A Childless Millennial That Goes To Disney

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As I sit here sipping on my coffee in my Disney Store Tumbler, working and writing, I’m also mentally planning my next Disney trip. I’m saving money, making lists and daydreaming of snacks and hugs from my favourite characters. I also pay rent and bills and love to travel and going on night outs to see my favourite bands and having a cocktail with my friends.

Recently, a Facebook post went viral where a woman went on a tirade about childless millennials which then sparked debates across the world about whether those without children should be banned from going to Disney World. Yep, out of everything going on in the world and people are concerning themselves about what makes others happy.

I’ve been to Disneyland Paris thirteen times in the past three years and next year, I’m heading across the pond for a two week break in Walt Disney World with two fellow childless millennials. I have friends who go to Disney with their children and I also have friends who go to Disney on their own or with their other halves/friends. I love seeing all of their posts. I love seeing the faces of a small child or an adult walking down Main Street and seeing the castle for the first time. The magic doesn’t disappear just because you grow older and the fact that it’s even something that’s being debated makes my blood boil.

Firstly, the whole “Disney is just for families” argument drives me crazy because newsflash: a couple without children is still a family. Ohana means family and family most certainly doesn’t start or end with blood. A group of friends can be a family. A single parent and their child are a family. Family is such a broad term and covers so many different groups of people so if you’re saying that Disney world is just for families – bear in mind that a family doesn’t stop being such because of a lack of children.

So many different media outlets have been joining in with the debate, and it’s a real telling of someone’s character when you learn their views and hear the same remark of “childless couples going to Disney is weird” over and over again. The original post that fuelled this debate just gave people the ammo they needed to ridicule and mock adults who go to Disney and questioning why any adult would choose to “waste their money on Disney”. The UK daytime TV show ‘Loose Women’ even chimed in, with some of their panellists declaring that adults should “go to a pub” instead of going to Disney, which frankly is both inappropriate and completely irrelevant. People voice their “concerns” over adults spending their hard-earned money on going to Disney, as though it’ll affect them in any way. People scrimp and save so they can go to Disney and how that person chooses to spend their money is nobody’s business but their own.

Aside from the very obvious aimed at adult activities (fine dining, alcohol, honeymoon packages etc) that Disney has to offer, adults can enjoy Disney just as much as a child can. Kids and adults alike can go to breakfast to meet their favourite characters and eat Mickey waffles. Kids can dress up and adults can Disney Bound. Kids and adults can both watch the Parades and feel emotional over night-time shows. Disney isn’t restricted to a particular group of people – its open and inclusive and that’s the beauty of it. I’ve loved Disney my whole life and admittedly, I went through a period where I cared what people thought of me no longer being a child and expressing my love for Disney. However, in the past few years, I’ve managed to overcome this, and I will happily tell anyone how much I love Disney and that I’m a frequent visitor of the parks.

Whilst we’re on it, can we also acknowledge how damaging it is to tell people that they aren’t welcome somewhere if they don’t have children? Many people may not want children, can’t have children or are grieving over the loss of a child. Why don’t they deserve to go to Disney World? Everyone, young or old, deserves to go to Disney if they want to. Nobody gets to dictate that or call for “bans”. That comes from a place of entitlement and privilege and is not what Disney is all about.

One day, I’ll hopefully be able to take my future children to Disney and see the magic through their eyes. However, for now? I’m enjoying being a childless millennial that goes to Disney and skips down Main Street and queues to hug Mickey Mouse whilst also spending my money


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