Member-only story
Unpopular Opinion
The Evil Empire
Why I despise The Walt Disney Company
The first time I visited Disney World was in March, 1977. The Spring Break trip to Daytona Beach included a day at the Magic Kingdom. The day was exhausting, the food was unaffordable, the lines were long, and I left with no desire to ever return to Disney World.
My parents moved to Florida for retirement, and my sister started having kids, so there were a few more trips to Disney World in my role as “Aunty”. The overpriced food, the crowds, and watching stressed-out parents and screaming toddlers waiting in interminable lines under the hot, Florida sun; this was not my idea of a good time. But, if my nieces and nephews were happy, I was happy, and that got me through the day.
My parents had a neighbor in their retirement community whose daughter was employed at Disney World. Apparently, this young lady suffered a nervous breakdown because of something that happened to her at work, but the whole thing was “hush-hush”, although there were veiled references to sexual abuse.
She warned her parents not to talk about what had happened to her. Her parents, formerly fun-loving people, were now confused and angry about their daughter’s experience. It was eating them up inside, but they honored their daughter’s request to keep quiet.
