Disney Magical Mindset Podcast

Your Doctor Just Prescribed Main Street, U.S.A.

• Ruben R. Rios • Episode 67

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 19:35

What if the Happiest Place on Earth is actually one of the healthiest? 

In this episode, we explore why joy, wonder, and even a day at Disneyland might be more important than we think. And what Walt Disney understood long before the research caught up.

From powerful insights on happiness and health to the simple magic of Main Street, we’re unpacking how choosing joy, connection, and a childlike approach to life isn’t just meaningful, it might actually be essential.

Helping you reimagine what's possible and step into it! 

Welcome To The Magical Mindset

SPEAKER_00

Hey Reimagineers, welcome back to the Disney Magical Mindset podcast.

Disneyland Is Not Just For Kids

Walt Disney Defends Adult Wonder

Why Adults Need Disney Again

Research Links Joy To Health

Connection Fights Loneliness

Ruben

If we haven't met yet, I'm Reuben and I appreciate you being here. If you've been here for some time or you've been here since the beginning, thank you. I'm so grateful for this reimagineer community. It means the world to me, and I just love sharing this magic with you every single week. You know, here we don't just talk about the magic of Disney, although we talk a lot about that and I love it. We learn how to live it every single day. And so if you've ever walked out of Disneyland or a Disney park wishing you could hold on to that feeling just a little bit longer, you're in the right place. And today we're talking about something a lot of people get wrong. They think Disneyland is just for kids. But what if I told you it might actually be one of the healthiest things you do? Are you ready? Cuz here we go. You probably heard at some point somebody say Disneyland is only for kids, or you've heard the Disney adult thrown around, or perhaps you have a friend, a family member who says something like, Again, you're going to Disneyland again, or you're going to Walt Disney World again. You know that feeling. We've all been there before. And listen, I get it. From the outside, it kind of looks that way. Like, like maybe people who don't understand what we understand and feel what we feel when we're walking down Main Street, or they they just see characters and rides, music, fireworks. Which is all amazing, by the way. But you know, truthfully, some people are just haters. They just they're just there to rain on your parade. And that's another episode for another day. In fact, I know at some point I've talked about that, and maybe we we'll need to just do an entire episode on silencing the haters. But but I I want you to know, if you've ever been there, if you've ever really felt it, you know it's more than that. It it's it's more than the characters, the rides, the music, the fireworks. We love it. And it's an amazing experience. But it's more because you don't just leave Disneyland or Walt Disney World or any Disney park around the world tired. You leave different. It's like that Disney tired. There's tired, you know, and then there's Disney tired. And that's that tired where you just like had the best day ever. You feel lighter, you're you're happier, you're more like yourself. Something happened in the park that just caused you to feel like everything was just gonna be okay. You know, all the cares and the worries, I mean, just it just like it disappeared for that moment. And and I've been I've been thinking, what if that feeling isn't just fun? What if it's actually necessary? Yeah. What if it's actually necessary? And and one of the things I've been saying, and I will continue to say, that we don't just go to a Disney park to get the magic. Now it's there. Of course it's there. And and I will continue to say this that that there's nothing like being in a Disney park. But I want to remind you, I want to continue to reassure you. This is this is so powerful, that you don't go to a Disney park to get the magic. You go to be reminded of the magic that's in you. You go to you go to experience something that causes you to feel a certain way. And that's what I want to look at today, because there's something so powerful there. There's something so powerful. And Walt Disney, I I really believe he had this perspective that I think we're we're now just starting to understand better. I and I I that's why I admire Walt because he said some things and he's got some powerful quotes I want to share with you right now that that are ones that maybe you've heard before, but but they're so encouraging as adults, as adults, Disney adults who who love to be in Disneyland or in Walt Disney World. And here's what he says. Here's what he says. You ready for it? Such a powerful quote. Why do we have to grow up? Walt says. I know more adults who have the children's approach to life. They're people who don't give a hang what the Joneses do. You see them at Disneyland every time you go there. They are not afraid to be delighted with simple pleasures, and they have a degree of contentment with what life has brought. Sometimes it isn't much either. Wow. That's the first quote. He talked about adults who still carry a childlike approach to life. People who don't live by comparison. I love that. They're not uh giving a hang what the Joneses are doing. They're so focused on the joy and the happiness that they experience in life, that they're creating themselves, that they're not looking at everyone else because, in doing so, you waste your time trying to be like everybody else. And so Walt understood this. He's like, they're not living by comparison. People who allow themselves to enjoy the simple things, is what Walt says. People who aren't afraid to feel joy. Don't miss what Walt is saying here. He's telling us, he's reminding us of the power of that childlike wonder, that joy, that feeling we get when we're in Disneyland, and he references the adults. All right, I got one more for you. I mean, this is if there's anything that you needed from Walt, if there was an episode you needed for like for Disney adults to feel uh, you know, a sense of affirmation and and confirmation from Walt Disney about you experiencing the magic later on in life, reverting back to that eight-year-old child as an adult. Here it is, here it is. Here's the second one, here's the second one. Uh Walt says, in the wintertime, you can go out there, meaning out to Disneyland during the week, and you won't see any children. You'll see the oldsters, aka the Disney adults, and out there riding all these rides and having fun and everything. Some summertime, of course, the average would drop down, but the overall year-round average, it's four adults to one child. You see, Walt noticed something really interesting inside Disneyland. He said that that during certain times of the year, you wouldn't even see many kids in the park. It was mostly adults, adults riding the rides, laughing, enjoying themselves, walking down Main Street, having the best time, experiencing joy and happiness. And on average, this is what Wold says. It was something like four adults for every one child. Think about that. See, the the people who say things about, you know, us Disney adults, or you're going to Disneyland again, or you've been, you know, or they make fun of us or whatever. Number one, who cares? Let them. You know what I'm saying? Like, I ain't got time to be wasting my happiness and joy, or allowing it to be stolen by someone else whose opinion I can't change anyway. So, you know what? That's that's one. And and then number two, look at what Walt is saying about this joy and happiness that the adults experience in Disneyland. I just, I so appreciate these beautiful like words from Walt that just continue to reinforce that the magic is for everyone and that feeling that we get when we step into a Disney park, no one can take that from you. That's why it's so special. And I want to talk some more about the importance of that that joy and that happiness that we feel and what it actually does to our health. I mean, it's so it's so amazing. So, so maybe this was never just for kids. Maybe those who say it it was or say it is, they've never understood Walt's journey. They've never read his story, they've never seen these quotes, these, they've they've never, you know, been exposed to this magical mindset and these messages that that we hear from Walt and the power of Disneyland and the experience of being in the magic kingdom, the Disney park. I mean, I really think that that people are just unaware of what he says. Because we're going straight to the source. I mean, we're going to to the one who built Disneyland and is telling us about Disneyland and who's it for? Man, so so maybe adults have needed this all along. Like this Disneyland, I know we hear uh, you know, it's for kids or it's connected, and of course it's that. This is why many of you who love Disneyland today, um, is because many of you experienced it as a kid. And there was something that happened in the park when you were young that caused you to feel a certain way, and you got older and you now wanted to go back to that experience because for some of you, you missed out on some of your childhood. And that was like me. I experienced a bit of loss as a child. And so there were some things that that happened to me, and and I've shared this story, and I've and I've shared um my story, and that's going to be in my book, by the way. I can't wait to to be able to just you know continue to to go and share and and really be honest and open with with my my childhood and my experience. And and and part of my childhood was taken because of because of a brokenness and home and and because of addiction and all that stuff. So, like for me, see, some people don't even realize how Disney makes us feel when we're there. And and that's the story. That's the part that that we miss or that others miss. That maybe adults definitely truly have needed this all along. Because we're just, you know, maybe, you know, bigger kids as adults, but we're still we still have that that childlike wonder inside of us, right? We we we go back to that eight-year-old kid, and I I I I feel we do this, and many people do, is because somewhere along the way, some people lost. They lost something. You know? Life gets busy as we as we get older, as we do life, as we do adulting, right? Things get heavy in life, stuff starts to get loud, and and we start thinking about responsibilities and expectations and pressures and worries and cares, and everything just consumes us, and without even realizing it, we stop feeling wonder. We stop noticing the small things, we stop allowing ourselves to just enjoy a moment without thinking about what's next. You ever felt like that before? Yeah, we all have felt this way. And here's what's wild because this is why happiness and joy is so important. And I'm gonna connect that to Disneyland in just a moment, but I I wanna show you what research says and how science actually backs this up because it it tells us that and shows us that joy and happiness and having a positive outlook and reframing things in like that positive, right? How it's directly connected to your physical health. Yeah. So we're talking about lower stress levels. You ever just want to be less stress and or or better heart health or stronger immune systems, better sleep, which I know we all could use, uh, even living longer. I mean, it's crazy to even think that joy isn't just a bonus in life, it's essential. Because you're constantly um, or or well, some of you are constantly stressed. We call it chronic stress, and and and that's you know, we've we've gotta we've got to get out of that that cycle. But but when you're stressed or you're constantly stressed, your body feels it. I know that feeling. It doesn't feel good. Um, your mind feels it. You're you're not really living, you're just getting through the day. And it's that tired that we're talking about, you know, at the beginning when we talked about Disney tired, that gets a different kind of tired, right? The tired here, uh, the stress tired is that the tired that you feel when you come home from a long day. Like it's that tired where you're not live really living and it's hard to enjoy life, and you've got so much that's consuming you. So you go to bed or you lay your head down, but it's hard to even sleep well because you're constantly thinking about the next day or everything that you got going on in your life. And the power is something happens to you and me when we experience joy. I mean, it is it is showing us that people who are happier and and and find joy and live it live out of their imagination and dreams and not their past history, like the people who experience that joy and that happiness. I mean, I I read live longer or can live longer. I mean, the benefits of being happy, what they will do to you mentally, emotionally, physically. I mean, wow. There's a psychiatrist, Robert Waldinger, who's the director of the Harvard Study on Adult Development. And he and his team did one of the longest studies on happiness. And what he found was so powerful. He discovered that loneliness can be just as harmful to your health as smoking or alcoholism. Man, and that just is mind-blowing to me. Loneliness. There's a lot of lonely people, and that's detrimental to your health, which is why I I feel Disneyland, Disney, it just connects people because something happens, man, when we're in a park, but something also happens in this Disney community. Like you find people who are who who like who are like you, right? Who who enjoy Disney and you connect and that loneliness that some people may have felt, like they now feel connected because they're they're friends with people that they might not otherwise have been friends with had it not been for Disney or for our social media community where we connect on on the Disney platforms. And it it's it's amazing to me that on on the other side of that, connection, joy, meaning, they don't just improve your life, they actually can extend it. Isn't that amazing? Like even therapists today encourage people to reconnect with the inner child because they know something happens when you do that, when you go back there, right? Not to avoid life, but to heal, to feel again, to breathe again. And here's why Disney is important, and here's how we we connect it back to Disneyland. And this is the power of this connection where it all comes in that going to Disneyland or to Walt Disney World or embracing like the magic of Disney, I really believe is good for your health. I really do. Because it makes you happy, it brings me joy, it creates happiness, and we've already discovered that happy people, joyful people, are just healthier. They're they're they have a they're have a better health. I mean, your life is extended, possibly can be extended because of joy and happiness. And that's why. That's why I go that well, that's not the only reason I go to Disneyland, but isn't that cool that now you know it's like that's medicine for your soul? Go to Disneyland, go to Walt Disney World. In fact, here's your prescription. And I'm not a medical doctor. Your prescription is to go to Disneyland or Walt Disney World or some Disney park around the world or connect with the Disney people, the adults on these Disney social platforms. If you're not following along, uh my magical adventures, please do at the reimagineer. I mean, here's what Disney creates is space, space for joy, space for connection, space for nostalgia, space to just be.

SPEAKER_00

And you can fill in the blank of what it creates for you, that feeling you get walking right down the middle of Main Street USA. It's not just nostalgia, it's your nervous system finally exhaling.

Take Back Your Joy

Ruben

Yeah. That's you remembering what it feels like to not carry everything for a moment, to laugh, to play, to feel alive again. So no, Disneyland isn't just for kids, it's for anyone who refuses to lose that part of themselves, the part that still dreams, still believes, still finds joy in the little things. Because at the end of the day, joy isn't childish, it's powerful. It's powerful. Take back your joy. It's powerful. Yeah, some of you have gone through it, and and and maybe that joy was taken from you. And people told you, no, it's only for kids. Don't go to Disneyland, man. What are you doing there? And they're making fun of you. No, take back the joy. It's yours. Walt created Disneyland for you. I want to thank you so much for being here, my reimagineer friends. Hey, if this episode spoke to you, would you share it with another Disney adult who needs this encouragement today? Keep dreaming, keep believing, keep going to Disneyland. Maybe I'll see you there one day. Remember, remember always, you are the magic because the magic is in you.