My Current Fascination with Disney World

For the past 4 months or so, and once or twice while still in college, I’ve probably mentioned my strong desire to go back to Disney World. Usually when I mention this I immediately get a strange look, because no 23 year old man should really want to go to Disney World.  Disney World is intended to be enjoyed by kids, and tangentially by adults who bring them.

So, as a result of getting the strange looks, I’ve tried to reflect on why I actually want to go back to Disney World without kids, and below is what I came up with.

Disney world is nostalgic. I, like hopefully most people my age, grew up on Disney classics (Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Fantasia) but also was lucky enough to be a child during the renaissance for Disney animation (Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, even the underrated Lilo & Stitch).  A trip to Disney World is filled with interactions with the famous characters from those movies and the cartoon classics Mickey, Minnie, Donald, et al, which as a kid is about the coolest thing ever.  In college I was looking for a classy book on my bookshelf at home, and came across the autograph books that my sisters and I each had for our trips to Disney World.  In them was the proof that I had indeed met Chip and Dale, Aladdin, and more.  Those moments meeting your cartoon heroes in the “flesh,” while they may fade away with age, will always be there, and I want to go back and relive those glory days, and this time take pictures rather than only get autographs.  

The rides are intricate and diverse. I’ve been to Disney World multiple times, it may actually have been the first them park I ever went to, and was it certainly where I first learned that roller coasters aren’t exactly my thing.  What’s great about Disney World is how varied everything is.  In the Magic Kingdom you have rides kids can enjoy (Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups and Dumbo) as well as ones aimed more at a young adult demographic like Space Mountain and Rocky Mountain Railroad.  What really makes Disney World stand out though is its commitment to a story for each ride, or at the very least a motif.  The Peter Pan ride tells the entire move; Toad’s Wild Ride was a chaotic, jolting adventure through Wind in the Willows, and rides with animatronics like Splash Mountain incorporate movement that isn’t simply from you moving along a track.  My favorite “new” ride from my last trip was the Buzz Lightyear ride which had no story, but pitted you in a laser tag-esque target practice challenge against the person in the car with you (in my case, my dad).  All the rides above are in the Magic Kingdom, but the other parks have just as much variety, and in some ways are nicely better, having more showmanship and thrills (MGM), educational opportunities and food (Epcot), or simply living animals (Animal Kingdom).

Lastly, I want to go back to visit new places and see the old ones before they go away.  Back when people still used travel agencies to help book vacations, once or twice we got the promotional video tape (VHS, ftw!) that advertised the new attractions, and general awesomeness of Disney World.  There was always one part of the vacation that was mostly useless as it was about the Boardwalk, and I think something called Paradise Beach or something.  I’d like to go there, it appears to be Disney’s version of a bar, club, and dinner scene, totally devoid of characters (though who wouldn’t want to walk into a bar and see Goofy stumbling around?) where adults can be adults without having to baby sit anyone.  Even more than experiencing this final frontier, I’d like to get on the rides that will eventually someday be taken down and replaced.  I’m not going to have kids for who knows how long, so there’s no guarantee that rides I love there now will be there in the future.  The Buzz Lightyear ride I think is in the space that once was occupied by Lilo and Stitch which took over a terrifying Alien experience [ed. note: I may’ve completely made that up]  The Go-Kart track is awesome, and I assume will be regrettably transformed into a Cars/Cars 2 (the only Pixar movies I haven’t seen) themed experience.  

So do I want to go back sooner rather than later? Clearly.  As much of a tourist trap as the entire city of Orlando is, the "Happiest Place on Earth" is certainly worth a trip, even if only a brief one.

Matt Brickell is the managing editor.  He has never been to Disney Land and has no interest in going because the East coast is the best coast.