By Lisa Green
If you’re a fan of Disney vacations and you visit the Mouse as often as you can, you understand me.
You’ll also totally understand what it’s like to have friends and
coworkers completely puzzled by this passion for Disney. Yes, I’m
talking about that most annoying of questions we Disney fans are
constantly asked – “You’re going AGAIN?” – that query holds genuine
puzzlement, usually with a sprinkling of scorn or worse, pity – as if
we’re too immature or unsophisticated to know how and where to vacation
properly. “You do know that Disney World’s for little kids, right?”
Non-Disney fans ask me (and you, I’m sure) why we keep going to the same
place for vacation over and over, year in, year out. I save my answer
for the ones I think really, genuinely want to know. I’ve thought about
my response a lot and I’ve had a lot of practice explaining what it is
that makes Disney vacations so special to me. I’ll tell you what it is and maybe you’ll leave me a comment and let me know why YOU love Disney vacations too.
What IS it about Walt Disney World?
Let me start with a couple of quotes – they’re basically the
foundation of what Walt Disney World has meant to me over the years…
“Over at our place, we’re
sure of just one thing: everybody in the world was once a child. So in
planning a new picture, we don’t think of grown-ups, and we don’t think
of children, but just of that fine, clean, unspoiled spot down deep in
every one of us that maybe the world has made us forget and that maybe
our pictures can help recall.”- Walt Disney
“Too
many people grow up. That’s the real trouble with the world, too many
people grow up. They forget. They don’t remember what it’s like to be 12
years old.” – Walt Disney
For me, that’s the major draw of Walt Disney World – remembering.
When I was a child, I couldn’t wait to grow up. I dreamed of going to
college, getting a good job, getting married one day…maybe having a
couple of children of my own. Over time, though, I think the pressures
and responsibilities of becoming an adult and focusing on achieving your
dreams can cause you to lose a part of yourself – that “original”
person you once were before all that life happened to you. When I’m at
Walt Disney World, I rediscover that person – the first me. The me that
was more carefree, less full of the sense of responsibility that comes
with being a grown-up.
I’m more patient, more interested in little details, more relaxed, and certainly…lighter, for lack
of a better word, when I’m on a Disney vacation. I also think it gives
my family a chance to get to know the original me a little bit more
than they can at home when I’m worried about getting supper on the
table, or whether washing whites or darks will have the biggest
benefit for the immediate future. At Walt Disney World, I totally let
go of life’s troubles for a while – I’m not worried about how Joseph
manages to make so many holes in his socks or how I’m going to help
Megan pick out a new dress on my lunch hour and still make it back to
the office to make a presentation on time. We just have fun. Together
as a family, we are completely ourselves, being together, enjoying a
wonderful, magical place.
“Dreams, ideas and plans not only are an escape, they give me purpose, a reason to hang on.” – Walt Disney
After every Disney vacation, we start planning the next one.
It may be far into the future, but we will be planning a way to return
to the place that makes us so happy and holds some of our best
memories. We’ve got countdown calendars and when we’re having a bad day
(bad week, heck – sometimes just a bad month), we use that future
vacation as a reason to keep moving forward, solving problems,
supporting each other, getting on with conquering whatever challenges
come our way.
It’s become kind of rare for the four of us to be at home for supper these days,
but when we have an evening together, we almost always do the same
thing…At some point, one of us will silently raise their hand. This is
the “I’m going to Disney World” sign and, one at a time, as we notice
what’s happening, we will each raise our hand. Once we all have a hand
raised, we carry
on as if nothing unusual has taken place – but we’ve each been reminded
that no matter what’s happening today, we have something
extraordinarily fun in our future. We will all be returning to a place
where we are uniquely happy, together.
“When you believe in a thing – believe in it all the way – implicitly and unquestionable.” – Walt Disney
I’d love to hear from you – What IS it about Walt Disney World? What does it mean to you?
This article was originally posted on Lisa's Living a Disney Life Blog.
She can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LivingaDisLife and on Twitter at@life_of_green
Please be sure to check out Lisa along with me and David Hodges on The Disney Exchange Podcast!
This article was originally posted on Lisa's Living a Disney Life Blog.
She can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LivingaDisLife and on Twitter at
Please be sure to check out Lisa along with me and David Hodges on The Disney Exchange Podcast!
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