You may have seen this article out there in The Federalist (an online magazine) – Why I Won’t Take My Kids to Disney World This Summer, by Nicole Russell. I respect the opinions of the young and idealistic Ms. Russell – and actually agree with her on a couple of points. I even applaud her for taking a stand that will reduce the crowd my family has to contend with on our next trip to Walt Disney World. There are, however, a couple of things she’s standing firm on that I absolutely do not agree with and isn’t that the beauty of this whole article-writing thing? We can agree to disagree.
Don’t Take Your Kids to Disney World This Summer!
First of all, I’ll freely acknowledge that Disney is a for-profit company. As a person who appreciates the free enterprise system and our ability to invest in big, for-profit businesses, I’m okay with corporate income. My nest egg appreciates good business sense…even if I’ll miss Maelstrom. Ms. Russell is correct in her comments about price: It can be expensive to visit Disney World (though tons of folks with big families do manage to do it for less than $4,000) and, if you have the money, there’s no doubt Disney will be happy to have you open your wallet in their resorts and theme parks. As Ms. Russell states, Disney World is manufactured fun. And sometimes, fantastic, made-up fun is exactly what a family needs. I know mine does – in regularly scheduled doses.
At first, I have no problem with Ms. Russell’s opinions until she gets to the part that says, “Disney World is really narrow.” – Here’s where our opinions seriously diverge. I do firmly believe that it is important to visit historical landmarks and learn about coastal life at the beach or wildlife at the local state park. I’ve taken my children to musicals, art museums, aquariums, zoos, and even on a pilgrimage to the ancestral home of my many-times great grandfather Daniel Boone. All time and money well-spent! On the other hand, I find Disney World to be quite broad – SO broad, that if we want to, we can also learn about important historical landmarks (Hall of Presidents & The American Adventure), coastal life (The Seas in Epcot), wildlife (Animal Kingdom), musical performances (Festival of the Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Finding Nemo, the Musical), foreign lands (World Showcase) and, by the way, artistic talent is on display literally everywhere.
Ms. Russell insists, “If you spend $8,000 on a family vacation to eat dinner with Cinderella, those are your values, if by default. Those values communicate something, and just don’t reflect my family’s values.” While I have never spent $8,000 to eat dinner with Cinderella (nor do I intend to), I’ve raised my children on Disney World vacations to teach them more than how to stand in line in the hot Florida sun – I’ve taught them that it’s okay to dream, good to imagine, important to pretend, and absolutely, perfectly fine to let go and relax, enjoy laughing and having manufactured fun in an incredible, magical, silly, interesting, and, yes, educational way – together as a family. At Disney World we’ve learned much about other cultures by listening to a gentleman Cast Member from Botswana describe his homeland, having a Norwegian Cast Member explain the differences in what their lives are like after high school compared to Americans’, and chatting with a patient Italian server who was kind enough to help us practice our Italian.
Interestingly, Ms. Russell believes a family trip to Europe – home of her ancestral heritage – would better reflect her values and be a better way to spend money. Having been fortunate enough to vacation with my offspring in Europe more than once, I do have to say, it’s an amazing place to visit. On our most recent trip, we spent a brief time in Copenhagen, Denmark and what did we do? You guessed it! We had manufactured fun!!! We visited Tivoli Gardens, one of the world’s oldest amusement parks – home to manufactured fun since 1843! So, I’m going to disagree with Ms. Russell’s statement about Disney World: “It’s so American. So first-world. So anti-cultural.” – Tell that to the Danes and see what they have to say about it. Tivoli Gardens was an inspiration to Walt Disney for creating Disneyland.
Let’s be honest. I’m not really here to defend vacation choices. I’m very secure in our decisions about how we spend our discretionary income. I suppose I’m really feeling stung by this young woman’s assertion that my family is somehow flawed in the values department. That by enjoying the incredible, gigantic playground that is Disney World, my family is somehow shallow, reflecting poor values and a lack of culture. That’s the bottom line here. Ms. Russell is free to raise her four children in any manner she sees fit as I was free to raise my two. My parents chose not to take me to Disney World when I was growing up – and I turned out okay. By contrast, my children have visited Disney World more than a dozen times and they’re pretty terrific, well-rounded, productive members of society…and their values aren’t too shabby either. Much of their passion for history, travel and culture was born at Disney World.
Ms. Russell firmly states, “If I’m going to spend $5,000 to 10,000, I prefer to do something that engages my family’s minds and imaginations, broadens our horizons, and expands our cultural preferences.” I agree with you on that point, Ms. Russell, 100%! Vacation at Walt Disney World or not…I’m just going to say – don’t knock it ’til you try it.
Okay, readers, your turn! What say you to Ms. Russell’s assessment of Walt Disney World and those who choose to visit?
