Refuting The Top 14 Reasons Not To Go To Disney, Part 8

So I'm happily looking at my Facebook newsfeed the other day and one of those "Sponsored" things is up there. It's from a site called Viral Travel (which sounds like a bad idea on the face of it) and is entitled 13 Reasons Not To Go To Disney. Of course I bite. Sue me. So its about what I expect, the same things we Disney fans expect from you non-Disney fans-- crowds, expense, capitalism, yadda yadda yadda. The thing is, many of these criticisms are true to a large extent, but avoidable. I hate to see people get spoiled on the Disney I love because they go about the whole experience unprepared logistically or mentally for the realities of the place. I figured just for kicks to take the 13 reasons one by one (or two by two) and try to explain why they don't keep ME from the Magic. This part four, part one is here, two here, three here, four here, five here, six here, and seven here.

3. The souvenir shops are designed to make you take out a second mortgage.

See that cute little Mickey knickknack, the one that would look just perfect on your mantle next to your Tinker Bell spoon collection? That’ll be $80. Any decent shirts or other clothing items are about the same price, just because they have a mouse embroidered on them.

There are also all kinds of clever key chains, phone cases, handbags, hats, wallets, cheap plastic toys, stuffed animals, dress-up items, snow globes, license plate frames, and pretty much every other type of souvenir you can imagine, plus some you wish you never knew existed.

Getting caught up in the pin collecting and trading looks affordable at first, but those little pins start to add up to a small fortune in a hurry, especially when you find that ultra rare pin that portrays Winnie the Pooh making Captain Jack Sparrow walk the plank. Disney makes it tempting to just buy and buy stuff you don’t need.

As a guest in one of the park’s hotels, you can have the merchandise you buy sent to your room, free of charge, which encourages you to spend even more. If you don’t watch it, you’ll blow through your savings in no time and will leave the park penniless.

I'm thinking this writer is at least in part simply anti-capitalist. I imagine in that posting-about-the-evils-of-corporations-using-your-MacBook kinda way. A Hipster anti-capitalist. Gag me.

Yes, Walt Disney World exists to make money for the shareholders of the Disney corporation. If that bothers you, stay home. Or move to North Korea. Good bye.

For those of you who are left, yes, the massive collection of STUFF available for purchase in Disney's shops is astonishing. If you are any sort of Disney fan at all, you'll see lots you simply MUST have. Step back. You don't need it. Disney isn't evil for making these things available, they are catering to the desires of their guests, but you need to be smart. And strong :-)

There are a few ways to help yourself, and your family, resist the temptation to buy every pin, every t-shirt and every knick-knack you see. Planning. See, broken record. Decide before you leave on a budget for souvenirs and stick to it as best you can. One way to help, especially with children, is to buy Disney gift cards and use them exclusively for souvenirs and impulse buys. When the card is empty, you're done. Simple.

But DO budget for impulse buys. There are things for sale in the Disney parks that you simply won't find anywhere else. It's part of the fun of a Disney trip to find a few of these treasures and carry them home like the conquering hero. Splurge a little, but plan the splurge.

Refuting The Top 14 Reasons Not To Go To Disney, Part 7

So I'm happily looking at my Facebook newsfeed the other day and one of those "Sponsored" things is up there. It's from a site called Viral Travel (which sounds like a bad idea on the face of it) and is entitled 13 Reasons Not To Go To Disney. Of course I bite. Sue me. So its about what I expect, the same things we Disney fans expect from you non-Disney fans-- crowds, expense, capitalism, yadda yadda yadda. The thing is, many of these criticisms are true to a large extent, but avoidable. I hate to see people get spoiled on the Disney I love because they go about the whole experience unprepared logistically or mentally for the realities of the place. I figured just for kicks to take the 13 reasons one by one (or two by two) and try to explain why they don't keep ME from the Magic. This part four, part one is here, two here, three here, four here, five here, and six here.

4. The Nightly Parades Shut Everything Down

 Every night, the Disney crew puts on a very special parade complete with floats, music and lots of dancing. There are other parades that are held in different areas during the day, but they are relatively small and fairly easy to get around.

Just try to get to the other side of the park for that one last ride during the nightly parades, and you will be shocked at how much of the park instantly becomes essentially inaccessible. Even better, the nightly parades are the same thing over and over. Everyone stands and watches the first one they see, but by the second night you start to realize it is just the same boring thing as before.

The parade route is patrolled by the most overzealous Disney employees ever, and they do their best job to mimic the behaviors of a rabid junkyard dog as they tell everyone they cannot walk through a pathway well before the parade has even started.

Because of these lovely employees, if you don’t get to the area of the park where you want to stay until the parade is over, you will be stuck where you are until the ridiculous nightly procession finally ends.

Uh, no. No they don't.  You may have to walk around the lines or go the long way round rather than through the hub in front of the Cinderella Castle, but the nightly parade, nor the multiple daytime parades, shuts nothing down. If you see a Disney cast member acting like "a rabid junkyard dog" at ANY time, let me know. Yes, they try to keep you from being run down by Elliot, but they are ridiculously nice about it.

Elliot. Don't fling yourself in front of him.

We love watching the parades, but the writer is correct in that they are pretty much the same each time. This isn't a bad thing at all, though, as the parade draws such a crowd that parade time is a great time to visit the attractions. Getting around can be tricky, but the parade times and routes are well advertised. You are best to avoid Main Street at Electrical parade time, for example. But you CAN do as Lisa and I did once and ride Splash Mountain a few times until the parade is going by while you are on the ride and you get to watch the Electrical Parade from the top of the big drop.

I want to see THIS parade. Lots of times.

Refuting The 13 (now apparently 14) Reasons Not To Go To Disney, Part 6

So I'm happily looking at my Facebook newsfeed the other day and one of those "Sponsored" things is up there. It's from a site called Viral Travel (which sounds like a bad idea on the face of it) and is entitled 13 Reasons Not To Go To Disney. Of course I bite. Sue me. So its about what I expect, the same things we Disney fans expect from you non-Disney fans-- crowds, expense, capitalism, yadda yadda yadda. The thing is, many of these criticisms are true to a large extent, but avoidable. I hate to see people get spoiled on the Disney I love because they go about the whole experience unprepared logistically or mentally for the realities of the place. I figured just for kicks to take the 13 reasons one by one (or two by two) and try to explain why they don't keep ME from the Magic. This part four, part one is here, two here, three here, four here and five here.


5. The Mouse Ears And Other Hats Are Embarrassing

Even though it’s a tradition, the little mouse ears sold at the park are embarrassing, not only to wear but to also see others wearing. If you have not been to a Disney resort in a while, you will be amazed at how many different kinds of mouse ears are available to buy.

There are pirate mouse ears, ears that are themed for weddings, glow-in-the-dark ears, light-up ears, and even Jack Skellington mouse ears. Pretty much any tacky design you can think of that has anything to do with Disney has been used to make a special set of mouse ears.

Even worse, people wear the ears in the park like they are a badge of honor, just like that story about the emperor’s snazzy new clothes everyone obviously could see. Of course, if you don’t want to wear a set of ridiculous mouse ears, you can put on a Goofy or Peter Pan hat like you’re a hyperactive five year-old instead of a respectable adult.

The worst part is if you are unfortunate to have your picture taken while wearing the mouse ears, that picture might make its way onto social media for all of your friends to ridicule.

This one is personal. I like hats. I like funny hats, odd hats, unusual hats. I am a very responsible adult, I dare say possibly more responsible than a guy writing for a fly-by-night travel blog for a living. Just perhaps. I wear funny hats at Disney. I don't wear Mouse Ears because they tend to fall off my head, but I have a plaid Santa hat with mouse ears on it. I have a ridiculous safari hat. One of the things I was looking forward to on our last trip was buying a safari hat with mouse ears on it, but I was unable to find one. I was sad.

Safari Hat, sadly no Ears

If you are embarrassed at seeing other adults in funny hats, you need to forgo your Disney vacation and spend that money on therapy. Really, you'll thank me later.

As for being embarrassed to wear a silly hat in the parks yourself, that's a little  bit of a different matter. We are socialized to be safe, socially, to fit in and not do anything to stand out. We are taught to be Team Players in the best sense and drones in the collective in the worst. Certainly we need to conform to basic norms for society to function and for groups within that society to efficiently do what they need to do. Wearing Mickey Ears to your job might be a bad idea. But Disney isn't work, it's a fantasy land, a play world, a stage for showing off parts of yourself that wouldn't be easy or safe to display in the real world. That's what all those people in the Mickey Ears get that this writer misses. They (we) are having FUN, we are being silly in a place where silliness is celebrated.If that offends you, I feel really sorry for you.

Mouse Ears Santa Hat

But I'm a firm believer in carrying that freedom to be silly sometimes outside the parks. Disney has turned it into a marketing campaign with their whole Show Your Disney Side thing, but I have been a proponent of sometimes not running with the crowd for years. I wear my Mickey Ears Santa hat around a lot, to parties, parades, even work. I have a Goofy shirt that is just plain goofy. I'll dress up in odd cloths with the smallest of excuses. It's liberating, really, to simply not care what people say about you on social media or anywhere else. It's not your friends making fun, anyone who is isn't a friend and why should his or her opinion matter? Worried your boss might see? Ever stop to think that your boss may be your boss and not a drone him or herself because maybe he or she isn't an in-the-box thinker? Successful people break molds, they go outside the normal. Live a little. If it starts with a Mickey Ear hat on vacation, all the better. You might just bring some of that silliness home with you and find out that often silliness is simply another word for creativity and imagination. And those are the things that open doors.

I wore this get-up to a birthday party for our friends' son. It was Renaissance themed, so why not? The mom and dad were also dressed up and also my lovely wife.  I got the stink-eye the whole time from the Cool Kids, but really, who cares?  Life's just too short :-)

Refuting The Top 13 Reasons Not To Go To Disney, Part 5

So I'm happily looking at my Facebook newsfeed the other day and one of those "Sponsored" things is up there. It's from a site called Viral Travel (which sounds like a bad idea on the face of it) and is entitled 13 Reasons Not To Go To Disney. Of course I bite. Sue me. So its about what I expect, the same things we Disney fans expect from you non-Disney fans-- crowds, expense, capitalism, yadda yadda yadda. The thing is, many of these criticisms are true to a large extent, but avoidable. I hate to see people get spoiled on the Disney I love because they go about the whole experience unprepared logistically or mentally for the realities of the place. I figured just for kicks to take the 13 reasons one by one (or two by two) and try to explain why they don't keep ME from the Magic. This part four, part one is here, two here, three here, and four here.

6. The Food Is Insanely Expensive

You know it’s bad when movie theater concessions look like a bargain in comparison. Have you ever paid $8 for a hot dog? At Disneyland you can have that privilege.

Anyone else notice a trend here? Everything is "insane" it seems. I wonder about that...

And just for the record, hot dogs are $7.79 with fries at Casey's Corner in the Magic Kingdom or $5.25 from a cart in either Storybrook Circus or Frontierland. Been to a ball game lately? I challenge you to find a cheaper hot dog at a major league ballpark.

Yes, food in the Disney parks is not as inexpensive as you could find outside the parks. But ALL theme parks are like that. And the circus. And the fair. And concerts. And sporting events. Anywhere you are a captive audience, you will be charged more for food. Welcome to capitalism.

The Lapu Lapu

One of the reasons we love Disney, though, is the food. Sure you can get burgers and dogs and mac-n-cheese, but you can also eat sushi and baklava and dole whips and Hawaiian barbeque and wiener schnitzel and creme brulee and pretty much anything else you can imagine. You can eat these things in a pagoda or a fish tank or with Winnie the Pooh or Cinderella. You can listen to your wedding song played on a ukulele while drinking a fruity rum concoction from a pineapple then watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks from your table while you finish your meal with bread pudding.

I'll just say that our last trip both the Lapu Lapu (the aforementioned pineapple drink) and breakfast lasagna
were life-changing experiences. 

Disney isn't about an $8 hotdog, even if that was the price. It's about having experiences you can't have in the real world, and for our family many of these experiences involve food.

Oh, and if you love food as much as we do, look into the Disney Dining Plan. This is basically pre-paying for your meals during your trip. You get, with our favorite option, a snack (we use this for breakfast usually), a counter service meal and a table service meal for each day of your trip.  It's a good deal if you are foodies and tend to clean your plate. But it is worth a whole post, or series of posts, on its own.