After January’s dramatic cancellation of our trip to Disney World, we finally made it down to Florida to introduce our daughter to the happiest place on Earth. For the weeks leading up to the rescheduled trip, my wife and I barely spoke about it. We even packed our suitcases the night before, too worried that something else would pop up right before our departure.
On top of our already heightened levels of agita, the current coronavirus outbreak only exacerbated our anxiety about going away, leaving me with many unanswered questions. For example, were they going to cancel our flight or accommodations? Would my clients be calling me the entire time? Am I putting my family at risk by exposing them to large crowds of people from all over the world? Ugh.
But when the plane touched town in Orlando, our backs relaxed. We exhaled. The only thing that appeared to be contagious was our daughter’s excitement for the fun that awaited her and the memories that awaited all us all. Over the next four days, we teleported ourselves from our own messy and chaotic world to a alternate worlds built on fantasy and make believe. Worlds where everything was perfect and everyone appeared to be happy.
Throughout the trip, my wife and I took turns checking our phones for work emails, news and to make sure the baby we had left behind with grandma was alive. And while the financial markets and media were a sobering reminder of what things looked like back in our reality, the conversations we were overhearing and having with the folks around us told a different story.
Re: Coronavirus
Only once in four days did I hear someone talk about the coronavirus. It was a southern family of all ladies clad in matching Minnie Mouse polka dots. They were with us in line to see The Lion King show in the Animal Kingdom. They kept conversation light and casual. The eldest of the group brought up her husband’s experience with being sick from the month prior. Overall, they seemed unalarmed by the headlines and more interested in the rest of their day at the park.
On our trip, I enjoyed dozens of conversations with fellow visitors, local rideshare drivers and park employees. Not one of them came close to mentioning what I believed to be the single biggest topic in the world at the time. We covered everything from raising children to SEC football but not the seemingly deadly virus from China, which is starting to look more and more like something that’s going to disrupt our daily lives in new and profound ways.
Re: Markets
If coronavirus was just a blip on the Disney goers radar, the stock market might as well have been radio silence. When people we met asked what I did for a living, there was zero mention of what became one of the craziest weeks on Wall Street. The market swings and violent displays of volatility from the week were politely brushed aside with the standard, “That’s nice.” and the frequented, “Sounds interesting.” I am used to receiving a dismissive response regarding what I do, but one would think that a historical week in the markets would throw at least one question my way. About Disney stock, perhaps? Not one.
If anything, people’s attitude was the exact opposite. They were too busy spending their money hand over fist on overpriced food and merch like it was of no consequence to their bottom line. To be honest, I was no different. People saved up for years to be able to splurge gladly and without the slightest bit of remorse. When one is in that mindset, why would they care about the balance of their 401(k)? That’s assuming there’s a 401(k) to worry about in the first place.
Re: Politics
With the exception of an elderly gentleman wearing a MAGA hat, our time at Disney was void of politics. You wouldn’t know it was an election year and there was actually a moment when I thought we were being ruled by the Galactic Empire when in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Granted politics, like finances, is one of those topics people keep private, given all that was happening outside of the parks, I could see how political discourse could make its way into the queues and dining facilities.
Instead, everyone from the US and abroad acted like the proud and upstanding Americans and foreign representatives. Folks passing by smiled at you, complimented you family’s themed clothing and felt “in it together” when your a melted down from hunger or over exhaustion. It left you with the impression that people are kind and that things are going to be okay, which was a stark contrast to what I was hearing from inside my local echo chamber.
Our vacation was an escape from reality. But greater than the escape was how it made me think about the world I returned to. It made me question my own view of it and think more critically about it. I was better able to see how my world has been influenced, if not altered, by the never ending news cycles about undulating markets, alarming pandemics and the myriad of background noise emanating from social media.
While Disney World is deliberately designed to bring your mind to a completely different corner of reality, you can gain a great deal of perspective if you’re paying close enough attention. Yes, you would be crazy not to think that everything happening right is scary (of course it is), but I also believe you would be crazy to think that this will be our undoing. You don’t need to go to the happiest place on Earth to gain the kind of perspective that truly helps people stay calm during wild times. Sometimes, you just need to escape to a happier place.
I was honored to be featured in this New York Times article, which captured what was going through my mind on the day we left for Disney.
Come get sucked back into the noise on Twitter:
In October 1962, the Dow dropped ~7% on the threat of thermonuclear annihilation.
Today, the Dow dropped ~8% on the threat of a nasty virus and cheap oil.
— Douglas A. Boneparth (@dougboneparth) March 9, 2020