An interesting discussion surfaced this week when a fan suggested that Disney World’s popularity came down to walkable entertainment without homeless people in the vicinity.
It is commonly held that the Walt Disney World Resort is one of the best places in the world for a Disney vacation. The Central Florida hotspot (pun not intended) is home to four Disney Parks, including Magic Kingdom Park and Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, with fans flocking to them for that quintessential Disney experience.
So what makes “The Most Magical Place on Earth” just that?
Well, one Twitter user shared her thoughts, and the tweet has garnered a lot of traction on the social media platform Reddit. Ally Maynard posited that,
My theory is suburbanites f*****g love Disney World because it’s their chance to to enjoy walkable dining and entertainment experiences with convenient mass transit without having to see homeless people.
Reddit user u/aimlesssouls shared a screenshot of Maynard’s tweet, prompting the discussion:
The discussion was wildly popular on Reddit, garnering over 1400 upvotes and 300 comments. Fans felt particularly “guilted” by Ms. Maynard’s comment about homeless people. Many called out the original tweet, highlighting that so many love Disney World because it was inherently a “fun place” and was a place to escape the harsh realities of the real world, as opposed to having anything to do with homeless populations in the United States. (A comment particularly ironic in the light of many Cast Members’ living conditions.)
One fan, u/baninabear, took a different stance on the subject,
Big agree! I have no idea why people think this particular tweet is guilting them about the homeless. The point is that Disney is a leader in creating pleasant, walkable environments and moving large numbers of people around efficiently. That was the entire purpose of the original EPCOT plans. If people in the US wanted to pursue building the infrastructure, we could have beautiful walkable cities with easy access to food, shows, and fun things to explore. I think it’s more shaming bad public transit infrastructure and poorly maintained city cores, not the people.
While this discussion continues, it bears mentioning that Walt Disney World and its Parks are renowned for being the perfect places for family-friends vacations. The Disney Resort is home to rides and attractions like Space Mountain, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, and more.
We at Disney Fanatic will continue to report on all Disney news.
