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Imagineering is always being a kid at heart

From left to right: Tiana’s Bayou Adventure Imagineers Ted Robledo, Charita Carter and Carmen Smith
From left to right: Tiana’s Bayou Adventure Imagineers Ted Robledo, Charita Carter and Carmen Smith Photo: Sabina Graves/Gizmodo

After the whirlwind from bayou gator encounters, authentic Cajun Creole cuisine, sweet beignets, museums, and live jazz, things wound down with a closing presentation at Preservation Hall with the Imagineers. After a performance of “Dig a Little Deeper”—Mama Odie’s call to perform transformative magic—we felt transformed too. Imagineering really took us on a journey of wonder that they experience as part of their jobs, a fact not lost on Carter and her team. “We are so fortunate because we get to be kids at heart as a part of our daily routine. And I think one of the things that’s really helpful for me is just like Tiana, I consider myself a visionary. And I see things I’ve worked with—our organization is a part of our innovation. We’ve done a lot of inventing of the ways that we execute and tell our stories, and that’s something that I have had the privilege of being a part of. So this amazing opportunity that I have at Imagineering to have a vision of something, to see it, and then to be able to cast the team around it, to manifest that. I can’t explain to you how amazing that is, and I feel very fortunate. Being able to do that continues just to feed me, and to never stop dreaming; before I finish one project, I’m already dreaming about the next project, so I really consider myself very fortunate.”

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is set to open next year at both Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom and Disneyland.


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