Who is Disney World For?
There are more and more blog posts and articles out there on “how to do Disney” as an adult.
Adults honeymoon at Disney World. They drink around the world at Epcot, propose at Magic Kingdom, and celebrate birthdays and anniversaries in the parks. There is even a Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings television show. Many Disney-centric YouTube vlogs are hosted by adult Disney fans who don’t have children. Instagram is littered with single millennials who document their visits to the parks.
Having been to Disney world only once as a child, my point of reference is taking trips there as an adult. While I travel there with my son, my adult sister comes with us. Most of our group is all grown up. You don’t have to bring your children or borrow someone’s kid to feel comfortable and have a great time at Disney World. It is the perfect place for adults who want to relive a little bit of the wonder and uninhibited joy of childhood. It just doesn’t necessarily cater to adults, and I don’t think that it should.
Years ago, I took a trip to the Baltimore Aquarium with my husband.
It was a crowded weekend day and even with timed tickets it was pretty full. A lot of parents were struggling to get their kids a good view of the animals. Not a parent yet, but definitely a grown up, I did what I thought was the appropriate thing. I backed up or moved over and let the kids get in front of me so that they could see. That’s a normal reaction to that situation, right?
After I had my son, I took him to zoos and aquariums quite often. In order to see the animals, you had to get fairly close to the exhibits. He was always so excited to see an elephant or the “Nemo” fish. We would wait for our turn, thinking that folks would get a look and then move on. Turns out, that’s not how it worked. Too often, grown adults, with or without children, would jockey for position and push past kids half their height to get a better view. I was flabbergasted. I assumed that grown adults would let little kids scoot in front of them for a better view, or hang back a little and allow the height challenged whipper-snappers to get in there and see the gorilla.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that the grown ups shouldn’t get a peek at the gorilla. These are places for adults and children alike. Everyone should be able to enjoy themselves. However, these are places that are, generally, skewed towards children. Just like I wouldn’t expect a bunch of kids to be running around at a fancy art opening, tripping the waiters and toppling the wine, I shouldn’t expect a bunch of adults to knock over toddlers in their rush to the squid tank.
I recently came across an article giving tips on how to steer clear of children at Disney World.
Seriously? Okay, I am the FIRST person to get irritated with parents who drive their strollers like it’s the roller derby. Chill out people. It’s not okay to drive that thing up the backs of my heels. I am also irritated by parents who allow their kids to run around and act like maniacs at the resorts and in restaurants.
It is important to remember, though, that the parks can be exhausting and super tough on little ones. They will have meltdowns. Adults have meltdowns at Disney World. It is unrealistic to think that small children, in particular, will be all happy, happy, happy after hours in the sun, STANDING STILL in lines. Can you keep your composure when your Mickey bar hits the ground?
No one should have to deal with unrelenting bad behavior. No one should have to deal with parents that have no inclination to rein in that bad behavior. I get it. But trying to avoid children because you want to have a more “adult” experience? At DISNEY WORLD? I don’t get that.
Disney World is supposed to be geared towards kids, the magic of childhood and the celebration of that.
It is a special place where this old lady can wear Mickey ears with no sense of irony alongside a little girl getting a Princess makeover or learning how to be a Jedi. For pity’s sake, the idea of it all is memorialized on the Partners statue in Magic Kingdom: “We believe in our idea: a family park where parents and children could have fun — together.” There is an earnestness and, dare I say, wholesomeness about Disney World that appeals. That doesn’t mean that I don’t think people should drink around the world at Epcot or have an adults only trip. The notion that children could get in the way of “adult” fun AT DISNEY WORLD is what escapes me.
That brings me to the push behind this post: the comments by some folks regarding changing a resort signature dining location to a character meal at dinner.
When the rumors started streaming in that Artist’s Point in Wilderness Lodge was moving to a character dinner experience, some folks lost their minds. Honestly, I was a little bit stunned by some of the responses. I have never been to Artist’s Point. However, I could appreciate how the adults who frequented this this place as a special dining experience with more sophistication than Disnification would be irritated by the change. I understood why they were hoping that it was just a change for an early dinner and not all dinner service. I could see why they were suggesting that it just be a breakfast or lunch character experience in order to keep the dinner service as it was. Yet somehow I felt weird about it. There was a part of me that thought, “Can you just let the kid get in front of you? They can’t see the freaking fish!”
In all honesty, this was most likely a move on Disney’s part to make the place more lucrative. The new “Storybook Dining” with Snow White will offer some unusual characters that you don’t see in the parks on a regular basis and will most likely fill up nightly. Guaranteed full house for a steep price? Yep, but that is a different topic for a different discussion. My issue is with the irritation of grown adults to the encroachment of a more family friendly experience on their chill adult time. Some folks were even worrying about having to navigate the inevitable “sea of strollers” that a character dinner would generate. What?! It’s Disney World, people!
My toddler wrangling days are behind me.
I have a teenager and my group is not really into character meals. However, I have seen the looks on the faces of 4 year old girls when a Princess kneels down to talk to them. Call me a sucker, but that’s when the upcharges and inconvenience of “losing” a favorite dinner location don’t seem as important. The look on that little girl’s face is what Disney World is about. That magical look can be experienced and enjoyed by the little girl, her family, the Cast Member Princess, and anyone seated near them who happens to glance over.
I know that it’s not always pixie dust and have a magical day at Disney World.
It’s fair to be critical of some of the recently increasing upcharges, VIP experiences and the like. It is also natural to get worked up about changes to attractions or restaurants that you are nostalgic about. I’m just looking for a little perspective here. There are a lot of places in the world that are geared towards adult entertainment. Many of them are exclusive to adults. Disney World is welcoming and accessible to everyone and sometimes I wonder if people lose sight of that.
