Disney Closed for Christmas - For those that celebrate Christmas Only

[ilovefh]

I voted yes, I would support it. For a few reasons. I don't travel that time so go ahead...close. Also I think everyone would like to share a holiday they celebrate with their families.

It is unreasonable to think all of Disney World could close for the day. If you close the parks you need to close the resorts and what do you do with the people there? Tell them they can stay but can't go swimming, get food, get their rooms cleaned...etc?

To those who say if the day was optional there would be enough people who volunteer I don't think that is the case. When I worked there I would have taken Christmas Day off if it would have been optional. The day was actually mandatory in our location. If you called in you were fired. It happened to a girl I work with. I will say that not having holidays off is part of why I left Disney. I know that my coworkers after a few years had their own traditions, but my traditions involved opening gifts Christmas morning and celebrating in the afternoon with my extended family.

 

[jemgumby]

Did you watch the History of Christmas on the History Channel? They went over all of what you said and more. It was fascinating.

To expand on that, scholars are pretty sure that contextual evidence from the Bible and Dead Sea scrolls indicates Jesus would have been born in the spring, not December. They sited many reasons but among them was the historical accuracy of the census that Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem for and the fact that in that part of the word, at that time in history, shepherds wouldn't have been in the field in December to see a star anywhere.

The Christians assigned December 25th as the celebration of Jesus' birth to try and steal some thunder form the pagan winter solstice festival. Basically the church learned that completely doing away with many of these festivals was impossible because they were so ingrained in society so they tried to adapt them to Christianity the best they can. This is also why November 1 is a holy day, to try and do the same with the pagan Halloween festivities.

I'm sure the History Channel will replay the show, I think it is fascinating and you learn a lot.

Of course people can believe what they want to, that is the beauty of faith.

Ok, back to the topic at hand.

Yep and that is why we personally do not celebrate Christmas. I am glad that the movies are open and some nicer dining establishments. Yes one year we were even at Disney during Christmas and what I liked about it is that the CM's were very careful not to assume that EVERYBODY celebrated Christmas. I don't remember being wished a "Merry Christmas" at MGM 12/25/06 and I really appreciated that. Aside for the Christmas decorations I FORGOT it was Christmas. So I am glad that there are places open and I even work on holidays too (LOVE the time and a half)!!!

 

[eliza61]

A lot of people have expressed that Christmas is too commercialized. That they don't think that unnecessary places should be open on Christmas Day -- that we are destroying the family by doing so. So many people "have" to work when they would rather be at home.

This is a Disney board and lots of people here love going to Disney; I know we do. And, we love going to Disney for Christmas.

However, all those Cast Members are forced to work on Christmas Day because we want to be there.

So, only for people that celebrate Christmas, do you support Disney World and Disneyland being closed on Christmas Day so that all those Cast Members can be home with their families? (This question does not include the actual resorts or the restaurants, only the parks.)

I'm firmly in the "Christmas is tooo commmercial" camp. I'm of an age where I remember when holidays were more than an excuse to shop. To tell you how bad it is in my neighborhood, this year there was a sale to celebrate/remember 9/11. They called it a Patroit sale. Of course when I think of the horror of 9/11 it naturally makes me want to shop.

for our family Christmas is a religious celebration and while we have travelled (and probably will again) on that day. I try to get my kids to remember what we are celebrating and what it means to us. Even if I did go to Disney, I probably would not do the parks. I can't imaging crowds of people pushing and shoving is going to give me the sense of the holiday that I want.

So yes, I would definitely support the decision to close if they made it.

 

[golfgal]

Did you watch the History of Christmas on the History Channel? They went over all of what you said and more. It was fascinating.

To expand on that, scholars are pretty sure that contextual evidence from the Bible and Dead Sea scrolls indicates Jesus would have been born in the spring, not December. They sited many reasons but among them was the historical accuracy of the census that Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem for and the fact that in that part of the word, at that time in history, shepherds wouldn't have been in the field in December to see a star anywhere.

The Christians assigned December 25th as the celebration of Jesus' birth to try and steal some thunder form the pagan winter solstice festival. Basically the church learned that completely doing away with many of these festivals was impossible because they were so ingrained in society so they tried to adapt them to Christianity the best they can. This is also why November 1 is a holy day, to try and do the same with the pagan Halloween festivities.

I'm sure the History Channel will replay the show, I think it is fascinating and you learn a lot.

Of course people can believe what they want to, that is the beauty of faith.

Ok, back to the topic at hand.

So what??? Does it really matter WHAT day Christmas is on? It could be July 18th and it would have the same significance for people.

 

[FireDancer]

So what??? Does it really matter WHAT day Christmas is on? It could be July 18th and it would have the same significance for people.

The point isn't the significance. The point is that the selected date, December 25th, is arbitrary and those working on that date can still celebrate the idea of Christmas on their preceding or succeeding day off.

 

[ogreenlee]

We are a non-Christian family who celebrates Christmas. I collect Santas and put up lots of decoration. We have presents and do all the things that are festive. I look forward to seeing Disney during this time, and no they shouldn't close. Disney is a great place for families. You can't shut down everything because of Christmas. It stinks if you have to work on that day, I'm sure, but such is life.

 

[Acklander]

How about all the schools that can't say Christmas Vacation, or have to have a "Winter Party" or can't have anything like Santa Clause in the school? How about when Target went so far as to not have anything with "Christmas" on in their stores. How about not being able to have Christmas Carols played anywhere in public buildings. Every year there is a huge outrage about SOMETHING to do with Christmas. Remember back when that airport got in trouble for having a Christmas Tree. THAT is what I am sick of.

That's a business (or school) making a decision to include EVERYONE in the celebration and the greetings, not just those who celebrate Christmas. That isn't the 7% saying YOU can't celebrate Christmas. YOU can celebrate whatever you want, YOU can listen to whatever music you want, and YOU can extend whatever greeting you choose to extend during the holidays.

 

[Nancyg56]

That's a business (or school) making a decision to include EVERYONE in the celebration and the greetings, not just those who celebrate Christmas. That isn't the 7% saying YOU can't celebrate Christmas. YOU can celebrate whatever you want, YOU can listen to whatever music you want, and YOU can extend whatever greeting you choose to extend during the holidays.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

How about all the schools that can't say Christmas Vacation, or have to have a "Winter Party" or can't have anything like Santa Clause in the school? How about when Target went so far as to not have anything with "Christmas" on in their stores. How about not being able to have Christmas Carols played anywhere in public buildings. Every year there is a huge outrage about SOMETHING to do with Christmas. Remember back when that airport got in trouble for having a Christmas Tree. THAT is what I am sick of.

I fail to see how any of this has prevented you from putting up a tree in your house, attending religious services, or telling stories to your own children about Santa Claus. Schools (exclusive of religious private academies), airpoirts and private retail businesses do not exist to promote one particular religion. Every year there is a huge outrage from people who feel that these institutions should promote a specific religion when they do not.

Really, does it bother you that much not to see the word 'Christmas' on a Target banner? Would you even notice if someone hadn't pointed it out to you? If so, then I'm sorry. Personally, I have bigger concerns to waste my anger and energy on.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Not listen to songs on a radio or watch TV. There are technicians there in every studio working for your entertainment.

Having worked (All be it briefly in the 1990s) in television radio, this is very much changing!

Many radio stations are computer programmed. I know several locally whose programming is all computerized. One is a local radio station that plays the latest hits (not sure the genre, but your lady gaga, taylor swift kind of mix). There overnight hours are strictly programmed via computer. I don't listen to them anymore to know if a holiday like Christmas is off. But it would be within their capabilities.

The Christian radio station--even with the dj's, has all of their music digitized and programmed. Hence they do not take requests--someone already spent the time programming the computer system and with rare exception and one small daily block where one person is pre-selected to make thier request of 3 songs, the computer does it all. They do take major family holidays off and if you did hear a dj seemingly live--it was all pre-recorded. They do have an emergency person on backup though b/c they are the Orlando area EBS folks--they handle broadcasting the announcements and those announcements are fed to other local stations on their EBS system to broadcast. It would be rare at that time of year, but in the event of major storms, someone would be handy to take care of that.

A local Catholic Radio is strictly broadcasting satellite recordings--all via computer. A body is on backup just in case there is a technical problem and they will go into the studio. But it is all pretty much run on auto-pilot.

As for tv stations--mastercontrol is only 1 person. It was computerized somewhat when I worked there, and I'm sure it is more computerized now. Stations go on very low staff. (the station I worked for even ditched a news show or two b/c there was other programming going on that they could play.)

And like radio, it is likely that a tv station can be on autopilot with someone on emergency call in the event of a problem.

Just posting b/c it is not true that there are technicians in every studio working for our entertainment. Many are indeed unmanned so that folks can be with their families be it on Thanksgiving, on a Sunday, or on Christmas.

 

[Mrs.Toad]

How about all the schools that can't say Christmas Vacation, or have to have a "Winter Party" or can't have anything like Santa Clause in the school? How about when Target went so far as to not have anything with "Christmas" on in their stores. How about not being able to have Christmas Carols played anywhere in public buildings. Every year there is a huge outrage about SOMETHING to do with Christmas. Remember back when that airport got in trouble for having a Christmas Tree. THAT is what I am sick of.

Thanks for the clarification. So, what you actually meant was not that you are unable to celebrate Christmas. You are just sick and tired of other people or entities not celebrating it the way you think they should. (That's the misrepresentation.)

Oh, and the airport? If you're talking about Seattle, that's another misrepresentation being perpetuated by zealots who want others to believe that there really is a "war on Christmas". The airport had Christmas trees up. A rabbi wanted to add a menorah. Instead of adding a menorah, airport officials decided to remove the trees, a move the rabbi did not request or intend. And people call the rabbi the Grinch? Naw, the grinches were the airport officials who didn't want to include anyone's holiday but their own.

But for me I don't NEED a holiday(or organized religion) to tell me to honor Christ, I can do that every day of the year.

Exactly! This is what really irks me about the "war on Christmas" complainers. They actually seem to think that hearing a store employee say "Merry Christmas" is an important part of the holiday. Talk about commericialism!

 

[jemgumby]

So what??? Does it really matter WHAT day Christmas is on? It could be July 18th and it would have the same significance for people.

Ok then how would you feel if your family told you they are going to celebrate your birthday to honor you but instead of celebrating YOUR birthday on YOUR birthdate they decided to celebrate it on a date that had nothing to do with your birthday but coincided with another celebration that they wanted to intertwine with YOUR celebration. So on the date of your supposed "birthday celebration" they were honoring another celebration and gave everybody presents BUT you.......Also they decided to do a bunch of activities that have NOTHING to do with you like uuuummm I don't know decorate a tree, talk about a guy named Santa Claus, etc. Somehow YOUR birthday celebration gets lost in all of the festivities and it is not even on your birthdate.........How would you feel? Do you ever think how Jesus feels???

 

[Jennasis]

Ok then how would you feel if your family told you they are going to celebrate your birthday to honor you but instead of celebrating YOUR birthday on YOUR birthdate they decided to celebrate it on a date that had nothing to do with your birthday but coincided with another celebration that they wanted to intertwine with YOUR celebration. So on the date of your supposed "birthday celebration" they were honoring another celebration and gave everybody presents BUT you.......Also they decided to do a bunch of activities that have NOTHING to do with you like uuuummm I don't know decorate a tree, talk about a guy named Santa Claus, etc. Somehow YOUR birthday celebration gets lost in all of the festivities and it is not even on your birthdate.........How would you feel? Do you ever think how Jesus feels???

I want a t-shirt that says this!!

HWJF?

 

[jemgumby]

I want a t-shirt that says this!!

HWJF?

I didn't even think of that....It'll be the new WWJD......

 

[Nancyg56]

Ok then how would you feel if your family told you they are going to celebrate your birthday to honor you but instead of celebrating YOUR birthday on YOUR birthdate they decided to celebrate it on a date that had nothing to do with your birthday but coincided with another celebration that they wanted to intertwine with YOUR celebration. So on the date of your supposed "birthday celebration" they were honoring another celebration and gave everybody presents BUT you.......Also they decided to do a bunch of activities that have NOTHING to do with you like uuuummm I don't know decorate a tree, talk about a guy named Santa Claus, etc. Somehow YOUR birthday celebration gets lost in all of the festivities and it is not even on your birthdate.........How would you feel? Do you ever think how Jesus feels???

But don't you understand? No one is stopping you from celebrating Christmas on the 25th, no one is stopping you from holding that day sacred and no one is forcing you to miss Mass or to go to theme parks. What we are all simply saying is that the way that you are celebrating may not be the same way or even the same Holiday as others celebrate.

It is up to you to ensure that you celebrate the Birth of Christ without getting lost in festivities if this is important to you. It is important to me so I do not travel or visit theme parks on Christmas. Did that once and will never again. If others do not celebrate that day or if others chooses to celebrate in a different way that is their business. If someone needs to work on that day and cannot join family for the day and they want to celebrate on a different day I am sure that Jesus would not find that reprehensible. It is still possible to make Mass, wish the Baby Jesus Happy Birthday and keep the day special if that is one's wish.

What the majority of people here are saying is that we all need to respect that this Holiday does not hold the same significance to everyone and that we all need to respect that. That courtesy does not diminish your right to celebrate Christmas, instead it appreciates that others worship in different ways.

 

[jemgumby]

But don't you understand? No one is stopping you from celebrating Christmas on the 25th, no one is stopping you from holding that day sacred and no one is forcing you to miss Mass or to go to theme parks. What we are all simply saying is that the way that you are celebrating may not be the same way or even the same Holiday as others celebrate.

It is up to you to ensure that you celebrate the Birth of Christ without getting lost in festivities if this is important to you. It is important to me so I do not travel or visit theme parks on Christmas. Did that once and will never again. If others do not celebrate that day or if others chooses to celebrate in a different way that is their business. If someone needs to work on that day and cannot join family for the day and they want to celebrate on a different day I am sure that Jesus would not find that reprehensible. It is still possible to make Mass, wish the Baby Jesus Happy Birthday and keep the day special if that is one's wish.

What the majority of people here are saying is that we all need to respect that this Holiday does not hold the same significance to everyone and that we all need to respect that. That courtesy does not diminish your right to celebrate Christmas, instead it appreciates that others worship in different ways.

Not trying to be disrespectful but I am lost.... I don't celebrate Christmas and am a Christian. I don't celebrate it because of its pagan origin. Like others have said I don't need a holiday to honor Jesus, I try to do that day to day by my conduct. So I agree not everybody celebrates Christmas and that is why I for one am glad that theme parks, movies, some fine dining establishments, etc. are open. I am sure that also those of Jewish faith, athietists, Hindus, etc. are also glad that the world does not completely come to a standstill on Christmas just because others are celebrating it.

 

[Kurby]

my dh sometimes works, brother and uncle sometimes work too - it depends on how their shifts come around.

although since dd was born my dh has asked and been given Christmas off since he's been working there for 20 years now but he works on boxing day (still a holiday in Canada) and new years day.

no i wouldn't support them closing nor do i support stores that close on Sundays.

it's perfectly fine for people to have their religious days but in this day and age of multicultural not at the expense of someone else.

or not at the expense of Sunday being the only day i can shop because i work 2 jobs 6 days a week or have my own religious day on Saturday. or because the 2 weeks at Christmas is the only time my family can get to have a vacation because my plant shuts down or my department slows down.

everyone has to realize that both Canada and the US are multicultural countries and when you close on Christmas you're saying my religion is more important than yours.

if you close on Dec 25th do you also close at Easter? what about hanukkah or Ed or whatever religious day?

 

[MusiqChic99]

I would support it but I think they would be crazy if they did.

 

[Nancyg56]

Not trying to be disrespectful but I am lost.... I don't celebrate Christmas and am a Christian. I don't celebrate it because of its pagan origin. Like others have said I don't need a holiday to honor Jesus, I try to do that day to day by my conduct. So I agree not everybody celebrates Christmas and that is why I for one am glad that theme parks, movies, some fine dining establishments, etc. are open. I am sure that also those of Jewish faith, athietists, Hindus, etc. are also glad that the world does not completely come to a standstill on Christmas just because others are celebrating it.

I must have misunderstood your post, I am very sorry. I thought that you were opposed to people celebrating Christmas in a way that worked for them, I read more into your birthday analogy than I should have.

I have to admit that I really did not know about the pagan origin of Christmas, I am one of those folks who disregards how some holidays were originally started and compartmentalize them in the manner in which I like.

 

[luvsJack]

Good heavens. The OP asked if those that celebrate Christmas would object to Disney closing on Christmas. She didn't ask if Christmas is celebrated on the correct date, or if trees and Santa have anything to do with Jesus, or what to do about those that don't celebrate Christmas.

99.9% of all Christians know that Jesus was not born in December. And most know that it was originally a Pagen holiday, blah, blah, blah. And? So what?
December 25th is the day that was chosen by someone (I don't care who) to be the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Period. So, that's the day we celebrate it. Why, oh why do so many need to come up with this lame excuse of "its not the day he was born" to put down those that celebrate this day?

As for how would He feel? Give me a break. If we can take that one day of the year and think about someone other than ourselves and be with family and show a bit of love to our fellow man--He is rejoicing. It never was about Him--remember why he died?????