There are a number of Disney cartoons that involve magic—the witch in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Ursula the sea witch in The Little Mermaid, magic lamps and genies in Aladdin, and voodoo in The Princess and the Frog, to name a few. The movie Fantasia (and the related Fantasmic show at Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios) includes the short “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” that shows Mickey using magic (to his detriment). Those movies don’t seem to really glorify magic, since the users of the magic face some great problems (including even death in some cases). With that being said, I would appreciate it if Disney focused more on faith and less on magic.
Now to focus a bit more on the parks! First, we will stop by the Magic Kingdom (or Disneyland in California). I don’t really know anybody who avoids riding The Haunted Mansion for its inclusion of the occult, but I did ask my friend if we should ride it on my 2020 trip to Walt Disney World. The Haunted Mansion involves a seance and tarot cards, which go against Christian morality. Once again, it’s fantasy; people (even kids) don’t believe that the story is something they can experience outside the park. The use of the seance and tarot cards don’t invoke a desire for people to seek them outside of the park. There are a few other Disney rides that focus on magic like the idol in Tower of Terror at Tokyo DisneySea (which involves a very different storyline than the other versions) and the whimsical Mystic Manor at Hong Kong Disneyland. Like The Haunted Mansion, riders don’t believe that those types of magic actually exist. I would like to talk a little about Harry Potter (at Universal parks). Some of my Catholic friends aren’t going to like to hear this—the head exorcist in my diocese (who I can’t name, because his role is not supposed to be public) told my classmates and me that Harry Potter can be an open door demonic activity (note: he said “can” and not “necessarily is”). On a related note, there is also the question of whether the books use actual spells. For these reasons, I generally steer clear of Harry Potter rides at Universal parks (although I did ride the family coaster The Flight of the Hippogriff). It’s unfortunate that I’m not able to experience their state of-the-art ride systems as a matter of conscience. Others can make the determination for themselves as to whether there is a serious risk in reading or viewing anything Harry Potter. In summary, we should be a little careful of the involvement of the occult in theme park attractions (or movies or books, for that matter), but the most important thing is to avoid the occult practices in real life.
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In 2016-17, I was a deacon finishing off my last year of seminary studies. It is custom for the transitional deacons to travel to Rome in January of that year to do a course in Rome (unfortunately, they won’t be able to do that this year due to Covid). As part of that trip, my classmates and I also had the option to travel beforehand. A total of 6 of us decided to visit Paris and stay at a seminary there.
Being such a theme park enthusiast and desiring to get to Disneyland Paris Resort (which has 2 parks: Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney Studios), I made it known early in the planning process that I wanted to go there. With 14 million annual visitors, Disneyland Paris is the most visited tourist destination in Europe. None of my classmates, however, were interested in going with me, so I decided to make plans to go on my own. We weren’t going to be in Paris for many days, so I could only go to the parks for a day. I planned to go on the last day, which happened to be New Year’s Day (also the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God, which happened to fall on a Sunday). As our plans on New Year’s Eve were to go to Mass in the morning, I would need to go on the morning of New Year’s Day to fulfill my Sunday obligation. I found a parish that had a 7:30 a.m. Sunday Mass, which would give me plenty of time to get in a full day at Disneyland Paris. Unfortunately I would have to miss seeing Notre Dame in-person (prior to its partial destruction). On the actual day, I got up pretty early and made my way to the nearby Metro station. The fares were free due to the holiday. Unfortunately, when I got to the church, I found out that the 7:30 a.m. Mass was canceled (even though the website had listed it). I tried in earnest (without WiFi) to find another early Mass, but the one cafe that was open couldn’t help me. I ended up at the original church for 9 a.m. Mass. Uncharacteristic of me, I left after Communion (but not before doing a prayer of thanksgiving) to try to make up for some lost time. There is a commuter rail that runs between downtown Paris and Disneyland, so it’s pretty convenient even without a vehicle. I could see the parks from the train before we made it into the station. I went straight to Disneyland getting in at about 11:20 a.m. (rather than the 10 a.m. I had been aiming for). It was a chilly day (I was wearing long underwear), and the frost was everywhere still at the hour of the morning. I got my Facebook reservation for Big Thunder Mountain (the best version in the world) and walked back to Pirates (the second best version behind the best ride in the world in Shanghai) and got on with almost no wait. Since I had a park hopper pass (cost was a total of $72 or so, much lower than a 1-day pass of $100+ to Disney or Universal in the U.S.), I next spent the ten minutes or so to leave Disneyland, walk over to Walt Disney Studios, and enter the park. I learned that most of the rides were other long waits or closed (as in the case of the tram tour...probably due to the cold). I got in the Single Rider line for the Ratatouille ride (which is set to open in EPCOT in early 2021) and enjoyed the experience of being a rat in the kitchen! I won’t bore you with all of the details of the rest of my day. Some of the rides at Disneyland Paris have more thrill than similar rides in other Disney parks. For example, Space Mountain has a launch, as well as some inversions. The Indiana Jones coaster also has some inversions (as does Rock n Roller Coaster, which is now being transformed into an Iron Man Coaster). Another unique ride at Walt Disney Studios is Crush’s Coaster, which is a Finding Nemo themed family spinner coaster. Overall, my day at Disneyland Paris was wonderful even in spite of the delayed start and the chilly temperature (although I was warm enough overall throughout my stay). I would recommend it to all people who enjoy theme parks. One should weigh trade-offs like missing Notre Dame. I’ll just have to make it a point to get back to Paris to experience both Disney and the grand church! Walt Disney World is a unique place to visit. When you enter the resort area, it’s as if you are leaving the outside world behind. With many hotels (or resorts as they call them), shopping, transportation, and theme park options (including a mini golf course), you will have basically no reason to leave WDW once you arrive. There are even a couple of times per year when you can go to Mass on Walt Disney World property--Christmas and Easter (the times may change every year, but one year it was 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.). The Masses are located at the Contemporary Resort’s Fantasia Ballroom. However, if you are at WDW any other Sunday or Holy Day, you will need to leave WDW to get to Mass.
Fortunately, there is a nice option just outside WDW (near Disney Springs)—the Basilica and Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe (https://maryqueenoftheuniverse.org). The Basilica and Shrine was instituted in 1979 (8 years after WDW opened) by the Diocese of Orlando to be the place where the millions of Catholic visitors to WDW could call their spiritual home during their vacations. Monsignor Joseph Harte, who was assigned with focusing on ministry to tourists in 1975 credits a visit to Our Lacy of Lourdes for the idea that lead to a “spiritual oasis” for the world. During my trip in 2016, I went to the Basilica at least a couple of times for daily Mass and prayer. They have Eucharistic Adoration and Confessions there, too, as well as a museum and outdoor grounds, so it is a very good place of pilgrimage. As of December 2020, their Sunday Mass times are 6 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m., 10 a.m., 12 p.m. on Sunday. The other Catholic parish that is relatively accessible from Walt Disney World is Corpus Christi Parish (https://corpuschristi.church). It is south of WDW near the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. It is located in the town of Celebration, which was originally designed by the Walt Disney Company. Their Sunday Mass times (as of December 2020) are 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Saturday and 7:30 a.m., 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 12:15 p.m., and 5:30 p.m. Sunday. My prayer is that this post will help even one person to keep holy the Lord’s Day when at WDW (especially after the dispensation to attend Mass due to the pandemic is lifted). |
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