One of my favorite YouTube channels is called Defunctland. Although its creator currently makes videos talking about a variety of attractions and media that are no longer around, the channel’s early focus was quite different. Alongside the YouTube videos, Defunctland started out as a virtual theme park containing virtual recreations of rides, shows, and other attractions that were removed from real-life theme parks. Anyone who accessed Defunctland would be able to virtually experience those attractions long after they were gone from the real world.
Similarly to my idea of a life buffet, I would love a real version of Defunctland that contained all the wonderful animals, humans, places, events, and objects that I’ve lost. My Defunctland would be me as a little kid enjoying a perpetual summer. Instead of having to go to school or work, I could hang out all the time with my dog Sawyer, go on fun trips, visit with family members on a regular basis, and just enjoy life with everyone. Endless days doing what I love with whom I love. What could be better?
This has been on my mind a lot lately because of some big changes happening at Disney World. Lots of attractions I love have either already closed this year or will be closing sometime in the next year or two. The one I feel saddest about losing is MuppetVision 3D, which is a fun show featuring the Muppets and which combines film, animatronics, CGI, a live costumed performer, and plenty of special and practical effects. I’ve always loved Muppets, this particular attraction, and the nice feelings in the Muppets Courtyard part of the park. The fact that it opened one year to the day after Jim Henson’s death and was his last big project during his life adds even more sentimentality to MuppetVision 3D for me. Unfortunately, both it and the nearby PizzeRizzo restaurant are both closing forever soon (although they’re still open at the time of this writing in case you’d like to check them out before they’re gone). I’ve purchased a ticket to go check them out at the end of this month before they’re only memories. I plan to eat at PizzeRizzo for lunch (which will be my first, and likely last, time there) and watch MuppetVision 3D as many times as possible while getting plenty of pictures and videos from the entirety of Muppets Courtyard. I’m sure it will be a bittersweet trip, with plenty of laughter and tears. You can read about my trip after I post about it in early June.
The loss of MuppetVision 3D will be the latest in a long line of painful losses going back more than five years at this point. It seems that everything I enjoyed as a little kid through to when I was a young adult is slowly but surely being taken away from me. I’ve likely written before about how that will only continue as I get older and have to say goodbye to more friends, family members, animal friends, and more. Whether through changing life situations, falling out, death, or something else, I will eventually lose everything and everyone I care about, either while I’m still on Earth or after I die. When my time does come, I’d feel delighted to find that I get to live forever with everyone and everything I’ve ever known and loved exactly as they were during my life. Even if that doesn’t happen, the idea of it brings me immense comfort and makes me want to spend more time with beloved humans, animals, and things before it’s too late.