Here Now, Should Have Been Just Back

[KrazeeK120]

My feeling is I need to be aware of the traditions and cultures of the area where I am, rather than expecting people to be sensitive to me because I'm in the minority. I once visited an area of the world with a large Jewish population. I am Christian. We visited a restaurant with a very strict kosher menu. Should I have expected them to prepare for me a non-kosher meal because I am not Jewish? I also visited sites of WWII Jewish work camps and memorials to those who died. What happened to them was beyond awful. The World Showcase pavilions are meant to actually represent the countries (and they do a decent job, really). I really can't see how singing a Christmas song which originated in the heavily Christian country represented and inviting people to sing along is offensive. Would you be offended if you actually went to Germany and they invited you to sing along? If the answer is no, then by extension, there would be no reason to be offended at an authentic German representation elsewhere. If the answer is yes, I don't really know what to tell you. Perhaps it would benefit you to learn about the history of other religions. I did, and I appreciate my Jewish brothers and sisters even more now, and would certainly not be offended if I were among a group of Jewish people who invited me to "sing along."

 

[Farro]

In that one instance, I didn't. Everything else was embracing enough to feel welcoming or not presumptive all around the World. And of course you don't attend the Candlelight Processional (which sounded awesome passing by) unless you intend to. But the band leader at Biergarten literally says something like, "Now everyone sing the lyrics in English!..." We did Biergarten twice this trip and sat through this part of the show twice as well. It wasn't "if you know the lyrics" or "if The spirit moves you" or anything like that. It came across pretty clearly as an assumption that no one could possibly not know the lyrics or not want to sing along and it really threw us out of the show both times.

It could be a cultural thing on the part of the band, or they may just say it every year, I don't know. But the moment felt very exclusionary--there's no way a sentence like that could possibly have included us--and that's why it felt un-Disney. For one awful moment, we were suddenly not part of "everyone" at Disney.

Just to be clear, if they would have said "sing if you know the lyrics", would that have been okay? Also, I can't fault the band for thinking the majority of the people in the room would know Silent Night, because the majority of the people in the room knew Silent Night.

For the record, my boyfriend of 20 year is Jewish. He has the unfortunate luck of being with an Italian Catholic. He has Christmas coming out the wazoo. We do have a Menorah, we do light the candles, but I have to say my Christmas traditions are in the forefront. In his case, it doesn't bother him. It doesn't bother his mother. I just asked what he would think about what you described - he said he would just be embarrassed to sing at all. He told me that growing up, the majority overwhelmingly celebrated Christmas and he never felt excluded. He knew other families who put up trees! We have actually had many conversations about our religious upbringing over the years. There were things I thought would offend him that didn't, there were things I would never dream he'd find offensive and he did. Always learning.

The funny thing is I don't believe in any of it anymore either. But I still celebrate Christmas.

 

[monorailrabbit]

Wanted to weigh and say first, be thankful you are still at Disney tonight! We were supposed to fly home to Nebraska, but our connecting flight got canceled so we are spending the night on the chairs at MCO.

This was our first Christmas experience - and we loved it! We are Christian, but I don't think that played a big role in our enjoyment. It was fun to see the lights on the castle - I may have taken 100 pics of that. We enjoyed the party and the shows enormously! I will agree it is HEAVY on the Christmas - more than I was expecting - but not in a bad way. Personally, I see nothing wrong with asking folks to sing a Christmas song. I love that. If you don't want to participate, don't. We will be back again in October, so it will be fun to see it back in Halloween mode. Disney makes it fairly easy to plan around a season you enjoy!

 

[kandb]

In that one instance, I didn't. Everything else was embracing enough to feel welcoming or not presumptive all around the World. And of course you don't attend the Candlelight Processional (which sounded awesome passing by) unless you intend to. But the band leader at Biergarten literally says something like, "Now everyone sing the lyrics in English!..." We did Biergarten twice this trip and sat through this part of the show twice as well. It wasn't "if you know the lyrics" or "if The spirit moves you" or anything like that. It came across pretty clearly as an assumption that no one could possibly not know the lyrics or not want to sing along and it really threw us out of the show both times.

It could be a cultural thing on the part of the band, or they may just say it every year, I don't know. But the moment felt very exclusionary--there's no way a sentence like that could possibly have included us--and that's why it felt un-Disney. For one awful moment, we were suddenly not part of "everyone" at Disney.

How could the moment feel "awful". Sorry, but you are being super sensitive and no one was forcing you to sing, even if the bandleader said "everyone sing". I don't know why you were taking it literally. I am Catholic and if they said "everyone sing to a Hannakah song", I would not be offended at all. I realize there are different cultures/religions and if you are accepting of that, you shouldn't have a problem. How about just enjoy watching people enjoy themselves and sing. It doesn't always have to include you. I think complaining to guest services, like you said in the first post is terrible, why ruin it for everyone else. I went to NYC public schools for kindergarten and we used to sing Hannakah songs all the time, my mother never complained. She thought it was nice.

 

[kandb]

It is a religious song with religious lyrics that a Disney CM is asking "everyone" at a restaurant to sing. "Everyone" cannot do that. "Everyone" is not the same. Why is this hard to understand?

Do you take everything in life literally? If you do, life must be hard.

 

[maxiesmom]

Do you take everything in life literally? If you do, life must be hard.

I'm thinking they better totally re-do Monsters Laugh Floor because you know, not everyone can shake their hands and scream. It is rude and exclusionary to expect everyone to do so. It is the same thing, right?