Well the realistic answer to this question would be no, of course not! BUT I believe therapy doesn’t have to just happen in an office with a licensed professional. Therapy can be a late night chat with a friend, a quiet day on the beach, hiking through nature or whatever it is your soul is craving. My soul just happens to crave Disney World! And all therapy is expensive right, soooooo……
The Real Story
Let’s be real here, a lot of people would see Disney World as the last place to go if they needed to decompress, but not me! Having plans to go to Disney for the day will always make me look on the bright side of things, even if just for a little while. When you look at all the pictures I post and add to these posts I’m sure it looks like life is perfect and nothing ever goes wrong and we just live this beautiful, magical Disney life everyday! Wouldn’t that be lovely?! But that is not always true.
Just like any other family, we have our struggles and issues, we just get to go to Disney to take our minds off of them. So I’m going to give you a little backstory on my husband and I, our family and how Disney World has been therapeutic for us even before we really understood that.
1st Trips, Marriage and PTSD
When Jay and I were just dating, he came with my family to Disney World for the first time. He was a 23 year old Marine on his second enlistment and was not super comfortable in large crowds. I know that he was thinking he would have fun because he was with us but could have cared less that it was Disney. He fell in love! He told me later on that on that trip was the first time that he didn’t feel anxious in a crowd or “on guard” constantly.
Years later we got married and went to Disney World on our honeymoon, we talked about a lot of other places but both couldn’t stop circling back to Disney.
At this point 9/11 had happened, deployments had happened and the stress of large crowds and loud noises were even worse. But yet again, Jay was able to relax here. He felt calm, safe and entranced by the magic and story telling that is Disney World!
We would not be back again until our oldest sons first birthday. At this time our marriage wasn’t doing great, Jay had been medically retired from the the military and we now owned the dance studio, that we were there with, and all the stress that came along with a new baby, a complete life change and owning a business. Although it was a really tough time for us, we had the best week here and real quality time with just the three of us, it was certainly healing and therapeutic for us.
Kids and Crohn’s
We wouldn’t go again after that trip until the year Sawyer was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in 1st grade. He had been through so many procedures and pokes and prods for us to finally find out what was going on and his baby brother had been born as well. It had been a rough time on all of us but mostly Sawyer who had to be very brave and had to grow up a lot that year.
We surprised him with a spring break trip to Disney World and didn’t tell him till we got to the airport! His face lit up like it hadn’t in a long time! And he was so excited to show Thatcher all his favorite things. He pin traded, got autographs and was just a kid. Of course his diet had changed a lot because of the Crohn’s and we were worried how eating the way he needed to would be in Disney, we didn’t want him to feel weird about what he was getting or not have options.
Let me just say…..there is no better place to go if you are on a specific diet or have food allergies! There are options everywhere, even more so now! He had the best experience with food! And he was made to feel so special by all the cast members!
One of our families favorite memories is the first time we ate at Be Our Guest in Magic Kingdom. You let the cast members know that you have allergies or special needs for your meal when you make the reservation and check in.
The chef came out and got right down on Sawyers level and asked him what he would like for dinner, Sawyer told him and he said you got it! Sawyer then asked for one of the Silk Chocolate Almond Milks he had gotten at another place in the park. The chef said they did not have those at the restaurant but he would see what he could do. Then, without us even being aware of it, he sent a cast member all the way to the other side of the park to get him one. They brought it out to him on a silver platter! He was so surprised and felt so special that night.
For that week there was no blood work, no doctors appointments, just Disney magic and fun. When we got back he seemed in such better spirits and it was good for Jay and I to just be able to let him be a kid and see him healthy and happy.
Heartbreak, COVID & Needing A Change
After that trip we came somewhat regularly each year, mostly with the studio. Each time we came it was so hard to leave, as I’m sure it is for all of you too! Things had started to get very stressful at the studio at this point. Friends we thought of as family were not who we thought they were and there were lots of things that happened with that situation that left me sad and distrusting and had me fighting to not become bitter and hard hearted.
About the same time all of this was happening, the Happily Ever After fireworks show started in Magic Kingdom. There was so much in this show that spoke to me and pulled me out of a dark head space to remind me who I am and who I want to be.
I didn’t want to be a sour, bitter, closed off person. Thats not me at all! We started escaping to Disney whenever possible when things were feeling heavy. My best friend had a joke going that she knew I must have been acting crazy because Jay had taken me to Disney again! Hahaha!
Then we all know what happened next……COVID! Everything shut down, dance classes were taught on zoom and I was holding on for dear life to keep the studio going. We survived but not without scars and I found myself dealing with anxiety and adrenal issues and just overall feeling like a crazy person.
We came down as often as possible, even if only for a long weekend and even if we couldn’t do park tickets just Disney Springs.
Thats when we found Winter Garden and fell in love and it too became a therapeutic place for us. As time went on we came to the realization that in order for me to heal and get back to me we had to make a major lifestyle change. Thats when we started talking about moving to Florida and Disney. This wasn’t an easy decision as I had poured my heart and soul into the studio for 14 years, leaving that behind was not easy. But we knew what needed to happen and we started to work on it.
Daily Dose Of Disney
Fast forward to now, living here and it is still therapy to us. Things are not sunshine and rainbows everyday, Jay is traveling a lot for work now instead of being home based, Sawyer is all of 14 and everything that comes along with that, bills have to be paid, cars break down, you get the point….LIFE! But now we can book a park pass and go get a dose of magic after school one day, try the newest treat or just go hop on a ride and walk around.
So in closing, yes! Disney is therapy….to us, it may not be for everyone but it certainly is for us. Sitting here in EPCOT today has been great for me. This week the starter went out on my car (I’ll probably have to tap it with a hammer when I go to leave here) and kids have been mischievous and Jay has been gone since we got back from Thanksgiving so things have been stressful this week. But I feel refreshed and renewed sitting here in World Showcase looking out on the water and talking with people who stop to share the table I am at.
Conclusion
You Guys! I met someone who reads my blog!!! First time meeting someone who didn’t know me and has been on my blog! Nancy if you’re reading this I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas and thank you for stopping to sit with me today!
Thats it for today! I’m going to hop over to Magic Kingdom now to meet a beautiful friend that is in town this week and then go get the kids from school! Make sure you are subscribed to the blog and following us on Instagram and Facebook, all the fun happens there everyday!! Thank you all for being here and enabling my therapy! Have a Magical Day!