You’re taking a walk on the beach, and it’s the picture perfect setting: the clear ocean water rippling across your sandy feet, a boy and his father fishing at the shore, and the sound of children’s laughter fills the air as they have a sandcastle contest. Near the long line of condominiums, you faintly see a large group of people picking up trash. As they come closer to view, you realize that they are forming something into the sand with seaweed.

For the last 10 years, Disney cast member, Greg Dorf, and his family have been partaking in an annual seaweed art project. Each year, a new Disney character is shaped into the sand beneath the condominium, Hacienda de Sol, after the gruesome task of collecting piles of seaweed. The entire family pitches in to collect seaweed, taking bucket after bucket back to the worksite for hours on end. The hard work pays off when the grid for the giant masterpiece is laid out with orange yarn.

Working from a previously drawn grid, Dorf maps out the lines for family and friends to fill in with seaweed. After it is gathered, the seaweed must be rinsed out so it shows prominently in the sand. Natural food coloring is used to bring the characters to life. In the meantime, beach goers stop by in wonderment, and many even decide to pitch in on the fun. To appreciate the art in its entirety, vacationers must capture a bird’s eye view, which can be attained by looking from the top of the condominiums. Lucky for the Dorf family, they have snagged the best view possible at the top floor of Hacienda.

Although it is far from the goal of the sand art project, the large character portraits do attract a lot of attention. Last year, journalists from the official Walt Disney World Blog venturedto New Smyrna to do an article on the setup. In fact, you can visit the blog post and video here. The sand art is Facebook famous, guaranteed to be shared throughout the site. It also helps that Greg Dorf never fails to make the sand art something special. For example, his niece got married on the Fourth of July this year, so the drawing features Mickey and Minnie Mouse, who are sitting on a park bench watching a fireworks show.

In summers past, the art has included Crush from "Finding Nemo," Steamboat Willie, Stitch, and in 2011 to honor the ending of NASA’s Space Shuttle program, Buzz Lightyear. The seaweed art is astonishingly protected from predators -- including children, wildlife, and Mother Nature. According to vacationers, the seaweed art has been preserved as long as (at least) two weeks after completion.

When asked how he came up with the idea, Dorf replied, "It all started because I would do one big project every year. We made a roller coaster with bocce balls and sand castles. We also built a cellar by digging a hole until we hit water and built stairs going down into it. The turning point was bas relief; we don't have the time or money to make 3D sand sculpture. So we decided to make a condensed sand sculpture and used seaweed for the shadows. The next year the beach was filled with seaweed and we decided to use that and it just blossomed from there."

Greg Dorf was also asked what he has learned the most by doing seaweed art. He responded, "The thing I have learned is how much people appreciate what we do. We have people in the building that ask every year what we're doing and people back home who ask for pictures and Facebook posts. We have people that come to the beach specifically on that day to help work. Not to mention all of us look forward to doing it every year." How amazing it must feel to be a part of something so special.

With his creative and child-like spirit, it is no surprise to know that Dorf is a Disney cast member. He has been working at Disney for years with the environmental program, making magic more sustainable. The project that he and his family embark on is exquisite to say the least, and deserves all of the recognition it can get. Greg Dorf has successfully brought the magic of Walt Disney World to the oceanside; all it took was a little bit of pixie dust and a whole lot of hard work.