Why I Will Definitely Go Again

[jloucks]

All of the new WDW has become as big a hassle to me as working a job except at the end of the week I got the total opposite of a paycheck.

That is a pretty good description of how I feel

 

[Jrb1979]

I think you're post brings up one very important point, everyone values different things and different experiences. you can have two families look at the same situation totally different.

For me the hotel and meals absolutely make up the "magical bubble", one of our most cherished memories is waking up at the beach club and listening to the sounds of the boats or My husband and I having our first cup of coffee while watching the animals on the savannah (at akl) before the minions got up, that is worth every single dollar I've paid. walking back to our resort at park close through international gateway, the concrete has sparkly lights in them that twinkle and the music that you can hear from the boardwalk. a perfect ending to our days. Yes for my family, that soothes our souls and we'll pay the price to have it. I love watching young families come through the lobby after a long day and the young one's are bouncing off the walls, lol poor mom and dad look lke they've been beat down. I just smile and feel at peace.

Now for me planning prevents stress. lol, can't tell you how many times we've had the discussion that goes like this...
me: "what do you guys what for dinner"
hubby and kids "I don't know, what do you want?"
me: "I don't care pick something"
kids: "pizza"
me: "not pizza again"
hubby: "I don't care"
round and round and round we go. yeah, some times it's a pain to try and guess what we will want 6 months out but once we are there, it's awesome not to have to rehearse the "what do you want for dinner" monologue.

Now I will admit, I'm not a "winger" no matter where I go. so no matter if it's wdw, the beach, europe or simply going back to NYC I am a planner. so I'm not feeling this "stress" everyone talks about. I do dislike the park reservation system and I'm hoping it will go away before our next big trip in 2023 but I definitely don't feel any "stress" from making them.
I actually think with so much information available on line, it makes some things easier. yes it does take some preplanning but nothing so onerous.

I do totally agree the nickel and diming is getting out of hand.

Reading your post is why I have a hard time relating to a lot of you here. My family didn't grow up going to Disney. We went a few times when I was a kid but nothing like many of you here have. I grew up going to Cedar Point and Canada's Wonderland. For me driving across the Cedar Point causeway seeing the roller coasters is similar to how most of you feel seeing the castle.

 

[Pepper's Ghost]

That's the part that puzzles me. Whenever I visited WDW over the past 40 years I was also in the Bubble, but the bubble was in My head. My bubble started when I closed the door to my house at the beginning of the trip. I didn't matter if I drove there from Vermont or caught a plane to Orlando. I never needed to spend hundreds of dollars extra to stay in that bubble. That is were most of the concern comes from. It's not because we didn't find WDW to be an escape from reality, of course we did, but the upset now is that the exposure to that park bubble is hampered by the values of the outside world that have intruded into it. If we cannot find that without paying more and more and more for less of an experience, because of that, we have mostly just become disenchanted.

I never felt that the bubble was there because I spent sometimes thousands more for a hotel room and meals. It was from the parks themselves. The attractions that were offered not the cost of seeing a plastic prop outside our window just before we went to sleep. I would drive for two days in excited anticipation of what was there. The outside worlds problems stopped the minute I was on my way. All of it was an adventure, not just the one when I was physically there. The time with the family in route, the hotels, airports, states and even the restaurants along the way. All were part of the fun. The length of the line at the park didn't matter because all of us were in the same line, a line we could be part of because we wanted to be there at that time, not had to be there because we were told by our phone when we should get in it or on top of that have paid extra for a reasonable time in line. That reasonable time was before there became a separation of enjoyment based on what one was willing to pay extra to do. We all had the same experience. An experience that made WDW the massively successful destination that it became.

Over recent years, my choices have been taken away, my ability to comfortably be able to afford that experience, an experience that once was covered by purchasing a single admission to the park ticket was taken away. The ease of a fun vacation with no stress, the working my butt off to plan a trip that previously was just a simple decision to do whatever we felt like at the time. All of the new WDW has become as big a hassle to me as working a job except at the end of the week I got the total opposite of a paycheck.

To paraphrase something that Walt said about the blessing of size, the blessing has become a curse of size. For many of us that were fortunate enough to experience the real Disney Park experience it is like a loss of a friend. It remains nothing more than an expensive, exhausting attempt to relive what was once a really magical memory. Both the real world and the magical world that I once couldn't stop anticipating all year, every year, has become something that I never thought was possible. It has become something that I no longer want to be part of. I continue on these boards because through the years I have made cyber friends (and perhaps even a few enemies) and I had such focus on Disney that it is hard to just break away completely from that part of my life that was within MY Disney bubble.

My reaction to those events is that I no longer am willing to spend my hard earned money in a place that has made it perfectly clear that they no longer want me there. My wallet is no longer thick enough to be a desired Guest.

Hey bud. While I agree with so much of what you said, I think you posted this in the wrong thread. You're looking for the "Why I may not go again" thread.

That said, I'm not going to be negative in this thread. While I won't say I'm definitely going back, I will say that I definitely do miss "the bubble". The WDW Bubble is one of the most fantastic things I've ever experienced on vacation. My first trip which was as an adult (24-ish) was awesome, and although we planned very well, I'm sure we only experienced a small fraction of what was available. I had NO IDEA what WDW really was other than thinking it was a really big Six Flags. Nope... uh-uh. I remember getting into MK for the first time and all my problems melting away. I literally thought of nothing else while on property. I never looked at my phone, checked work email, or anything else.

While I said I wouldn't be negative, I have to admit that the required dependency on your phone has the effect of popping the bubble. You're checking for FP or whatever else and suddenly you see a work email about something terrible happening. Your employees say they don't want to bother you while you're on a rare vacation, but they also copy you on every email back and forth. Now while in line you're consumed by work, when if I didn't need to check for a FP, I wouldn't have seen the email come through and it becomes hard to ignore. Disney is making you look at your phone, while before it was a choice that I would refuse to do because I was in the Happiest Place on Earth.

I don't think that was too negative *shrugs*. Anwyay, The Bubble is DEFINITELY one of many things that are fantastic about WDW.

 

[Pepper's Ghost]

Reading your post is why I have a hard time relating to a lot of you here. My family didn't grow up going to Disney. We went a few times when I was a kid but nothing like many of you here have. I grew up going to Cedar Point and Canada's Wonderland. For me driving across the Cedar Point causeway seeing the roller coasters is similar to how most of you feel seeing the castle.

I didn't grow up with Disney at all as I just posted in my last post. I was 24-ish, and when I turned the corner and saw the castle, I was dumbfounded. As a young guy in the late 90s I thought, "that's [effing] cool!", and walking down Main St was a walk back into history with joy all around. I don't even like Disney cartoons with a few exceptions. It's funny, you don't have to like princesses and characters to have a great time at WDW. In fact, IMO it's even better. You don't have to get pics with characters, or have to watch daytime parades. It's freeing.

 

[DisneyNittany]

I'll echo the Disney Bubble sentiment as the main draw for us, as well as the fact that WDW has always been a change-of-pace type of vacation for us.

We're very fortunate in that we're able to take ~2 other big vacations/year that are not WDW, as well as long weekend trips. So, WDW has never really been our sole vacation spot. Therefore, it's always a nice change-of-pace that offers a relaxing vacation, albeit in a different way.

When I say relaxing, I don't necessarily mean in a physical sense, but mentally. Granted (and I don't want to steer this discussion into negative territory), we found the old FP+ system to best fit that mental relaxation for us due to the fact that we (like most of you here) became "experts" on making that system fit our needs (book our top rides between 10a-2, allowing us to knock out the classics in the morning when lines were shorter, which allowed for maximum downtime at the pool/room/restaurant/resort or lounge hopping from 2p-sunset, and then back in the parks at night).

With that said, we went took our daughter down in Jan/Feb for her first birthday and found it to still offer that sense of relaxation via escapism. We didn't really even try Genie+ or LL, since the attractions that she could experience didn't call for it, so I can't really comment on that. Our only source of stress came from having a decent amount of family with us, which we were thrilled to have share the experience with, but since we mostly went just the two of us before our daughter, it made for less freedom for us.

Still, for 10 days, I was disconnected from the real world and was able to put myself fully on cruise control. In the end, that's really what I'm paying for. Was it the same as it used to be? No. Will we like it as much when/if (depending on the setup when we go back) we have to start using Genie+ to ride everything we want? Probably not, but we'll cross that bridge we get there. However, as of now, it still provided us with the escapism we desire and put a constant smile on my daughter's face, which was worth every penny.

TL;DR: WDW provides us with an escape from the real world via the bubble.

 

[BeanCounterBob]

I can not wait to go again. I think about it everyday and how, the next trip, will be the first with my daughter; who will be 6. About 15 years ago I dated a girl who ended up being a cast member several times. I would go visit every few months and loved everything new, and loved hitting several of the cast member only stores, buildings...etc.... We ended up getting a DVC membership, split, and I wouldn't let the DVC go.....so its mine! Now I am married, with a kid, and cant wait to see the excitement in her eyes as she walks through each park and gets to experience all that the parks have to offer. I also can not wait to see how she reacts to a savanna view room at Jambo house. She loves animals so this is going to blow her away. The last trip I took, with my wife, was in 2018; so both of us are chomping at the bit to get down there and have a huge vacation. We can be big kids and leave the real world behind us for a week. The hardest part is leaving and having reality smack you in the face. At least we are lucky enough to have DVC so we can plan smaller trips now and then, even if its just for a weekend.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Hey bud. While I agree with so much of what you said, I think you posted this in the wrong thread. You're looking for the "Why I may not go again" thread.

That said, I'm not going to be negative in this thread. While I won't say I'm definitely going back, I will say that I definitely do miss "the bubble". The WDW Bubble is one of the most fantastic things I've ever experienced on vacation. My first trip which was as an adult (24-ish) was awesome, and although we planned very well, I'm sure we only experienced a small fraction of what was available. I had NO IDEA what WDW really was other than thinking it was a really big Six Flags. Nope... uh-uh. I remember getting into MK for the first time and all my problems melting away. I literally thought of nothing else while on property. I never looked at my phone, checked work email, or anything else.

While I said I wouldn't be negative, I have to admit that the required dependency on your phone has the effect of popping the bubble. You're checking for FP or whatever else and suddenly you see a work email about something terrible happening. Your employees say they don't want to bother you while you're on a rare vacation, but they also copy you on every email back and forth. Now while in line you're consumed by work, when if I didn't need to check for a FP, I wouldn't have seen the email come through and it becomes hard to ignore. Disney is making you look at your phone, while before it was a choice that I would refuse to do because I was in the Happiest Place on Earth.

I don't think that was too negative *shrugs*. Anwyay, The Bubble is DEFINITELY one of many things that are fantastic about WDW.

Sad sad sad. It didnt take long til it happened. He had to inflict negatives into a post meant only for people to give reasons why they wanted to be going back. No one asked why you felt Dis was no longer your vacation spot or what policies made you feel Dis was now bad. Geez... some just have to be negative. At least he wasnt flaming on Chapek by name.

 

[NickMaio]

I think a lot of what they've offered up recently is mediocre (especially the 50th) but I'll be heading down again sometime this year. It's like a drug for me, no matter how far away I live (3 states now), I can never get enough

You are not alone in your addiction........................

 

[eliza61nyc]

Sad sad sad. It didnt take long til it happened. He had to inflict negatives into a post meant only for people to give reasons why they wanted to be going back. No one asked why you felt Dis was no longer your vacation spot or what policies made you feel Dis was now bad. Geez... some just have to be negative. At least he wasnt flaming on Chapek by name.

I really think some folks are actually MAD that people still want to go. It's almost like the old saying "misery loves company" and how dare you say you enjoy it.

Lol but in all fairness I'm usually trying to inject some sunshine into the doom and gloom threads. There just SO many of them

 

[Mireille]

Like Sbk1234, I go back because it makes me happy. I feel a way at Disney World that I don't feel anywhere else. (Not that I don't feel happy other places, just there's a unique Disney-related happiness for me there.) A lot of the hassles people are (rightfully) complaining about aren't really issues for me because normally I go by myself and stay on-property somewhere for a week. I can take my time, I don't stress if I can't get onto a particular ride and have nobody complaining if there's a long wait.

I was last there May 2019 and have usually gone about every 18 months or so since 2013. This year I decided to treat my mom to a week at Disney and I'll be meeting her there October 1st. I made a park res for Epcot without realizing it was the DAY OF Epcot's 40th, but if all goes well, my mom and I will be having dinner at the Garden Grill to celebrate. She hasn't been there since 1986 when I was a young'un and we stayed at the Disney Inn. She's retired now and I doubt she'd ever go on her own. It feels strange to be taking my mom on vacation, like a role-reversal from my childhood, but I'm really looking forward to it and hope she'll have a good time, too.

That was rambly. Oh, well.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I think you're post brings up one very important point, everyone values different things and different experiences. you can have two families look at the same situation totally different.

For me the hotel and meals absolutely make up the "magical bubble", one of our most cherished memories is waking up at the beach club and listening to the sounds of the boats or My husband and I having our first cup of coffee while watching the animals on the savannah (at akl) before the minions got up, that is worth every single dollar I've paid. walking back to our resort at park close through international gateway, the concrete has sparkly lights in them that twinkle and the music that you can hear from the boardwalk. a perfect ending to our days. Yes for my family, that soothes our souls and we'll pay the price to have it. I love watching young families come through the lobby after a long day and the young one's are bouncing off the walls, lol poor mom and dad look lke they've been beat down. I just smile and feel at peace.

Now for me planning prevents stress. lol, can't tell you how many times we've had the discussion that goes like this...
me: "what do you guys what for dinner"
hubby and kids "I don't know, what do you want?"
me: "I don't care pick something"
kids: "pizza"
me: "not pizza again"
hubby: "I don't care"
round and round and round we go. yeah, some times it's a pain to try and guess what we will want 6 months out but once we are there, it's awesome not to have to rehearse the "what do you want for dinner" monologue.

Now I will admit, I'm not a "winger" no matter where I go. so no matter if it's wdw, the beach, europe or simply going back to NYC I am a planner. so I'm not feeling this "stress" everyone talks about. I do dislike the park reservation system and I'm hoping it will go away before our next big trip in 2023 but I definitely don't feel any "stress" from making them.
I actually think with so much information available on line, it makes some things easier. yes it does take some preplanning but nothing so onerous.

I do totally agree the nickel and diming is getting out of hand.

I understand what you are saying, but the important thing to keep in mind is that you are lucky enough to have the nickels and dimes to experience that. Not everyone is that lucky to be able to have that much disposable income. In early years the only thing we had to sacrifice due to economics where the onsite hotel stays. But, I cannot imagine that you had anymore happy memories with your children than I did with mine...sans sound of boats or wild live grazing just below. We didn't have to set up 6 months in advance and my kids could suggest something for dinner but it never was a hassle because my wife and I made that decision. It was stress free. I'm straddled with a fixed income that isn't high end. My wife has died and my children are grown and have families of their own. Perhaps if I felt the system was enjoyable and the attractions were worth it, I might overlook paying extra for what I consider extraneous things, but don't find them worth it. You do and you can afford the cost easily so you look at it differently than I. We just need to leave it at that. If it's right for you, it's right for you, but that isn't the answer for everyone.

 

[Jrb1979]

I understand what you are saying, but the important thing to keep in mind is that you are lucky enough to have the nickels and dimes to experience that. Not everyone is that lucky to be able to have that much disposable income. In early years the only thing we had to sacrifice due to economics where the onsite hotel stays. But, I cannot imagine that you had anymore happy memories with your children than I did with mine...sans sound of boats or wild live grazing just below. We didn't have to set up 6 months in advance and my kids could suggest something for dinner but it never was a hassle because my wife and I made that decision. It was stress free. I'm straddled with a fixed income that isn't high end. My wife has died and my children are grown and have families of their own. Perhaps if I felt the system was enjoyable and the attractions were worth it, I might overlook paying extra for what I consider extraneous things, but don't find them worth it. You do and you can afford the cost easily so you look at it differently than I. We just need to leave it at that. If it's right for you, it's right for you, but that isn't the answer for everyone.

I agree with a lot what you said. For my family I could easily afford a Disney vacation if we wanted to. I would love to take my 2 year old some day. Right now for us the value isn't there. Part of it is we have been spoiled with how Cedar Fair has treated us the last few years. They gave us our pass free for this year and we absolutely love their parks.

 

[Pepper's Ghost]

Sad sad sad. It didnt take long til it happened. He had to inflict negatives into a post meant only for people to give reasons why they wanted to be going back. No one asked why you felt Dis was no longer your vacation spot or what policies made you feel Dis was now bad. Geez... some just have to be negative. At least he wasnt flaming on Chapek by name.

I'm sorry. Are you directing this to me, or the person I responded to?

 

[ShookieJones]

I am going back again (in 4 days) but I am ALSO bothered by the current WDW 'climate'.
I am going back because I love everything about the freakin' place. I guess you could call that the magic of the bubble!?!?

We went last year and it still held enough magic for us to continue to be a 'value'.

I am a positive person by nature but will admit for the first time in a 18+ years, going into this upcoming trip, I am harboring a little skepticism about whether that magic/value equation is still going to balance out.

Time will tell but for now..................wooHOO!!! 4 more DAYS! can't wait.

 

[Pepper's Ghost]

I am going back again (in 4 days) but I am ALSO bothered by the current WDW 'climate'.
I am going back because I love everything about the freakin' place. I guess you could call that the magic of the bubble!?!?

We went last year and it still held enough magic for us to continue to be a 'value'.

I am a positive person by nature but will admit for the first time in a 18+ years, going into this upcoming trip, I am harboring a little skepticism about whether that magic/value equation is still going to balance out.

Time will tell but for now..................wooHOO!!! 4 more DAYS! can't wait.

Based on this post, I'd love to hear what you think when you get back. Please be sure to let us know, either on this thread or the "other" thread.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Sad sad sad. It didnt take long til it happened. He had to inflict negatives into a post meant only for people to give reasons why they wanted to be going back. No one asked why you felt Dis was no longer your vacation spot or what policies made you feel Dis was now bad. Geez... some just have to be negative. At least he wasnt flaming on Chapek by name.

Has it ever occurred to you that it isn't us that is negative. Disney has unnecessarily inflected hardships on a lot of people that you can't imagine. What we have been talking about is that the one thing the a Disney Park never had was a created feeling of a reason to for us to be unhappy. Show me how the billions of dollars profit earned required more money for nothing extra and tell me how positive that is.,

If you want a "discussion" board without the other side of the equation that starts out with; Unicorns and Rainbows only. We don't want to see any other side. This particular title did not request only the rosy parts anymore then the other thread stating "Why I wont go again" stopped people from saying why they liked it and were going to return,

Hey bud. While I agree with so much of what you said, I think you posted this in the wrong thread. You're looking for the "Why I may not go again" thread.

That said, I'm not going to be negative in this thread. While I won't say I'm definitely going back, I will say that I definitely do miss "the bubble". The WDW Bubble is one of the most fantastic things I've ever experienced on vacation. My first trip which was as an adult (24-ish) was awesome, and although we planned very well, I'm sure we only experienced a small fraction of what was available. I had NO IDEA what WDW really was other than thinking it was a really big Six Flags. Nope... uh-uh. I remember getting into MK for the first time and all my problems melting away. I literally thought of nothing else while on property. I never looked at my phone, checked work email, or anything else.

While I said I wouldn't be negative, I have to admit that the required dependency on your phone has the effect of popping the bubble. You're checking for FP or whatever else and suddenly you see a work email about something terrible happening. Your employees say they don't want to bother you while you're on a rare vacation, but they also copy you on every email back and forth. Now while in line you're consumed by work, when if I didn't need to check for a FP, I wouldn't have seen the email come through and it becomes hard to ignore. Disney is making you look at your phone, while before it was a choice that I would refuse to do because I was in the Happiest Place on Earth.

I don't think that was too negative *shrugs*. Anwyay, The Bubble is DEFINITELY one of many things that are fantastic about WDW.

Hey bud, that last time I looked a discussion board is for discussion not for agreement only. This thread was started as a sarcastic response to "Why I may not go again". It was a nasty way of attempting to negate the logic of the "may not" OP. As for the never looking at your phone again (bolded) and have a complete experience. I am not interested in blocking your rainbow just telling people that there is another side.

 

[Zipadeelady]

Reading your post is why I have a hard time relating to a lot of you here. My family didn't grow up going to Disney. We went a few times when I was a kid but nothing like many of you here have. I grew up going to Cedar Point and Canada's Wonderland. For me driving across the Cedar Point causeway seeing the roller coasters is similar to how most of you feel seeing the castle.

You gave me goosebumps reading about the causeway. Loved driving on that and seeing the coasters in the distance.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

We can be big kids and leave the real world behind us for a week.

Quoted for truth!

Disney is on a shrinking list of places you can go and act like a kid where no one cares because they’re busy being kids too.

 

[eliza61nyc]

I understand what you are saying, but the important thing to keep in mind is that you are lucky enough to have the nickels and dimes to experience that. Not everyone is that lucky to be able to have that much disposable income. In early years the only thing we had to sacrifice due to economics where the onsite hotel stays. But, I cannot imagine that you had anymore happy memories with your children than I did with mine...sans sound of boats or wild live grazing just below. We didn't have to set up 6 months in advance and my kids could suggest something for dinner but it never was a hassle because my wife and I made that decision. It was stress free. I'm straddled with a fixed income that isn't high end. My wife has died and my children are grown and have families of their own. Perhaps if I felt the system was enjoyable and the attractions were worth it, I might overlook paying extra for what I consider extraneous things, but don't find them worth it. You do and you can afford the cost easily so you look at it differently than I. We just need to leave it at that. If it's right for you, it's right for you, but that isn't the answer for everyone.

but can't that be said for everything? for example, where I live. I would love to be able to afford to live in NYC, in Manhattan. My childhood there was phenomenal but there is no way in heckdom I can afford it. and I certainly don't get mad at the city for not being "affordable", that's entitlement. When my husband and I started having kids we sat down and figured out that the type of upbringing we wanted them to have we could not afford on our salary in NYC, so guess what we moved to NJ. I went once as a child with my family and I absolutely remember my parents kvetching about how expensive it was so I don't have these memories everyone here seems to have of everyone being able to go to Disney when they wanted too. So again it simply comes off as okay Disney is bad because I no longer can afford it.


I think what I meant was "stress" is so very subjective. what people finding stressful, others don't.

There really isn't anything "easy" about the cost for me either, I too am on a fixed income, I'm retired and I'm no where close to "independently" wealthy so basically this is it (although I have threaten my kids a time or two with moving in with them in my old age ) what I've got has to last me a good long time. When I go it means some thing else is sacrificed, and there have been many many times when a trip has been pushed back due to finances. I'm pretty sure at some point the cost will reach my breaking point especially if the company keeps the current trend, but I certainly can't see getting "mad" at the company nor the folks who still enjoy it.

so basically Disney is not evil or bad because everyone can't afford it.
,

 

[HoustonHorn]

Quoted for truth!

Disney is on a shrinking list of places you can go and act like a kid where no one cares because they’re busy being kids too.

Only quoting you because my two most-visited vacation spots are WDW and Vegas. While polar opposites in many ways, the one thing they have in common is pure escapism - they allow me a way to shut out most of the "real" world and just unwind and have fun.

Plus, my daughter loves it, and making her happy is something that is important to me.