Disneyland Is No Place For Kids!

In The Image of God
June 2, 2010
C’mon Guys!
August 8, 2010

Disneyland Is No Place For Kids!

For those of you who don’t know Doug and me very well, we have been directing a summer cross country camp for teens for about 15 years. The last few years, (with the arrival of Ms. Grace) I have been administrative support, rather than a staff member on the actual tour. Since it would be a bit rough to go a whole month without Daddy, Grace and I braved the 5 hour flight to California in order to meet up w/ Daddy and the trip for a week of camping, sight-seeing and adventure with him and the “Big Kids” as Gracie calls them!

California of course means Disneyland! What cross-country tour of the US would be complete without a stop-over in the “Happiest Place on Earth?” So, Grace and I tagged along with Daddy and the “Big Kids” to the Magic Kingdom. To say it was a learning experience would be an understatement…

Grace hardly ate a thing all day. She was so over-stimulated by her surroundings that she fluctuated from “melt-down” to screeching in delight all day. The attempt at a nap was a joke to say the least, the wait to meet “Mick-a-Mouse” was an hour…. WOW, but I can proudly say that now Grace can appropriately name every Disney Princess on sight, and can spot any picture of a Disney Princess within a 10 mile radius.

In the midst of our Day, Doug and I sat and did some calculating. What if we had come to Disney just the three of us, without the responsibility of the tour? Assuming we had a hotel room and we attempted to keep to Grace’s schedule: we would be at the park at opening around 9 am. We would need 1 hour for lunch, 3 hours for an afternoon nap, 1 hour for dinner, and bed time by 8. Subtract all of that and add in an average wait of 1 hour for every attraction, and— DRUM ROLL, please —- we would be able to get about 5 attractions in for the day! I don’t mean to sound like a stick in the mud, but it hardly seems worth it! After the hour wait to meet Mickey (lengthened by the continued butting line by other parents with their children) all I wanted to do was escape to someplace quiet and peaceful!

Doug kept saying “I can’t even imagine what all of this is like for her!” As we wandered around surrounded by lights, music, sights and people, children and parents in various stages of “melt-down” mode by the frustrations of long lines, lack of naps, and loads of sugar, I thought to myself— “Disneyland is no place for kids!!!!” Don’t get me wrong. I love Disneyland, Disney’s wonder and magic. I love that nostalgic feel of grabbing hold again of that child-like whimsy. Seeing the thrill of Disneyland through the eyes of kids is in itself a joy; like every other first time experience you share with your child about the world. And in a lot of ways the whole Disney experience is like a magnified version of the world. All around are people (parents and children) in different displays of character and human nature. Some are in various stages of the meltdown phase, completely overwhelmed and frustrated by their surroundings. Some handled themselves with poise, some did not. Some were kindly, some were rude. Some parents set healthy boundaries for their kids, some let the kids’ tantrums rule the roost. And in the midst of it all is this drive to seek some satisfaction as everyone searches to fulfill their experience looking for adventure, wonder, romance, magic, beauty, entertainment, stimulation and distraction.

Perhaps one of the most eye-opening things for me in our Disney experience was taking note of what made Grace the happiest while we were in the Park. She loved the carousel! She smiled the whole time and cheered with glee. She even thanked her horse and said good-bye to him when the ride was over. And she loved Goofy’s play house, (a glorified playground) where she just ran around, interacted with other kids, learned to take turns waiting in line for the slide and gleefully squealed “Whheeee” every time she went down it. These are where she found the most satisfaction, and they were perhaps the simplest pleasures in the park. I think about this in relation to our world. We all agree and nod our heads at the wisdom of “Simple pleasures, life’s greatest treasures” but how often do we choose those over filling ourselves with other things? How often do we allow ourselves to get sucked into being overwhelmed and over-stimulated by our surroundings, to the point we are almost used to it, like a bad addiction we can’t seem to stop and get off the ride.

I wonder, when we are overwhelmed, and over-stimulated- where do we go? Back for more, or back to the Lord? Do we look to rest? Or look to run more? Do we find pleasures in the simple, or do we demand to be over-indulged? I know in the hustle and bustle, that my soul cries out for a moment to stop and get quiet. That in the over-stimulation and in the over-indulgence there is a quiet voice aching to be released to something real. Something I know will authentically fill that hunger, quench that thirst and calm my spirit.

Jesus teaches us by his example that where the soul truly gets fed is in the times of simple quiet, away from the world. We are to be in the world, not of the world. But to ensure we do not get caught up and become “of the world” we must listen to the cry of our souls and regularly heed its call for the simple and the quiet, for the time to steal away. Jesus stole away on his own at times, and on other occasions with his disciples. Away from the crowds, away from the demands, away from the overwhelming and over-stimulating world, to be with the Father, to feed his soul, like stealing away to the mountain top to pray alone, or to the upper room to enjoy the simple pleasure of a quiet meal with close friends and loved ones. This is the real satisfaction. This is the real well. This is the real filling for the soul’s hunger. Jesus stole away to the quiet…. Do you?

 

But when you pray, go into your room,

close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.

Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

(Matt 6:6)