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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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). Perhaps you have never thought about praying at a theme park. Or maybe, like when you go out to eat, you wonder if you should make the sign of the cross and say grace before eating at a theme park. St. Paul tells us to pray without ceasing, so we can even look for opportunities to pray at a theme park. It is part of the role of sanctifying the day and the places we go as Christians.
I would say that we should aim to pray just as much on a day at a theme park as any other day. At home, we try to get into the routine of saying grace before meals (and some people also do so after), so we should try to do that, too, at a theme park. As mature Christians, we should also have prayer time at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day. We should be faithful to those times when we go to a theme park, too (even if we are tired at the end of the day, it’s good to thank God for the blessings of the day and also ask forgiveness for times when we were perhaps selfish). Perhaps praying a rosary on the way to the park will help your family be grounded in prayer before a day of excitement (and perhaps long lines). Now I’ll talk a little bit of what I’ve done for my prayer (especially my required Liturgy of the Hours prayers that I pray as a priest) at theme parks. First, I’ll describe what I do for prayer when I’m with others (like a friend). First of all, I’ll plan ahead to do most of my prayer time before I go to the park or after I return. A theme park is full of sights and sounds, so it is not an easy place to pray (although I think it can be done). I’m pretty low maintenance at a park; I really just need the occasional meal or bathroom break. So if I’m at the park with someone who has to take more frequent pauses, then I might take one of those breaks to do my Daytime prayer, for example. A few months ago, a friend and I were getting into a line that was over an hour long with social distancing outside. We decided to pray the rosary, only pausing when we had interact with the cast members or other guests. When I am at a theme park by myself, I have some greater flexibility as to how I can schedule my prayer time. If a queue is not too interesting, I can probably do one of my Liturgy of the Hours prayers. If a line is relatively long, I might pray my rosary (especially if I didn’t do it on the way to the park) or a Divine Mercy Chaplet. Something that I haven’t tried (and I have some hesitancy about doing it) is praying my Holy Hour at a theme park. A Holy Hour is best prayed in front of the Blessed Sacrament before Mass, but sometimes I don’t have easy access to a church. In addition, the best times for being at a theme park (in terms of getting rides in without much of a line) is the beginning of the day and the end of the day. If I could be assured that I could find a quiet, out-of-the-way, shaded place in the park, I might choose to try that in the middle of the day. Hope this helps give you some perspective. I think some time I’ll have to write up my thoughts on wearing clerics to a theme park. There is a bit of planning that goes into visiting a theme park whenever you decide to go. However, this planning is complicated when you are considering going on a Sunday or another holy day (inside or outside of the pandemic). In this entry, I will describe some of my own experiences both before being ordained and after being ordained.
I suppose there is always the question, “Is it morally permissible to go to a theme park on a holy day?” As a type of entertainment, our approach should be similar to questioning whether we attend a sports game, a theater show, or a movie on a holy day. I think most of us don’t have scruples about going to any of those on a Sunday, so it seems like it would be morally permissible to go to a theme park on a holy day. All Christians are instructed to keep holy the Lord’s Day (i.e. the Third Commandment). For Catholics, this is specifically lived out through going to Mass on Sunday. How does a Catholic stay faithful to attending Sunday Mass while also going to a theme park on a Sunday? In this day and age, almost every parish (outside of the pandemic) has a Saturday vigil Mass. This can be a good choice especially due to the relatively high cost of going to a theme park for a day (for a family of four, it could be about $500 for tickets alone). When you got to a theme park, you want to make it as much of a full day as possible, so fulfilling your Mass obligation on Saturday evening is helpful. Another option is to go to Mass early on Sunday morning and then go to the park. I chose this option in Paris as a deacon/seminarian before going to Disneyland Paris Resort. I knew I was going to be at the Resort until 10 p.m. (so option 3 wasn’t going to work). In addition, the evening before I was busy hanging out with friends, so I couldn’t do option 1. Going to Mass early on Sunday makes a long day even longer; however, it does give a real good grounding to the day. A third option is to go to Mass on Sunday evening (assuming there is a Mass like that near the park). The advantage to this option is that you get to the park near to when it’s opening when the crowds are very light, which allows you to do a lot of rides in a short time. However, unless you are used to going to Sunday evening Mass, your Sunday might feel a little out-of-whack. In addition, you are more likely to fall asleep during the priest’s homily after a long day at the park. In summary, I think option 1 is best, then option 2, and finally option 3. The most important thing, though, is that you get to Mass. In college, I once spent a Good Friday at Disneyland during a trip with my college pep band (for the NCAA basketball tournament). It was the only day that we could spend at the parks. True, Good Friday isn’t a Holy Day of Obligation but it falls in the Holy Triduum, the holiest days for Christians. Although I did not go to a service on Good Friday, I went to The Mass of the Lord’s Supper the day before. I fasted and abstained from meat at Disneyland that Good Friday. If possible, I would try to avoid going to an amusement park on Good Friday due to the focus that should be on prayer and fasting that day. Now as a priest, I have greater flexibility as to when I say Mass and pray on a day I’m going to an amusement park. My preferred time to say Mass is before I leave for the park, although I’m willing to do it after being at the park (such as what I did when I drove directly from LAX to Six Flags Magic Mountain. If I’m saying Mass for others, I also ask for input from them. Well, I think that covers what I wanted to talk about. Some other time I’ll write a post on praying in a theme park (especially discussing how I am faithful to my times of prayer while at a theme park). |
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