It was just as perfect as he’d always imagined.ĭespite the parks’ queer appeal, Disney films had, up until recently, largely ignored LGBTQ characters. The magic was “amped up to 1,000,” Diaz said. He finally made the trip to Magic Kingdom when he was 30, when the park was decorated for Christmas. “They filled my entire childhood with magic.” “To them, giving their kids ‘the best’ was the American dream, and in their eyes, that was Disney,” he said of his parents. Uriel Diaz, pictured in front of Ariel's grotto, went to Disney World for the first time when he was 30. Though his parents couldn’t afford to take their four children to Orlando to visit the parks in person, the films were the soundtrack to his life. Morales said Orlando’s proximity to Disney World’s four parks is partially what drove him to move to the area, which is one of the most vibrant and populous LGBTQ communities in the country.ĭisney was America to a young Uriel Diaz, whose parents emigrated from Mexico and raised him in Texas. “Growing up and watching ‘Snow White’ or watching ‘Cinderella’ as a queer little boy, just having this fantasy of Disney … it always felt like love,” said Joél Morales, director of operations at the LGBTQ+ Center in Orlando. Disneyland, Disney World and their international sister parks capitalize on guests’ childhoods, which, for adults of all ages, are likely tied to the popular Disney films they grew up with. The parks have convinced them that magic exists within its walls – that there’s a toothless, candy-coated world where no one questions whether they belong.įor many LGBTQ Disney fans, coughing up the cash for a Disney park ticket is worth the nostalgia trip. Courtesy brand of manufactured Americana feels real to the queer and trans people who’ve dedicated their personal and professional lives to the brand. “The feeling of escaping reality and the harsh impact of society seems to just disappear once you walk into the park gates,” said Franky Dalog, a transmasculine park employee.įranky Dalog, pictured in front of Cinderella's castle and in an outfit inspired by "Raya and the Last Dragon," works for Disney. But they buy in anyway, because at the parks, they feel at home. Many queer and trans Disney fans are aware of the spell they’re under, which typically fizzles out somewhere in the parks’ prodigious parking lots or on the drive back. A trip to a Disney park promises an escape from life as you knew it, permission to experience unfettered, childlike wonder and pose for photos with both Mary Poppins and Sadness, the perpetual downer from “Inside Out.” Reality has no bearing at a Disney theme park – which is part of the parks’ appeal to many LGBTQ fans. There, the pretzels are shaped like Mickey Mouse, the air on “Main Street USA” circulates the scent of fresh-baked cookies and Cinderella herself might blow you a kiss from a parade float. Disney World’s Magic Kingdom bills itself as “the most magical place on Earth,” which is only true if you buy in completely.
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