I recently returned home from Florida where I helped chaperon
320 high school musicians on a
six day trip to Disney. On the third day of that trip I found myself
wandering the streets of the Magic
Kingdom on a Sunday morning instead of leading worship in my congregation. We
had turned the clocks ahead for Daylight Savings Time in the middle of the
night so there were relatively few people in the park when it opened. It was
the best way for me to experience the Magic Kingdom but Disney’s nightmare: A
individual walking the park alone without any lines to wait in and with no
desire to buy a souvenir.
The first attraction that caught my eye was the infamous “It’s
a Small World” ride. I hadn't been on that ride since the first time I visited
the park in 1976. I don’t know why it called out to me that morning but I
jokingly thought to myself that this would be penance for missing worship
on a Sunday morning. So I walked through
the maze of metal guardrails and climbed aboard the aqua-colored plastic boat
and began floating down the twisting canal of this world-famous ride.
