I Won’t Wear the Ears
You do you, but don’t ask me to tag along.
Author’s Note: A big shoutout to Autistic Widower ("AJ") who always comes up with interesting answers to Keeley Schroder’s questions. This post is my first response to one of Keeley’s monthly challenges. I will leave the link to both Keeley’s and Autistic Widower AJ’s posts at the end of this piece. I’m looking forward to doing more in the future. I may be a day late on this one, but eventually I will catch up. Thank you, friends, I look forward to reading more from both of you! -H.
I have nothing against Disney. It’s just not my teacup ride. I’ve been there. I’ve actually been there three times. Here’s what I remember.
Age 16: For some, Disney is like Target
My friend and I stopped in between line waits to get ice cream.
“My shift ends at 2,” said one of the street vendor employees to his co-worker. “I can’t wait to get out of here.”
My mind was blown. Why would he want to leave? There was so much to do, so much to see, it was the most magical and the happiest place on Earth. This comment baffled, puzzled and stayed with me for years. It also opened my eyes to the beginnings of an idea that maybe, to some, Disney wasn’t what the commercials were selling.
Yet, on the drive back to Illinois, we reviewed all the different tourist places we had been, and I was surprised to find that Disney was not my favorite park we had visited on that trip. Like the street vendor working all day in the Florida sun, I didn’t mind when we left the park that night either.
Age 23: Where are the pictures?
My husband and his work team won a trip to Florida. We were completely broke newlyweds, but the flight, the hotel, and the different amusements were paid for, so we went. I remember the plane ride because I’d never been in a plane before. I remember the hotel because it was beautiful. I remember Universal Studios for the Alfred Hitchcock set which I am told is no longer there.
I don’t remember Disney at all.
Age 37: Are we having fun yet?
This visit happened after I started going blind and sealed Disney’s fate forever for me. Disney’s environment is not for those who want or need to go slower. People push past then wait in a ride line that will take hours to end. After the line wait, be prepared to jump into action because the ride cars don’t stop for the blind or small unbalanced children. You can ask for them to be stopped but then you slow down the process. When night settles in, Personal space doesn’t exist due to the parade. The crush of people and the employees holding them back is a nightmare. By the time we left that night, before the fireworks, I was a vibrating tense ball of stress that took days from which to unwind.
Now: Looking back
I will not begrudge others their Disney experiences. My own children look back on Disney with fondness and a desire to go back. In Illinois, I happily purchase grumpy Donald Duck bags and shirts. The mouse and I, however, well, we have decided to go our separate ways. The split was amicable enough.
