I Am (Not) Sorry That I’m An Adult Obsessed With Disney World

 

I love Disney because it gives me a break from adulting. It gives my inner child the chance to run loose. I can turn off my email notifications. I can ignore my texts. I can stop stressing, stop overthinking, stop obsessing over all of the things I have to take care of when I get back home. I finally have the chance to relax. To give myself a break from the stress of being an adult.

I love Disney because it’s the one place where I feel safe. When I’m there, I feel like nothing bad could happen. I feel like an exciting, magical moment could occur at any second instead of worrying that something horrible is going to happen like I normally do during everyday life. At Disney, I temporarily turn into an optimist. Into someone who enjoys the moment. Someone who loves life.

I love Disney because it makes me believe in true love. In magic. In forever. It makes me believe that anything is possible.

I love Disney because it reminds me of my childhood. I used to visit when I was little, and even though my family is imperfect, all of the memories I have from Disney are golden edged. They’re my happiest memories. Memories from back before I knew what a violent place the world was. Back when I thought it was normal for people to stand on the edge of the street with their Mickey gloves, waving and smiling. Back when I thought people were inherently good. Back when I thought families stayed together, when I thought love was freely given.

I love Disney because of the way it makes me feel. Young. Innocent. Excited. It makes me feel like I actually matter, because everyone is treated with kindness there. I can get attention from the characters I grew up watching on the big screen, other visitors who traveled from across the globe, or random cast members scattered throughout the park. They are all nice. They all have good hearts. It feels like they all care about me.

I love Disney because it’s one of the few places where everyone is happy without exception. When I visit a grocery store or a movie theater back home, the workers look miserable, like they would rather be anywhere else on the planet, like they are counting down the hours until they can get into bed again. But at Disney, everyone wears a smile. Everyone talks to you like you are best friends. Everyone is excited to be there (or is at least good at pretending to be excited).

That’s the thing about Disney. It’s easy to pretend when you’re surrounded by castles and roller coasters and characters. You can pretend like your life isn’t falling apart. You can pretend like everything is okay. You can pretend like you don’t have a worry in the world.

I love Disney, because it gives me a break from the stress of everyday life. It’s an escape. It’s the happiest place on Earth.