While most of Walt Disney World’s offerings seem, at first glance, primarily designed to amuse children and young adults, this is not actually the case. There’s much in the World for people of all ages and backgrounds to enjoy – and yes, that includes Dads.
Now, traditionally, Dads can be spotted from a mile away – wearing relaxed-fit Dockers and crackin’ wise about how cell phones can do most anything except place an actual phone call – but you don’t have to be the father-figure in a family to be a “Dad.”
No, no – if you love corny jokes, classic Americana, Baby Boomer-style simplicity, business-casual attire, or even just some good air conditioning, you qualify as a “Dad” — or, at the very least, as highly Dad-like. That includes men, women, old, young – anyone can have that noticeable air of Dadness.
So for you Blackberry-holsterin’, golf-shirt wearin’, Ken Burns-lovin’ folks, we’ve got six must-sees for your next Disney trip.
1. Main Street U.S.A.
When you take your very first trip to Walt Disney World, it’s highly likely that the first park you visit will be the Magic Kingdom And so, odds are, one of the first things you’ll encounter on your Disney trip is Main Street U.S.A. – and this area was basically designed to make Dads’ jaws drop.
It hits all the Dad high points: nostalgia, history, and corny jokes galore. Heck, the entire concept of Main Street U.S.A. was created by the biggest Dad of all, Walt Disney.
The street depicts multiple architectural styles from many different regions, but it is essentially a rose-tinted look at turn-of-the-century life in Anytown, U.S.A. There’s a barbershop, a city hall, an old movie theater, a railroad station – all the things you’d associate with life in the early 1900s. But, ultimately, those things are so timeless that it really can feel unstuck from time, like the Main Street of your own childhood.
If you’re a history buff, or if you just like looking back at things from a bygone era, Main Street U.S.A. is an excellent view of the idealized past – something Dads are always looking for.
2. Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream
This attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is very different than most things you’d encounter at that park – or really anywhere on Disney property. More than anything, it’s a museum, filled with artifacts and information about the man who started the Walt Disney Company.
Of course, it’s all very sentimental – without Walt Disney, there wouldn’t have been any of his films, and without his films, there wouldn’t have been any of his theme parks, and so on down the line. In fact, without Walt Disney, you wouldn’t be reading these very words right now; you’d be in some other corner of the internet reading about something that’s not theme parks (Walt invented those too, remember).
So, for Dads and Dad-like people, there’s an awful lot to be sentimental about when thinking of the man, and an attraction celebrating that sentimentality is the perfect thing to help remind us of it. Dads can sometimes get a little teary-eyed, and the centerpiece film in the attraction has been known to conjure up one or two, making it another great choice for reminiscers and fans of nostalgia.
3. The Hall of Presidents
This show was, essentially, created specifically for Dads. Frankly, the only way you could attract more dads to The Hall of Presidents would be if you added an Eric Clapton concert at the end.
You see, if there’s one thing Dads love, it’s knowing about (or pretending to know about) the U.S. Presidents. Furthermore, the show has an aspirational quality to it – Nixon, Kennedy, Bush and Obama all share the stage peacefully. If they can all put aside their differences, why can’t we? It’s a nice idea, and one that Dads are probably always thinking about as they read the morning paper and switch on the Sunday news shows.
And then, of course, there’s the other classic Dad stuff: air conditioning, a comfy chair, and a solid bit of Disney history – the show was inspired by Disneyland’s Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. All of that conspires to make this one of the most Dad-friendly attractions in all of Walt Disney World.
4. One of Disney’s park benches
There’s no shortage of spots in Walt Disney World to simply sit and watch the world pass by. There are so many, in fact, that the esteemed folks at the Dis Unplugged podcast went about chronicling them for your entertainment and relaxation.
Why are there so many benches? Well, amid the harried pace of a Disney vacation, it can be important to take a second to slow down. Dads don’t need me to tell them this, of course – that’s basically a way of life to them. My own father has taken that idea and formed it into his entire worldview: “Why stand when you can sit? Why sit when you can lie down?” he often queries to us all.
While the actual health benefits of that strategy are dubious, you will find nowhere better to take advantage of it than Disney. Not only are you gifted with dozens of perfectly comfortable benches, but they’re often under shade and in a perfect spot for people watching – something Dads always love to do.
Combine that with a Mickey Bar, and you’ve basically carved yourself out a bit of Dad heaven.
5. Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress
When you consider the history of the Carousel of Progress, it’s hard to believe it’s something of a best-kept secret at Disney.
The ride was initially created by Walt for the 1964 New York World’s Fair as part of the General Electric pavilion. It was called “Progressland” at the time, and used Disney’s state-of-the-art Audio Animatronic figures to tell the story of mankind’s technological progress from the early 1900s to the present.
It was hugely popular, and the ride’s iconic theme, There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow, perfectly encapsulated everything Walt Disney represented. Since it made the journey to Walt Disney World in 1975, it has been in continual operation – closing only for refurbishments and renovations.
Odds are, if you’re a Dad, you either were in attendance at the 1964 World’s Fair, wanted to be in attendance at the 1964 World’s Fair, or are fascinated by the 1964 World’s Fair, in which case Carousel of Progress would be the perfect attraction for you.
Plus, it gives you about 15 minutes in an air-conditioned theater. That’s worth the price of park admission alone.
6. The American Adventure
For all its cheese and overly patriotic schmaltz, I believe Walt Disney would absolutely adore The American Adventure. Taking a wider view of American history than the Hall of Presidents, this show looks at the entire history of the country (well, a version of the entire history) and concludes that, for all its faults, there’s still something great about America. It uses songs, film, and extraordinarily complex animatronics to tell that story, and it does so on a very grand scale. Naturally, the creative mind behind shows like “America the Beautiful,” “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln,” and “America Sings” would have been head-over-heels in love with it.
And modern day Dads are too.
It combines everything – the corniness, the history, the teariness, the stupid jokes, the air-conditioning – all of it rolled into one single attraction built to be the ultimate Dad experience at Walt Disney World. If you’re a Dad, or if you have something of a Dad-like mindset, you’ll no doubt drag the rest of your party along to enjoy it with you.
And, if you’re anything like my dad, you might fall asleep halfway through. Because above all else, even if they’re loving a particular show, Dads love themselves a good nap.
