Fairview Heights, IL
My name is Mike Loftus and I live in Fairview Heights, Illinois. In 2012 I retired after thirty-eight years in education. As an educator I taught several grade levels with my favorite being kindergarten. After my days in the classroom I was a Principal, Assistant Superintendent, and a Superintendent of Schools. Currently I am an adjunct professor for Lindenwood University in Belleville, Illinois where I teach graduate courses in education. On Sundays I teach Sunday school and I am on the leadership team at Christ Church in Collinsville Illinois.
My love for Disney goes all the way back to my childhood when my family watched Walt’s “Wonderful World of Color” on television every week. I remember seeing the shows when Walt talked about this new place called Walt Disney World. It was a dream as a child to someday get to go to Disney World. Then in the late 70’s I visited Disney World for the first time as our Church Youth Director with a group of high school students. It was a wonderful first trip and then fourteen trips later, here I am with the opportunity to have the dream job of working for The Mouse Experts.
My wife of thirty-five years and I have three adult children and two grandchildren. This past November we had our first trip to Disney World with our grandchildren and it was so wonderful to see the parks through their eyes. We planned several months in advance and I realized just how much fun it was to book the reservations, secure the Fast Passes, and most of all, plan our day to day schedule for the trip. My training to be a teacher and administrator developed my planning skills and made me a visionary. It is my hope that along with these skills, my creative skills, problem solving skills, and people skills will assist me in my new endeavor as a Vacation Planner for all Disney Destinations with The Mouse Experts.