioned in dreams. VMK became an instrumental tool in his recovery. We have made life long friends and have wonderful support thanks to the magic of Disney. So to us it is so much more then a mere game. It is in our soul.
I had a friend tell me the other day the VMK is in slinkyman’s DNA- they could not be more right. I was able to save my son from cancer but I fear I will not be able to save little “slinkyman” from the darkness that is about to be bestowed upon us.
Please I beg you to reconsider this decision. Please hear the cries of young and old and let our little people live. I can not imagine a day without seeing the face of my little person. I like may others are then willing to pay to keep this community of ours alive. Please consider this option. Please show compassion and Disney spirit and show the children you care. After all in VMK the minds of our young a being filled with Disney and they will grow into adults that spend much money on anything and everything Disney.
In this Year of a Million Dreams I ask you to please dry a Million tears and let our dreams come true.
Sincerely,
I honestly do not write well but i always say if you clear your mind and write from the heart some how the words seem to flow.
