It’s been over a year since Disney started their #DisneySide social media campaign, and with the “Haunt Your Disney Side” contest recently announced, it looks as though it will be continuing for a while.

And that’s just fine with me.

If you’re unsure as to what “Disney Side” means, exactly, it’s defined by Disney as follows: “It’s the side you simply can’t wait to share. It’s the side of you that laughs more, screams more, and just plain lives life to the fullest. It’s the side of you that comes out to play the moment you and your family step through the gates of a Disney theme park.” I think as fans of Disney, many of us can relate to that statement and agree we definitely DO have a Disney Side. At the same time, I think there’s even more to it than that.

To me, a Disney Side isn’t JUST about the parks. It’s about Disney, and how different aspects of it are brought out through our personalities in daily life. It’s that side of us that causes us to find “hidden Mickeys” in the clouds. It’s the part that has to burst out singing, “To defeat… the Huns!” anytime someone says, “Let’s get down to business.” It’s that lump in your throat any time you hear the familiar strains of “When You Wish Upon a Star.” It’s the fact that while Disney may not rule our lives, it’s such a part that if it was no longer there, we’d feel as though something was missing.

So when this campaign first launched, I knew it was something I could definitely get into. Little did I know how into it I’d be getting.

Shortly after it was announced, Disney also launched a “Show Your Disney Side” Vine contest, challenging fans to show their Disney Side through a roughly six second video. Although I had heard of Vine, it was not an app I was familiar with using. This was soon to change. Over the course of about two weeks, the DisNerd family started brainstorming, scripting, and executing ideas for the sake of showing off our Disney Side selves.

Our ideas ranged from simple….

… to paying tribute to favorite films…

…or theme park attractions….

…. and just outright punny.

After multiple videos, we realized how much fun we were having showing off our Disney Sides. It brought out creativity, playfulness, and family togetherness, creating memories that will last a lifetime. However, we had an idea for one more Vine. One that pretty much encapsulated how we felt about taking trips to Disneyland. With that in mind, we scripted out our idea, with input from all three of us, coming up with the following:

It’s a little hard to explain why, but when we finished with this Vine, we just looked at each other and said, “This is it. This is the one. If we have a chance of winning in the contest, it’s this one.” And with that, our Vine entries were done. Sure enough, over a week later, I was contacted that “Dreaming of Disney” had indeed won the daily contest! And while that was a grand accomplishment, the bigger one was this creative flow that had come from it all – one that had inspired us to have fun and bond over something we truly loved.

If we felt our Disney Side had shown before, it definitely seems to be showing even more now! We have done more Vine videos for fun, we have encouraged ourselves to try new things (such as a Run Disney event next year), and just embrace our love for the company started by Walt even more than we already did!

Another way we show our Disney Side? Disney Bounding – Dapperly, of course!

 So thank you, Disney. Thank you for introducing the #DisneySide campaign. For inspiring us and countless others to be able to share our individual Disney Sides with a like minded group! What about you, fellow DisNerds? Have you participated in any official #DisneySide promotions? Or, how do you show your Disney Side elsewhere? I’d love to hear!