F*** Disney

Posting had better not become a chore for me. It is good to have incentive to keep up with semi-regular posts because a blog is online, but at the same time, there is a certain amount of pressure associated with it. I had big plans to post while I was in Florida last week, but Disney--of course--charged for their internet access, even for professionals at their convention center. In the hotel rooms, they had only dial-up access, which was quite expensive; in the convention center, there was wireless, but it was also very expensive. So, a week later, I am posting to give you this warning:

NEVER--EVER--GO TO DISNEY! Or ever go to Florida, for that matter. The whole place is just ugly: hot, muggy, bug-filled, one long, penicular range of urban sprawl and bad drivers. Disney itself is King of Commercialism and Consumption. There were literally a million people in the Magic Kingdom park where we passed Saturday afternoon after the conference, and it was so expensive, and filled with lines, and freakishly Twilight-Zone-ish in its contruction of reality. The redeeming part of the whole experience was the abundance of cute children, from 3 months all the way to 11 years, just bouncing about, meeting characters and eagerly waiting in lines for rides.

Here is a picture of Allie (co-presenter with me for one of my research projects) and me at Downtown Disney, about to eat dinner at Planet Hollywood (3 hour wait--we were finally dinig at about 9:45pm). It was fun to present research and get to know other students, but I hope never to return to Disney as long as I live. So, there you have it, for what it's worth.