Disney The Healing Place

Disney The Healing Place

          Over the years many of my family members have had physical and emotional times when we’ve needed a healing Place. Disneyland has been that healing place for us.

          When my husband was accidentally electrocuted and declared brain-dead he needed to rekindle joy in his heart. Our entire family needed to reconnect and have fun together. We also needed a place for my husband to reestablish memories to positive events in the past and once again Disney was the place.

          Besides my husband my father also found Disney could be a healing place. My father had polio as a child and was told he would never walk but did. He then lost a leg to cancer in his 30s and that never slowed him down. He traveled 3-6 months out of the year. He raced dirt bikes, ski boats and even water skied after losing his leg. In his 70s he lost part of his lung to cancer and that is when he said he was done. He said, “I can no longer travel so put me 6 feet under.”

          We started talking to him about how much we enjoyed Disney. We would show up at my parent’s house once or twice a week to clean and do minor repairs. After doing this for some time my dad had recovered from surgery for lung cancer and was feeling depressed staring at the same four walls every day. He decided when our annual passes to Disneyland expired to take us for a day to the park and we use that money as part of the funds to renew our pass. This was his way of saying thank you for helping him. Little did he realize he would fall in love with Disney.

          Shortly after taking us to Disneyland dad purchased annual passes to Disneyland for himself and my mom. Soon after he was buying passes for the entire family, all 12 of us! We quickly noticed how his depression lifted and he had a renewed joy of life and positive outlook. He would drive an hour or more to spend a few hours at the park having lunch in watching a show. Disneyland gave him a reason to get up and get out of bed. We believe this kept my father alive for an extra nine years after his last bout of cancer and through several strokes and heart attacks.

          Disney Parks are not just the place of amusement/entertainment and they are not just a place for children. Disney Parks and Cruises are good places to go to renew your heart and strength during times of illness and emotional stress.

          When someone says they are facing an illness and therefore canceling a Disney trip I say don’t cancel! Instead keep it booked, keep planning and keep looking forward to a positive event. Also be realistic and keep a final cancellation date where you can get back the money you have deposited or already spent. See if maybe you can postpone your trip instead of canceling. In my opinion this is even more important with somebody facing a life altering or life-threatening illness. Hope and something enjoyable to look forward to can make a world of difference for a person’s health.

Be realistic with what you plan to do. If you have an injury that would make riding a roller coaster dangerous for you then don’t. Realize you may not be able to stay in the park from opening to close. You may need to go home or back to your hotel early to rest. Let whatever you can do be enough! Don’t let the fact you can’t do everything stop you from doing what you can do!