So Tony was by himself and I have talked to him a lot over the years but never anything like tonight....I was going over to Fantasy Fair after dinner at Napa and of course I recognized him and just went up and started talking and said...Its strange that when I remember coming here as a kid watching my grandparents dance this was a hamburger stand...he goes THAT WAS MY FIRST JOB AT THE PARKS EVER, then it just took off and was an unreal ride...He was telling me how cool it was that he saw Louie Armstrong play while he was working there and how Benny Goodman would come and play but at that time he had no idea how cool it really was...Then we started talking about a lot of the old people and how they were the ones who kept this place around and how big swing got again in the mid 90s and how they hope to still keep it there but he said he does not think that will happen. Then it was cool when we were talking about some of the back stage struggles in that area since I knew what was right behind and I found some of that to be the most interesting thing about the whole situation since I knew what he was talking about and he knew I did also but the couple people who were standing around waiting for a pic and autograph from him were clueless about...Then I went into my fav topic that I have never talked to him about which was Journey Into Imagination and old school Epcot,,,I talked a little about my childhood and love for Figment and the attraction and how its gone so far away from what it was supposed to be and then it was like I got zapped into a story by Tony all about Figment after I was telling him as a little kid the first thing I wanted to do was meet Figment and The Dreamfinder and then how when I grew up I always thought of the figures of Epcot were Figment and Epcot and not Mickey and Minnie........Then he told me a story about a family who came to the parks in the mid 80s and it was a make a wish child and when he met them it was the first time he had smiled in a few years...Seeing what happened they were so happy that Kodak who sponsored the attraction use to fly figment and the dreamfinder around to meet this kid until he passed away a few years later....Well this family was such a big deal to Disney and Kodak that they made them part of the pre show that was for kodak that had a song called Making Memories done by the Sherman brothers and Tony told me that everytime he would go into the attraction and the song and video would come on he would get choked up like no other....We talked for a long time and it was not like somebody asking questions it was just natural and we had an awesome conversation between two Disney fans and I will never forget it.. - Dave  8633.4 #2 10:58PM

Now that would be a podcast. - Westcoast  61.0 #3552 10:07PM

I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall during that conversation! - HasAnyoneSeenMyGlassSlipper  321.2 #515 9:56PM

How awesome!!! What a difference a day makes, yesterday My Little Pony, now this! 😂 - MissMolly  688.1 #147 10:46PM

That's great I'm glad you had a great convo and love this picture. - HanLostLeia  1092.5 #76 9:43PM

Very cool! I know you have a lot of knowledge on Disney and can already picture you guys chatting. I met him briefly on Monday and he was a really nice guy. - RickChavez  2183.6 #30 9:45PM

That's awesome. - ScubaSteve028  807.5 #114 9:51PM

That's rad! I'm sure you were like a kid in a candy store excited! - toph  2398.2 #25 9:53PM

That's pretty awesome - KissDclown  1088.1 #77 9:54PM

That's super cool! - arielchica  252.4 #983 9:54PM

That's awesome!! So did he mention anything about bringing the CPG dancing back? - caramiapoohAKAface  1439.3 #54 9:55PM

Dude that's waaaay cool! - Linzee  515.4 #227 9:55PM

Awesome! 😊 - MinnieMousewife  570.0 #194 9:55PM

Awesome experience! - LilSterner  2656.0 #17 9:58PM

So cool! He seems like such an awesome person. - CadaverousPallor  263.5 #882 9:59PM

Coolness indeed Dave...a serendipitous moment indeed for you...this was meant to happen :-) - uscdisneyteacher  3089.3 #14 10:00PM

congrats on such a great night, I just wish we could all have had been there listening in!! So amazing!! (You do all the cool stuff!!) - secretagentangel  667.9 #156 10:01PM

One of life's great conversations for you. Happy for you. - DisneyGrandma  336.9 #440 10:06PM

When. I get home ill tell you in depth what we talked about - Dave  8633.4 #2 10:06PM

What a great experience!! Happy for you! 😃👍 - Sweet_Irish_Cream  2530.3 #23 10:09PM

You should have dressed up as Dreamfinder - BaseballMickey_CM  2819.5 #16 10:22PM

How cool! - Alicewhoareyou  536.0 #209 10:30PM

That is awesome - I'd love to have been a "fly on the wall" so-to-speak. Thank you for sharing! - Lola027  444.9 #277 10:33PM

How nice! - meridafan  1034.3 #83 10:39PM

Beyond awesome!! Glad you had such a wonderful experience! - Armenda  989.7 #89 10:39PM

Oh WOW! That is truly epic!!! - adisneyfamily  471.2 #255 11:00PM

When I see long posts or comments I usually start reading and halfway through it I'm thinking about a pb&j sandwich and keep scrolling. I actually read the whole thing and enjoyed it. I'm glad you experienced this, it's pretty cool - Philliprocks  275.8 #766 11:19PM

Truly, an awesome moment!! - Willierose  1176.0 #68 11:20PM

That sounds so cool! - JR  21.9 #4886 11:21PM

Very cool! - MomWithAJuiceBoxBuzz  922.2 #94 11:23PM

Thanks for sharing Dave! - pinkmonkeys  319.6 #519 11:24PM

He didn't accidently mention anything about coming in to work Tomorrow, did he? - NotSoDapperDan  303.3 #592 12:03AM

This is very cool. Talk about a once in a lifetime event -wow! - Plumiegirl  3322.5 #10 12:31AM

Awesome post Dave...although it made me feel like one of the old people you talked about! My boyfriend in high school was a jazz musician and we used to go to the park (paying General Admission to get in) just to hear Buddy Rich, Stan Kenton and Maynard Ferguson. Great times...(his brother has been a full time musician at DL for 20 years!) - msdizmaui  518.7 #223 12:50AM

I met him tonight too!! Incredible man! I thanked him for everything he has done for Disney :) - MagicalLand  378.4 #359 1:04AM

That's awesome Dave!!! - MozPrincess  577.4 #189 1:42AM

Of course you did. 😊 - bluefairy  627.0 #174 1:44AM

What an awsome experience Dave! - irmouse  241.8 #1089 4:04AM

"Close Encounter of the Disney Kind!" Great encounter, thanks for sharing. - jacdanfan  2607.4 #19 4:40AM

So glad you were able to have this experience. Thanks for sharing with us! - LaPearleNoir  571.9 #192 6:11AM

That is awesome. Great pic too - dimplesdanie  607.5 #178 6:15AM

Loved hearing about this Dave! - snowwannab  354.9 #402 7:17AM

Great experience, good to know that he's a nice, approachable guy.✌❤🐭 - Hop-Low  195.2 #1695 8:33AM

Thanks for sharing this. What a wonderful memory this will be for the years to come! - arielchica  252.4 #983 8:44AM

I got a chance to met him in WDW for Epcot's 30th birthday, he is an amazing guy to talk to - DisneyTrueLove  6.2 #8898 9:06AM

I'm glad you got to experience this man! - madsdad  1123.4 #73 9:34AM

What an incredible experience Dave. Thank you so much for sharing this refreshing and quality post. Mr. Baxter seems like a genuinely nice guy. - MightyWhitey  648.3 #165 9:56AM