Image courtesy of Scott Keating
There’s something in the air at Disney World Florida. I’m not sure what, nor can I scientifically prove it, however, I am certain that with every inhale, the sickly sweet oxygen is carrying you higher and higher towards the top of Cinderella’s castle. The air is clean and light, and subtly so. In the same way you can’t describe why filtered water tastes better — inarguably, it just does — Disney World succeeds in transporting you to a happier realm. At first, you barely notice as it seeps into your bloodstream, energising you for the third hour of a queue for a five-minute ride. You don’t realise that suddenly the days are brighter, people are cheerier, and your home has become the land far far away.
in the merchandise stores. Set up in each Park — for there are many within the larger Disney World — were faux streets that house clothing stores themed exclusively to Disney. Each strip was decidedly Hollywood, western, galactic, or ‘whatever their most recent franchise is’-themed. It was as if you had entered an alternate reality, one that shifted themes at a rate fast enough to give you whiplash. Speakers would begin to play Southern Country music that signified that Hollywood was now South, and if you moved North you would enter the Wild West — but if that wasn’t where you wanted to go, you could always head East and visit rural France to find provincial town life.
Kingdom had a significant price. However, this is largely hypocritical as I too purchased a Disney t-shirt. So did my brother, my mother, and my father. Although, now breathing Sydney air once again, I can recognise that I won’t wear it nearly as much as I thought I would.
One thing on which I can make fewer concessions is the discomfiting awareness of the outside world’s continuation. Despite its magical escapism, remnants of reality remained powerfully present. I acutely recall one morning in my Space-themed hotel room: the beds were space pods, and the windows did not show outside scenes, instead reflecting a screen projecting the Inside the stores on these streets solar system. The hotel TV, reliably, was not merely your typical Disney broadcasted local Florida news. I I genuinely believe there is awoke to news of a mass shooting in wonder and merit to this experience. World merch. While they did sell shirts, sweatshirts, hats, and ears the city, where a man had died. There I travelled with my family in January dedicated to classic characters, was another mass shooting a day and will assuredly inform you that I there was also an abundance of later. I imagined the park might be did have a good time. I breathed it merchandise that was distinctly closed, or open for restricted hours. in deeply and frequently. I maintain ‘designer’. Disney x Gucci, Disney This was not the case. The air was that there is something special in x Kate Spade, Disney x Swarovski. sweeter, the day even brighter, and reconnecting with my younger self Think Cinderella signature handbags, the queues just as long. I saw a man that adored Princess Belle, that modelled herself after Wendy in Peter 12-piece Pixar dining sets, matching in a ‘Trump 2024’ shirt pushing his Pirate outfits for both you and your young son in a stroller. Pan, and cried to Monsters Inc. We went on rides, ate the Mickey Pretzel, pets, and Mickey bedspreads. Never was there an empty store nor empty and even wore themed outfits that I cannot ethically justify the cash register. Customers paraded reflected our shared love for the existence of corporate greed. But down the main drag wearing head-to- nor can I wholly criticise Disney Star Wars series (yes, there were toe merch, their wardrobe a badge of or Disney World’s existence. The lightsabers involved). honour signifying their commitment place offers employment, creativity, to the corporation. I heard envious and escapism. It structures and However, on day two, I congratulations between visitors directs thousands of lives. Disney developed a slight headache from this special Disney World air. Perhaps who commended others for their rare and Disney World are so conducive Mickey ears and grew quickly tired of to obsession and enthusiasm that it was the shuttle bus that drove us the children screaming because they fosters a culture that, while often from our hotel doorstep to the Park couldn’t buy a Pixar plush toy. problematic, is also strangely inviting. that was crowded even at 7:30am. I can liken it only to travelling to Perhaps it was the wristband that The normalisation of this space. An amazing, fun, and exciting tracks your location and sends excessive consumption sobered me adventure that takes you thousands specific photos of you on the ride to from the sweetened air. I struggled of kilometres from home, but can your phone without you ‘checking in’ to rationalise that on top of plane really only be enjoyed in small doses, or scanning. Regardless, I became tickets, accommodation, entry and only if one knows they are to slightly nauseous around the same time I witnessed my second marriage tickets, queue jumping passes, food, return to the solid ground soon. proposal in the same amount of days. and drink, visitors were expected and aggressively encouraged to consume so much at such significant prices. I noticed this queasiness in I realised that entry into the Magical particular after spending some time
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