It may seem pretty lame to be a hopeless romantic these days but I can’t help it. Sure, people love to play games and ignore text messages and hide their feelings, but I still believe that true love is totally possible—and I have Disney movies to thank for that. These staples of Disney films may be incredibly cheesy, but I still dream of them happening IRL:
- A guy falling in love with me immediately When Aurora is singing in the forest in Sleeping Beauty, Prince Philip can’t believe how beautiful she looks and sounds. And that’s it—he’s a goner. It’s a super intense form of love at first sight. Even though it seems like that could never really happen, it would be pretty great if finding love were that simple.
- Being kissed like my life depends on it Poor Snow White—she has to deal with that crazy evil queen and even gets killed by her. Although it’s clear that she’s long gone since, well, she’s lying in a coffin, a prince kisses her. Since he loves her, she’s brought back to life. Amazing. I definitely want a guy to kiss me like that—like my life depends on it. It doesn’t matter if I’m actually in any danger (though hopefully, I’m not).
- Sharing a spaghetti strand on a date This classic moment from Lady and the Tramp has gone down in movie history as the most romantic scene ever… and there’s a reason for it. Sure, it’s not super practical to want to share an actual plate of pasta on a first date and to literally end up eating the same piece. It’s super romantic, though. It would be great if it wasn’t so incredibly corny…. and if I wasn’t allergic to gluten.
- Being loved for my talents In The Little Mermaid, Eric falls in love with Ariel… but he’s all about her amazing singing voice at first. It sounds super corny to want a guy to be attracted to me for my skills, work ethic, and talent but that would honestly be the best thing ever.
- Knowing that a guy has turned down every girl for me Wanting to be someone’s one and only may seem quaint and innocent in today’s hookup culture. It’s not easy to stand out in a sea of faces on dating apps. In Cinderella, once she makes it to the ball, the prince says no to every girl that wants to dance with him. He says yes to Cinderella and has eyes only for her. That’s a pretty epic feeling.
- Dancing with someone the moment I meet them When Cinderella and the prince first meet, they don’t talk or hang out or even have a real first date. Nope—they dance, and it’s incredibly romantic. It would be pretty amazing to go to a formal dance with a guy on our first date or even take a dance class. It’s not likely to happen, but it would be cool.
- Singing a song together Talk about the ultimate cheesy romantic movie moment. Anna and Prince Hans sing the duet “Love is an Open Door” in Frozen and talk about how they’re totally supposed to be a couple and they know each other so well. When I can’t even get a third date or know if a guy likes me, it’s pretty tempting to want an epic moment like this. It’s the ultimate dream.
- A love that knows no culture or background Sure, Pocahontas has gotten a bad rap and I totally understand that, but back when I was a kid, I thought it was a totally magical movie. I loved the music, especially “Colors of the Wind,” and I loved that Pocahontas and Smith fell in love. These days, it seems obvious that love knows no culture or background and that our differences make us beautiful. What’s more romantic than that?
- A first date on a magic carpet In Aladdin, Aladdin and Jasmine have a pretty amazing first date: they travel around on a magic carpet. Yup, this is likely going to stay the stuff of Disney movie legend, since who knows where you could find a magic carpet, but that’s okay.Â
- A guy realizing what he had all along When Belle realizes that there is more to love than physical attraction and that the beast is a really amazing person, it set the bar high for love stories everywhere. While I definitely don’t think that I’m a beast or anything like that, it would be pretty romantic if a guy from my past showed up out of nowhere and said that he had been thinking about me and that he realized he had the love he always wanted with me.
- Having someone track me down (but not in a stalker-ish way) The princes in Disney movies are all pretty similar: once they fall in love with the main character, they’ll do anything in their power to find her. They rescue her from a super long sleep, they literally kiss her and she’s alive again, they save her from living in a tower forever… While in modern day terms, that might seem like stalking and there’s nothing romantic about that, I would love for a guy to stop at nothing until he gets what he wants, AKA me. In this day and age where people are selfish AF, that seems like the ultimate in romantic gestures.
