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November 18, 2005
WDW
Alright. I've been silent on the subject long enough. Here's a warning to Disney fans: This is a mildly anti-Disney post by a Disney snob. I don't want your Disney sensibilities to be offended, so please don't read this if it's going to upset you.
This weekend, I am going to DisneyWorld. For three days, I will subject myself to a landscape composed entirely by the Disney company. All transportation, accommodation, and every restaurant or food stand will be entirely owned and operated by Disney®. It'll be like SuperSize Me, but for three days instead of a month, and for every part of my life instead of just meals. If I want to sit down in an un-Disneyified location and knit quietly, out of bounds of some form of Micky Mouse ears or a parade of dancing 22-year-olds in costume, I will be unable to do so. If I want to escape the onslaught of enormous and grotesque walking stuffed animals, I will have to take Disney-sponsored transportation and most likely pass several hundred Disney-obsessed children and Disney gift stores along the way. Last time I went to Disney, my favorite part was finding a very normal-looking pool in an upscale hotel with no Ears in sight and swimming in it for an hour. At Derek's insistent prodding (we're going with his family), I'm trying to be open-minded about it, but it's like PAYING to enter the largest advertisement in the world. It's like a little corporation-country. Commercialism is king and watered-down "real-world adventures" that appeal to the masses abound.
Derek emailed me a link to some Disney fan message boards a while back and we found some disturbing posts. First, the posters were Disney addicts. The focus of their lives was visiting Disney, and each person had a blurb listing how many times they'd been, where they'd stayed, and a countdown to the next visit. Crazy people. Then, we found this:
Plus, my wife said that Epcot had changed her. She had always disliked people from Japan after all the WWII stories and movies she saw. After visiting the countries (she walked us 3 times around World Showcase) she said she now liked the people and had a new respect for them. She got to see how the cultures really are and she really enjoyed speaking with everyone...
My God. First, this prejudiced woman "disliked people from Japan after all the WWII stories and movies she saw." Then, after "visiting the countries" (???!?!!) and getting to "see how the cultures really are" (!?!), she got over it! Wow! I think they should visit The Holy Land Experience next.
Disney can be fun -- I'm not suggesting that I'm going to walk around with a scowl on my face and an anti-Disney pin on my shirt. But the enormity of the place, and the sameness of it all, and the way people just drink it in without an ounce of irony, is going to put me off a little.
Posted by csageday at November 18, 2005 07:51 PM
Comments
That woman is crazy! Of course Disney is going to make the Japanese look bad. They wouldn't want to offend Japanese People Disney wants them to come and spend their yen. The woman who made that comment should be in the next Amercian freak show.
Posted by: Molly at November 20, 2005 02:31 PM
I feel your pain.
Posted by: kaitlyn at November 21, 2005 09:38 AM
Haven't you heard? Irony, as a way of life and a lens through which all things should be viewed, is dead. Disney World is where irony-sick people go to smugness of urbanity. You'll see. Half the mouse-ear-wearing, fried-dough-guzzling people down there will be from big cities. Go with it. Let your eyes glaze over. Paste on that permagrin. Absorb the Christian fundamentalist values... I mean, the basic truths expressed in the smiles of the innocent children.
There are lots of bars scattered throughout WDW. You'll need them. Have a great time!
Posted by: Lloyd at November 22, 2005 01:15 PM
Interesting theory, Lloyd. And I admit, I was kind of wondering if I might be swept away by Disney magic, but it didn't happen. It's creepy! And yes, I heard somewhere that irony is dead. Long live irony!
Posted by: C at November 23, 2005 12:50 PM