{"id":1418246,"date":"2022-04-04T14:29:36","date_gmt":"2022-04-04T18:29:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1418246"},"modified":"2022-04-04T14:30:02","modified_gmt":"2022-04-04T18:30:02","slug":"it-was-our-happy-place-families-cancel-disney-trips-abandon-disney-plus-over-companys-woke-ideology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/it-was-our-happy-place-families-cancel-disney-trips-abandon-disney-plus-over-companys-woke-ideology\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It Was Our Happy Place\u2019: Families Cancel Disney Trips, Abandon Disney Plus Over Company\u2019s Woke Ideology"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fit-was-our-happy-place-families-cancel-disney-trips-abandon-disney-plus-over-companys-woke-ideology%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1418246&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Forty-year-old Stephen Knittel has been a Disney fan \u201csince diapers.\u201d His parents took him to Disneyland as soon as he could walk, he says, and he used his season passes to Disneyland California to take his five-year-old and two-year-old to the theme parks before COVID-19 shut down the country.<\/p>\n<p>When Disney <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/gina-carano-star-wars-daily-wire-mandalorian\/\">parted ways with actress Gina Carano<\/a>, he began to reconsider supporting the company. He became even more skeptical when Disney announced the film\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/03\/16\/well\/family\/turning-red-periods-discussion.html\">Turning Red,<\/a> a movie that touches on themes of sexual maturation and puberty. (Disclosure: The Daily Wire has announced plans for children\u2019s entertainment content.)<\/p>\n<p>But it was Disney\u2019s stance on Florida\u2019s bill banning classroom conversations on gender and sexual orientation for young children that pushed Knittel over the edge.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt saddens me to think that the magic that was part of my life (and my wife\u2019s too) will not be part of theirs,\u201d the Orange County, California, resident said of his children in an email to The Daily Wire, \u201cbecause the only way we can effectively voice our opinion to a company like Disney is to refuse to do business with them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor us that means canceling Disney+, canceling Disney Movie Club, deleting Disney Insiders memberships, and boycotting any and all creative works put forth by Disney,\u201d he continued. \u201cI\u2019m not sorry for our decision and can\u2019t even pity a company for making such a poor decision when they have enough clout to do whatever the hell they want and this is the direction they\u2019ve decided upon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Knittel is one of many parents who told The Daily Wire that they are canceling their trips to Disney and their subscriptions to Disney+ over the company\u2019s increasingly vocal embrasure of woke ideology.<\/p>\n<p>Kyle Carter of Bremen, Georgia, said he and his wife have canceled their upcoming trip to Disney for her 30th birthday.<\/p>\n<p>Kade Nielsen from Salt Lake City, Utah said his friend group of 12 people canceled their May Disney trip and are heading to Mexico instead.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"qu\" role=\"gridcell\"><span class=\"gD\" data-hovercard-id=\"kraigkorbas@hotmail.com\" data-hovercard-owner-id=\"133\">Kraig Korbas from Ohio said he canceled<\/span><\/span>\u00a0Disney+ this week and agreed with his wife that they won\u2019t be taking their toddlers to Disney \u201cdue to the ridiculous hill Disney is willing to die on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Elizabeth Muehlbach of Pennsylvania says she will be taking her family to Dollywood instead.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve put in HOURS of planning and have already put a deposit down at Pop Century resort,\u201d the mother of three said. \u201cBut after reading all these reports and doing some investigating myself, I just can\u2019t invest 15K or more in a company that so blatantly\u00a0ignores science and family-friendly entertainment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Disney did not respond to The Daily Wire\u2019s requests for comments for this story.<\/p>\n<h3>The Last Straw<\/h3>\n<p>Disney has sparked national outrage over its response to Florida\u2019s HB 1557, legislation\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/floridas-lgbtq-bill-is-being-wildly-misrepresented-here-are-the-facts\">stating<\/a>\u00a0that\u00a0\u201cclassroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The bill has been misrepresented by media and critics, who call it the \u201cDon\u2019t Say Gay\u201d bill and insist it endangers LGBTQ youth. The word \u201cgay\u201d is not mentioned in the legislation, though \u201cparent\u201d is mentioned 32 times.<\/p>\n<p>Disney <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/disney-florida-bill-banning-sexuality-gender-discussions-for-little-kids-should-never-have-passed\">condemned<\/a> the legislation after Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe remain committed to supporting the national and state organizations working to achieve that,\u201d a Disney spokesman told The Daily Wire earlier this week.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly afterward, Chris Rufo released several videos purportedly from a recent \u201call-hands\u201d Zoom staff meeting in which a Disney executive producer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/not-at-all-secret-gay-agenda-disney-employees-break-down-adding-queerness-to-shows-and-degenderizing-theme-parks\">discussed implementing<\/a> her \u201cnot-at-all secret gay agenda\u201d in a children\u2019s show.<\/p>\n<p>Many of the parents who spoke with The Daily Wire cited these videos from Rufo as the straw that broke the camel\u2019s back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve all known for years that Disney is left wing, but many of us somewhat tolerated it bc their product gives our children joy,\u201d Kurt Buchert, a Florida father of four children under eight, said in an email.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut that Zoom call we all heard this week is utterly insane\u2026a group of woke gay activists talking about an agenda to foist on our children about trans and LGBT ideology,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s blatant child abuse and grooming. Way over the line.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Like other parents who spoke with The Daily Wire, Buchert plans to take his family and his business to other theme parks \u2014 like\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.universalorlando.com\/web\/en\/us\">Universal Studios<\/a> in Los Angeles, California.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have gone to Busch Gardens, Legoland and Universal Studios instead,\u201d Buchert said. \u201cLego and Universal\/NBC are somewhat \u2018woke\u2019 as well, but Disney is out of control.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>\u2018It Was Our Happy Place\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>Aaron Sherrill and his wife Catherine live in Orlando with their 12-year-old son Jacob and 9-year-old son Liam. He told The Daily Wire that he grew up in Orlando and worked for Disney as his first job starting at 16.<\/p>\n<p>He and his wife were Disney annual pass holders for almost 10 years and brought their children to Disney weekly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was our happy place,\u201d he said. \u201cWe went multiple times during the week. We watched all the vlogs on tips, secret hideaways and new events and spent tons of money\u2026We were signed up for Disney+ even before it released and pre-purchased 3 years of a subscription. That\u2019s how big of fans we were.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They were very unimpressed by Disney\u2019s response to the pandemic, the father said, describing the increased restrictions, prices, and reservations as a \u201cmiddle finger\u201d from the company to families.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_363443\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-363443\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Sherrill family at Disney in Orlando, Florida.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Disney\u2019s response to the pandemic prompted the family to stop renewing their passes, Sherrill said. But it was Disney\u2019s\u00a0response to Florida\u2019s bill that prompted them to cancel their annual Christmas trip to Fort Wilderness, a themed camping resort in Disney\u2019s Magic Kingdom.<\/p>\n<p>They won\u2019t be renewing their Disney+ subscription when it expires in November, and they\u2019re\u00a0looking into becoming annual pass holders at Universal Studios or Sea World.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s one thing to not give your money to Disney,\u201d Sherrill said. \u201cIt\u2019s another to turn around and hand it to their staunch rivals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe events of the past few weeks have convinced us that we will never give Disney any of our money again,\u201d the father added. \u201cWe are disgusted with them. I would be sad if I wasn\u2019t so revolted by their actions as of late.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Laura Zorc, executive director of Building Education for Students Together, mother to four children and grandmother of four more, told The Daily Wire that she alternates taking her kids and grandkids to Disney World every year.<\/p>\n<p>But this year they bought Florida resident passes for SeaWorld instead \u2014 and canceled their Disney+ subscription.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cWe have been going to Disney since the kids have been in strollers,\u201d she explained. \u201cWe had my daughter Abby\u2019s first birthday at Disney at a character dinner. We had my 29-year-old\u2019s 5th birthday at a character breakfast at Magic Kingdom.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_363445\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-363445\" class=\"wp-image-363445 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Laura-Zorc-Disney.jpg\" alt=\"Laura Zorc with her grandchildren Nicholas, Abby, and Chandler on their way to watch the Disney Magic Kingdom fireworks show in 2017.\" width=\"1196\" height=\"1600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Laura-Zorc-Disney.jpg 1196w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Laura-Zorc-Disney-224x300-1.jpg 224w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Laura-Zorc-Disney-431x576-1.jpg 431w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Laura-Zorc-Disney-768x1027-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Laura-Zorc-Disney-1148x1536-1.jpg 1148w\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-363445\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Laura Zorc with her children Nicholas, Abby, and Chandler on their way to watch the Disney Magic Kingdom fireworks show in 2017.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cDisney has been a part of our family,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is a hard transition. It\u2019s like giving up one of your favorite things, like giving up coffee. We enjoyed it, but we have to look at the big picture here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">As a corporation, Zorc believes Disney has the right to go in any direction they want.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThat\u2019s the beauty of America,\u201d she said. \u201cBut we as customers also have the option not to patronize their establishment if it goes against our values and our beliefs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies for breaking news, investigative reporting, sports, podcasts, in-depth analysis, books, and entertainment for a reason: because we believe in what we do. We believe in our country, in the value of truth and the freedom to speak it, and in the right to challenge tyranny wherever we see it. Believe the same? <a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Become a member now and join our mission.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Forty-year-old Stephen Knittel has been a Disney fan \u201csince diapers.\u201d His parents took him to Disneyland as soon as he could walk, he says, and he used his season passes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":496,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1418246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1418246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/496"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1418246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1418246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1418246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1418246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1418246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}