I don’t think I’ve met a single person who hates Disney World. Sure, you can dislike the crowds and overpriced food and the spoiled children running rampant with frantic parents following close behind, but there’s just something magical about the parks that you can’t hate. Disney has always been close to my heart and brings back great childhood memories for me. I remember meeting Minnie Mouse and Winnie the Pooh and watching the infamous Magic Kingdom fireworks from my stroller. Those were simpler times for me.
Well, in the midst of my much less simple life, I had the opportunity to visit Magic Kingdom with my best friend! Although some may see two 19-year-old girls as children, (and most of the time I feel like a child trying to be an adult so I don’t disagree), we got to visit a Disney theme park and spend the day being actual children again. Two unsupervised, tall, somewhat responsible children with colorful hair and tattoos (on one of us; Mom don’t freak out, I’m still tattoo-less). All that to say, we had the time of our lives running around Disney World’s Magic Kingdom and seeing life through rose-tinted glasses.
We had a short, but exciting, tête-à-tête with Peter Pan after we rode his ride about three times. The two of us visited the Haunted Mansion and partied with the ghosts, we rode Prince Charming’s carousel, we hit all the major rides. We, surprisingly, had the best French fries that we have ever had and, of course, got ourselves some cotton candy. We took the cutest best friend pictures that you ever did see and cried real tears during the fireworks show. We got the full Disney experience, Mickey hats and all.
When they say that Disney is the happiest place on earth, they mean it! Too bad we can’t always be at Disney. It’s a real shame we can’t always be in the midst of all the characters and rides and the children radiating excitement. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could always be in the Disney mindset? Looking at the world through that magical lens. I mean, why can’t Dallas, Texas be the happiest place on earth? Why do we need the constant elevator music and the giant castle always in our view?
Sadly, we aren’t in that little Disney snow globe that rains joy and Mickey Mouse shaped balloons. But here’s the good news! We don’t need that! Sure, it’s called Magic Kingdom for a reason. (Hint: It’s magical.) But we can’t put all of our eggs in that basket. We can’t expect real life to always be as magical as it is there. But that is a good thing! If every moment was the perfect moment, would any moment really be that great? Nope! I’m sure you’ve heard people tell you that you can’t have the good without the bad. It’s true. You would never really be able to appreciate the good times if you didn’t have less good times. If you spent your entire life riding your little boat around the Pirates of the Caribbean ride with your bag full of cotton candy, don’t you think you might get tired of it? Even if it’s your favorite ride? At some point, you have to go back into the crowded walkways of Adventureland and find something else to do. And then, maybe later, you can once again enjoy the air conditioned antics of your favorite pirates.
Basically, what I’m saying is that you have to take life with the good and the bad. I know the bad sucks and while going through it, our thoughts are never, “Oh it’s OK! I wouldn’t know the good without the bad!” But we could all do to work on changing our mindsets to at least try and think that way. We have to have our normal lives in order to have Disney World.
