Does anyone else forget the negatives?

[eliza61nyc]

I can see both sides. But if accepting mediocrity means I'm enjoying my escape from life in the most magical place on earth, I'll take it.

No one is wrong in wanting things better, it's when the expectations are set too high is when the negative nellies come out. D doesn't set the bar so low that they want us to trip over it, but maybe we need to watch where we walk once in awhile.

I guess I'm more of a realist. I think it's because I have worked for major fortune 100 companies all my life and I am a firm believer that the only thing that they really pay attention to is the bottom line. Oh sure they have a brand they want to protect but the reality is with all our grumbling and negativity the parks are still packed. so we can kvetch all we want about IP's and Disney will pretend they are interested in our comments but that is about all we're going to get. We can kvetch about how the garbage can patrol use to come out and empty trash the nano second it got full but at some point you have to ask yourself, what will that do?

I do admit that some things that annoy others I don't get but again, if at the end of my trips all I can do is remember what was wrong, I am not going back. I generally drop 4-5K on a 8 day wdw trip. that's a big chunk of change to go some where and then want it to be better.

You are absolutely right, there are many thing that I wish were like they were 30 years ago. LOL ironically one of mine's is something so stupid. have you notice that most ice cream is not ice cream at all but that nasty "frozen dairy dessert". crazy to be annoyed with something so simple.

Just my thoughts.

 

[jloucks]

I don’t think any of us judge people that need a scooter, but it is kind of odd, when an entire family is on one, together, in a line. Or wearing high heels, and getting off scooter to go smoke, for a party. I know, I don’t judge, just by someone being on a scooter- that kind of stuff, seems like abusing the system. I smoke and have for a long time. At the very least, I will most likely, at my own choice, have to at least cart around oxygen one day. If I do, it will not be in heels, riding a scooter, and hopefully I will have finally put the cigarettes down. I don’t think, again anybody just outright judges people using scooters. Maybe I am wrong, but I know, I only do, if the person seems to be blantanty abusing the right to use one.

For the original post. I love the world, and I do not concentrate on the negative. Nobody should. Way easier to have a good time, than a bad one.

I see what you describe A LOT! I have seen it more and more that an entire family rents them.

It is the abusers, safety, and unfair practices (which are slowly getting fixed) that people are getting on edge about. It seems like there are more abusers, unfair practices, and safety issues, than legit users and fair practices. Im not sure if there are more unsafe driver than safe tho.

Pain is an interesting thing. All of us know what it is. All of us experience it from time to time. And, at the end of a 14 hour day and 14+ mile hike we are all in it. Sometimes a lot of it. Watching the scooters cut through the bus line and make all of us, in various degrees of pain, wait another 10-30 minutes, standing up, breeds resentment. It doesn't help, that while we are gimping around in line, hoping our knees don't explode, the scooter drivers spring effortlessly off their scooters and prance onto the buses giggling amongst themselves.

 

[DisneyGigi]

I see what you describe A LOT! I have seen it more and more that an entire family rents them.

It is the abusers, safety, and unfair practices (which are slowly getting fixed) that people are getting on edge about. It seems like there are more abusers, unfair practices, and safety issues, than legit users and fair practices. Im not sure if there are more unsafe driver than safe tho.

Pain is an interesting thing. All of us know what it is. All of us experience it from time to time. And, at the end of a 14 hour day and 14+ mile hike we are all in it. Sometimes a lot of it. Watching the scooters cut through the bus line and make all of us, in various degrees of pain, wait another 10-30 minutes, standing up, breeds resentment. It doesn't help, that while we are gimping around in line, hoping our knees don't explode, the scooter drivers spring effortlessly off their scooters and prance onto the buses giggling amongst themselves.

Again, I do not judge people that may need one, and I know that pain can’t always be seen. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis, had it for years. You can’t see that I do, but at the end of a long 10-15 mile day. You can see it in the swelling and redness - my ankles and knees get awful sometimes. The funny thing is the walking actually makes me feel better until night.
I just find it odd that an entire family all needs one. Maybe they have really bad luck I dunno, but I doubt it. The very young girl just wanted to wear heels and not walk IMO. The heels were like stilettos and she pranced to the smoking section. Just seemed like an easy way to to be able to wear them, and pose for pictures. Again in my opinion. BUT who in their right mind wears heels to Disney World? Lol
People that need them should be able to use them, and there are definitely less than they used to be.
Either way, it doesn’t affect my trip. I am a happy girl, no matter what is going on around me.

 

[networkpro]

I see what you describe A LOT! I have seen it more and more that an entire family rents them.

It is the abusers, safety, and unfair practices (which are slowly getting fixed) that people are getting on edge about. It seems like there are more abusers, unfair practices, and safety issues, than legit users and fair practices. Im not sure if there are more unsafe driver than safe tho.

Pain is an interesting thing. All of us know what it is. All of us experience it from time to time. And, at the end of a 14 hour day and 14+ mile hike we are all in it. Sometimes a lot of it. Watching the scooters cut through the bus line and make all of us, in various degrees of pain, wait another 10-30 minutes, standing up, breeds resentment. It doesn't help, that while we are gimping around in line, hoping our knees don't explode, the scooter drivers spring effortlessly off their scooters and prance onto the buses giggling amongst themselves.

Consider those like my wife who have degenerative disks like c2 and c7 who can do the dismount with ease, but mainstreet is a long painful haul.

Ada is there for a reason, but we all know that even that is being used by some to push what they want at the expense of others. Want to be embarrassed? Ride the SoG bus where routinely amputees give up their seats to others. It's not always about yourself.

 

[NickMaio]

We are not serial complainers by any means - - - However we have shared our issues with Disney on numerous trips. We have been going for decades, we hold WDW is a higher standard. A standard that THEY have created over the years. In the past couple of years we have felt that this standard has slipped - for various reasons. We always call them this, sometimes it falls on deaf ears sometimes they compensate us. While we are there NOTHING ruins our fun, experiences, and memories.

 

[winstongator]

It’s easy for the kids to look forward to a 19 hour car ride, but do you look forward to it?

I’m in the minority that enjoy the parks more now than I did 20-30 years ago. Everything has negatives, nothing’s perfect. Every day we spend at the parks there’s a speed bump. Something that could feel bad if you tried to speed over it, but take it slow and it’s no problem at all.

Things that were negatives 30 years ago: cost, lines and kids getting tired.

 

[winstongator]

Many years back, in the early days of the internet, there was USENET, a way to communicate with others of like mind. Al Lutz (who later went on to found Miceage), was the king of REC.ALT.DISNEY, a discussion board for us Disney park nuts. He was so down on Disneyland - dirty bathrooms, overflowing trashcans, fading paint - that I almost canceled my summer trip to DL, a place I'd loved since my first visit back in 1963. I decided to go anyway, and you know what I found? The music was playing on Main Street, the balloon sellers were selling balloons, the smell of popcorn and caramel was in the air - in short, it was the same DL that I'd known for years!

Don't let the negative Nellys influence you - go, and have a good time!

I loved usenet. I used to read red.sport.football.college (rsfc). Pretty much the precursor to the cfb subreddit.

Great point!

 

[xdan0920]

I guess I'm more of a realist. I think it's because I have worked for major fortune 100 companies all my life and I am a firm believer that the only thing that they really pay attention to is the bottom line. Oh sure they have a brand they want to protect but the reality is with all our grumbling and negativity the parks are still packed. so we can kvetch all we want about IP's and Disney will pretend they are interested in our comments but that is about all we're going to get. We can kvetch about how the garbage can patrol use to come out and empty trash the nano second it got full but at some point you have to ask yourself, what will that do?

I do admit that some things that annoy others I don't get but again, if at the end of my trips all I can do is remember what was wrong, I am not going back. I generally drop 4-5K on a 8 day wdw trip. that's a big chunk of change to go some where and then want it to be better.

You are absolutely right, there are many thing that I wish were like they were 30 years ago. LOL ironically one of mine's is something so stupid. have you notice that most ice cream is not ice cream at all but that nasty "frozen dairy dessert". crazy to be annoyed with something so simple.

Just my thoughts.

You know what I wish was more like 30 years ago? Conversation that wasn’t punctuated by incessant “lols” it’s juvenile in the extreme. Hard to read, tbh.

 

[yaksplat]

It’s easy for the kids to look forward to a 19 hour car ride, but do you look forward to it?

I’m in the minority that enjoy the parks more now than I did 20-30 years ago. Everything has negatives, nothing’s perfect. Every day we spend at the parks there’s a speed bump. Something that could feel bad if you tried to speed over it, but take it slow and it’s no problem at all.

Things that were negatives 30 years ago: cost, lines and kids getting tired.

I actually do enjoy that car ride. 1280 miles with my favorite four people heading off on an adventure. We surprised them with a flight in 2017 and it was great being in the park 5 hours after walking out of our front door. However, my oldest said he missed getting his waffle at the Hampton Inn in Savannah. For some reason he loves that part of the trip. I drive from Buffalo to Savannah on day 1, usually leaving at 4am and arriving at 7pm. Then the next day we're at the hotel by 11am.
I have a playlist of cartoons set up in the car with Gravity Falls, old disney shorts and Looney Tunes that's long enough to make it to WDW and back without a repeat. I look forward to the drive every year. If I can manage to get a cheap flight, we'll fly, but if we can't, I have no problem driving.

 

[winstongator]

I actually do enjoy that car ride. 1280 miles with my favorite four people heading off on an adventure. We surprised them with a flight in 2017 and it was great being in the park 5 hours after walking out of our front door. However, my oldest said he missed getting his waffle at the Hampton Inn in Savannah. For some reason he loves that part of the trip. I drive from Buffalo to Savannah on day 1, usually leaving at 4am and arriving at 7pm. Then the next day we're at the hotel by 11am.
I have a playlist of cartoons set up in the car with Gravity Falls, old disney shorts and Looney Tunes that's long enough to make it to WDW and back without a repeat. I look forward to the drive every year. If I can manage to get a cheap flight, we'll fly, but if we can't, I have no problem driving.

Car rides for me, while not as long anymore, are hit and miss. Drive from NC to VT with a 2 week old - awesome. Drive back - less so. I’ll do some trips down to Orlando or back in less than 3 hrs with no stops, others take 4+ with multiple breaks. Planning and having the media pre-loaded is key (I have to do this for tomorrow’s non-wdw travel).

 

[Shouldigo12]

I actually do enjoy that car ride. 1280 miles with my favorite four people heading off on an adventure. We surprised them with a flight in 2017 and it was great being in the park 5 hours after walking out of our front door. However, my oldest said he missed getting his waffle at the Hampton Inn in Savannah. For some reason he loves that part of the trip. I drive from Buffalo to Savannah on day 1, usually leaving at 4am and arriving at 7pm. Then the next day we're at the hotel by 11am.
I have a playlist of cartoons set up in the car with Gravity Falls, old disney shorts and Looney Tunes that's long enough to make it to WDW and back without a repeat. I look forward to the drive every year. If I can manage to get a cheap flight, we'll fly, but if we can't, I have no problem driving.

I don't know why, but the "getting there" has always been my favorite part of trips. I think the anticipation just gets me extra pumped for the trip. Plus, similar to your son, I like stopping in at the gas stations and getting that early morning "if we don't stop to eat we can get there even sooner" coffee and junk food for breakfast.

Oh, and gravity falls is awesome. Your kids have good taste.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Car rides for me, while not as long anymore, are hit and miss. Drive from NC to VT with a 2 week old - awesome. Drive back - less so. I’ll do some trips down to Orlando or back in less than 3 hrs with no stops, others take 4+ with multiple breaks. Planning and having the media pre-loaded is key (I have to do this for tomorrow’s non-wdw travel).

In fairness, since I do the same trip about every two years, the scenery between NC and Vermont is severely lacking in wonderment. However, the trip from NC to Orlando to me is one different thing after another. I am a huge advocate of road trips for a number of reasons. It's cheaper, it enables one to bring whatever they want in whatever quantity they want, it gives you no additional charge transportation for exploring once you get there, it gives that feeling of a quest and adventure and with a young family a whole lot of time for bonding. The downside, of course is the time it takes, but, I have always felt that the trip was as good as the destination in many cases.

Every year we would leave Vermont early on a February morning and drive through the dreary until we got to Fredricksberg, Virginia. Stay over and leave the next morning and drive as far as Walterboro, SC. then the next day an easy drive to Kissimmee arriving early afternoon to hotel with time to get settled before heading to WDW the next morning. I know that is a stretched out time, but, after trying the two day method I found that I was to tired to enjoy my time at the park the next day and as I said I love road trips and since I figure it as part of my vacation, if find a less rushed method to be more enjoyable to me. Now the trip back without WDW as the target made it a little more work like, but, still fun. After the first trip where we left after work and went from Burlington, Vt. to Albany because that is the stretch of road that I hated the most in the winter, that became our habitual path. Now that I live in NC it is an stress free 10 hour drive door to door via my favorite, most nostalgic I-95 journey.

 

[yaksplat]

Every year we would leave Vermont early on a February morning and drive through the dreary until we got to Fredricksberg, Virginia. Stay over and leave the next morning and drive as far as Walterboro, SC. then the next day an easy drive to Kissimmee arriving early afternoon to hotel with time to get settled before heading to WDW the next morning.

Wow. I don't know if i could handle the three day method. I do 928 miles on day one from Buffalo to Savannah and then 280 miles from Savannah to WDW on day two. I'm refreshed and ready to go that second morning after I crash in savannah at about 9pm on the first night.

 

[mimitchi33]

I do! For example, it rained all week on my last trip (and by that I mean pouring), but I still had fun!

 

[yaksplat]

Oh, and gravity falls is awesome. Your kids have good taste.

To surprise them with our trip a couple years ago, we had a mysterious Gravity Falls-esque letter sent to the house. It led to other pieces in the yard. When all was said and done, there was some UV ink on it that had directions to fold it into a hat, which exposed a map. The map led to the magic bands.

 

[Shouldigo12]

To surprise them with our trip a couple years ago, we had a mysterious Gravity Falls-esque letter sent to the house. It led to other pieces in the yard. When all was said and done, there was some UV ink on it that had directions to fold it into a hat, which exposed a map. The map led to the magic bands.

View attachment 335393View attachment 335394View attachment 335395View attachment 335396

That's amazing! How long did it take you to put that together?

 

[DisAl]

Since I got a digital camera I don't have negatives any more.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

I see what you describe A LOT! I have seen it more and more that an entire family rents them.

It is the abusers, safety, and unfair practices (which are slowly getting fixed) that people are getting on edge about. It seems like there are more abusers, unfair practices, and safety issues, than legit users and fair practices. Im not sure if there are more unsafe driver than safe tho.

Pain is an interesting thing. All of us know what it is. All of us experience it from time to time. And, at the end of a 14 hour day and 14+ mile hike we are all in it. Sometimes a lot of it. Watching the scooters cut through the bus line and make all of us, in various degrees of pain, wait another 10-30 minutes, standing up, breeds resentment. It doesn't help, that while we are gimping around in line, hoping our knees don't explode, the scooter drivers spring effortlessly off their scooters and prance onto the buses giggling amongst themselves.

Sorry I just had to respond to the pain comments. I know that pain is subjective and that Everyone gets some level of pain and exhaustion while at Disney. Who wouldn't when they walk a minimum of 8 or 10 miles a day??
However, I have an invisible pain disease. I look "normal", but believe me, I had to quit a profession that I loved, we lost our business because I could not even hold a phone due to pain. I lost income, health insurance, and self respect in a very short time. I went from working 2 jobs, managing the household, business, teenagers too, to being disabled 100%.
A lot of people manage a lot of things at once, too.
I have pain that goes from lying on the couch trying not to breath too deep because of the excruciating pain, to "just" pain every day. I have had pain every day for at least 8 years. Imagine? Not just an ache or pain from walking too much at WDW, but something to live with every day and night. All this even with pain medication, change in lifestyle, etc.
I guess what I'm trying to say that there are some of us who live with daily pain, not just from being at WDW. So, I guess it's like judging people who are on scooters. It is impossible to assess someone's level of pain, or to dismiss it as everyone hurts at Disney.
I'm sure you didn't mean it that way.

 

[yaksplat]

That's amazing! How long did it take you to put that together?

It was a last minute though so i just put a couple days into it on breaks at work.

 

[Shouldigo12]

It was a last minute though so i just put a couple days into it on breaks at work.

You even have a bunch of little ciphers on it and everything. That's really cool, I'm sure your kids are going to look back really fondly on this.