A Return to Disneyland

We are taking the girls to Disneyland in two days. This will be our sixth trip as a family (yes I know, they aren't even 6 years old yet) but this is the first time the trip will be a surprise to the girls, and this is the first time we will experience Disney with Christmas decor. They will find out Monday morning when they untie the note on their countdown that reads, "Pack your bags. We're going to Disneyland today!" I cannot wait until this moment. I've almost spilled the beans quite a few times because I'm just so excited.

They are quite enchanted with all things Disney. This is a bit ironic for me since I went through a phase where I swore I would never let my children be warped by those princess movies with their unrealistic "happily ever afters" and traditional gender roles. I can remember loving The Little Mermaid as a child but then becoming completely disenchanted when the movie was re-released during my college years, right after I had completed a literary theory course and was capable of dissecting the story. I wanted to scream at Ariel for giving up her fins to be with a man she had just met and loved her only for her beauty, Why are you giving up your roots for this man, Ariel?! Go back home! I think deep down I was angry because I was coming to see the world I experienced as a child through completely different lenses, ones that understood the fallacy of living happily ever after and the reality of the atrocities of mankind. I believed the princess stories had brainwashed my early understanding of the world and I was mad at them...arrrrrgh.

So why were my girls exposed to these princesses? I don't know how they were originally introduced to the movies (maybe Grandma, thanks Mom), but it was not my intention to show them to them. At the same time, I was not really opposed to them watching them; I was no longer in that angry state...or maybe I was just too tired to stick to any of my earlier convictions, haha. As my girls became familiar with Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella and all the others, I began to see them exude the same adoration for the characters that I had once felt. Kate fell in love with Snow White, and Gracie's early favorite was Belle. I'll never forget the look on Kate's face when Snow White greeted her at the princess luncheon, and I'll never forget watching my little princesses walk through Disneyland with their sweet costumes and fancy hair. It has been pure joy to watch their excitement while meeting the characters. It has been an absolute pleasure to witness them experience the magic of Disney as I did in my youth. And even though, during my coming of age period, I became angry that this land of Disney was so far from reality, I've come full circle with a new appreciation. I do look at Disneyland through different lenses now. I am no longer the innocent child experiencing the magic. I am now the adult observing the innocent child. I can't tell you which one is more magical.