RESPONSE: Childless Millennials Going To Disney World Is Weird
Banter 30-Jul-2019
The internet was set on fire last week when an entitled parent's rant went viral (which we shared on Facebook) on how couples without children should not be going to Walt Disney World.
As a very regular Walt Disney World visitor who is engaged, is a Millennial, and has no children, I am the prime target for this rant. The rant itself doesn't bother me that much, and had no desire to write a public opinion piece on it, but the NY Post (written by Johnny Oleksinski) wrote their opinion piece titled "Sorry, childless millennials going to Disney World is weird" on it and that rubbed me the wrong way. So, here we are.
While I am aware that I run this Disney focused fan site and I am going to be defending my own decisions and choices, but even a non-Disney fan, you can see the arguments being made by Mr.Oleksinski are thin and shortsighted. I won't go over the whole thing, but I'll touch on some of the points the author doesn't appear to understand.
In the rant, Mrs. Entitled Parent wrote:
"WDW is a FAMILY amusement park!” she said. “Yet these IMMATURE millennials THROW AWAY THEIR MONEY ON USELESS CRAP!!!!"
To which the NY Post writer Johnny Oleksinski replied:
"Ms. F—–G PRETZEL is right on this point. Millennials are indeed in an unhealthy relationship with Disney, having granted control of so much of their leisure time and personality to a single, enormous corporate entity meant for children."
Any frequent Walt Disney World visitor knows that it is not a place primarily focused on children. Disney has figured out with Pixar that to make profitable and enjoyable films, there needs to be aspects to the films that appeal to adults. That some ideology applies to the parks. Disney as a whole is a "family friendly" company, but their success has been creating products, films & theme parks targeted at children that are extremely adult friendly. While I am absolutely guilty of granting much of my leisure time and money to one American corporation that is the Walt Disney Company, that is my choice. I don't complain I can't pay my mortgage because Disney suckered me into buying After Hour Tickets. What I do with my money is my choice, and mine alone. My personal belief in life is you put your money where you spend your time, and where you get enjoyment. For example, you should buy a really good quality mattress. If you have an office job, you buy a really nice chair, etc. I get a lot of joy out of my visits to Walt Disney World. Way more joy than I get anywhere else. Yes, Walt Disney World is manufactured "fun" and "magic" that is designed to trigger emotions to drain my wallet, but, who cares? Disney aren't dragging me on that plane and into their parks. They offer a product and service that I enjoy, and I consume those products and services like a good little millennial consumer.
"The usual complaint about those born between 1981 and 1996 remaining constant 12-year-olds is that the behavior amounts to self-infantilization and a lifelong immaturity that bleeds into basic decision making: getting jobs, paying bills, staying alive."
Walt Disney World is a luxury vacation destination. Having a cabinet full of Mickey Mouse plushes doesn't mean my mortgage won't get paid next month. Mortgage gets paid first, and then my leisure money I earn all month can go on whatever I please.
"And your annual (or more, God help us) trip to Disney World costs as much — and more in some cases — than a trip to Europe, South America or Canada, where you would meet people different from yourself."
This is another example of the author pushing his personal opinion on why you shouldn't go to Walt Disney World because he would rather not. Here's an idea, I'd rather you not (insert what you get joy out of here) and go to Walt Disney World instead because that's a much better use for your money.
"A 2018 Morning Consult survey showed that 75% of non-parent millennials were interested in going to a theme park that year."
Then perhaps you try to work out why that's the case instead of thinking that's crazy and they should be off doing other things.
"Why do the same old, safe, boring thing when you could buy a round-trip Norwegian Airlines flight from New York to Paris right now for $280, get an AirBnb and sit along the Seine drinking rosé?"
Again, you're using words like "boring" to push your opinion on something you will not understand because Walt Disney World is something you don't like. These Disney World childless millennials fans you speak so fondly don't find boring what you find boring. Safe is a really good word to use here, though. I like safe, and at Walt Disney World I feel safe. Walking around a city in France that I'm not familiar with, probably not so much.
"Oh who am I kidding? You’ll skip the Louvre and go straight to Disneyland Paris."
You're damn right.
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