Do Orlando Residents get tired of the parks?

[kap91]

So, what's a typical visit to WDW like for you? Do you just go for a short time and look around to see what's going on, maybe do a few rides, etc.

Is it sort of like going to the mall?
Thanks.

No where near like going to the mall. It's not as exciting as like say when I go to Disneyland (which thankfully I've had the opportunity to go to a couple times) but I still thoroughly enjoy my visits to the park. I generally go with my family on the weekends, although since one of family members is disabled and doesn't do well with crowds and heat we tend to get the parks right when they open and leave around 2.

I am still a very much ride focused person, but in recent years I've also spent a lot of time walking around and appreciating all the things that aren't rides, and just the general ambience. Usually I'll try to hit my favorite rides depending on the park but the schedule of what we go to and don't largely depends on crowds, time of year etc. i.e. if something new has opened I might spend the entire day near that area, or if the f & W festival is going on we just forget about the rides and shows and focus entirely on WS.

Surprisingly, I don't really end up that parks that much outside of day trips to them. Going for just an evening, to see the fireworks or to a restaurant is largely inconvenient, especially during the week. Even though I live close it still takes a good amount of time to drive there, get parked, go through security, etc. etc not to mention having to make reservations for dinner months in advance. We do it occasionally, but its usually towards the holidays.

Something I never see mentioned is how much the non-park parts of Disney are used as local hangouts (well the people that are REALLY local) More than once my friends and I have gone to stroll Downtown Disney or ride the monorail and hotel hop in the evenings. In that respect I guess you consider it sort of like the mall, but a lot more entertaining.

Yeah, so anyway that's probably was way more than you were looking for, hopefully it answers your questions.

 

[mp2bill]

I've lived in the Kissimmee/Orlando area for the past 6 years, and I haven't gotten tired of the parks yet. And it is great to just wake up one day and decide to go to a park. We've even just gone to watch the fireworks, then head right back home.

The one thing I really enjoy is that you can REALLY appreciate the parks. You can totally go at your own pace, and not feel rushed to get everything in. You can take advantage of the great dining experiences for various special occasions. You have the chance to go to all of the special events (Food & Wine, Flower & Garden, SWW, all the Christmas stuff). You can take occasional strolls around the resorts (or Epcot, like my in-laws like to do A LOT). And you'll probably get a little break from the parks during the Summer anyway... not because of the crowds, but because of the HEAT!!!!!!!! Not saying you won't ever go during that time; but you'll be a little hesitant when you know you can just pick and choose the days you really want to go .

Trust me, if you already love Disney, you'll love it even more.

Must be nice!

 

[Korfar]

I have thought for a long time that I want to live near Orlando to be close to Disney. The more I thought about it I think it would lose something being able to go whenever we wanted and not staying in a hotel. Part of the experience and enjoyment is the hotel. In the end I think I want to be somewhere that I can drive there in a single day so I don't have to fly. Cutting out that expense would allow us to go more frequently and still have the full experience of staying on property. Thats just me. Everyone enjoys different things which is great. Those who live close by and enjoy going all the time are very lucky people.

 

[MAGICFLOP]

I own a house very close to Disney, but I don't live there. I do go 2 times a year for 2 weeks and a whole bunch of other times for a 4-5 day weekend when I see cheap tickets.

I think it is great, I can go a lot and only stay a few hours. I get there usually around 1pm and blow out around 5 or 6. The advantage is you can see stuff without being exhausted. Before I had the house I would go for a week at a hotel and the noise and getting up early to get there when the park opens til it closes. Some nights on SSE I would find myself dragging badly.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I think it depends on you and the people around you. There are a lot of anti Disney Floridians who can tarnish the magic, but if you love WDW- you just kind of learn to tune it out. Of course not all Floridians are anti Disney- many even love it- but my parents (who have lived in FL since 1990) have soured quite a bit to the mouse. I've had a very tough time selling our upcoming trip to them. They have this "we're FL residents and we hate Disney b/c they don't make it dirt cheap for FL residents." :brick:

In any event, when I lived in FL - I lived a few hours away...it was still very special to go to Disney; however, it did lose a little something. Maybe it was being able to turn to your friends and be like- "hey, how about we drive down to Orlando this weekend"- i.e. the semi-impromptu aspect of it all diminished the usual anticipation and hype factor when traveling from farther away and planning in advance.

 

[MickeyMind]

I live about 3 hours away now so when we go we usually go for the weekend, we've tried day trips but you come home feeling too exhausted and it sucks for the person who has to drive back. We average about one trip a month except for the summer months, it still hasnt lost its magic, in fact its really refreshing to be able go and spend an entire weekend every month at the world, I just wonder if it will still be the same living so close, it wouldnt be like an actual event you look forward to every month, and it will probably become very boring very quickly, and Im really afraid of "loosing that magic"

 

[me_stitch]

I lived in Tampa for 3 years when I was in high school and loved going to DW. I have lived in Washington (state) for the last 18 years and it wasn't until I took my family do DW in Dec. of '08 that I really appreciated and became addicted to DW. We're going back next year and taking my parents this time who also haven't been back to FL since we moved in '92. I think lots of people are like me, when you live in FL you kinda take DW and all of the other fun things to do in FL for granted a little bit. My friends all thought that life in FL was DW and white sandy beaches. I did frequent them both quite often but like I said, I didn't really take advantage of it while I was there like I wish I had. I'm a huge Nascar fan and I didn't even go to the Daytona 500 when I lived there. oh the regrets. That will be on my next DW vacation after the 2011 trip.

 

[StageFrenzy]

I live in Tampa and i think Disney is the perfect distance away, I can make it from the on ramp to Epcot in 55 minutes. We stay over periodically for one or two nights at various resorts or just go for the day. The other thing about being a Florida resident is you can rotate parks. One year Disney, next Uni and then BG or SW and back to Disney.

 

[parkgoer]

I recently moved to the orlando area from NY and I too was worried the parks were going to lose some magic. It's a trade off. You have to give up the trip planning, staying at the hotels, and the excitement and anticipation that leads up to the trip. In return you get the satisfaction of living down the road from the world (in my case) and being able to go at your own pace. Get to go to all the events they have, F&G, F&W, MNSSHP etc, go on the rides when the open back up from refurbs, and know in the back of your head that you're not leaving. So you have to give up the vacation experience of going to WDW for the fact that you can go anytime. If you truely love going to the world, then I think the transition won't be so bad. I mean, who wouldn't want to go to WDW just for dinner?

 

[Thrill Seeker]

Not really. If I get bored of one park, I'll just go to another one. If I get tired of Disney, I can just go to Universal and visa versa...

 

[PatriciaH]

We lived in Celebration for nearly 6 years and just moved back to MA for a great job (the FL job market stinks.) We loved being close to the parks. We would go for lunch or dinner, to walk around, or just to meet up with friends. My good friend from college would come down with her family once or twice a year and we would book a concierge room, so we got to do the hotel thing too. We would hang out by the pool with them, etc. Lots of CM's own DVC! They go for long weekends all the time. I loved being able to go to any F&W or concert event we wanted to!

 

[WDW_Emily]

I have relatives that live in Kissimmee And while they dont get sick of the parks( a lot of them are CMs), They get sick of how long it takes to do things with all the tourist. One of them lives about 5 minutes from that Walmart they sells all the Disney things. So sometimes going to get butter and milk turns out to be a long trip.

 

[PatriciaH]

I have relatives that live in Kissimmee And while they dont get sick of the parks( a lot of them are CMs), They get sick of how long it takes to do things with all the tourist. One of them lives about 5 minutes from that Walmart they sells all the Disney things. So sometimes going to get butter and milk turns out to be a long trip.

OMG yes! Wal-Mart and Target lines are always nuts.

 

[TimNRA757]

Ever since I moved up here to go to college WDW is about an hour drive and no, it certainly doesn't get boring. I now try to schedule my classes for early mornings so I can take off for the rest of the day to WDW after the last class, and I hate 8 AM classes but now it's worth it.

 

[joanna71985]

I love living close to the parks. I feel it's nice sometimes going just for a few hours or so.

 

[Rabflmom]

Do people who live close to the parks get tired of it? What is it like to be able to just say" I want to go eat dinner at epcot tonight" or "Im bored I got a couple of hours to kill, lets go to one of the parks for a little while" and just be a short drive away? I will be moving to Orlando soon, and I wonder, does the magic fade when trips becomes such a regular thing? I will most likely be buying annual passes for disney and universal when I move, and I cant imagine not abusing these things and going far more than I should, but I cant help it, its such an awesome idea to think I will be 20 min away from MY Disney World. Just wondering if anyone else who lives close to the parks has gotten tired of them

I think it all depends on how long you have lived in the area and what stage your family is in at the time. We live an hour away from the parks and have family members who work for the parks so can get in free and haven't really paid to get into any of the parks for 20 or more years. Do we go every week? Nope. Every month? Nope. During the summer? nope.
But will definitely head over in the evening 1 time to see the parade and fireworks at MK before they leave.

The first 10 years living here we went to the parks a lot. When the kids were little we went to the parks a lot. When the boys got more interested in sports and surfing that pretty much ended trips to Disney parks except for the field trips and marching in the parade with school bands etc. Every time someone from the North came down we used to go with them, but now we tell them what not to miss and stay home most of the time. You live a regular life down here filled with the same things that fills a family's life in any state. If you go to the local park at home every week and the kids don't get involved in other activities you might end up in the parks more, but most people I know here on the coast are just too busy living life to make it a regular thing.

Now the sons are grown. Instead of brothers and sisters coming down with their families; our nieces and nephews come down with their families( we still don't have our own grandkids) so we go a little more often with them. We also spend more time at EPCOT but usually for short evenings or special things going on. We try to get to AK at least a couple times a year, but generally just go to flame tree BBQ and maybe do the Safari and once in a blue moon watch the parade. Mk is not a destination at all except for fireworks.

To tell you the truth, I have probably been to the parks more than anyone else I know here on the coast. Many people have never been there at all. Have no desire to. Many just can't afford even a day. The give a day plan got 20 people I work with into the parks for the fist time this year.

 

[EvilQueen-T]

nope... i lived in orlando in the 80s-90s (jr high through early adulthood) plus went back and forth to orlando to visit one parent since mid 70s. back then new construction and most people lived in east orlando (i know... shocking for anyone who knows orlando now lol) but because you still had to drive a ways wdw just didn't FEEL like orlando. back then there was actually open space between east orlando and the "disney side of orlando". of course we started doing wdw on the 1 year anniversary of mk and grew up watching it go from the mk to what it is now... my sister and i still have a bad habit of calling the mk "disney". i know live about 2 1/2 hours north of wdw and it doesn't feel like orlando to us at all but we also rarely leave wdw property when we're there. our thought process is it's magical disney not orlando. the only time wdw felt less magical to us was when we stayed at the bwi and were walking to dhs... you see regular street traffic and a gas station... won't do that again but that's just me.