Hard-Core Disney Fans Can't Be Corralled by the Corporate-Approved Fan Club, D23

And when things get really bad?

"When I need to be wrapped up in that larger-than-life, everything's-happy, everything's-cool feeling, I can come here," he said. "There are so many ways that has saved my life."

Stefan Kamph

Pete Werner, 46, near the site of his 1991 Epcot epiphany.

Stefan Kamph

At the Magic Kingdom, a real-life "DIS meet" of Disney fans from the online boards.

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More About

• Doug Moore
• Pete Werner
• Walt Disney World Resort
• Trey Walters
• Andre Willey

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He paid the bill, showing his $75-a-year Tables in Wonderland card for a 20 percent discount, and wandered outside. The rain had slowed to a light drizzle. He took his new camera out of the bag and snapped pictures of France, Morocco, Japan. Walking along the promenade in the World Showcase, he noticed a couple of people dressed head to toe in neon green. DISers?

"Probably," he said begrudgingly. "I want to be on the record: I had nothing to do with that color. It's like 1983 called — it wants DayGlo back! And poor Home Depot, losing all those paint chips."

If you're not a smoker or friend of one, you probably don't notice all the smoking areas tucked away under trees or behind structures at Epcot. But Werner knows them all. He stopped at one of them, near the American Adventure Pavilion, and lit up.

He recalled that he was always a little annoyed by the children in the parks — the shin-attacking strollers, the red-faced screaming fits — until he brought his own 2-year-old niece. For a moment, his critical affect evaporated. "She won't remember much of it, but watching her reactions, seeing it through her eyes, was a whole different experience," he says. "If you want the real experience, come here with someone you love."

Moore, the monorail driver, didn't win the trivia contest in California — he came in second place, after a last-minute upset. Still, the Dick Van Dyke sighting and the glimpses of Disney future that he saw at the presentations were enough to tide him over for a happy weekend.

Moore and Werner may have never met (and Moore doesn't visit fan sites), but they are two sides of a coin that's flowing straight into Disney's coffers. Despite their individual gripes against the Mouse, neither looks ready to give up the Disney-infused life — and the thrill of showing it to other people — anytime soon.

"Yeah, I'm a Disney person," says Moore. "You turn on the news today and see the terrible wars, and people are dying... I don't want to hear that. I know it's there, but I have faith in mankind. This is the way the world's supposed to be."

After being fired for picking the guest's jacket out of the monorail tracks, Moore filed an appeal with Disney's employment office. His union representative is currently negotiating with the company, and if Moore doesn't get his job back, a lawsuit could be in the works. He'll do what it takes to get back in the magic. He wants to stay on the inside.