Quitting Disney

 

It is easy to boycott a product when the product sucks. It is exponentially more painful to extricate yourself from something that you love.

For example, it is easy for a conservative 'coffeyholic' to not overspend on a burnt cup of coffee at Starbucks, even when there is no viable alternative, because of Starbuck's woke corporate culture. I would rather suffer the onslaught of raging  morning caffeine withdrawal than chew on that sludge. The fact that it is a horrible company is just a side benefit. 

Quitting Disney will be a little tougher for some of us who vacation there on a regular basis and have so many great family memories made there. I am reminded of these in every room in our house from the Disney coasters on our coffee table, to a Mickey Mouse soap dispenser in the bathroom, assorted coffee mugs in the cupboard, shirts, purses, toys and other assorted souvenirs we've accumulated from Disney over the years. 

Status-quo is not an option, however, what with Disney CEO Bob Chapek 'coming out' against Florida’s anti-pedophile grooming bill. The last Disney collapsible paper straw for me came from a Disney staff meeting where "an executive producer at Disney said she was advancing a “not-at-all-secret gay agenda” to insert queerness into children’s animation."

Call me old fashioned, but I preferred when they were a little more subtle about their queerness.

OK, I get it Disney. You hate us. Traditional families of Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls are no longer welcome. Therefore we will begin the painful process of Disinvestneying from Disney.

The wife and I decided to take the plunge in early 2019 and bought into Disney Vacation Club (DVC), which is Disney's version of a vacation timeshare. This was an impulse buy while visiting there as guests of my brother & sister-in-law. Since then, we have gone back 7 times in the last 3 years, with another trip scheduled for this October. More to come on that.

The wife and I love our Disney vacations, whether it is a couples only trip during Epcot's Food & Wine or Flower & Garden festivals, or a big family trip with our kids & grandbabies (and my brother and sister-in-law, and their kids, and their kid's kids - like we did for a Christmastime trip this past December). Every trip so far has been different, and until recently we have been looking forward to many more. 

Regrettably, those plans will change, barring a major reversal by Disney.  

"Do you really think your little threatened boycott will have any effect on this almost $150 billion company?" - (disembodied voice in my head)

No, I don't think they'll care. That's not my motivation nor how I roll. I'm doing it for my soul. It's why I don't drink Coke nor watch the NBA or NFL anymore. Don't get me wrong, I'd love it if thousands followed suit thereby forcing Disney's hand by firing Chapek and the whole boardroom of blue-haired gender-confused groomers. There is a better chance of Elon Musk buying Disney and bringing back The Great Movie Ride and the Back lot Tour. A man can dream.

So here we go. We canceled our Disney+ subscription this week. The automated process informed us that we were paid thru November and that our subscription would cease at that time. That was not good enough, and we stated so. Finally we got a live operator involved for an immediate cancelation and a $50 pro-rated refund is on the way. I don't want their promised future garbage in my home.

As for the DVC contracts we own, there are a couple of options I'm chewing on. The upfront cost to join was significant and basically covers the resort stays for 50 years. Disney really makes the $jack from money spent at the theme parks, restaurants and Disney Springs retail sales. So I was thinking...

Option 1) Sell my DVC points on the resale market and recoup all (or the majority) of my initial investment. The resale price for points at our home resort have increased in value to match what we paid Disney Direct for them in 2019. This doesn't really hurt Disney, any more than selling your used Chevy hurts GM. And the new owner will still be buying gas. That leads me to my second thought...

Option 2) What if we keep our points and simply did resort stays? I'd rent a car and we would go to non-Disney restaurants off site. We would also trade Disney Springs for Universal's City Walk and Universal theme parks. Hmmm...

More to come. As for the October trip, that has already been paid for so we will probably be going (and using Option 2 for that trip as a trial run). Taking some inspiration from the "Walt Not Woke" dad, I may make my own shirt using my Woke Disinvestney logo above.  

What ever we do, we will always cherish the memories we were able to make.

The wife and I taking a boatride from Disney Springs to Port Orleans French Quarter for their famous Mickey Beignets.

My brother and me at this year's Flower & Garden festival at Epcot.

My kids and grandbabies...

December, 2021 at Chef Mickey's (my grandbabies and their cousins) Eagle eyes may spot Mr & Mrs DaBlade in the background on this one :)

We literally have hundreds and hundreds of like pictures taken in the last 3 years during our Disney vacations. Gonna miss it...

Bye Disney.