As 6-year-old Julian Meza waited outside the doors to City Park School’s auditorium on Wednesday, he had no idea the entire school was waiting just for him on the other side.
But as Meza’s mother Leslie brought him down a red carpet to the sight of hundreds of students and faculty members dressed as Disney characters and chanting his name during a surprise party, he smiled.
Meza, a first-grade student at City Park, was selected in August to be part of the Kidd’s Kids program, which provides children with serious disabilities and their families a five-day, all-expenses paid trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, from Thursday, Nov. 16, to Monday, Nov. 20.
Started in 1991 by Texas-based radio personality Kidd Kraddick, who passed away in 2013, the program has allowed more than 1,000 children and their families to live out their dreams of going to “the most magical place on Earth.”
When City Park Principal Kim Rhyne and Assistant Principal Lauren Aldrich found out Meza had been selected for the trip they “got to work and got this day planned,” said Rhyne.
Meza, who was born with a form of cerebral palsy known as spastic diplegia, uses either a wheelchair or a custom adaptive bicycle that he was gifted at the school earlier this year to get around. Leslie Meza said his one wish had always been to go to Disney World but she said that opportunity never seemed feasible before applying to Kidd’s Kids.
“He had been talking about going to Disney for a while and we were like ‘No, buddy, we can’t right now,’ just because we have a lot of obstacles and we have to think about how are we going to transfer him in and out and will they be willing to work with us,” she said.
“We knew that by applying for this and winning it we would have somebody there to help us and make the experience so much more enjoyable and smooth,” she said before the surprise party at the school. “It’s just so cool because they have a medical team that will be with us to help him get on the rides. It’s hard enough adapting to the world, so when someone is there to help you and guide you it makes the whole experience. We will remember this forever.”
Julian Meza was greeted in the City Park auditorium by Mickey Mouse balloons, decorations and clips from Disney movies playing on a projector screen as students sang along to “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from the “Toy Story” series of films and “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from Disney’s 2021 film “Encanto,” one of his favorite movies.
Meza, his mother and his sister Ximena, a third-grader at Westwood School, stood at the front of the auditorium as City Park’s media specialist Hannah Talley welcomed everyone to “Disney Day.”
Rhyne and Aldrich then placed a hat resembling the one Goofy, a popular Disney character and Meza’s personal favorite, wears on Meza’s head and gifted him a plush toy of the character.
“Julian’s a ‘man’ of few words, but when you can talk to him about a topic that he likes, that’s all you’re going to hear about,” Rhyne said. “So we all know that he loves Goofy.”
The surprise party also involved a game where Meza tossed a ball into a Mickey Mouse-shaped ring and a special congratulations message from Meza’s first-grade Dual Language Immersion (DLI) classmates. DLI classes, offered in some Dalton public elementary schools, involve students learning their academic content in both English and their target language, either Spanish or German.
But just as in many Disney movies, a triumphant hero is nothing without a dastardly villain to overcome.
As Meza received his gifts, villainous music began to play as fifth-grade teacher Amy Bagley, dressed as Cruella de Vil, the main antagonist from the 1961 Disney film “One Hundred and One Dalmatians,” sashayed down the aisle to snag Meza’s hat, only to be “vanquished” by the City Park mascot, Paws the Panther, much to Meza’s delight.
Leslie Meza said she was overwhelmed at the support the school has shown to her son over the years.
“I’ve always said being a special needs mom, you’re kind of scared to have your kid out in the world, and those are valid feelings,” she said. “But what City Park has shown me is the complete opposite. When I need them, they’re there. They’re always so supportive and they love him so much. They’re my family.”
She said the one thing Julian Meza was looking forward to the most at the theme parks was having the opportunity to meet Mickey Mouse and Goofy in person.
“Julian’s a goofball, so it only makes sense,” she laughed.
This opportunity marks the second time a student from City Park has been able to fly to Disney World as part of Kidd’s Kids, said Aldrich.
In 2013, then-third-grader Blessen Arnold, born with spina bifida, was given a special “going away” party at the school.
As the festivities on Wednesday came to an end, Talley had only one question to ask Meza as he grinned from ear to ear: “So Julian, what are you going to do next?”
Meza’s answer was concise, yet confident.
“Go to Disney World.”