Disney. . . A World Away From The Real World

This past week, I was dealing with a situation of trying to get one company to communicate with another company in a timely manner. It took several phone calls and e-mails, but by Friday at 4:30 pm, the matter was settled. There were a few moments that were stressful and the husband was a bit worried. We had a great conversation and what came up was that there is only 1 thing that takes me away from the cares and worries of real world and that is a Disney vacation!

The total immersion of a Disney vacation is an escape from the real world, the potential daily worries and strife (isn’t that a Disney song?). When we are at Walt Disney World, on a Disney Cruise, or an Adventures by Disney vacation, we don’t watch the news—just the weather, if we watch TV at all and we don’t read the newspaper.

I’m sure other vacation destinations could be similar in that feeling of being removed, disconnected, on vacation! It’s just for us, it’s Disney.

Our Disney vacation begins the minute we hit the car to drive to the airport. I tell the husband it is like we enter a vacation cocoon with just the 3 of us. The only intrusion at that point might be the cell phone. Once we hit the plane, the cell phone is off and it is just us—for the rest of our vacation. Good-bye real world, hello Disney!

Since we rely on Disney transportation and stay on property while we are visiting Walt Disney World, we truly are immersed in another world. Cruising is the same. While there can be some access to national news at ports via newspapers or via television while on the ship, we are typically so busy that we aren’t paying attention. And, while I don’t mean to sound uncompassionate, we don’t want to know. We are on vacation. All of that news will be waiting for us when we return home.

When we took our Adventures by Disney tour, that same feeling was there, even though we were traveling to various places in the Southwest United States. And, while Sedona, Arizona, and Moab, Utah, are not isolated locations, the Grand Canyon, even with its millions of visitors each year, felt rustic, rugged, and isolated. It’s a National Park; it should feel that way! Again, our only access to information was newspapers or local TV. We didn’t watch much TV—way too busy!

I can recall that feeling of transitioning back into the real world at the airport after our vacation. The news is broadcast on the televisions scattered throughout the terminals and newspapers are showing headlines in the airport stores. Funny—I don’t see or hear these things in the airport terminals before our vacations, but I do see and hear them at the end of our vacations. The real world hits a bit upon re-entry. I can also remember thinking that a whole lot of stuff happened while we were gone.

Then there’s the stack of newspapers waiting for us when we get back home, filled with local and national news. I skim through them one at a time before going to bed the night we return. Then, they all go into the recycling bin. I’m thinking that I don’t want to return to that pile of newspapers when we return from our next trip. Our local newspaper has the option of stopping your newspaper service temporarily and donating your paper to another organization. A good deed and a decrease in potential information overload when returning home. Win-win!

Sometimes when we return home from a Disney vacation, we try to extend that feeling of the family vacation cocoon or bubble by not interacting with others outside our home for a while. We might order pizza and try to catch the last few morsels of that vacation feeling before it is back to work or school and the regular daily routines.

As you can tell, we travel relatively light when it comes to connectivity. We don’t travel with a laptop or fancy phone that does everything. It is just us and a couple of cell phones. No mobile apps to tell us what attraction to visit next. Just a park map and plan. That lack of connectivity also helps us focus on our vacation. It helps us stay in our vacation cocoon where we laugh, talk to each other and people nearby, and make incredible memories.

Will your next family vacation take you away from the real world? Ours will. I know it, as it is a Disney vacation!