Jim Robinson

David Crawford and Rick Russo - neighborhood friends I grew up with... found them through facebook

After High school, I continued to work for Disney and started attended Valencia at the same time. The first years out of high school working in Frontierland in the Magic Kingdom were some of the best and worked with several people from our class as well.

Eventually, I was at the right place at the right time and worked my way into Walt Disney Imagineering. In '81 I ended up taking a break from school to do audio-animatronic installation and audio control systems and played a major role in the construction EPCOT. Quite an accomplishment for just 3 years out of high school.

When EPCOT was completely finished (a few years after opening) and '83 I was recruited by AT&T Technologies and Bell Labs where I worked as an Engineer without a degree and made computer chips.

However, at the time not having a engineering degree was a handicap and I realized that I would make a lot more money if I had a degree (with all the experience I had), so with enough money saved up for a year of school, I quit AT&T/Bell Labs, I went back to UCF for three semesters to finish my degree, or at least that was the plan...

As it turned out, the courses I needed were sequential and instead of needing three semesters, I needed six or more. So, enable me to finish school, I started a part-time DJ business and also worked at then Y106 Radio (now XL1067) as an on-air personality.

Turned out I had a talent for DJing and Business. Eventually, I finished my degree and that business grew and grew where now, almost 30 years later, it's located at Universal Studios Florida and going strong.

But that is not where it ends... In 1992, a close DJ friend and I came up with a concept of delivering music to Radio Stations and DJ to become the middle man for promotional music in America. It was an overnight success.

These days I am still the president of that company with 100 employees and offices in Orlando, New York, LA, London and Canada... with our main office still right here in Orlando.

I remember my "trip to the beach" on Senior Skip Day.

It was me, Tommy Scott, Ronda Randolph, and another cheerleader (who I don't recall now). Even though I had a car that was a little bigger, we all jumped into Tommy's brand new 1979 Trans Am. THAT was the car to be in back then because of the movie Smokey and the Bandit.

While I was a very independent high schooler with a car at the time, I kept it quite that this trip to the beach was the first time I had been to the beach without my parents. No way I was going to let them know that and being as cool as I could, enjoying every moment of skipping school and going to the beach.

So, when we got to the beach instead of putting on sunscreen then playing beach games, getting a bite, or walking the beach as I did with my parents, everyone wanted to "layout" in the sun and listen to the sound system in Tommy's car. I thought, this is what you do when you are not a kid anymore when you go to the beach, so I did.

At some point at the beginning of the day, one of the girls said "here, let me rub this on you, it will help you get a tan", so of course. I mean, who was I to say no to a cheerleader you had a crush on, wearing a bikini, rubbing oil on you on your back. So after that, I proceeded to lay out on the beach, in the direct sun, for the DAY...

Now I am a fairly fair skinned person, and my parents knew that, and so when I went to the beach with them they made sure I wore sunscreen to keep me from getting a sunburn. But what the girl was rubbing on me turned out to be suntan OIL instead of sunscreen and instead of keeping me from getting a sunburn, it MAGNIFIED the sun.

It was an amazing day. I went home thinking about how I needed to do that a lot more.

However, later that evening I started getting sick. At first, it was nausea, then chills, and I thought it was something I ate at the beach. The next day it was so bad I had to go to the Doctor. I was told there that I was suffering from exposure and severe sunburn from laying in the sun with the oil for so long and not being used to it. I was treated with the same things they normally treat people with that have severer exposure from being out in the elements for weeks.

I was out of school for the next 3 days.... and didn't tell anyone.

I was all over the place and just wanted to do as many things as I could and be with as many people as I could.

My senior year was the most fun. I was a "yell leader" or "Stunt Team" with the cheerleaders and loved doing things and going everywhere. I even ended up at the end of the year on the Chess team and Decca.

No... I wanted to be management out at Disney.

Out at a nightclub or working at Disney.

Usually doing something. Could be a concert, a movie, dinner, or even a nightclub still. Still very active.

1967 Pontiac Catalina - it was a big boat on wheels... and the only thing it couldn't pass, was a gas station. At least then gas was under $1.00 a gallon.

Lots of good ones. Most of them after school doing things with friends.

Like everyone else, hanging out a Burger Chef after football games. See who had the best stereo.... I had a great one, and the stereo was worth more than my car.

So so many good memories.

facebook.com/jimthedj

June 2019 - Business is still going strong and my company celebrated it's 25th anniversary a few years ago. Looking forward to seeing everyone at the 40th reunion.