I Went to Disney World In January 2018

Today my family and I just got back from Disney World. We took a short weekend trip, to see Epcot and the Magic Kingdom. Epcot hosted an International Art Festival at the time. As a result, we passed quite a few stalls with beautiful prints and paintings. Then we hit the Magic Kingdom today, and finished up around noon.

Disney World as a place is always a comfort. My family would go, and we would enjoy as many rides as we could. As kids, we got autographs from the costumed characters, watch the shows, and wait in line for hours. FastPass wasn’t available then, and we didn’t have smartphone technology to notify us about line times. Despite that, we always had fun.

While a kid, I went to Disney to enjoy myself. As an adult, I go to Disney to escape from reality. The world still scares me two years in, so not being scared is a difficulty. Epcot reminds me of the hope we have for the future, with Spaceship Earth, though I honestly hope we can do better with communication then we have at the moment. I miss Horizons, but at least we have The Land’s sustainable gardening and the Spaceship Earth’s detailed animatronics.

My Fears

I fear a world where hateful people, and not the delightfully hammy cartoon villains, will win. In addition, I’m scared of nuclear war, of the economy going belly up, and of people being utter disappointments. Companies like Disney raised me to expect people to be fundamentally good.

Finding Happiness

Can Disney give us peace of mind? I hope so, as someone who could still believe in Small World’s multi-ethnic utopia, and the happy ghosts at the Haunted Mansion. We need a happiest place on Earth, and the Magic Kingdom fortunately makes people happy. It also reminds us that people can create joy and art. The festival reminded me of that.

Fears won’t go away overnight. But a place like Disney there’s a place to laugh, to enjoy the light and chase away the darkness.