Why I'm Going To Stop Apologizing For Loving Walt Disney World

It began like this: It had been a rough year. We were parents of a six year old boy. A relative generously offered us passes to Walt Disney World. That's how it all started.

Until that point, I was far from being a Disney fan. As a child, my father was especially careful about the quality of the books I had and, when I was very young, he would read to me from A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh books, pointing out the charming pen and ink illustrations by Ernest Shepherd. When I saw an image of the Disney version of a brightly colored Pooh wearing a tiny red t-shirt, Dad expressed his outrage. Disney had turned sweet, subtle children's stories into a crass movie. The carefully detailed Shepherd drawings had been replaced by flat, unimaginative animation. Comparing the two side by side, I still have to agree with my father. Disney products weren't part of my childhood...other kids had them. It was like having a friend whose mother smoked or whose father gambled. Fine for their household, but it was certainly not going to be a part of ours.

As I got older, I moved in circles where Disney snobbery was the norm. One Disney movie was panned after another...not that anyone I knew had actually seen them. And Walt Disney World was a whole other thing. One person reported that Disney World paid their employees to water fake plants to encourage the illusion the foliage was real. Another said all the fish in the ponds were fake. And, of course, there was endless derision of people--adults, even!--who had their pictures taken with employees wearing acrylic character costumes. Imagine!

Much later, as we flew to Florida--my first time to the state-- I felt that we were doing a kind of rite of passage for our son. After this trip, he'd have experienced Disney World and we could move on with our travels. Surely my husband and I could endure being there for a week.

We picked up the rental car and drove to the on-site (yes, really!) Disney hotel, Wilderness Lodge. And when we walked in, we were astonished. Not a cartoon character in site. Just magnificent architecture in stone and wood with a bridged stream running through the lobby. My husband and I looked at each other. We were very impressed, but a little confused. At check-in, we were treated as if we were special guests. I hate, hate to say it, but things started feeling a little magical. The view from our hotel room overlooked a large lake and dense woods with a sandy walking trail. It wasn't what I'd imagined at all.

The next day, we hit the parks, starting with Magic Kingdom. I'm not sure if our feelings would have been the same had we not been parents, but it was thrilling to watch our son react with pure wonder at his surroundings. Not that he knew who many of the characters were...it was the whole sensory experience that had enveloped him (okay, us). At Epcot, it was like visiting a world's fair and horticultural festival at the same time. (And we didn't see one fake plant.) At the renamed Hollywood Studios, our wildest Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and fireworks hopes were all met. At Animal Kingdom, it was amazing to see wild animals roaming outside of cages, yet so close. Our experience, however, was much more than just the culmination of the different parts. The quality and attention to detail was such that it became a kind of distinct world apart from our daily lives...which is what a vacation should be. I honestly don't want this to start sounding like an advertisement, so I'll stop my description of Disney World there.

Needless to say, we returned. Okay, we've returned every year. Some families go to Maine every year, some go to the beach every year,...Disney World just happens to be our family's annual vacation spot. And, because of family and friends living all over the place, we've also brought our son to Toronto, Indianapolis, Philadelphia (most years), New York City (many years), Washington, DC, Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle, Vancouver, BC, the Palm Springs area, and Minneapolis. And, when he's a bit older, we hope to take him overseas with us.

But, for now, unapologetically, Walt Disney World remains our parallel universe of choice.