In this essay for The Wall Street Journal's "About Face" column, Elliot Ackerman describes traveling to Walt Disney World with his family and how his initial skepticism about the cost and commercialism of the trip gave way to genuine delight.

EPCOT as a Monument to Yesterday's Future

Ackerman recalls visiting EPCOT as a boy in the 1980s and returning decades later to find it transformed from a vision of the future into a time capsule of it. He reflects on the optimism and ambition that built the park, comparing its earnest, dated grandeur to a modern-day Versailles.

The Magic Kingdom and the Disney Ritual

At the Magic Kingdom, Ackerman describes the choreography of a Disney vacation, from an impromptu visit with Mickey Mouse at breakfast to the period costumes worn by cast members on Main Street U.S.A., modeled on the clothes Walt and Lillian Disney wore on their first date.

From Skeptic to Believer

By the end of the trip, Ackerman finds himself won over, closing with a small, telling moment: asked to add a gratuity for that morning's character breakfast, he pays without hesitation.

Read the Original Essay

This essay originally appeared in The Wall Street Journal.

Read “Happily Paying a Mouse’s Ransom” at The Wall Street Journal →