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Lauren’s Disney Convention Experience
Posted by Girls By Design
August 29, 2011
Categories:  Cool Shite, Discussion
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A few weekends ago, I spent three days in Anaheim, California at the Disney D23 Expo, a convention for Disney fans, as well as in the Disney Parks themselves. Although the daily program included numerous presentations, signings, and booths to visit, most of my days involved waiting two to three hours in order to see much of anything. While I certainly enjoyed the presentations for which I waited so long, in retrospect I feel like the most memorable part of the weekend was the waiting itself. In some ways, I feel like the seemingly interminable waiting was a blessing in disguise because I had to find ways to make the time go faster. Foremost in my mind is how waiting made me willing to chat with the complete strangers who were in line with me, people with whom I never would have connected otherwise despite our shared love of Disney. Instead of texting and surfing the web on my phone as I usually do to pass the time, I found myself letting go of technology and embracing face-to-face conversation with the people around me. As someone born and raised in California, I was fascinated to hear the stories of families who had made the trip from other states in the US, such as Minnesota, and of an Alberta church group who was stopping by Disneyland on the way back from a mission trip to Tijuana, Mexico. Swapping stories and doing small things to help each other, such as finding lost family members and saving spots while each person left to use the restroom, made the time pass by much faster than texting, email, or Twitter ever would have. This experience got me thinking about a few questions. Why aren’t most people more open to talking with others? Have technological conveniences like smart phones made us mentally farther away from the people who are physically close to us? Under what circumstances are we more willing to open up to complete strangers? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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loveismusic61296

August 29, 2011

Great post! Love Disney so I’m sooo jealous!

I think people are more willing to talk to strangers when there is a clear common interest. For you, the people you were talking to were Disney fans where you are also a Disney fan. Whenever I am at a sports meeting or practice, talking to strangers is always so much easier than it usually seems to be. In this instance we all have a sport in common. The same thing happens to me when I’m doing a play. I think the connections helps us to be more open. (:


koryaunka

August 29, 2011

i completely agree!! i just came back from a missions trip to san francisco, (we worked with the homeless on the streets and in homeless churches), and i found my self at the start very shy and staying glued to my blackberry around the people i didn’t know, but as the week went on i found myself shying away from the blackberry instead and listening to these homeless peoples stories. And also telling them my stories. It made me realize that they are regular people, who’ve simply just had bad stuff happen to them. Its so good sometimes to have human reactions face to face to keep us fueled for life:)


Laurenelle

September 1, 2011

Thanks for the responses! Connections definitely do help us to be more open. :)


Binks

September 7, 2011

That’s exactly how it is in Comic-con haha. You meet sooooo many interesting people at these conventions all with their own little agenda, but you somehow share an equal passion for a greater subject. I remember this year I was waiting in line for houuuurs me and a friend, and there were 2 guys behind us dressed up as Rorschach from Watchmen (he even did the raspy voice) and the Crow, we ended up playing card games together in line while we waited, lol. They were fantastic!

I think technology, while connected is in some level, has also caused us to lose the face-to-face communication that i the end, can be the most important aspect. People are sometimes too conveniently hidden behind a screen that when coming to be in an actual social presence it’s somewhat alien and potentially harder to communicate.I think we’re more willing to talk to strangers in occasions that warrant them, like needing help, or being in utter boredom, maybe it could just be that you find someone totally interesting by just their mannerisms or by being a ninja stealth eavesdropper, or maybe at parties where one has to either socialize or be the pariah in the bathroom for the whole night. I don’t know but strangers, don’t seem that strange once you start talking to them ;)