(note: this is a very rough first draft; any help that could be given would be much appreciated)

“The Happiest Place on Earth” is a phrase often received with the opposite sentiment than that intended. Many people, especially teenagers and young adults, view the Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida as “a kiddie place” and an over-commercialized, over-sentimentalized company. As one of my own friends, Lisa Barfield, age seventeen, said, “Disney World is basically a big people trap operated by a mouse.”

Personally, I see the Disney World Resort—and more specifically the four main theme parks contained within it—in a far different light. To me, “The Happiest Place on Earth” is what it says, a place of adventure, joy, wonder, and its own brand of magic. What gives me the right to judge? I have visited Orlando, Florida and Disney World itself every year of my life for as long as I can remember.

I and my family have been enormously blessed in this respect. My uncle, Kevin Shultz, husband of my mother’s only sister, Becky, works for “Mister Mouse.” He has been first and engineer, then a park manager, for over 18 years. One of the immense perks that comes with this job is free admittance for himself and his family. As such, I have perhaps a more intimate perspective on Disney World itself than anyone who has not worked there. And I can testify first hand that it is much more dynamic and engaging than the common stereotype given it by the modern American youth.

For one thing, Disney World is a great deal larger than commonly imagined. There are four main theme parks within the resort: the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney/MGM Studios, and the Animal Kingdom. In addition, there are two water parks—Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach, literally dozens of hotels on the property, its own fire station, and, not least of all, Downtown Disney. Downtown Disney alone is the size of a modest town. It includes an enormous Virgin Records store, a Planet Hollywood restaurant, a Pleasure Island nightclub, a permanent Cirque du Solei performance hall, and the five-story virtual theme park Disney Quest. This place boasts several virtual reality rides and games; a large, state-of-the art arcade, a restaurant; and a build-and-ride your own roller coaster ride/system/program called Cyber Mountain. While it’s true that Magic Kingdom, the most widely recognized park with its Cinderella castle, is mainly built towards young children, the sheer variety of attractions to be found is enough to entertain and delight people of every age.

I won’t deny that Walt Disney’s original target audience for his parks were families with young children. As I have said, Magic Kingdom is perfectly suited to that type of tourist, with merry-go-rounds, Peter Pan and Dumbo rides, Little Mermaid shows, and several daily parades. Yet even within the Magic Kingdom are attractions that appeal to an older audience. There are three large rollercoasters, for instance: Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Space Mountain, each located in a different part of the park. In fact, when I and my two friends, Lauren Yarbrough and Lisa Barfield (whom I have already quoted) visited the Magic Kingdom last year, we decided unanimously that Space Mountain was the best ride in the resort, and our favorite so far. We should have known, too, we rode it upwards of three times in a row.

Another park we thoroughly enjoyed during our visit was the Disney/MGM Studios, more commonly called simply “The Studios.” This is the park where my uncle now works as a manager, and he also helped design what is perhaps the park’s most famous ride: the Tower of Terror, a thrilling ride that drops you thirteen stories, based off of the old Twilight Zone show. The Studios main theme is a “behind the movies” feel, and so has several stunt shows, with all the stunts explained and audience participation encouraged; a 3D Muppets show; a virtual ride based on Star Wars, and a back-lot tour that takes tourists behind the scenes of the Studios itself. Fantasmic is the crowing jewel of this park: a massive and magnificent live show put on just before closing hours in an open-air amphitheatre that easily seats thousands, involving lasers, fireworks, special water effects, and an appearance by Mr. Mickey Mouse himself.

Yet, despite the Studios’ charms, “The Happiest Place on Earth” for me in regards to Disney World is EPCOT: Experimental Prototype City Of Tomorrow, or, as my aunt calls it, Every Person Comes Out Tired. The front half of this park is dominated by what has come to be called and now can only be identified as “the giant golf-ball.” This is, in fact, an enormous sphere, easily taller than _________________, with a multi-faceted white surface. The ball sits on four massive legs, each at least four stories tall, in the middle of the “City of Tomorrow” portion of the park. This includes few rides, but dozens of what I can only call experiences. One, my favorite, the Living Seas, is in effect an expansive building where the marine aquarium takes up more space than the rest of it. Within this aquarium—so huge it leads one to forget one is not underwater—are sharks, dolphins, sea turtles, manta rays, and many hundreds of fish. Other such experiences include The Land, Cranium Command, Soarin’, and Mission Space.

Incredible as all this may seem, it is still only half of the park. In the back half of EPCOT, arranged around the World Showcase Lagoon, is the World Showcase itself. Nearly a dozen different countries are represented here, from France to Japan to Italy to Norway to China. Each “country” includes several shops with merchandise from the country represented; for instance: a patisserie with genuine French delicacies, an outdoor Moroccan marketplace, and a Japanese kimono store. I personally own a dagger letter-opener from Germany, a belly dancer scarf from Morocco, and an exquisite green mask from Italy, all bought there. Several countries also include shows or other displays of their culture. There are Chinese acrobats often performing in front of the Nine Dragons Restaurant, the World Showcase Players do a rendition of “Romeo and…Edna” in the Italian pavilion, in Norway one can take a boat ride through this northern country’s history, and so on.

Also, similar to the Studios, EPCOT holds an ending show just before closing hours, called “IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth” out on the World Showcase Lagoon. To describe it adequately surpasses my humble talents. I can use the words “amazing”, “incredible”, and “moving”; I can explain the infectious music that makes you want to dance where you are, or the globe that seems to float over the water with every continent picked out in beautiful light, or the fireworks or the spectacles or the fountains. But they all fall short.

I will admit that my experiences with Disney World have been unique—how many people get to go there as often as I go there and really soak it all up as I have? And, despite my efforts, there may still be some near my age who balk at the idea of “the Happiest Place on Earth” having any depth or meaning besides expensive amusement. But they have not played an extra in the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, they have not walked the ocean floor at the Living Seas, they have not danced in the streets of EPCOT before, as it were, the world because the music was that irresistible. And at the end of the day, as they drive wearily back to their lodgings after a day of walking and waiting and adventure and excitement, they have not fallen asleep with the pure magic of Disney still ringing in their ears and dancing before their eyes.