The Racket that is Disney.....

Sweet Girl, you might not want to read the rest of this post. We've already had this discussion, only this is way more sarcastic.

There. That's out of the way.

Sweet Girl and I ventured down to Orlando yesterday. We didn't go to the Magic Kingdom or the Happiest Place on Earth or whatever sappy name it has this week. We went to the Boardwalk area and then to Downtown Disney.

The Boardwalk is one of the GAZILLION different themed resorts scattered in and around Disney World. I have no idea how close we were to any of the theme parks because all of the roads look alike. Crowded. Full of buses. And happy little traffic signs.

What occurred to me was that even though we weren't actually IN one of the parks, there was STUFF to buy. Everywhere. Mouse ears, princess tiaras, costumes, t-shirts, ornaments, clothes, sports memorabilia, coffee mugs, shot glasses, wine glasses, kitchen aprons, Mickey Mouse-shaped pasta (I'm not kidding), jewelry, pins, and on and on and on and on and on and on. And we weren't in the park.

And that's why I think it's a racket. (Okay, maybe that's too strong a word.)

Some families save for years to bring the kids to Disney World. The pay to travel from who knows where, they stay at one of the resorts because that's what you DO, they buy 3- or 4- or 5-day passes for the various parks (parks that keep reproducing at an alarming rate), and the fun never stops. NEITHER DOES THE SPENDING.

Sweet Girl and I were walking down the boardwalk in the Boardwalk (I had to say that) and I saw a hot dog vendor's kiosk with an advertised price of $9.75 for a hot dog and whatever came with it. I was hoping 14-carat gold earrings came with it, but I didn't get my hopes up. And then I went and bought a brownie for $3.95. (It wasn't even that good.)

I was amazed at the number of ADULTS who were sporting the Disney attire. Everything from WDW shirts to Thing 1 and Thing 2 shirts (I suggested to Sweet Girl that we get those, and she didn't even humor me with an eye roll). I had on my Georgia sweatshirt (yes, the same one I wore to the meet Friday night, why do you ask?), and I fielded laser-beam stares that were positively HOSTILE from some of the grown-ups. Especially the ones wearing mouse ears or those little things on springs that you wear like a headband. They looked at me like I had some nerve, wearing a standard old college sweatshirt and not sporting the requisite Disney-themed clothing that costs more than a small car. Maybe a medium-sized car.

Sweet Girl says it's all a matter of supply and demand, but I'm not buying it. (I'm hilarious.) I think it's a cruel kind of peer pressure (kid pressure?) that forces parents to buy that expensive junk merchandise for their little darlings. What parent can tell his 4-year-old that he can't have Mickey ears? Or a Lego kit so he can build his own life-sized Woody from The Toy Story? (Isn't it just wrong to have a character named Woody in the first place? I'm just sayin'...)

I suppose Sweet Girl is right in a way. It's not like the "cast members" (give me a break...please) force anyone to buy their stuff. They don't have to; they just have to manage the rock-star-concert-like lines of people who can't wait to part with their hard-earned money.

I guess once you've spent one gazillion dollars, it's just as easy to spend another gazillion.

Recession? What freakin' recession?

Unethical or Not.....

I have a dilemma that may not be unethical at all, which sort of takes all the fun out of it.

Or it could be that I'm creating a dilemma where none exists.

The father of one of my summer virtual school students called me this morning and left a voicemail because I was in my Zumba class. [Two weeks in a row!] He has called me NUMEROUS times this summer. When I heard his voice, I thought, "Dude, give it up. Summer session is OVER, and your kid passed with a 'B' although he is definitely smart enough to make an 'A'." He tends to ramble on the phone, both in person and on voicemail. In fact, the recording cut off the end of the message because he talked so long.

He had told me earlier that he worked for Disney World, and I casually (really, it WAS casual!) mentioned to him that my daughter lived in Florida and was one of his best customers. She would live at Disney if they would let her.

He was calling to say that he wanted my daughter and her family, if she had one, to be his guests at Disney.

I hesitated calling him back, because I was unsure about the ethics involved.

Would it be wrong, considering he offered them to my daughter?

Would it be wrong considering that I'm going down there next weekend, and I could wind up being the beneficiary of this gesture?

And what does it mean, being his "guest"? Tickets to the park(s)? Accommodations? A dinner date with Mickey? A behind-the-scenes tour of Cinderella's castle?

In his voicemail, he specifically mentioned the fact that his son was going to pass. Was he implying the offer would not have been forthcoming if his son had failed? I mean, he didn't word it like that. He didn't say, "Well, since Patrick is going to pass, I'd like your daughter to....." But he mentioned it.

He can't possibly know that I had not yet turned in final grades when his voicemail came.

Should I just quit worrying about it?