It’s a common question circling around potential vacationers: should I take my child to Walt Disney World® Resort? It’s a justified question, as Florida can be hot and parks can get crowded. While there are ways to accommodate for such things without much difficulty for adults, bringing children into the equation understandably complicates it.
And it is absolutely worth all of that.
My earliest memory comes from my third birthday. It was my first Disney vacation, and while a number of distinct moments from that trip still come to mind, it’s that they’re so clear is what makes them meaningful. Although perhaps, the argument of why you should take your child to on a Disney vacation lies in what came after those first memories.
Disney is an experience for a child unlike one they’ll ever know again in their lifetime. Colors are vibrant, cartoon characters are alive, and, most of all, it’s the physical representation of achieving a goal and reaching unbelievable dreams. Children don’t often dwell on those sorts of topics, but a trip to a Disney park is precisely the sort of experience that initiates deeper thought in a young person, especially one who hardly had the innate ability to do so until that very moment.
It was the sort of trip that totally transformed me as a kid. It furthered my obsession with reading, whether it was having my parents read the Little Golden Books before I was wholly literate or whether it was reading guidebooks and history pieces on Walt Disney World® Resort when I was a bit older. I often wonder if my elementary school librarian got tired of checking out the same book on the parks over and over again with a fervent excitement when I could have been reading something new. Regardless, it fueled a passion that I still hold today,
That vacation showed diversity at a young age in a way I had little way of experiencing at such an age. Never before had I encountered a place with such a vast mixture of cultures and behaviors, and it taught me without words how normal it was for people to be different.
That one Disney vacation taught me more as a child than the average trip would have. It can be a catalyst for key development points for children and can mean a whole lot more than just a simple vacation.
Featured image ©Disney.