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Cleveland: Favorite Disney memory

By: Karen Nazor Hill
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Dewey Esquinance

If cuteness is a factor, 5-year-old Haley Esquinance of Cleveland, Tenn., has a good shot at nabbing first place in the My Favorite Disney Parks Memory contest on YouTube.

The vivacious, ponytailed kindergartner already has placed in the Top 10, which has won her family a year’s free pass to Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla., according to her proud father, Dewey Esquinance, a member of the Ace Hardware management team.

Haley’s dad entered her in the contest after reading about it one night while surfing the Net. The rules required entrants to create an original video about a favorite Disney Parks memory. The video could not exceed 60 seconds. Viewers were then asked to view the finalists and vote online for their favorite video.

The entry with the most votes will receive a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Disneyland Resort, including a night in the Disneyland Dream Suite, airfare, two-day theme park passes and ground transportation for a family of four, according to disneyparks.disney.go.com. Voting is open through Sept. 9, with the winner being chosen in late September.

Mr. Esquinance feels confident his daughter will win the contest.

“It’s because of her personality,” he said. “I’ve got her telling the story of meeting Peter Pan, and she just shines on the video. She loves Disney more than anything — it’s all she ever talks about.”

On the video, Haley, with little prodding, confesses her love for Peter Pan. She recalls aloud the night she met him face-to-face at Disney World.

“Last October, we had gone to the light parade at Disney World, when she saw Peter Pan dancing,” Mr. Esquinance said. “She started screaming, ‘Peter Pan! Peter Pan!’ He had green lights all over his body. He came over to her and asked her if she wanted to be a real fairy princess. She told him yes, and he asked her to slap his hand. When she did, his hand and body turned white. We were all in awe. After he left, Haley just stared for a few minutes, then looked at her mom (Terry) and me and said, ‘Can you believe it? I’m a real fairy princess.’ ”

Haley is excited about going back to Disney World, regardless of whether or not she wins the grand prize.

“I can’t wait to see Peter Pan and Mickey and Minnie and Ariel,” the little girl said, explaining that she plans to thank Peter Pan for making her a “real fairy princess.”

But if she does win, she said she already knows how she’ll react.

“I’m gonna jump and say ‘yay!’ ” she said.

Mr. Esquinance said he plans to take his family, which includes Haley’s mom, a brother and two step-brothers, to Disney World at least three times. “Though the passes are for a family of four, we’ll save a lot of money just paying for additional two $80 tickets each time we go,” he said. “We’re all Disney freaks.”

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