Focusing on the Positive

Welcome to Jackie’s Spoonful of Pixie Dust!

Since this is my first column in the series, I thought I’d discuss something that is near and dear to my heart; teaching yourself to look past the negative so you can focus on the positive when it comes to Disney theme parks.

It seems that lately, the hot and heavy discussions surrounding Disney vacations have been consumed by unfavorable things such as huge crowds, high prices, and quality of food. I’m not going to say that those points are not valid, but I’m going to try to see if I can’t get you to think about changing your way of thinking, even if only a little bit.

A few years ago when New Fantasyland opened, I was there with a bunch of friends and visited about once a month for a few months after the area opened. A dear friend of mine was so mad one day when she noticed that the Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride vehicles were getting scraped on their undersides because something wasn’t measured properly when they were installed. She wasn’t just a little miffed either, she was seriously peeved. The funny thing about it, to me anyway, was that I didn’t even notice it at all! I thought long and hard about it after the fact and pondered about how I could have possibly missed that when she explained how obvious it was. See, when we were standing there, I was looking at all of the smiling guests who were riding; I wasn’t looking at the underside of the ride. I suppose that I might be lucky since that is where I automatically focus.

Here’s the thing, though. When Elsa from Disney’s Frozen became responsible for lighting Cinderella Castle during the holidays, I couldn’t wait to watch the first video of the show which I did and loved. I did have one big issue with it, but that’s a story for another post. Within a few hours and even into the next day, I was seeing posts on different social media outlets about how an entire section of Cinderella Castle wasn’t lit. I couldn’t believe it. Surely, if that was the case, I would have noticed. Sure enough, when I re-watched the video of the show and really tried to see the unlit section, I saw it. When I said I had to really try hard to see it, I mean it, but, once I saw it, I couldn’t un-see it. It was the only thing I saw. I made a point of not sharing this story with many people when it happened because I don’t like to spread or focus on negativity, especially about such a magical place. Plus, I enjoy watching how others react when I share my favorite parts and the feeling I get when I spread more uplifting stories is priceless.

My point in sharing all of this with you is to say this. If you make a conscious effort to teach yourself to only focus on things that are fairly fabulous when you’re at a Disney Park, you’ll be able to do it naturally without having to think about it for one second. It will take time, but it will become easier the more you do it. Of course, I understand that things can happen like someone cuts in front of you in line or whatever – don’t let that ruin your entire day or vacation because, in the end, it’s not worth the aggravation, I promise. Be annoyed for a split second and move on – quickly. Smile at the person next to you and compliment them on their shirt. Disney Parks are supposed to be fun and they’re way too expensive to let little things ruin your time there.