Amish family in Magic Kingdom

[wehavesix]

Okay, first of all, I know little about the Amish and their way of life so forgive me if I seem... well, dumb.

We were at Disney World a couple of weeks ago. My dh had gone ahead to get fast passes from Splash Mtn for our group while the rest of us were finishing up in Adventure Land. We caught up with my dh at the bridge right next to Splash Mtn where he was standing next to an Amish family. He said they very politely spoke to him as the mother, father, and teenaged daughter waited for the teenaged son. They were traditionally dressed and the father had a full beard but no mustache. We all went to get on Splash Mtn and while waiting, we saw all 4 of them on the platform waiting for the train. The son had no beard but was dressed in plain clothes and was wearing a straw hat. I assume they rode the train but never saw them again so don't know if they rode other rides.

It was just something so unexpected to me and I've been wondering about that family. Like I said, I know next to nothing about the Amish and probably have several misconceptions about their lifestyle that makes this seem so odd to me. I thought they didn't travel by mechanical means and figured that would translate to not riding the rides in WDW. I also wondered how they even travelled to WDW if they don't live nearby. Just curious!

 

[freckles and boo]

The Amish regularly hire drivers. This also may have been a Mennonite family - some conservative Mennonites look very Amish in dress. We see Amish at the zoo regularly. They still get out and have some fun.

 

[PaulaSue]

We see Amish at Hersheypark all the time. Mostly teens but I have seen them ride many of the rides but don't know for sure about the water slides, etc.. Of course amish live here so I don't know about traveling far.

 

[rbuzzotta]

I saw an Amish family this past summer at DTD. The younger kids were playing in the Lego store. They were a family of about 7 or 8. 2 parents, 1 (maybe 2) grandparents and children ranging in age from 10 about 18 or so.

My girls wonder how they got there also.

I wish I could have given them a correct answer but just said that maybe they are a little bit more liberal than most.

anyways, it looked liked they were having a great time.

Sorry to say that I was ignorant to their culture. It would be nice to learn more about their culture.

 

[wdwmom2]

Definitely no religious expert here, but maybe they were Old World or conservative (not sure of the correct term) Baptists or Brethern. I used to go to a medical practice that were of the Brethern faith, and they dressed VERY plain. The men had their beards and black hats. If I had seen them out in public I would have thought that they were either Mennonite or Amish.

 

[Ohiodislover]

This also may have been a Mennonite family - some conservative Mennonites look very Amish in dress.

That was my thought also.

 

[AdventurerKat]

We have a fairly large Amish/Mennonite community here in Sarasota. It's not unusual to see the Mennonite driving cars, shopping at the mall, etc. I would guess they were probably a Mennonite family.

 

[mjkacmom]

We see Amish at Hersheypark all the time. Mostly teens but I have seen them ride many of the rides but don't know for sure about the water slides, etc.. Of course amish live here so I don't know about traveling far.

I always see large groups of them at Hershey, too.

 

[Carly_Roach]

That was my thought also.

Another vote for Mennonite.

 

[CajunDixie]

We have several Amish in the towns north of us. The children are sort of exempt until they become adults and choose the Amish life. Some will have cars and boats from the ages of 16-18 then if they choose the Amish life they sell their vehicles. Some do hire drivers to take them to larger cities where they may be going to doctor appointments or stocking up on some groceries and staples that are cheaper in the larger cities. Yearly we have some visit our town to do a few of the touristy things and a large group used to come down for the fireworks on the July 4th weekend.

There is an education center in Shipshewana, IN and the website is http://www.mennohof.org/

 

[Green Tea]

maybe German Baptist? Mennonite?

 

[dreamn_Disney]

Many of the Amish in the area we live are more liberal than some orders. They do not drive but will travel by motorized means and hire a driver if needed. There are a few in this area that are very conservative and do not even enter town or just the males will. It just depends on what order you belong to.

 

[Cool-Beans]

We live around the amish. Eat in their restaurants, drink with them at the bar, shop with them in the grocery store (the Giant Eagle has a hitching post), get stuck behind their buggies on the road, whole bit.

But, like you, I don't know all the ins and outs.

I do know that most of them don't drive, but a few do. The girls who clean the house get brought in a van that is driven by an Amish guy. I drive them back. Why he can drive and they can't, I don't know. I never asked. The one girl has a crush on some guy and hopes to marry him. The other girl teases her about how much he likes her and she pretends she doesn't believe it, but she knows it is true.

They absolutley can go to amusement parks. I've seen that my whole life. They hold the little fish out and watch the seals bark for it and think it is cool.

They wear plain clothing because they are plain people. I like the simplicity.

When one of them is sick, a big group shows up at the hospital. I like how they're there for each other.

And I LOVED it when the amish waitress told DH (after he ordered his food and reminded them not to put anything on it), "You are so boring! You are too plain!" It was like the moment I'd waiting for for years. She's so on the mark. And having an amish girl tell my husband he was too plain just kind of proved a million points I'd been making over the years. God bless her.

I wouldn't want to give up my air conditioning, fridge or washing machine. I like being able to drive (especially in emergencies) and they have a serious and growing problem with inbreeding that doctors and nurses work on (but it is hard.) Other than that, I think DH and I could become amish and have like zero problems with it.

They dress in simple clothes, but they just aren't that different.

 

[Cinderella2004]

I didn't read many of the replies yet, but we must have been there at the same time!!

We saw them at Epcot, there were 4 of them, it looked like it was parents, with a young couple.

Were you there around 1/23-25? That's when we saw them. Maybe we saw you, too!!!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Probably Mennonite is my vote as well. I went to a Mennonite wedding once, pretty interesting.

 

[merryweather20]

There are Amish and Mennonite families to the North of us, and I can't tell the difference unless I asked.

A church community can be fairly small, and will often have different rules within each church community. I know the ones by me are allowed Roller Blades, but not bicycles. They will let the children play with "English" children. I've never seen an Amish family at Canada's Wonderland, but I know some of them rent vans to go to the air-port and watch planes go by. From what I've heard some of the kids are such good workers that the bosses will hire someone to drive them in, or pick them up themselves when they work out side the home. I took that to mean they can ride, but not drive.

I read somewhere that there is a big Amish show-bird community somewhere in Florida.

 

[Soarin08]

I've seen quite a few Amish/Mennonites at WDW. Where I'm from in MS, Mennonites make up a big part of our community. I see them all the time at Wal-Mart, driving, etc.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I think I saw an Amish person last time I was at WDW. They were sticking with the old ways. They had one of those old full-sized VHS camcorders.

 

[tinker&belle]

I saw several Mennonite families at Holiday World in Indiana.

One thing I found interesting was while I was playing ski-ball. A Mennonite woman was playing and ran out of tokens. She went to the desk to get tokens. She explained to the lady that she could not use the token machine to get tokens. The lady at the desk seemed familiar to this (there are many Mennonites in this area.)

I thought it was interesting she could not use the machine to get the tokens but could use the tokens to play the ski-ball machine. Not interesting in a judging sort of way, it just kind of surprised me.

 

[Belle0101]

We live in a town with a large Amish population. I actually used to drive some Amish families around when they called for rides. I've seen them waiting in the parking lot of a locals shopping center waiting for what I call a tour bus.

They can't have phone in their homes but they can have what I would best describe as a very comfortable phone booth in their yard to call with. One lady I drove remarked how so and so was on the phone for hours one day. I just thought that was funny.

Also, when I worked at the hotel we had a guy who came in from Ohio on a regular basis. He would stay the night and the next morning pick-up he would pick up Amish in his passenger van. He makes a regular Florida run a couple times a year at least.

I don't think I could up electricity but there's something to be said for the simpler life they lead.