My Dreams of Disney

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Fear of the Unknown

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The Disney brand is closing due to the Coronavirus Pandemic

Fear of the Unknown

All of the news lately has been about the spread of the Coronavirus, and what we as a nation and world should do to attempt to stop the spread of the virus. As a result, the NBA has suspended it’s season, the NHL has paused it’s season, MLB is not starting it’s season on time as planned, and the NCAA has cancelled it’s tournaments, both the conference tournaments and March Madness. The list goes on and on.

But for my family, the biggest blow came when Walt Disney World announced yesterday that it was going to close its parks. For a family that was slated to fly down to WDW on Sunday, that was a hard reality that really struck home the seriousness of what is going on.

Is this an over-reaction? Perhaps, perhaps not. It’s not for me to judge whether it is or not. What I believe, though, is that what we really have is a fear of the unknown, of not knowing what will happen next, and when a place like Walt Disney World — which this closing will be I believe only the ninth time it has closed since it opened in 1971, and by far it’s longest closing — closes its parks, the whole world takes notice.

The Christian in me believes that the world doesn’t know what to do, doesn’t know who to turn to, doesn’t know what is going to happen next. I mean, if Walt Disney World can close, if every single Disney Park is closed, if Disney Cruise Lines is suspending operations, then what could be next?

My friends, I don’t have the answers to what comes next. What I do know, though, is that my faith is in God and His Son, Jesus Christ. I know what my Bible tells me; throughout His Word are words of hope, of words of comfort, of a promise that He will be with us. So at the end of the day, I turn to God, and to these verses:

‘for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.’

2Timothy 1:7

‘Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.’

Joshua 1:9

‘The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?’

Psalms 27:1

‘For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord , plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord , and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord , and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.’

Jeremiah 29:11-14

‘Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.‘

John 16:32-33

Putting these Bible verses here for you is, I hope a comfort for you, as it has been for me. The world is chaotic right now, but when I read these verses, I remember Who is truly in charge, and as a result the fear of the unknown that I wrote about has turned into the Peace of God.

If you need to talk about any of this, or if you need any help with anything, leave me a comment, we’ll talk off-line afterwards, and we’ll work on doing what we can to bring order out of chaos. Also, feel free to check out our Prayers for the Week Facebook Group — request to join, and in that community we have many prayer warriors that will pray with you and for you.

Together, we can all make it through this.

7 Days: Fantasmic!

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Fantasmic
Today is #Day7, and we are looking at Fantasmic in our #DisneyWorldCountdown! Image ©Disney Parks.

Fantasmic has been a fixture at Disney parks for over 22 years, and yet, it is a show that my family has never seen.  That will be corrected this year because we have a FastPass time for it, and I am excited to see if it is worth the hype or if it’s something that we’ve seen once and never need to see again.

Fantasmic tells the story of Mickey Mouse and his incredible imagination, and how it can cause wonderful imagery to be shown to us, but can also lead us to to adventures of a serious nature.  The show features fireworks, live actors, music, water effects, and more!

Having not seen the show before — not even on YouTube — I don’t have much information to impart to you about this.  I think, though, that it will fall somewhere between a “see it once and not again” to “must see each and every time” show.  What do you think, though?  Do you love it, or not love it?  I’m really interested in what you have to say, so please leave me a comment and let me know!  Thanks, and remember to go out and make today and every day a great Disney Day!

25 Days: Rope Drop

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Rope Drop
Today, we are taking a look at Rope Drop for #Day25 in our #DisneyWorldCountdown!

When you talk with hard core, commando Disney Addicts, you often hear two words mentioned more and more often in message boards, on Facebook, or even over Twitter.  Rope Drop.  Rope Drop is the term used to signify being at one of the Disney Parks at park opening.  While they don’t actually have a rope in place (at least, not that I remember anyway) I think they used to, and that’s how the term came to be.  In order to get the most out of Rope Drop, you’ll want to arrive at the Magic Kingdom — or one of the other parks — about half and hour to an hour before opening so that you can be sure to experience it all.  There’s a lot of benefits to rope drop, including the following:

  1. You will probably be able to get some great photos with no crowds all around you
  2. If you are lucky, you may get to be a Disney First Family, like my friend Tanya and her family was!
  3. There is usually some special performance done for your enjoyment, something unique that you won’t hear otherwise.
  4. You will probably see some confetti and streamers shot down at Rope Drop.
  5. Perhaps best of all, being there at Rope Drop often means you will be able to get right on your favorite ride, first thing!

While my family often doesn’t do Rope Drop, we are definitely planning it for at least one day during our trip, and maybe more than one!  What about you and your family?  Do you get up early enough for Rope Drop, or do you skip it?  Let me know in the comments, and thanks!

46 Days: Ellen’s Energy Adventure

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Ellen's Energy Adventure
Ellen’s Energy Adventure is our selection for #Day46 in our #DisneyWorldCountdown. Image ©Disney Parks.

Welcome to Day 46 in our #DisneyWorldCountdown!  On this day, we are taking a look at Ellen’s Energy Adventure, a pavilion and attraction that is part show, part ride, and features Ellen Degeneres and Bill Nigh the Science Guy!  This attraction kind of snuck up on me — I had never been on it before, and then in 2012 we decided to see what it was about.  It was so neat!  I loved the show, it was a lot of fun, and I also enjoyed how the merged the show and the ride together.  In some ways, it’s kind of like a morph of The Great Movie Ride with DINOSAUR and Spaceship Earth, all rolled together.  The best thing for me is how neat the Dinosaurs are — here’s a great photo for you to enjoy:

Ellen's Energy Adventure
The Dinosaur scenes are my favorites. Image ©Disney Parks.

I don’t know if you like Ellen’s Energy Adventure or not — do you like it?  Let me know in the comments, and thanks for stopping by today!  It’s been my pleasure to bring these posts to you, I hope they are helping in your Disney Planning!

49 Days: Mission SPACE

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Mission Space
Mission: SPACE, with the SpaceX Rocket launch climbing over the pavilion. Image ©Disney Parks

Hello everyone, and welcome to #Day49 in our #DisneyWorldCountdown series!  We’ve seen some of everything so far, and today we are taking a look at Mission: Space – the pavilion in Future World that is also home to the attraction that simulates your launch into space!  The picture above is courtesy our friends at Disney Parks, and the red line you see is the actual trail of the SpaceX Rocket that launched to go to the International Space Station in 2012.  The photographer, Matt Stroshane, did an incredible job capturing the real life launch with the attraction, didn’t he?

I’ll be honest with you — I’ve never ridden Mission SPACE.  I think it comes down to me being a chicken, in the end.  I don’t like a ride that has a barf bag on board (sorry for the crassness of my statement) and I’ve also heard of people having medical difficulties during or after riding, so I thought to myself, it’s not worth it.  However, my good friend Neal took his daughter River on it, and they had a great time!  River was very into making sure that everyone did the job they were supposed to do so there wouldn’t be any problems getting to space, and Neal, even though he can’t ride roller coasters because of his back, did ride this and had no side affects whatsoever.  So, I guess since a six year old is tough enough to try it, I might try it too…

But enough about me — what about you?  Do you and your family like Mission SPACE, or do you skip it in your pursuit for something else?  Let me know in the comments, and thank you for stopping by today!

Disclaimer

My Dreams of Disney is a Disney Fan Blog, and is not in any way affiliated with Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney, or the Walt Disney Company. In it's purest form, My Dreams of Disney is a site showcasing the love I and my family have for Walt Disney's creative genius and the legacy he has left behind. If it weren't for Walt Disney, Disneyland, Walt Disney World, the other Disney parks spread across the world, and this site would not exist. Click to view our Privacy Policy.

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