My Disney Dilemna

Last week we were blessed to get away for a few days with extended family to enjoy the “magic” of Disney.  I had mixed interest in the trip… I was excited to spend some time with my Dad and get to know more of that side of the family, but I was kind of indifferent about Disney.  Although some work trips in my music business days gave me the opportunity to see parts of Disney World, I’ve never fully experienced Disney the way the park was intended.

So despite my indifference and a little sticker shock over the cost of this “most wonderful place on earth”, I was ready to engage my inner princess and enjoy the experience.

We kicked off our Disney adventure with Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party.  While I failed to be properly costumed, accompanied by my young friends Belle (the princess) and Alice (from Wonderland), I seemed to be ok.  Although a bit rusty, I stuttered out the pass phrase “trick or treat” and promptly began bartering trades.  “I’ll give you a Milky Way for your Peanut M&M’s.”

We watched the parade, we devoured a turkey drumstick, we oohed and aahhed over the fireworks at Cinderella’s castle, we wandered the countries of Epcot and rode Space Mountain multiple times.  We even tracked down Mary Poppins and asked to have our picture taken.

[WARNING: If you are a super Disney fan, you might want to quit reading now because this is where the magic ends.]

But as much as I tried to find my inner princess, I couldn’t ever fully connect to the magic that I thought I was supposed to experience.  Here I was in this perfect, beautiful existence and it still felt so hollow… so empty… so not real.  Everyone was trying to create a perfect world and convince me it’s the most wonderful place on Earth and yet I felt cheated and deceived by a world that just isn’t real.  (I kept relating myself to Truman from The Truman Show.)

Disney to me is our greatest attempt as humans to restore the beauty of God’s original plan, to recreate the Garden, to create the perfect life.

Don’t misunderstand… I really don’t think there is anything wrong with Disney.  In fact, I was enamored by the attention to detail, the commitment to excellence and the overall exceptional experience.  (Another more positive post to come with those observations.)

My Disney experience was just a reminder that for all our extraordinary attempts to restore God’s perfection, we’ll never accomplish it here on Earth as humans.

So as great as Disney is, imagine how amazing God’s perfection will be!