Disney as Prozac

[Disney Anna]

Just curious - how many of you use a trip to a Disney park as prozac? I know I have.

Back in 1994 I was really down. No job, lots of bills, everything going downhill. I was really bumming. I had my Disneyland annual pass and visited 18 times in one year - and it's a 100 mile drive from San Diego. But it was so therapeutic. It truly helped.

Now, whenever I'm down - off I go.

I know I'm not the only one, simply based on Pete's comments on a show awhile back. He said that when he first made it to WDW, the feeling he had was the feeling he was hoping to achieve by drinking but never made it. Everything so clean, so bright, so safe, fun and pretty. Nothing to do but decide where next to have fun. I just love it.

I'd probably been in the mental house without my Disney.

 

[wendydarling826]

I've never taken Prozac, but if I didn't have Disney, I'd probably need it!

 

[mrzrich]

Hospice Nurse here. Rewarding, but often depressing job. I live about 90 miles from WDW. I get 29 PTO days a year. 25 of them are spent at WDW.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

When I'm down I read about Disney and it does lift me up.

 

[snowy76]

ITA. Even reading the boards or planning a trip (our next one isn't for 13 months!) helps me through those moments. Even saving up for a trip gets me excited - finding some money I didn't expect to have (like the mortgage escrow adjustment I just received, yay!) or something like that.

 

[Sarabi's Cubs]

Absolutely!! Even planning a trip a couple of years out or for someone else lifts my mood.

 

[iwynlea]

Oh, yeah! It's my "happy place" and we got A LOT, especially this time of year. This is the most stressful time of year for my in my job (event planner at a university, so I do all the 50+ summer camps), and right before and right after our big camps, I have to spend at least a few hours in the parks or I'd go nuts. It's why we're going up today for a little bit...it's hot outside, but I need my dose of Disney to help recover from the camp we had last week!

 

[kathrna]

It's helped me through DH's deployments. It helps pass the months. Last year we had Disney on Ice in October, DLR in November, DAP in Dec and then he came home at the end of Jan. Listening to DIS radio ALWAYS lifts my spirits and hleps me clean around the house. Mickey just makes me smile. He's the polar opposite of a lot of people I know. I need to meet more Mickey type people and stay away from the Grumpy type people. --Just sayin'

 

[Miss SD]

Hospice Nurse here. Rewarding, but often depressing job. I live about 90 miles from WDW. I get 29 PTO days a year. 25 of them are spent at WDW.

It's OT, but I want to thank you for taking on this tough job. My stepfather died in the San Diego Hospice in November 2007 after an extremely short bout with cancer. The nurses at the hospice were amazing and really helped us, especially my mother, through this horrible time.

 

[PeterPan09]

Most definitely!! Nothing gets me over a bad mood or a lousy day faster than walking right down the middle of Main Street USA!

Disney got me through the stress of moving, getting laid off, my Dad's worsening Parkinson's, working a really crummy temp job and a visit one of the "big 4" can even get me over a tough day working at the water park!

It's one of the things that make me realize what a genius Walt Disney truly was. His parks are a true oasis for adults as well as a treat for children.

 

[DrMomof3]

Disney is my happy place!!! It's totally my drug of choice!
Glad to see I'm not alone.

Amanda

 

[paulasillars]

Not that I suffer with depression but its definitely my happy place. If I'm not at Disney, I'm busy planning a trip to go there.

Disboards are my support group though I think they feed rather than help the addiction.

 

[MelissaFromRI]

Disney is my happy place
When I'm at Disney , I'm happy & calm & all is right with the world - no drugs needed.

If loving Disney is wrong then I don't want to be right

 

[Sparkie]

How did you find out?

Mickey is my personal therapist.

Everybody has something that is meaningful and helps them get through tough times.

Ours is Disney.

Some people just dont understand the obsession. For me, Disney is a place of happiness, a place of imagination, and hope for a better future.

My family says I am a different person when I go to Disney. Nothing bothers me. On one trip our truck broke down and I spent the night on the side of I-75 and my arrival to Mickey's House was delayed by 8 hours.... but I was ok. I didnt care that I ate breakfast at the Shoneys in Valdosta and hadnt had a shower that morning after being lulled to sleep by the sound of 18 wheelers whizzing past. I really was ok. No, grumpies, no complaints because I knew that I was eventually going to make it to Mickey and everything was going to be alright.

 

[tiggerbell]

WDW is that got me through a really nasty divorce. It's more than a happy place, it feels like home.

 

[BABY_EINSTEIN'S_MOM]

I sooo understand!! Yep, my drug of choice as well. Just the other day I said to dh, "What would I do if there was no more WDW to visit, no disboards to read, no Disney music to listen to, etc?" AGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!! Seriously, I think I WOULD go into depression!

It's so nice to have a place where people understand our love of all things Disney!

 

[Disney Anna]

Disney is my happy place


If loving Disney is wrong then I don't want to be right

I second that emotion!