Christians- Rides/ Attractions to avoid

[princessmom29]

That seems about as close-minded as one could get! I went to catholic school for 12 years and was educated about ALL of the different religions of the world as part of the religious ed curriculum! The artistry that goes into IASW is amazing and I can't believe someone would be offended by or uncomfortable with it -- it's like not acknowledging that other countries and cultures exist in the world -- how ridiculous is that!

I agree that it is ridiculous and I totally don't raise my daughter that way! I think for them it really boils down to control. "Don't give the kids any other options and they have to follow our beliefs to the letter". They believe that exposure to anything contrary to their beleifs is damaging. I grew up in this environment where it was not ok to question ANYTHING the church said was true and that studying other religions/ cultures was a dangerous thing to do because it could make you question your own faith. Needless to say i ran as fast as I could when I got old enough. I was in honors calasses in High school and I honestly think that the church thought I was being exposed to too much there and that was what was "wrong with me".

 

[hudsoncs]

This was NOT meant to be a debate about evolution. Within orthodox Christianity there are two MAIN views of creation and many sub views.

We know a nuclear physicist who believes in a literal 6 day creation and a missionary who believed in the day age theory....we can agree to disagree.

On the other hand, if someone doesn't agree with ANY biblical account of creation, their response could be encouraging (such as the self proclaimed "non-Christian" that responded-THANKS!) but I wouldn't expect them to be able to give practical steps to help us through this process. I'm not trying to be rude in ANY WAY I'm just looking for like minded to people to let me know HOW they deal with these issues.

I'm looking for someone who believes that God is the priority in all things while balancing real life...someone who gives their children TIME to teach them what is right and wrong in God's eyes.

I don't want to sound harsh but to me, nothing in life is "JUST a theme park" my kids are a REALITY and yes, some things are "imaginary" or "make believe" but their mind are affected by all they see and do, so I want to make sure to help them through the process or sorting out right, wrong, good & evil. On the same token, YES, I go to Disney to enjoy and I want my children to do the same. Can we enjoy life while still filtering things? My answer is YES and we must "take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ."

The responses have been all over the board so far (and I guess that's good) but I have read to "tell them it's imaginary" (which I do but I still teach them realities through it), tell them little "white lies to write things off" (I have committed not to lie to them- not bashing anyone I just can't do this) and "why go"...which I think is a misinterpretation of my post...I don't keep my kids "out of the world".

Once again, THANK YOU! I have really enjoyed this and will keep checking for more input...SUPER interesting!

 

[Jenvenza]

Count me in as someone who still doesn't see why you would buy annual passes, when there seems to be so much at WDW that you don't want your children to see.

 

[princessmom29]

This was NOT meant to be a debate about evolution. Within orthodox Christianity there are two MAIN views of creation and many sub views.

We know a nuclear physicist who believes in a literal 6 day creation and a missionary who believed in the day age theory....we can agree to disagree.

On the other hand, if someone doesn't agree with ANY biblical account of creation, their response could be encouraging (such as the self proclaimed "non-Christian" that responded-THANKS!) but I wouldn't expect them to be able to give practical steps to help us through this process. I'm not trying to be rude in ANY WAY I'm just looking for like minded to people to let me know HOW they deal with these issues.

I'm looking for someone who believes that God is the priority in all things while balancing real life...someone who gives their children TIME to teach them what is right and wrong in God's eyes.

I don't want to sound harsh but to me, nothing in life is "JUST a theme park" my kids are a REALITY and yes, some things are "imaginary" or "make believe" but their mind are affected by all they see and do, so I want to make sure to help them through the process or sorting out right, wrong, good & evil. On the same token, YES, I go to Disney to enjoy and I want my children to do the same. Can we enjoy life while still filtering things? My answer is YES and we must "take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ."

The responses have been all over the board so far (and I guess that's good) but I have read to "tell them it's imaginary" (which I do but I still teach them realities through it), tell them little "white lies to write things off" (I have committed not to lie to them- not bashing anyone I just can't do this) and "why go"...which I think is a misinterpretation of my post...I don't keep my kids "out of the world".

Once again, THANK YOU! I have really enjoyed this and will keep checking for more input...SUPER interesting!

I think part of the porblem here is how to define "like minded people." I think you did a good job in addressing what you are looking for, but people are bound to vray within that. I think it makes for good discussion. As I said before I did not mean to turn this into an evolution debate, I just thought it was a unique coincidence that the PP and I were in such similar situations.

 

[floydfamily4]

To the original poster - THANK YOU! We are Genesis to Revelation Christians (we believe the whole Bible) I like to say, and we are going to WDW this Nov. I am extemely excited to go on a family vacation to a place that is fun and interesting. I am also a mom who takes my role as advocate and protector very seriously. So I too, have been wondering about various rides and making sure my kids understand "imagination and fun" from "real and true". I appreciate the post and all the responses (even the sarcastic ones) because it is a reminder that we are all different and even when you specifically request no debate there are those who want to debate your beliefs. Nonetheless, we are going with a prepared plan for what to avoid because I don't want my 4 year olds scared or harmed in any way if I can avoid it. Also, we are going to the Holy Land Experience before the parks so that should be fun and give us some balance for the week. I am sure you will have a good time and don't stop being the advocate/protector for your kids even if it is not PC

dawn

 

[nessz79]

I think, OP, that it's just hard for everyone to agree. So it's going to be hard for anyone to tell you what to avoid. What you may avoid, someone else (Christian) may see as ok. This topic is bound to bring up some debate as there is no clear-cut answer.

In the end, you have to do what you feel is right .

 

[hudsoncs]

Count me in as someone who still doesn't see why you would buy annual passes, when there seems to be so much at WDW that you don't want your children to see.

WOW..I'm the OP and I'm still shocked by these types of responses...others have suggested thing like avoiding "It's a Small World" or "Jungle Cruise" but I don't feel that way!

I'm FINE with seing other cultures, my DS (4) knows what an Idol is and on his own will say "Mama, they are worshipping an idol." I'm OK with that, I as a Christian expose him to those things while also exposing him to the Biblical view so HE (of his own accord) follows it up by talking about it Biblically! That said, I don't feel comfortable cheering on Mickey the sorcerer...to me (and I think to my son) there is a huge difference is seeing something that we believe to be un-Biblical and cheering on what we believe to be un-Biblical. I also felt that way with Brother Bear...they were asking the audience to PARTICIPATE in a "Totem Ceremony"....I can't ask my son who has been told not to worship idols to "do it in make believe."

I think there is balance, just trying to find it!

 

[MiniGirl]

Okay, that makes more sense. Since your post said "As Christians, we don't believe..." I think I lot of us interpreted that as saying "Christians don't believe" rather than "Our family doesn't believe".

At least, that is how I first read it (which did confuse me).

that is exactly how I read it and what confused me.

I'm sorry for the confusion. I tend to be long-winded and have been trying to edit myself. In doing so, I sometimes end up posting something that isn't exactly what I mean to say.

Obviously, not all Christians all believe exactly the same things. We wouldn't have all these different denominations and church splits if we did; and in the end, I don't think those things will matter much. God knows our hearts, and that matters more than the way different people may interpret different parts of the Bible.

ETA: My youngest loves IASW. Like I said originally, we don't avoid anything because of religious reasons. Now, there are rides we avoid because my kids don't like them (too scary or whatever), but not necessarily because of our faith.

 

[poeticdiabetic]

This is my take on the matter:

You are the parent. You raise your children the way you believe is right. There's no judgment there at all.

As far as Disney is concerned, in accordance to your beliefs, you need to ask these questions:

1. Do your kids know the difference between what is real and what is make-believe? (If not, it will be difficult to tell them how to distinguish it while in the park.)

2. Are your kids easily afraid of loud noises and darkness? (If they are, don't waste your time because everything from Buzz Lightyear to the teacups is loud.)

If you are that concerned, you may wish to keep them at home until you think they are ready. Personally, my kids didn't go to Disney World until they were both at least 48" tall. Why? Because my kids will have fits if they couldn't ride a ride because they were "too small." And I had to have discussions concerning real and make-believe. As a matter of fact, I didn't know that they would like it until they rode their first ride "Star Tours." (But they were big Star Wars fans, so that helped!)

Now as a Christian and minister, may I make another suggestion: Not all magic adaptations are bad. There are great fantasy books that teaches about the things of God and the words "Magic" is said throughout.

For instance, one of the greatest Christian novels ever written was a book series by a Christian author name Tolkien. His books were "The Lord of the Rings." Great book that teaches a lot about the things of God... (Jesus, by the way, are actually two people in the series- the sin-burden carrier Frodo and the overcoming King Aragorn.)

Now the Lord of The Rings is not for kids. But perhaps you can look at another book and movie that is a great Christian epic. It was written by the person that Tolkien actually witnessed to and led to the Lord. Those books are The Chronicles of Narnia. It's very simple to see the analogies there. The Lion is Jesus. The White Witch is Satan. The "Deep Magic" is the Holy Spirit.

And the one movie that really helped my two DSs in the Faith was actually Star Wars. Get it: The Force is the Holy Spirit. The Darkside is evil.

As a matter of fact, as long as there's good and evil, you can use it as lessons for teaching. In Snow White, the Witch had an issue with vanity. And she tempted Snow White with an apple. In "The Little Mermaid" Ariel got in trouble due to disobedience. In Peter Pan, the brave boy defeated evil by being courageous. In "Toy Story" it teaches about the power of friendship.

You can go on and on. But these stories are not stories to propogate magic and witchcraft. If you can teach your children about the power of imagination, and that the experiences are merely products of someone's imagination, you can teach a child a lot of life stories just by experiencing the stories in Disney.

(Off my little pulpit- unless you want to pass a collection plate around.)

 

[hudsoncs]

To the original poster - THANK YOU! We are Genesis to Revelation Christians (we believe the whole Bible) I like to say, and we are going to WDW this Nov. I am extemely excited to go on a family vacation to a place that is fun and interesting. I am also a mom who takes my role as advocate and protector very seriously. So I too, have been wondering about various rides and making sure my kids understand "imagination and fun" from "real and true". I appreciate the post and all the responses (even the sarcastic ones) because it is a reminder that we are all different and even when you specifically request no debate there are those who want to debate your beliefs. Nonetheless, we are going with a prepared plan for what to avoid because I don't want my 4 year olds scared or harmed in any way if I can avoid it. Also, we are going to the Holy Land Experience before the parks so that should be fun and give us some balance for the week. I am sure you will have a good time and don't stop being the advocate/protector for your kids even if it is not PC

dawn

Thanks for your contribution, I feel "understood" LOL Let me know if you find any specifics that you sill use as teaching tools or avoid all together. A great example I have found so far is: If you are gonna do Snow white (We'll skip out because I think my DS will be scared) you can use it as a reinforcement for the Gospel. Check out : http://www.amazon.com/Gospel-Accord...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236798769&sr=8-1 And http://www.amazon.com/Gospel-Accord...=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236798846&sr=1-3

If you find anything else, I would love to know.
Thanks again!

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

I do not know if this was mentioned but here goes anyway. When anyone describes Disney almost all of the time is the it is a "magical place". The CM's and guests refer to many everyday things as being magical. Most of the rides and movies have magic in them. The ones that do not (ie Bambi) do nt have rides at WDW. Basically you cannot escape the magic from WDW.

Now I am a Catholic mom raising my kids the best that I know how. I find WDW as make believe. I am not going to voice my opinion on other as the way they raise children is their own and is not up for discussion.

I do think that maybe the OP should look at DLR instaed of WDW. For me DLR has more rides and things to do there that are for little ones. Not that WDW doesn't but DLR seems to have more.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

This is my take on the matter:

You are the parent. You raise your children the way you believe is right. There's no judgment there at all.

As far as Disney is concerned, in accordance to your beliefs, you need to ask these questions:

1. Do your kids know the difference between what is real and what is make-believe? (If not, it will be difficult to tell them how to distinguish it while in the park.)

2. Are your kids easily afraid of loud noises and darkness? (If they are, don't waste your time because everything from Buzz Lightyear to the teacups is loud.)

If you are that concerned, you may wish to keep them at home until you think they are ready. Personally, my kids didn't go to Disney World until they were both at least 48" tall. Why? Because my kids will have fits if they couldn't ride a ride because they were "too small." And I had to have discussions concerning real and make-believe. As a matter of fact, I didn't know that they would like it until they rode their first ride "Star Tours." (But they were big Star Wars fans, so that helped!)

Now as a Christian and minister, may I make another suggestion: Not all magic adaptations are bad. There are great fantasy books that teaches about the things of God and the words "Magic" is said throughout.

For instance, one of the greatest Christian novels ever written was a book series by a Christian author name Tolkien. His books were "The Lord of the Rings." Great book that teaches a lot about the things of God... (Jesus, by the way, are actually two people in the series- the sin-burden carrier Frodo and the overcoming King Aragorn.)

Now the Lord of The Rings is not for kids. But perhaps you can look at another book and movie that is a great Christian epic. It was written by the person that Tolkien actually witnessed to and led to the Lord. Those books are The Chronicles of Narnia. It's very simple to see the analogies there. The Lion is Jesus. The White Witch is Satan. The "Deep Magic" is the Holy Spirit.

And the one movie that really helped my two DSs in the Faith was actually Star Wars. Get it: The Force is the Holy Spirit. The Darkside is evil.

As a matter of fact, as long as there's good and evil, you can use it as lessons for teaching. In Snow White, the Witch had an issue with vanity. And she tempted Snow White with an apple. In "The Little Mermaid" Ariel got in trouble due to disobedience. In Peter Pan, the brave boy defeated evil by being courageous. In "Toy Story" it teaches about the power of friendship.

You can go on and on. But these stories are not stories to propogate magic and witchcraft. If you can teach your children about the power of imagination, and that the experiences are merely products of someone's imagination, you can teach a child a lot of life stories just by experiencing the stories in Disney.

(Off my little pulpit- unless you want to pass a collection plate around.)

Great post. Also the Lion Witch and the Wardrobe series were not only written by a Chritian author with MANY religious metaphors they are also sold in all religious book stores. These books are dripping with magical creatures, places and witches.

 

[bluesaturn]

WOW..I'm the OP and I'm still shocked by these types of responses...others have suggested thing like avoiding "It's a Small World" or "Jungle Cruise" but I don't feel that way!

I'm FINE with seing other cultures, my DS (4) knows what an Idol is and on his own will say "Mama, they are worshipping an idol." I'm OK with that, I as a Christian expose him to those things while also exposing him to the Biblical view so HE (of his own accord) follows it up by talking about it Biblically! That said, I don't feel comfortable cheering on Mickey the sorcerer...to me (and I think to my son) there is a huge difference is seeing something that we believe to be un-Biblical and cheering on what we believe to be un-Biblical. I also felt that way with Brother Bear...they were asking the audience to PARTICIPATE in a "Totem Ceremony"....I can't ask my son who has been told not to worship idols to "do it in make believe."

I think there is balance, just trying to find it!

I wasn't directing the Small World and Jungle Cruise comments toward you. It was just a bit of a tangent because I can't believe anyone would do that. So just so you know it wasn't implying that you would do that.

 

[princessmom29]

This is my take on the matter:

You are the parent. You raise your children the way you believe is right. There's no judgment there at all.

As far as Disney is concerned, in accordance to your beliefs, you need to ask these questions:

1. Do your kids know the difference between what is real and what is make-believe? (If not, it will be difficult to tell them how to distinguish it while in the park.)

2. Are your kids easily afraid of loud noises and darkness? (If they are, don't waste your time because everything from Buzz Lightyear to the teacups is loud.)

If you are that concerned, you may wish to keep them at home until you think they are ready. Personally, my kids didn't go to Disney World until they were both at least 48" tall. Why? Because my kids will have fits if they couldn't ride a ride because they were "too small." And I had to have discussions concerning real and make-believe. As a matter of fact, I didn't know that they would like it until they rode their first ride "Star Tours." (But they were big Star Wars fans, so that helped!)

Now as a Christian and minister, may I make another suggestion: Not all magic adaptations are bad. There are great fantasy books that teaches about the things of God and the words "Magic" is said throughout.

For instance, one of the greatest Christian novels ever written was a book series by a Christian author name Tolkien. His books were "The Lord of the Rings." Great book that teaches a lot about the things of God... (Jesus, by the way, are actually two people in the series- the sin-burden carrier Frodo and the overcoming King Aragorn.)

Now the Lord of The Rings is not for kids. But perhaps you can look at another book and movie that is a great Christian epic. It was written by the person that Tolkien actually witnessed to and led to the Lord. Those books are The Chronicles of Narnia. It's very simple to see the analogies there. The Lion is Jesus. The White Witch is Satan. The "Deep Magic" is the Holy Spirit.

And the one movie that really helped my two DSs in the Faith was actually Star Wars. Get it: The Force is the Holy Spirit. The Darkside is evil.

As a matter of fact, as long as there's good and evil, you can use it as lessons for teaching. In Snow White, the Witch had an issue with vanity. And she tempted Snow White with an apple. In "The Little Mermaid" Ariel got in trouble due to disobedience. In Peter Pan, the brave boy defeated evil by being courageous. In "Toy Story" it teaches about the power of friendship.

You can go on and on. But these stories are not stories to propogate magic and witchcraft. If you can teach your children about the power of imagination, and that the experiences are merely products of someone's imagination, you can teach a child a lot of life stories just by experiencing the stories in Disney.

(Off my little pulpit- unless you want to pass a collection plate around.)

Tlokien was Cathloic. CS Lewis was protestant. They were both christian before they met. They were good friends, and fellow writers who disagreed pretty widely on theology. Tlolkien was not evangelical, and as a Cathloic did not believe anyone could be "led to the lord" you were either Cathloic or going to hell. Tolkien and CS Lewis had several debates about literature as religious allegory. CS Lewis belived in using literature as allegory. Tolkien did not. The Lord of the Rings was not ment as a religions commentary, and Tolkien spent most of his life trying to get that message across. While your sentiment is a good one this is NOT how Tolkien intended his work. CS Lewis did however write as a witness.

 

[hudsoncs]

This is my take on the matter:

Not all magic adaptations are bad. There are great fantasy books that teaches about the things of God and the words "Magic" is said throughout.

For instance, one of the greatest Christian novels ever written was a book series by a Christian author name Tolkien. His books were "The Lord of the Rings." Great book that teaches a lot about the things of God... (Jesus, by the way, are actually two people in the series- the sin-burden carrier Frodo and the overcoming King Aragorn.)

Now the Lord of The Rings is not for kids. But perhaps you can look at another book and movie that is a great Christian epic. It was written by the person that Tolkien actually witnessed to and led to the Lord. Those books are The Chronicles of Narnia. It's very simple to see the analogies there. The Lion is Jesus. The White Witch is Satan. The "Deep Magic" is the Holy Spirit.

And the one movie that really helped my two DSs in the Faith was actually Star Wars. Get it: The Force is the Holy Spirit. The Darkside is evil.

As a matter of fact, as long as there's good and evil, you can use it as lessons for teaching. In Snow White, the Witch had an issue with vanity. And she tempted Snow White with an apple. In "The Little Mermaid" Ariel got in trouble due to disobedience. In Peter Pan, the brave boy defeated evil by being courageous. In "Toy Story" it teaches about the power of friendship.

I AGREE! Theses are great examples...great teaching tools. The things I would still avoid are scary things and things like Brother Bear... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viIhOT_vDG4 and Fantasmic.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Just wanted to point out that it is called the MAGIC Kingdom.

 

[princessmom29]

I AGREE! Theses are great examples...great teaching tools. The things I would still avoid are scary things and things like Brother Bear... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viIhOT_vDG4 and Fantasmic.

My DD didn't think Fantasmic was scary at all. She totally freaked in it's tough to be a bug,though. If anything I would have thought it would be the other way round. It was really hard for me to anticipate what she would view as scary.

 

[geishagirl81]

There are many works of fiction that can be taken as a metaphor for Christianity, whether originally intended as such or not.

 

[plutolovr]

With all the comments about evolution and the Big Bang Theory how come no one mentioned that Illuminations is also about evolution and the Big Bang Theory. That first firework IS the Big Bang and the fire that ensues which form the earth and the evolution of animals and people.

 

[princessmom29]

There are many works of fiction that can be taken as a metaphor for Christianity, whether originally intended as such or not.

yes. but the PP did not say that. He said that Tolkien intended for it to be used this way.