A Lesson from the Magic Kingdom

My husband and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary at Disney World. For those of you who have not been, Disney World is not just for kids. We had a marvelous time and I recommend it to anyone as a second honeymoon. But that is not the point of this post.

Disney World is a super clean place. Each year there are 17 million visitors through the gates of the Magic Kingdom and it always looks fresh, new and clean. How do they do it? I was a witness to one such event. They never let even a little mess start. If a mess starts, it doesn't stay long. 

Perhaps the worst time for mess is just after the parade. Thousands of people line Main Street with popcorn, ice cream cones, hot dogs in wrappers, etc. When the parade is over the street is jumbled with clutter - for a minute. Immediately after the parade, young men appear with noisy street vacuums, vacuuming the gutter. In 10 minutes time the street is pristine clean again.

I first thought that the roar of the vacuum was an intrusion on the fun of the Magic Kingdom. And indeed, it was. but so was the trash. So Disney World had a choice, 10 minutes of noise or the rest of the day of clutter. They chose to vacuum.

I find I am often faced with those kinds of choices. Shall I vacuum and disturb the children's TV or studies? Shall I clear the coffee table of cups and plates and disturb for a minute the visit with a friend? I think I have learned the answer to that at Disney World. The answer is to take a few minutes to restore order.

This is the way with housekeeping. If the house has an aura of neatness, hopefully no one wants to be the first to break the mood. If a little clutter comes, more clutter is soon to follow because the aura is already broken.

This is why it is so important not to let messes get started.

Warmly,
THE ORGANIZER LADY®, Sandra Felton
Founder, Messies Anonymous

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