Pondering the Mouse

Lately we've been toying with the idea of taking the plunge (with our wallets) and taking the kids to Disney World.

Oh Disney lovers, please don't hate me. I don't mind Disney. There just happens to be a long list of places I'd rather visit instead.

I know, I know, this is about the kids. And I am grateful to have the opportunity to spend time with my family and to be able to pull together the means to go somewhere. I would just prefer that somewhere be the red rock canyons of the southwest; a drive up the Pacific Coast highway in California; eating my way through Italy.

Disney? It's an awesome place. The customer service and attention to detail can't be beat. The creativity and innovation? Amazing. So what's the problem? Where to start? (Here I go, getting curmudgeonly)...

1) I'm not sure when or how it happened, but it seems as if over the years Disney has become something akin to both a religion and a rite of passage. "What? You HAVEN'T been to Disney yet?" kids will say to Anna, looking at her as if she's sprouted horns. Maybe it's because we live in suburban Connecticut, but is it weird to think not everyone can drop, say, $6,000 on a vacation, sometimes annually? When I was a kid, my grandmother, God bless her, would shake her head sadly at the fact that our family couldn't afford Disney World. "Maybe someday you'll get to go," she would say forlornly, which made me start to feel bad when until then I hadn't cared.

2) To continue on that point, I didn't get to Disney World until I was 18, and that was fine. I still had a great time. I didn't feel as if I'd missed out on an integral milestone of childhood. I actually appreciated being able to go on all of the rides, and knowing I would always remember the experience because I wasn't, say, 3 or 4 years old. So when someone says we HAVE to get to Disney because the kids are getting older, it's hard for me to get into panic mode. Then there's the fact that:

3) I am not and none of my kids are "into" princess or costumed character people. Yes, Anna (and now Chloe) sometimes dressed up like princesses and would watch Disney princess movies. No, they have never eaten, slept and breathed only princesses. We are also not Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald Duck, etc. fanatics. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just not us. My kids tend to see Chuck E Cheese characters and back away. Except Ethan. He thinks they're kind of cool. Animatronics also have tended to make each of the kids nervous at various stages. Let's just say no one in our house is begging to breakfast with a bunch of characters.

4) The price. I guess I mean not the price as much as the price to do Disney the way people say Disney "should" be done. Most people I know these days fly there, stay at a resort, get the meal plan, book special events with characters, and so on. I understand the convenience of doing so. It's still a little hard to fathom when this kind of meticulously orchestrated trip was so different than the "budget" visits we took to Disney with our family. We drove there. All night. We stayed in the Orlando area in various versions of Econolodge motels. We did NOT dine in the parks if we absolutely had to but snuck in snacks and ate out locally each night. We didn't do all Disney all the time but also visited the Everglades, Cape Canaveral, the beach. And without all of the bells and whistles, we had an extraordinarily good time. In truth, my favorite part of going to Florida was driving there and seeing different states...my first palm tree...and the way the New England winter gloriously transformed into spring. Which leads me to:

5) I'm not the hugest fan of fabricated places. Shopping malls have kind of fallen out of fashion, but I've never liked them. Vegas? Shudder. Give me a mountain, a lake, or a beach. Or a small town main street, museum, or antique shop. Give me the real thing rather than a real cool version of the real thing. It's like Animal Kingdom, at Disney. I'd rather do an actual safari. I'd rather see a really cool giant tree than the Tree of Life. I'm kind of drilling the point home, I know. You've got it, you've got it.

I guess it's not so much that Disney World is a terrible place but that I would prefer we see it on our terms. That may end up being a little bit unconventional, the same way it was for me, growing up. Maybe we will do the long drive there to save money and retain some freedom. Maybe we won't book every experience there or go to the park every day. Maybe some days we just want to be able to enjoy a day at the pool, or the beach. Maybe we won't get the meal plan but will venture out to an all you can eat BBQ like "Sonny's" (I think it was called), quite possibly one of the messiest but most delicious indulgences I'd ever had up to that point. Maybe we won't see every nook and cranny of the parks but will take time to venture out and explore roadside attractions like GatorVille or Citrus World (these are probably not real places, but I imagine they could be). Maybe I don't want to ride the monorail but ride through the Everglades.

I guess I'm not so much of a Disney curmudgeon as just someone who really loves a travel experience that involves truly immersing yourself in a foreign location and seeing and tasting life the way the locals do. The creativity and imagination that is Disney is great -- but this other type of exploration is rewarding in its own grittier way. I hope we are able to show and teach the kids about both types of amazing.