The Five of Clubbs: The Happiest Place on Earth

"Never grow up." ~Peter Pan

Last year, as my husband turned 39, we began hatching a plan for a really fantastic way to celebrate his 40th birthday. I discovered there was a nighttime race at Disney World the weekend of his birthday: The Tower of Terror 10-Miler on Oct. 4. Is there a better place to turn 40 than a place that reminds you never to grow up?

We realized that if two teachers and three school-age kids were going to travel to Orlando in the middle of the fall semester, we would need to make it a quick trip. We have made three previous visits to Disney in the 12 years since we started having children. On all of those, we were on summer or winter break, we drove, shared condos with friends or family and tried to be as frugal as one can when visiting Mickey Mouse.

We decided to venture into new territory this time: Flying, staying on Disney property and spending the same amount in four days as we would have on our previous week-long visits.

We began saving and took any opportunities we could find to make a little extra money. I taught an extra class and we both took advantage of a couple of paid professional development opportunities.

I have found people's opinions on Disney to be pretty divisive -- they love it or hate it. Some think it is just one of those things you have to do once, but that's enough. So, right now, some people might be shaking their heads as they read this, thinking of all the more practical things we could have done with that money or the more grown-up getaways Bob and I could have taken. Now that we have returned from the Not-So-Scary 40th Birthday Celebration, I think I can explain with more clarity why we made the investment to schlep three children to and from Florida for a couple of days at The Happiest Place on Earth.

Because Bob and I both have backgrounds in theater, we love the feeling of being in the midst of a grand production. Because we both grew up loving Disney movies, we love being somewhere that nostalgia is celebrated. Because we have both had pretty big doses of reality in our adult lives, we love to indulge in pure fantasy. And because our children have experienced some stress and sadness already in their young lives, watching them get to revel in the magic and just be little is a great gift, too.

That said, I believe Disney doesn't "fix" any family. In fact, at Disney, I believe your family becomes "more so." So, if you are pretty dysfunctional -- watch out. In the case of the Five of Clubbs, it means our highs are really high -- feeling my cheeks will break from smiling as all the kids are waving to characters and dancing to the parade music -- and our lows are really low -- wondering where I went wrong as a mother when my children whine and cry while we wait for the bus to take us back to the resort.

As we return to real life, it's all worth it. We have the memories and can keep some of the magic in our pockets until we return. After all, the next best thing to visiting Disney World is planning a trip there.

"Too many people grow up. That's the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up. They forget." ~Walt Disney

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About Brooke

Brooke Clubbs is the director of health communication and an instructor at Southeast Missouri State University. She runs (literally) around Jackson, is married to Bob and is the mother of three kids and two dogs. She believes that in every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. But it would be nice to have a fairy godmother, too.