ESPN employee Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo bashed Disney World as ‘brainless entertainment’

Disney World might be the vacation of choice for nearly 60 million people every year, but Chris “Mad Dog” Russo isn’t one of them.

During Friday’s episode of Mad Dog Unleashed on SiriusXM Radio, Russo unleashed on the very idea of going to Disney after a caller asked about producer Colin Schmaeling recently taking a trip to what some believe is the “Most Magical Place on Earth.”

Mad Dog Russo really, really hates Disney World, and he encourages his staff to go someplace educational instead… such as Boston’s famous Nathaniel Hall. 🫥 pic.twitter.com/zAHmohxej1

— Funhouse (@BackAftaThis) April 24, 2023

“I never did like Disney,” Russo said. “And remember, I went to school in Florida, so if anybody knows Disney World, it’s me. I went, when I went to visit it in 1977, I went.”

There are people whose lives quite literally revolve around planning their next trip to Disney World. Yet if anybody knows Disney World, it’s Chris Russo because he went to Rollins College and visited the vacation hot spot nearly a half-century ago. That’s like Russo making the argument he knows more about basketball than JJ Redick because he went to see Larry Bird play in the ‘80s.

“It never did anything for me,” Russo added of Disney World. “And I can’t think of more brainless entertainment, and I mean brainless, to take your kids around a bunch of rides, eating garbage food, and seeing Miss Princess at Disney World. I have never seen the fascination with it.”

“Everybody you see down there is 900 pounds,” Russo added. “That’s not America’s vacation.”

So, what is Russo’s idea of America’s vacation? Maybe he prefers Disneyland, a South Florida beach, exploring a diverse city like New Orleans, skiing in Lake Tahoe or relaxing in Maui. Nope, sorry kids, we’re not going to Disney World this year because Chris Russo prefers Boston’s Faneuil Hall (which he called “Nathaniel Hall”).

“Take ‘em somewhere educational,” Russo suggested. “Take them down to Williamsburg, Virginia. Take them to Charlottesville to learn about Jefferson…Take them up to Nathaniel Hall up there in Boston. The Sam Adams Trail. Give them a little something. Give them a little education. Make them a little smarter than they are.”

Not everyone loves Disney World. It’s not my vacation of choice either. But Russo is an ESPN employee. And even though this rant didn’t occur on Disney’s sports network, ESPN would probably prefer if Russo followed the ‘If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all’ mantra when it comes to their parent company.

Russo is still new to the ESPN world, which is why he’s willing to boast about taking edibles at a Springsteen concert, claim serious sports fans don’t watch the UFC and put vacationing at Disney World on the same level as joining a cult. Now in year two with ESPN and First Take, hopefully Russo’s somewhat naive brashness doesn’t change.

[Mad Dog Unleashed, via Funhouse]