Descent into madness (aka Disney World) — Post 3

Disney has a mixed record on social issues and a disastrous record on worker rights here and abroad.

NOTE: This week and next week, I’m blogging my experiences in Florida, which includes several days at the anti-worker, pro-corporate mecca Disney World as part of a family trip (which I didn’t want to go on, but was outvoted on). Here are my previous posts: Post 1, Post 2.

Here are two more anecdotes from my unwanted trip to Disney World, this time related to capitalism and fake woke news. 

Things at Disney are insanely priced, as you may know or may have guessed. As someone whose family was homeless for several weeks growing up, the fact that someone would pay $40 for a pair of cheaply made Mickey Mouse ears is insane. 

My daughter saw these $40 mouse ears in a souvenir store at Disney World and wanted to get them. When we saw the price, the answer was a hard no. We explained to her that if she bought it with her allowance, that would be spending nearly all her allowance money (a couple of months worth) for one thing she didn’t need and could get for much cheaper elsewhere. The good news is she didn’t put up a fight about it or whine, unlike some other 8 year olds would do, so I guess maybe we’re doing something right in raising her. Instant gratification through spending money is something that capitalism thrives on, and intentionally or not, Disney World is essentially training kids in this.

*Maybe* if the ears were union-made, or made from recycled materials, or the money went towards paying Disney workers a living wage, or had some other redeeming value besides serving as an ad for Disney, you could argue in favor of it. It’s not just the ears: prices for (almost) everything are outrageous: just as one example, $5 for a fountain drink that probably costs Disney $.50 or less. Which, again, might be justifiable if it were going to the workers and not to further enrich Disney’s executives.

Another thing that unfortunately Disney World does not have, as far as I can tell, are non-gender binary bathrooms. It’s Men’s and Women’s; sometimes there’s an accessible bathroom that has male and female symbols on it. 

So it’s almost the opposite of what my father-in-law had been told, via Fox News I assume. He said that he had heard that they were getting rid of all mentions of boys and girls at Disney World to be politically correct. Plenty of mentions of male and female for adults and children, and unless I missed it so far, no inclusion of non-binary individuals. So not only have they not gotten rid of gendered language, they haven’t embraced more inclusive language. I don’t know how conservative media come up with such ridiculous things, or why so many people apparently believe them

More “adventures” at Disney World this weekend and next week. This will be my last post before Dec. 25, so for those who celebrate Xmas, have a great holiday! For those who don’t, have a great weekend! 

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