Never too old for Disney?

Is there a best age for Disney? It’s a year since we met Mickey Mouse in Florida. My son pointed this out recently. Which is unusual because anniversaries aren’t particularly relevant to an 11 year old. But I had also been thinking it myself, and wishing I could turn the clock back twelve months. Yet, before our visit to Orlando, I wondered if Cameron and I were too grown up for such childish things.  In this post, which includes video content sponsored by Disneyland, I wonder if you can ever be too old for Disney? 

What’s the best age for Disney?

What’s the best age for Disney? Could it be the toddler years when Small World feels like the whole world, when Mickey Mouse is your firm BFF, and when you believe that Tinkerbell can keep little fairies happy till eternity with a wave of her wand?

Could it be the tween years, when, just sometimes, you feel like a real princess, and you’re half hoping that Prince Charming might appear at the front door with your lost silver Converse in his hand?

Could it be the teen years when the ups and downs of the Disney roller coasters mirror your hormones  and your believe that if life doesn’t speed up you’ll die of boredom in your bedroom?

Could it be the parenting years, when Pooh and Tigger have passed from your childhood to theirs and come alive once again?

Could it be the grand-parenting years, when you can’t remember where you left your rose tinted spectacles and need a reminder that you can still dream when you’re snoring?

What do you think?

The guys at Disneyland Paris urge you to bring the kids NOW. While they are children. While they are still old enough to share things with you, still old enough to get excited.To make this a little easier, they’ve come up with a special offer…

Their message is clear. Don’t wait, or it’ll be too late. Rewind to last year and I thought maybe it was too late. I thought my boys were too cynical for Cinderella. I thought that Hannah had outgrown Tinkerbell and her glittery outfits, and that for her, Prince Charming was just a charming tale.

How wrong I was

Well, I was wrong. Last year Cameron and I had the opportunity to try out a handful of theme parks and attractions in Orlando. We had a great time together searching for sting ray teeth in the tanks of Seaworld. We happily zipped across a park of snappers at Gatorland. We supped butter beer with Harry and his friends and spun with Spiderman at Universal. We flew at iFLY and gave ourselves a dangerous taste for skydiving. But nothing came close to our experience at Disney. My response to the park completely took me by surprise.

Because while I enjoyed the thrills at the other attractions, I found Disney to be so much more than an adrenaline rush. Disney is different. Disney is a silver balloon that will never burst. It’s a luminous fairy in a storm riddled sky. It’s a pink palace that doesn’t come with a mortgage or woodworm, it’s a princess who doesn’t base her self esteem on a selfie, and it’s a prince without a credit card bill. It’s life before everything else gets in the way.

The magic is always there for you

The video is right. The experience is perfect when you are a child; at the point where you still believe, the point when your dreams haven’t yet been chipped away and you aren’t too self conscious to be seen with your parents. But at any age, Mickey and his friends can still take you right back to that place and time. That’s why it works. That’s why people go in their millions; to Paris, to Florida, to California. I challenge anyone to join the parade or watch Tinkerbell fly across the night sky and not feel that way. I couldn’t. And neither could my son.

Go to Disney. Take your toddler. Take your tween. Take your teen. Take yourself. Take your parents. Take your grandparents. It’s never too late. Like Mickey Mouse, who is now in his 80’s, I think you are never too old for Disney.

Disclosure Note: The video in this post is sponsored content brought to you in partnership with Disneyland Paris. The ideas and opinions around it remain, as ever, entirely our own.