Captain EO

Good Times
Recently I took a few days and went to Anaheim with the family. Traveling with a 7 and 10 year old is still somewhat challenging, but only for me, everyone else seems to not have any issues:-). We spent a couple days at Disneyland, jumping back and forth to California Adventure also. As always it was a great time, weather was nice and cool and even had some rain one of the days, which made for short lines.

The Moment
After adventuring into Tomorrowland I saw that the Captain EO musical, starring Michael Jackson, was open again as a tribute to the King of Pop! My wife and I were both excited and decided the kids really needed to see this, it is in 3D, so that helped convince them it was necessary. About halfway through I did the check on the kids to see how they were liking the show and they were not to impressed. The 3D wasn't that great and the characters were very "baby" looking. They weren't even very impressed by the entire floor shaking! So I figured I would use it as a teachable moment and compare it to today's 3D films and how technology has allowed for major improvements with creating realistic experiences in theatre and compared it to the more modern Bug's Life show....I even tried to bridge the gap to the simulated rides like Soaring Over California and how things change with the evolution of technology.

The Stare
My kids gave me the blank stare for a number of reasons at that moment,
1. Why are we getting a lesson at Disneyland?
2. You know this is boring also, quit trying to make it more exciting than it is.
3. We can watch this on YouTube and could be on the Matterhorn right now.
4. We get how talented and creative Michael Jackson was.
5. The 3D Earth Song Tribute at the Grammy's was way cooler.
6. Your old, we understand things were boring when you were a kid.

The Picture
I think you get how things went with the Captain EO adventure. I chalk it up to a good experience for them, even if they were not impressed. They are dialed into how things were different when I was growing up, doesn't mean they want to give up their iTouch for an Atari 2600, but they understand.

As educators, administrators, tech staff, we need to think about experiences with our kids or students, and step back and ask ourselves if we are creating and supporting an environment that we grew up in, or one that our students today are living in. The picture is different in so many ways.