When we were kids, all we wanted to do was grow up. Now that we're adults, all we want to be is kids again. I think back to the days that I wasn't allowed to have the TV on past 9:30 p.m., and couldn't wait to be an adult and do whatever I wanted. As I wake up everyday, go to work, go to the gym, go home, eat dinner, sleep, and repeat, I wish I could go back to the days where I needed to be in bed by 8:30, with the lights out by 9:30. It would be nice to escape from the adult world for a while, and my way of doing that is being at Disney World.
For anyone who knows me, I am as Disney obsessed as they come. I have been there about 30 times in my life and still haven't gotten sick of it. I still get the same feeling when I walk down Main Street and see Cinderella's Castle in front of me. It's a feeling like no other. I try to explain it, but people usually look at me like I'm crazy. As soon as you drive under those magical red arches and the ugly green street signs turn into the beautiful purple ones, it's as if you're in a bubble that protects you from everything bad in the world. For a few days everything is okay, and everything can be cured with pixie dust.
When you're a kid, going to Disney World is a lifelong dream. You can't wait to meet your favorite characters, get their autographs and ride every single ride in the parks, twice. That feeling stays with you as an adult. You still want to meet your favorite characters again, get those same autographs and build up your pressed penny collection (my family has about five books full of those bad boys).
As we grow up, we tend to overlook the simple things in life and only focus on the worries and the bad things. I'm definitely one of those people. I stay up at night sometimes because I can't stop thinking about the lack of money in my bank account, or the amount of errands I need to run the next morning and the little time I have to do them. When I'm in Disney World, I honestly forget about all of that. When I'm singing along on It's A Small World or screaming my head off as I start going backwards on Expedition Everest, everything seems to be okay. I know it's only for a short time, but for that time I become a kid again.
Walt Disney created Disneyland and Disney World after he took his daughters to an amusement park and saw how miserable the adults were. He wanted to create a place where both kids and adults could have fun and enjoy time with each other. That's exactly what he did. Sometimes I'm pretty sure the adults are having more fun than the kids. After all, one of Walt's most famous quotes is "Adults are only grown up kids, anyway."
Why is Disney better as an adult? Because it helps you relive your childhood. It forces you to have fun and be a kid again. Because for a brief moment in your crazy life you get to forget it all. You aren't going to be thinking about that one small thing you forgot to do at work when you're running into Mickey Mouse's arms. And if anyone ever tells you that you're too old for Disney, drop them immediately. No one needs negativity like that in their life.
