Disney trip will hopefully eliminate skepticisms about traveling

My family and I leave for Florida for an entire week this weekend. It’s a long overdue vacation that will be spent mainly at Disney World, a must-go destination (I hope) for all families with small children.
My 4-year-old son, Braden, and I have never been there, but my wife, Jenny, has. She claims we’ll both love it, as Braden is actually a small child and, according to her, I can act like one at times.
I believe her claim, although I’m skeptical.
I’m skeptical because I spent most of my life not liking anything Disney-related. I’m skeptical because I hate crowds. I’m skeptical because I’ve never really taken a full week off work to do something purely for enjoyment. I’m skeptical because I believe Disney has perfected the art of taking money from tourists. I’m skeptical because I think Goofy’s supposed ignorance of the reality around him is just a ruse to allow him to somehow take over the world.
I saw and enjoyed Disney films as a young child, but after the age of 6, I pretty much could have cared less for the brand. My interests were dinosaurs, monsters, robots, telescopes, “Star Wars,” Bigfoot and cool things that involved explosions and laser guns.
Disney then was a gentle world that excluded little boys interested in these things. That’s not necessarily the case now, as indicated by some of its recent films: “Monsters, Inc.” (monsters and Bigfoot), “The Incredibles” (explosions), “Wall-E” (robots), “Bolt” (laser guns), and its recent purchase of the Marvel Universe (Spider-Man, Ironman, X-Men – only some of the coolest characters on the planet).
Had I gone to Disney World or Disneyland as a child, my opinion may have changed; it usually can with first-hand experience. But Disney seemed as far from me as some of the far away worlds their movies sometimes took people to, especially for a boy who traveled out of state just three times (that doesn’t count several trips right across the border to Great America in Illinois) growing up.
My lack of traveling experience as a youngster is one of the main reasons I haven’t traveled much as an adult. Though I personally want to see and experience many of the places I’ve read about and seen in movies and television, I’ll admit I’d rather not have to go through the hassle, or expense, of actually going to these places. I’m perfectly content staying in Wisconsin, or occasionally crossing the border to Minnesota, the current home of the great Brett Favre, or to Illinois, perhaps his home next season during his late-career tour of playing for all National Football League teams.
One of the other reasons I haven’t traveled much as an adult is because of my job. It’s difficult taking extended breaks from work for many journalists, especially for those working for weekly newspapers. My vacations for the last 12 years have consisted almost entirely of taking an extended weekend off, always returning on Monday to my job to once again begin the task of putting out a newspaper before the end of the week.
In fact, the only Monday I’ve ever missed, not counting holidays when the work week begins on Tuesday instead, was during a work-related trip to New York City in 2002 to cover the Wautoma High School band marching in a Veterans Day parade there. I was sorry when I returned, because the work had piled up on my desk while I was gone.
And poor Jenny, who has extensive traveling experience, has had to suffer for my lack of desire to travel. Our honeymoon in 2005 consisted just of several nights staying at local hotels, as we both needed to return to the daily grind on the Monday following our wedding – she to school and me to work.
She’s been understanding, though, and when we made the decision a few months ago to go to Disney World it was made with Braden in mind. We want to make sure he doesn’t grow up without any traveling experience, but we also want it to be fun for him at his young age. Unless Bill Gates can use his billions of dollars to construct an amusement park that trumps Disney World within the next few days, our destination couldn’t be any more fun than the one we selected.
Although I believe most of my skepticism will disappear following this trip, I’m not sure my doubts about Goofy will; however, I’m going to keep a watchful eye on him while I’m there. He won’t fool me.