The Real Problem with Disney Adults

So, a couple days ago, I watched one of those reaction videos on Disney adults. It was early in the morning, and I figured I would get a good laugh from it. Here's the video in question, if you're curious:

As I was scrolling through the comments section, I stumbled upon a couple of comments at the bottom. Both of them were basically to the effect of, "You're a pathetic person for sitting there and making fun of them for engaging in childlike joy. They're not hurting anyone, so what's the problem?!"

Well, when I read that, I thought, But they are hurting someone. They're hurting themselves. One of them has $10,000 in debt from going to Disney all the time, and another is hurting her child's education by taking her kids to Disney all the time instead of teaching them crucial life skills. How could you say this is alright?

And that leads me to the subject of this post: the real problem with Disney adults. What is the problem, you may ask? Well, it's an excruciatingly simple one.

The problem with Disney adults is the refusal to grow up. And it's hurting them and the people around them.

I remember the last time I went to Disney World. I was 18, and me and my mom had decided to go as kind of a last hurrah before I graduated high school. And oh boy, it was not as fun or magical as I remembered it to be.

I remember when we made the trip to the Magic Kingdom. It was the Christmas season, and the place was packed. Every ten seconds, I was getting tripped up by a princess in a stroller. And don't even get me started on what happened at Splash Mountain. We waited in line for 2 hours, only to have the ride "break down" every ten minutes or so. I eventually got fed up, and we didn't go on the ride. It's a real shame, too, because that was my last chance to ride before it got replaced.

The other parks were better, but still not good enough to justify the exorbitant price tag in my opinion. All things considered, I will probably never go to Disney World ever again.

I really don't get these people. Don't they get sick of it? Don't they worry how this is tearing into their finances? About how they're possibly going to pay this all off?

Or do they just not think about it?

In one of the TikTok videos, we see a woman who has gone into over $10,000 of debt over Disney, and is still planning on spending $8000 on a cruise. All of this screams of a very immature way of dealing with money. And it's all going to come back to bite her someday.

They're nurturing their inner child, you say? Giving themselves the childhood they never had? Do you know where else you can do that? A public park. Seriously. Go to a public park, and go kick a ball around for a bit. Or go play on the swings, if you still fit on them. It won't cost you a thing.

A big part of growing up is learning how to manage yourself, and that means living with the future in mind. Perhaps the biggest mistake of pop psychology is assuming that living strictly in the moment is the key to permanent happiness. Most people desire the kind of easy life they had when they were children, but those who don't grow, who don't take on responsibility, who don't discipline themselves are rarely if ever happy.

Instead, that kind of lifestyle leads to things like being $18,000 in debt and still digging yourself deeper, because your greatest joy in life is a sweaty, underpaid teenager dressed in a mouse costume noticing you at a parade. It's the kind of lifestyle that leads to you neglecting your children's futures, because you think that mindless, expensive "fun" is more important. And it leads to you making TikTok videos that get ripped all over the internet, because everyone can plainly see how stunted a person you are.

I cannot honestly believe any of those people in the above video are truly content with themselves.

Oh, and I forgot one more thing. Disney is not your friend. They've proven that many times over the years. Their only concern is how they can make money off of you. They know that they can hook you with nostalgia. And it's making bank for them. I don't think any Disney adult would say with their full chest that they would happily fork over their hard-earned cash to a multi-billion dollar corporation that doesn't give two shits about them. In fact, they would be up in arms at the very suggestion.

Yet that's exactly what they're doing every single day.

So, long story short, if you can connect with your inner child in a way that still allows you to live the rest of your life, then I have nothing to say. But if your idea of "fun" constantly sacrifices your future on the altar of the present?

Well, then, it might just be time to do as Paul did, and to put away childish things.

Adulthood is rough, but refusing to grow up is even rougher.

Rewatch Peter Pan lately?