The Magic of Disney...

I’m just getting home from a long much needed vacation with my wife.  For her 40th birthday I decided to take her to Disney World. Trip planning started last year as a surprise and I paid for it in March.  I also told her about the trip dropping the surprise a bit early.   Now you may be wondering why I would let the cat out of the bag early.  After all, this could have been a cool surprise revelation moment when we un-boxed magic bands over dinner. The excited squeal and hugs given out in a crowded restaurant would have been movie magic.   The reason I didn’t go that route is quite simple, I don’t know enough about Disney to properly plan a trip there.

I’m not an amusement park guy to begin with and I’m also not a true Disney fan.   I like some of the things Disney owns like Marvel, Indiana Jones and the older Star Wars movies among others but I’m not really engrossed in the entire Disney catalog.   I fully accept that Disney as a company is very successful and that success is due to millions of fans loving their properties. The launch of the subscription streaming service Disney plus followed by it almost immediately being hacked should be proof enough.  What I’m saying is I’m not that guy.

My wife grew up loving Disney.  Her uncle worked at Disney Years ago.  She has memories of road trips with her family.  She has favorite sections of Rides.  She has a list of things to see and do.  She could probably sing all the Disney show tunes on command without batting an eye.  When we got married, I played the waltz from Cinderella as she marched into the room because I knew it was something she always wanted to be played at her wedding.  So, to make sure this very special Disney vacation was everything she could dream of, I decided to let her do the planning.

This was no easy feat as she is a very considerate person and wanted to make sure I would have fun too. I’ve mastered the art of not answering her questions about what I want to do at Disney. Instead I would find ways to let her suggest the thing she was most interested in.  For example, “Do you want to go to Epcot or Animal Kingdom?”  Seems like a simple A or B question.  In these instances, I opted for C, which in simple terms is whichever she wanted to do. However, I can’t simply say those words.  Instead I needed to ask leading questions that would draw out what seemed more interesting to her. Essentially, I got her to talk herself into planning what seemed like the most fun use of the time specifically to her and then enthusiastically endorsed her “suggestion”.     

At the end of the day I had a blast at Disney not because of what we did or didn’t do at Disney, I had a blast at Disney because I was with her.   I love spending time with her more than I dislike large groups of people and amusement parks. If I had been at Disney alone but with the same itinerary, I would have been miserable.   Her presence made all the difference. Holding her hand as we push through all the crowds; standing in line sharing inside jokes and knowing looks; watching her tear up over meeting various characters; riding the Skyliner just to say we did it;  talking to almost every cast member displaying pins to round out our collection;  all these things are beautiful memories that I will treasure. Sure, they happened at Disney but more importantly, they happened to us.  Maybe that’s the true magic of Disney, it’s a place you can go to with the people you love and make memories, while random parades of dancers Princesses and Cartoon characters give you something to talk about.

I got a pair of mouse ears with my Name on them to display in our adventure cabinet.  And I’m not against the next trip to Disney.  As long as it is with her it will be a magical experience.