For many children, trips to Disneyland are a dream come true.
Many of us grew up with the Disney princes and princesses and couldn’t wait to spend time in a real-life environment with them. Still, they say that sometimes you shouldn’t meet your heroes because you’ll be let down.
At least, that’s what happened to three-year-old Noah McLean.
Noah and his mother Hayley live in Devon, England and were planning a trip to Disneyland Paris.
Little Noah was excited to celebrate Christmas with his favorite Disney character, Princess Elsa. He was such a fan of Elsa, in fact, that he often wore her dress around the house. Noah’s mother even wrote about it on her parenting blog, Sparkles and Stretchmarks:
“[Noah] wears his beloved Elsa dress all day every day… he even refuses to take it off at bedtime. He knows every single word to Let It Go and all of the other Frozen songs.”
To celebrate, the family planned to book Disneyland’s “Princess for a Day” package.
After writing a letter to Disneyland Paris, the company wrote back that the package was not available for boys. Noah was very disappointed by his mother was outraged. She decided that day that she wasn’t going to take their decision lying down.
Instead, McLean decided to write a letter to Disneyland on her blog.
Her impassioned letter against Disneyland Paris has since spread across the internet.
In her inspiring post, she stands up for her son’s choices and his right to be his own person:
“My son is very young, he doesn’t yet have any idea that there is such judgement and outdated perspectives in the world. He has no reason at all to believe that anybody would ever see anything wrong in a child playing dress up . . . I didn’t force my child to put on an Elsa dress, he chose it for himself.”
As it turns out, McLean’s letter worked.
Representatives at Disney reached out to the family with their apologies, ensuring them that they were given bad information and that the Princess experience is open to any child—including boys. Still, McLean was not entirely convinced:
“We’ve already paid in full but I don’t know what to do. It feels like it’s lost the magic a little bit.”
Regardless, McLean’s letter in defense of her son is inspiring in itself.
Instead of bowing before an outdated view of the world, McLean decided to stand behind her son and support him no matter what. If this story shows anything, it’s that speaking out against injustices like these can make a real difference.
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