Nothing Can Stop Us Now
Well, I am back in my Disney hotel room recuperating from my one day at Disney, in this case the Hollywood Studios park specifically. Thematically, this is where the rides, attractions and related merchandising are all connected in some way with the movies. I had forgotten how tiring a day at Disney can be. According to my iPhone step-meter, I did slightly more than what I do on a very busy and tiring day on my back hillside, where the steepness is greater, but I am expecting to work up a sweat and then soak in the hot tub. This kind of tiring crept up on me and grabbed me by the throat at midday. To put it bluntly, you walk a lot when you’re at Disney, from the getting to the park by tram, and with all the people (masking and unmasking continuously), the attraction rides (including getting on and off) and the sheer amazement at the attraction of the park. As you can tell, I am not even close to being an attraction guy, but I have to say that objectively speaking, Disney is amazing. I’m not discovering something others haven’t observed continuously over the years, but that takes nothing away from my awe.
We basically rode two rides today. We started with Mickey’s and Minnie’s Runaway Railway. Like many of the Disney rides, they tell a story and they begin with a narrative with everyone standing in a room watching a video. This Runaway Railway harkens back to the original animation images of Mickey and Minnie from the first half of the Twentieth Century. These are all the cartoons of Mickey and Minnie with Pluto in tow that were originally in black and white and that were largely driven by the music and the swaying figures and dancing that lifted the spirits of the viewers in the hard times of the Great Depression. Mickey was actually “born” in 1928 and debuted as Steamboat Willy that year. He brought America through the depression and by 1940 he was well known enough to star in a feature film called Fantasia, which was mostly about the animation and the classical music of Stokowski, and introduced us to The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. This Runaway Railway ride was all about the music and score and that lyric that repeated itself and rang in our ears and giggled our feet was “Nothing Can Stop Us Now!”
It’s a wonderful theme song because while on the ride, swirling through the indoor light and figure show, you find yourself repeating it over and over. Someone at Disney figured out what harmonic frequency and word cycling cuts through the cerebellum and into the cerebral cortex of the human skull. And here’s the thing, the nineteen people on this celebratory trip to highlight Lennie’s birthday are all cabaret people (other than the hangers on like me, who are peripherally involved in cabaret). They are all song, dance and music people and you could just see this tune wedging itself in their psyches. Brilliant.
After the Runaway Railway, we needed to take a break, so Kim and I stopped for some water and popcorn in a shady spot since we had some time until we were due at the Star Wars ride. Imagine the best movie theater popcorn you’ve ever eaten, multiply it by two and that’s what we were given at the concession stand. I was so excited about it that I accidentally spilled a handful on the walkway under my feet. It took the cleaning crew less than ten minutes to have a person come by to sweep up the kernels on the ground. And the guy was pleasant about it all to boot. Disney has always understood the importance of keeping a clean park for it’s guests. There is nothing that degrades a reputation as America’s playground faster than a trashy appearance. That isn’t allowed to happen at Disney.
Star Wars, first released by George Lucas in 1977 is called an “epic space opera” and there have been ten more since then with even more on the way, now that the property has been sold by George Lucas to Disney for $4 billion (that was a decade ago already). It has taken Disney a while to create the magical and fantasy world of Star Wars at its theme parks, but they have done it now in both California and Florida and they have done it right. Once again, attention to every detail, including finding every imaginable revenue and merchandising opportunity, is what Disney does. And in their Rise of the Resistance ride they have created the kind of immersive experience that makes people leave with awe in their hearts. The entire Galaxy Edge area of the park has been created as a complete village to replicate a village and market on some outer planet like Tatooine, the desert planet we first encountered in the original Star Wars movie. Once again, attention to details like the perfectly tattered awnings that give it an antiqued and well-used look gives a sense of realism to the immersive moment. My kids, especially my 26-year-old son Thomas, love Star Wars, as do my son-in-law John and nephews Josh and Will. I felt that the experience was almost wasted on me since I am not really into the fantasy (though I did like the original movie as much as anyone). For some reason, I’m less a cult follower on these things than others.
What I learned more than anything today with my day at Disney was far more important than any ride or any experience. What the immersion did for me was far more important. I have always tended to be a theme park snob and even a Disney snob. I have allowed my tendency to not be a big fan of theme parks to make me think that people who love Disney are a bit unusual. I have told the story of my daughter trading a week of her Tahiti honeymoon for a week at Disneyland with a “can you believe that!” attitude. I am now sorry for those feelings towards her or Lennie or anyone who loves Disney. My day was fun but it was less about my experience this day that has changed me, and more about how I witnessed others’ joy.
People at the park today were all about pure joy. They all found ways to express that joy, whether it was wearing Mickey ears or a Minnie skirt (I saw a large older woman wearing one as she ushered her grandkids around). I saw a grandfather walking around with his grandson asleep on his shoulder. Pure joy. I saw one of our crowd, a gay single man wearing a goofy t-shirt and multicolored socks, simply brimming with pleasure about his visit today. And then tonight at our celebratory dinner for Lennie, I saw eighteen people sing songs, read poems or make toasts for Lennie to express appreciation for their friendship. That is pure joy and they were all the happier for being able to do this at Lennie’s favorite place, his happy place. There is something powerful about any place that can evoke this degree of pure joy in people. There is nothing sad or shameful about engaging in something you like that allows you to be with people you love.
I have changed my mind 180 degrees about Disney. I am now a fan. I respect what Disney provides for people. I will try never to denigrate others who like Disney rather than traveling to Europe or staying at some fancy beach resort or taking some fancy cruise. We had lunch with two members of the group who turned out to be physicians (Kim knew, but I didn’t). They have the resources to vacation anywhere they want, but they choose Disney and simply revel in the pleasure together. I liked that and it helped change my mind. I can’t be a liberal and then not appreciate the simple pleasures of life that are within reach for the less than affluent. Some people save all year to afford to go to Disney and I think that is a lovely thing that they have a place that gives them pure joy and is within reach. Nothing can or should stop any of us now. Life is too short.