Concerning & Potentially Concerning Content

It is probably best to start with Disney as a whole. Many Christians today have stopped supporting Disney as their company values and what the agendas they have chosen to champion (and include in their recent movies) run counter to Biblical, conservative Christianity. This book is obviously very focused on this company, primarily their characters and the theme parks. This may be a non-starter for many. There are some scenes that could be scary for children. There is a scene where they go through “It’s a Small World” and dolls come alive, chase the group and attack them. There is a scene where they are nearly drowned on a ride and it is explained in some detail. Several times the main villain tells them she will kill them. An eel creature in the water begins to grab them with their tentacles and attempts to drown them. The main character is not a good example for young children. Later the book confuses the concept of arrogance or conceitedness with confidence. There is a non-Biblical view of a family dynamic. At one point when Mom catches the main character sneaking out her response is that “we can’t tell your Dad.” and again later, “tell me and I won’t tell your Dad.” Later Dad is shown as just sitting around not caring and then “always riding” him to do better. Then Mom always just “asks the same questions”, which he barely answers. At one point it says she gives “the usual lecture about good and respectable behavior. snore.” There is also a non-Biblical view of men. The main character says “girls are smarter than guys at school stuff, friendships, and family stuff.” and that boys are “better at computer games and farting.” When the main character starts to get confused he jokes that he is losing it and then says, “I’m not stabbing girls in the shower or anything.” Later when they go into the Haunted Mansion it describes seeing “a dead man dangling from a noose attached to the ceiling.” At one point it uses an example of “a vampire sucking blood”. Witches are mentioned frequently, typically in reference to Maleficent. There are references to ghosts, goblins, ghouls. Halloween is glorified quite a bit. There are a few characters who seem to be introduced for the sole purpose of allowing the author to make insensitive comments. An overweight friend is described as wearing “a sweatshirt big enough to cover a chair with” and then “eating enough for two kids and having the body to show for it.” A teacher is said to be “the most boring teacher in the whole school”. Another character “spoke with a British accent that sounded like a pompous snob.” When meeting a new group of kids central to the story the main character only focuses on the most beautiful girl and then shallowly refers to the second “not as pretty” and “geeky”. Later it describes a crowd as “fat people, sweaty people, smelly people, bald people.” There is an odd inclusion that seems to take a shot at religion as “strange”. Upon meeting a new character the author has him walk up and with no context and tell him he was a Baptist. The main character then says, he “wasn’t terribly religious and didn’t know what to do with that information or what that meant.” Later there is a worry he will be “carried off to the loony bin, or worse, their minister.”