When we journey to the World, we all have our favorite rides and snacks. But some of us go deeper. We also have our favorite queues, lobbies, and benches (trash cans?).

But on that sad day, when we must return home, we might find ourselves trying to recall those spots, with their sights, their scents, their feel in the thick Orlando air. It can be tough.

Months later, after a bad day at work, you might try to astral project to that covered eating area in the Norway Pavilion or another counter-service alcove. A desperate attempt to recall that magic to get through a difficult meeting.

I believe there are ways to enrich our Disney World recollections, maybe even travel back to a favorite location for some brief moments…long enough to survive everyday life. I also believe that we can take some cues from Voldemort’s plan to preserve himself when trying to tie ourselves to our cherished lands. Leave a little of ourselves behind in a spot, so we never forget its dimensions, its colors, its view.

If you’re crazy enough to try it, grab a wand, and I’ll show you how.

Voldemort’s Horcrux Fast Pass for Disney World Memories

You know who had some fun ideas? That Voldemort guy. He’s been out of the news lately, but maybe we can learn from his dark magic and use it for good.

He used something called Horcruxes to make himself really hard to get rid of. The strategy was to leave a part of himself all over the place, attached to certain objects or natural features. To take him down, you had to search for all these little shards of Voldy, and crush each one, then go after the big dude himself.

But maybe these Horcruxes could go both ways. Light and Dark magic. Perhaps if you left a part of yourself somewhere positive, you could return there in your mind more easily. If it can work for a He Who Shall Not Be Named (yeah, I know I already named him), maybe it can work amid the green at the Oasis in Animal Kingdom.

I think we can take steps to leave a part of our memory, a waypoint, at different places in the THE World. Horcruxes for good in the Happiest Place on Earth. Strengthening our memories of places like the Soarin’ queue, so we can apparate back there when we need the magical boost.

Forming Your Disney World Horcrux

Leaving a totem, an item of clothing, your journal, in a sacred queue sounds great. But the Tower of Terror lobby would quickly fill with junk from all of us dreamers. And a poor cast member would have to clean it up.

But there are other ways to create ties to special park places.

• Pull out your journal and write a few lines while waiting in line. This leaves a permanent nav point in your brain. It remembers where it was allowed to ponder, where ideas were born.
• Read a book in a seating area in your resort. Allowing an author to build a world in your mind builds a portal wherever you choose to read those texts. Visit my blog about how reading in a secret place creates powerful ties.
• Purchase a Disney Totem. Go into the back corner of the World of Disney and buy something that jumps out at you. You’ll have this item at home and can take it out whenever you need a quick mental visit to WDW. Hold it in your hands and remember which park you were in when you swiped your card.
• Take a photo. Perhaps a bit different from the usual photopass snapshots. Take a picture of a forgotten corner. Take a picture of the ceiling. Find a part of the World most people don’t stop to notice. Play some background music from this area and pull up your photo. Zoom in to certain details. Check out my blog on attaching memories to photos.
• Use the scents of a park like Hollywood Studios to make a surprise return. Take in the smell in a park deeply. Remember what you were looking at and thinking. You can buy a candle that smells like different resorts and wet pirates. Check out my blog on scent alchemy to help with memories.
• Form a moment with someone else. On the people mover, smooch someone, hold someone close. Breathe in their dander. Just be warned, a Horcrux formed between two people can suddenly turn into a negative memory or shard. A place you’ll expend mental energy to avoid returning to. One of the people involved can delete the Horcrux. It doesn’t have to be both people in agreement.

Magic Like That Can Be Hard To Destroy

Leave Yourself a Map to that Disney World Spot

Are we that different from Voldemort? He set these Horcruxes up for when things were at their worst. Isn’t that when we’ll need them most?

A boss assigns a project that “should take an hour,” but will actually take days. Your kid may mention a school project at 9 p.m. You find out that a gang of wizards may be trying to steal your familiar?

These are all times when you may need to retreat into a version of yourself left at a cherished spot. One that seems all your own. When you need a break from your current life, perhaps those troubles can’t follow you into the cool, stone hallways in the Pirates of the Caribbean queue.

It may work for you at other locations. Perhaps a mound of rocks you left beside the sky-blue waters of a mountain lake. Place waypoints anywhere you want to visit in your mind later.

Just remember that these aren’t meant to be permanent relocations. Keep in mind that you’ll have to return to real life eventually. You aren’t meant to stay in your protective castle forever. But maybe you’ll arrive back in your body a bit stronger than before. A bit calmer, so you can tackle a problem without losing your mind. END

My original Horcrux article appeared on my less-Disney site…Overheard on a Mountaintop

I used some of the concepts above in my article on planning the perfect WDW sleepover.