This month, we’re reading, annotating, and discussing “I Went to Disney World,” by Graeme Wood, which explores the reopening of “the happiest place on Earth” smack dab in the middle of this summer’s surge of the coronavirus.
I'm so looking forward to the conversation about this article! I found it really engaging and really funny, but also really disturbing and thought provoking. In particular, I was thinking about the economic incentives and reasons behind the reopening, and the disparate impacts and "choice" between people choosing to go to the park and those having to work in the park- who is spending $2500 for a weekend and who is having to work and take on a much higher risk for that weekend to happen. I really appreciate how he highlighted the loneliness of the experience, both in Disney World in particular and throughout the pandemic, and for me it really connected with this idea of whether or not people are willing to wear a mask or make other sacrifices to fight the pandemic, and how we tend to see ourselves as individuals rather than as a community who needs to work collectively, which I know is a theme we've talked about with other articles as well. In terms of questions for the author, I'd be really interested to know if he talked more to those working in the park and what their thoughts were on the reopening, and to know more about the process that led to him going to Disney World at all- what made him decide to go and tell this story at all?
I'm so looking forward to the conversation about this article! I found it really engaging and really funny, but also really disturbing and thought provoking. In particular, I was thinking about the economic incentives and reasons behind the reopening, and the disparate impacts and "choice" between people choosing to go to the park and those having to work in the park- who is spending $2500 for a weekend and who is having to work and take on a much higher risk for that weekend to happen. I really appreciate how he highlighted the loneliness of the experience, both in Disney World in particular and throughout the pandemic, and for me it really connected with this idea of whether or not people are willing to wear a mask or make other sacrifices to fight the pandemic, and how we tend to see ourselves as individuals rather than as a community who needs to work collectively, which I know is a theme we've talked about with other articles as well. In terms of questions for the author, I'd be really interested to know if he talked more to those working in the park and what their thoughts were on the reopening, and to know more about the process that led to him going to Disney World at all- what made him decide to go and tell this story at all?