I haven’t been to Disney World in at least five years. But there was a time in my life that I was a regular – I even think Goofy knew my name. The most fascinating part of trips to the Walt Disney World Resort was that it had its own currency. Disney dollars were the only way you could pay for anything in the land where Mickey reigned as king. And I was obsessed.

It all started in 1987, three years and eleven days before my birth. That’s right. The Disney dollar is a Libra, just like me. Some genius decided that the currency instituted by our American government was not good enough to be used at Epcot. And in the words of Aubrey Graham, nothing was the same.

They started out with $1 and $5, but quickly realized they weren’t enough. The $10 bill was introduced only a few years later in 1992. And they were glorious. Each bill had a character on it, such as Dumbo, Minnie, Donald Duck, and even the don dada Mickey himself. It was like money, but more lit. But more than anything, I was amazed by the audacity of it. The fact that there was a corporation on earth that had so much power they could make you exchange country-wide-accepted currency for their own was mind blowing. And so every encounter I had with Disney Dollars had me feeling like Saint Pablo West the great (without all of the wack tweets).

In case you think I’m playing.

*My childhood fantasy*

Dad: Here son, take these @Disney dollars.

Me: pic.twitter.com/gnAamYm2ws

— Ira (@IraHobbsJr) September 12, 2016

I used to daydream about stacking my Disney dollars sky high, aka living the Disney good life. And if they hated, I’d let them hate and watch the money pile up. Unfortunately, those dreams can never come true. This was the last summer of the Disney Dollar. On May 14, it was announced that the currency would go out of production.

As a grown man it affected me in a way that it probably shouldn’t have. I haven’t been to Disney in so long. I shouldn’t even care about it. I honestly could’ve gone the regular hot take route this week. There’s been a lot to react to. And fall TV is looking more lit than ever. But now I’ll never know what it feels like to make it rain for mad turkey legs and funnel cakes for all the homies. And something about that is sad. So this moment is necessary for me. RIP to the Disney dollar. I’ll always remember what we could’ve been.

Thanks for reading Strictly 4 My Blerds. Leave a comment, I read and reply to all of them. Hit the share button and tag a friend who needs to see this.

Want more articles by Ira Hobbs? Sign up for Blavity’s daily newsletter.

Disney dollar

Get relevant content delivered to you once a week