Disneyland (''Modern Family'')

"Disneyland" is the 22nd episode of the third season of the American sitcom Modern Family and the series' 70th overall. It first aired on ABC on May 9, 2012. It was written by Cindy Chupack and directed by James Bagdonas.

Plot

The entire family decide to go out for a day trip to Disneyland.

Luke (Nolan Gould) and Phil (Ty Burrell) are excited to ride the roller coasters together but Phil panics when he feels queasy after riding the Indiana Jones Adventure. He gets more worried when Jay (Ed O'Neill) tells him it is a normal reaction for someone as they get older. Phil is later relieved to discover that he only feels ill because he has come down with the flu.

Claire (Julie Bowen) decides to introduce Haley (Sarah Hyland) to her friend's nephew, Ethan (Matt Prokop). The two get along but Claire's plans are foiled when the family bump into Dylan (Reid Ewing) who is trying to work at the park as a "Dapper Dan". Alex (Ariel Winter) eventually ends up taking a liking to Ethan whilst Haley dwells over why Dylan did not tell her he was back in town. Claire manages to pull Alex away from Ethan and she persuades Haley to spend time with him again but it takes a turn for the worse when Ethan assaults Dylan, who is dressed in a Little John (from Robin Hood) costume (in which he disguised himself in order to speak with Haley). Ethan separates from the family when he bumps into a group of friends and Haley and Dylan (who ends up fired from his Dapper Dan job) decide to get back together.

Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and Cam (Eric Stonestreet) have difficulties with Lily (Aubrey Anderson-Emmons) when she keeps wandering off away from them. They are forced to resort to a child leash in order to keep her safe. Mitchell eventually decides to take it off her due to the disapproving looks the people give him and Cam. Lily runs off again and Jay fixes the problem by buying her a pair of child high heels, to prevent her from running.

Meanwhile, Gloria (Sofía Vergara) and Jay bicker over Gloria's choice of shoes for the park. Jay told her before they leave home to not wear heels but she did not listen to him. Now her feet hurt but she refuses to admit that she was wrong. Jay buys her a pair of slippers and she immediately gets happy thanking Jay for his gift.

Manny (Rico Rodriguez) refuses to enjoy himself as he is too busy trying to win a stock market project at school.

The episode ends with Jay making everyone go to the "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" show. He remembers how he took Claire and Mitchell to the park as kids and that he did so alone due to an argument with his ex-wife DeDe. He had planned to go home and break it off with her, but after listening to the animatronic President Abraham Lincoln, he decided to stick with his marriage for the sake of his children, and that in doing so, the universe rewarded him, by introducing Gloria into his life.

Reception

Ratings

In its original American broadcast, "Disneyland" was watched by 10.58 million viewers; up 0.52 million from the previous episode. It also acquired a 4.4/12 rating share in the 18-49 demographic group.^[1]

Reviews

Donna Bowman of The A.V. Club gave a B grade to the episode. She said "this wasn’t the funniest episode bow to stern", but she "found it charming".^[2]

Leigh Raines of TV Fanatic gave a 4.5/5 grade and said "the most touching thing about this episode was when Jay revealed why he loved the Abraham Lincoln robotic show. It wasn't because of the show, the performance itself it probably a little dull. But it made him realize that he needed to put his kids first. Jay isn't very expressive about his feelings, so it was nice when he opened up about his love for Claire and Mitchell."^[3]

Christine N. Ziemba of Paste Magazine rated the episode with 8/10 and said: "pushing that marketing angle aside, 'Disneyland' turned out to be a decent episode, faring much better than the past two offerings, with better integration of stories and more laughs—which is always great for a sitcom."^[4]

Michael Adams of 411mania rated the episode with 9/10 saying that he loved the episode. "It's so great to see the show do things like this. I thought the Hawaiian vacation the family took at the end of season 1 was one of the best episodes over the course of the 3 seasons, however, this vacation is by far the superior one."^[5]

References

1. ↑ Kondolojy, Amanda (May 10, 2012). "Wednesday Final Ratings: 'Idol', 'SVU', 'Modern Family', 'Survivor', & 'Criminal Minds' Adjusted Up; 'Off Their Rockers', 'Rock Center' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved June 29, 2012. 
2. ↑ Bowman, Donna (May 9, 2012). "Disneyland". The A.V. Club. Retrieved June 29, 2012. 
3. ↑ Raines, Leigh (May 10, 2012). "Modern Family Review: The Happiest Place on Earth". TV Fanatic. Retrieved June 29, 2012. 
4. ↑ Ziemba, Christine (May 10, 2012). "Modern Family Review: "Disneyland" (Episode 3.22)". Paste Magazine. 
5. ↑ Adams, Michael (May 11, 2012). "Modern Family Review - 3.22 'Disneyland'". 411mania.