Have you ever not felt the magic?

[THEMEPARKPIONEER]

This. One million times over. THIS.
I mean have you SEEN what replaced Off Kilter over at Epcot? It's as exciting as microwave instant grits.


In fact, the current crop of WDW "leadership" is the reason I fantasize about winning the lottery and building my own park.

Foil in a microwave... Now that's a spectacular compared to the lumberjack show

 

[WondersOfLife]

I'm from Louisiana.

I know it's about an hour from Baton Rouge.. But just interested! I think the "Rice Theatre" is in Crowley. Have you ever seen a school play in The Rice Theatre by Saint Michaels school? Or a play by Redemptorist or Rayne Catholic?

Sorry this is out of the blue, I'm interested! My dad owns a touring educational theatre company and we work in Morgan City, Iota, Scott and Crowley!

 

[Gabe1]

I'm with the others that say Disneyland! You still get the magic but all the new things, places that are gone from WDW, the new-ness makes it exciting again. Your next trip to Disney would be a great time to hope to DL as the parks are pretty torn up. Then when you return to WDW hopefully some new attractions and less construction walls will be around.

Or, take a trip to Uni??? I took my family (I had been) in 2005 for the first time, I was on a convention, they were surprised how much they enjoyed themselves.

 

[FettFan]

I know it's about an hour from Baton Rouge.. But just interested! I think the "Rice Theatre" is in Crowley. Have you ever seen a school play in The Rice Theatre by Saint Michaels school? Or a play by Redemptorist or Rayne Catholic?

Sorry this is out of the blue, I'm interested! My dad owns a touring educational theatre company and we work in Morgan City, Iota, Scott and Crowley!

lol. Those are all too far west....I rarely make it to the other side of the river.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Ditto Kentucky.

Ummm.....West Virginia here.

 

[pumpkin7]

I think a majority of people are in the same boat with FP+. I for one wouldn't want to be taking my mobile with me and starting at that all day, while missing what was around me. WDW are just encouraging people not to see what is around them. I want to be immersed in Disney, not logging onto my phone every 10 minutes to see if I can get that last FP+ reservation that I so desperately want.
And because I'm in the UK, I can only use the park wifi or the booths, both of which have been described on here as inadequate.
I also feel unmagical because our friends are going next year and they've asked us to go. We can't afford it for one (upwards of £3500 to get over to US, stay in a crappy hotel, park tickets, food etc), and I don't really want to go next year because of all the construction going on. I would rather wait for a few years until they've built all the new stuff, updated most of the old stuff, and hopefully done away with FP+ (puuuurrrllleeeeaaasssseee!!!).

 

[rct247]

You definitely can get the magic back. There are some aspects of WDW that have changed from the "good ole days" from swimming in the Seven Seas Lagoon to MyMagic+, but demographics are sometimes the thing that ruins the magic the most. Walt Disney World's visitors are either international tourists that have a much different way of expressing themselves and combating with a language barrier than most Americans or they are American tourists that fit into two categories: clueless but are visiting because it is a right of passage or helicopter parents/families that have it all figured out but aren't perfect either.

If you let the memories of the "good ole days" and the people around you bring you down, then yes you will have a bad or just okay time, but you have to find the details or watch the kids. The parents will you off, but the happy kids are the best ways to recapture the magic. I may have ridden a tired attraction like Ellen's Energy Adventure multiple times, but watching for the details and listening to a little kid go on and one about the dinosaurs just makes me smile. Yes, there were people on their phones during the ride. Yes, it is extremely dated, but magic hides for those to find it. Disney doesn't just smack you in the face with it anymore. Force fed magic is for the clueless tourists, you're better than that. Find what speaks to you. You'll find it. Watch other guests react to attractions next time you go and see if that sparks it.

 

[DisneyPrincess5]

We are in WDW right now so some thoughts...

I can see the "loss of magic" feeling. With the intrusion of technology in our daily lives, not just while on vacation, it has changed all of us. Things are immediate, little is left to be a surprise or to the imagination, and since Disney offers a special event every month (the Christmas party starts this Friday...seriously?) there is no more "slow time" (If there is a slow time when there's not blistering heat or coat weather, fill me in). I see kids behaving differently here than ever before, parenting has been absolutely deplorable, families are fighting, and people's patience is gone.

While we probably won't return until 2016 or 2017, we will always come back and look forward to it despite how it's changed. The world changes, people change, so WDW will continue to change. It stinks how it has changed and how you can't just walk up to things and ride or dine, but I think this was unfortunately enviable. When suits run the place instead of hearts, what can we expect?

With that said, I think it's up to everyone to create their own magic. Go in thinking it'll be great and fun and hopefully you will get that. We are going to give it a few years before we return in the hopes that it'll feel very special.

 

[kels650]

One time when I was little my dad got sick. We arrived on a late flight, grabbed dinner in the food court at one of the all stars and went to our room. In the middle of the night he woke up very sick, and that was probably the first time I ever paid attention to how thin the walls were between the bathroom and the rest of the room. He was sick the rest of the trip. My mom and I still went to the parks during the day (per his request, he wanted to be left alone) but also made frequent trips back to the hotel to check on him. I remember still having fun, but also feeling bad for him and I was unable to enjoy things the way I normally would. When he was feeling slightly better he attempted to do the MVMCP with us and he only lasted an hour or two before he needed to go back to the hotel. I remember thinking about how awful it would be to miss the party and I hoped he would just be fine and then the immense guilt I felt for thinking that because I knew he was really sick. The magic was not anywhere near what it normally would be for us that trip, and we still talk about it to this day.

 

[Walt Disney1955]

As you can see by my signature, there have been some gaps in my Disney trips. In 2009 I first went after a 7 year hiatus. I was 29, I last went when I was 22. I was married, and was taking my wife for the first time and I was excited but I told myself that if the place just isn't the same anymore then I shouldn't be upset. I'm a grown man now, maybe this stuff won't appeal to me anymore. If so, no big deal, don't fret over it.

Well, we drove from the airport the first day to our resort situated a couple of miles off of Disney. I thought I'd take a detour and drive onto the highway that took you into Disney. Remember, this is my wife's first time. So we go under the banner at the front and all of the sudden on the right hand side is Epcot. She gets really excited. She is finally at Disney World! Part of me wanted to drive all the way to MK as well, but it was 7pm at this time and I knew full well that I couldn't see the Castle from our parking spot nor should I get in at that time. But I was just so excited to be there.

So there it is. I just merely had to drive on the property to get that feeling again, and it never went away those two weeks we were there.

Same thing with Disneyland in 2012. It was our first time and I wasn't sure if it would be the same "experience" as WDW. That feeling lasted two minutes.

So to answer the question, no, I have never felt the magic lost. Not once. Not at any of the parks, not at California Adventure, Typhoon Lagoon, Epcot, etc. anywhere. Ever.

 

[World_Showcase_Lover007]

One area I always thought they could improve the 'magic' in is along the roadways within WDW that connect the parks and resorts. These areas are little more than shrubbery and woodlands, which is nice in some respects, but couldn't they put up a few (tasteful) Mickey statues or some indicators that you are actually in WDW and not just in the middle of nowhere?

 

[Walt Disney1955]

One area I always thought they could improve the 'magic' in is along the roadways within WDW that connect the parks and resorts. These areas are little more than shrubbery and woodlands, which is nice in some respects, but couldn't they put up a few (tasteful) Mickey statues or some indicators that you are actually in WDW and not just in the middle of nowhere?

That long trek all the way to Magic Kingdom has some nice things. First off, you drive under the "Walt Disney World" arch right away. On the right is Epcot, you can't miss it. Last I saw they had the Tower of Terror promotion right after that. Then you see Tower of Terror itself on the right. You don't really "see" Animal Kingdom from the road though. Then you drive under the arch of "Magic Kingdom".

I guess they could do some other things, I've never thought of it. I think the anticipation alone gets me. On the way out is Mickey's hand waving at you though. Pretty neat. I've never thought I was just on a normal road.

 

[wendysue]

Got back yesterday from a weeklong trip with my husband. We've gone about once a year for the past 6 years and it's something that we have REALLY enjoyed together. Our house is a museum of attraction posters, we have every obscure Disney CD available and our wardrobes consist of a crazy amount of WDW tshirts. You get the picture.

Before this recent trip, our last visit was in August 2013 and it was ruined by me being incredibly sick pretty much the entire time. I was totally miserable, as well as devastated that the holiday I'd looked forward to for so long was ruined. It was a disaster. So I was very nervous about this trip, fearing that the same thing would happen.

Well, it didn't. I was in good health, the weather was fantastic, we had no travel hassles, got good room in a resort we really like...all in all, everything was good (well, except for the ****** FP+ system, but that's another post). But here's the problem: my husband didn't really have fun. I started noticing a couple of days in that he was being quite critical. The FP+ system was the first thing that really got to him. I totally hated it too, I think it is a huge mistake and absolutely horrible, but I figured out early on that it was just going to frustrate us, so I pretty much gave up on using it. I resent the intrusion of so much technology into what is supposed to be a magical world...but I tried to set aside my resentment and just enjoy the trip. Husband...not so much. He complained bitterly about it. He complained about a couple of less-than-ideal customer service moments, despite the fact that we also had some truly over-the top fantastic customer service moments. But the most upsetting thing was that he said he didn't feel the magic, or feel immersed in that wonderful Disney world/feeling/atmosphere. And now that it's over he basically summed up the trip as being "okay". "Okay"?????!!!



I don't know if I'm being silly but I feel really hurt. I think of it as a special place for us, once where we each have unique interests and favorites, but something that we both truly love. And now I feel almost betrayed by his reaction. Don't get me wrong, I'm not someone who can't stand any criticism of WDW; I fully admit that there are things that could be improved and things that kind suck about the place. But that doesn't stop me from loving it! I'd go back today if I could. But now my husband is saying that he wants to go other places on holiday and I'm getting a little freaked out. Of course I want to visit other places but WDW will probably always be my happy spot, and I was so grateful to have a spouse that felt the same way. I am really sad that that may not be the case now.

Has anyone here ever felt that they lost the magic? Can you get it back?

Don't think so....am here now at Pop. Resort is completely full. Have never seen it this busy at this time. Went to the Christmas party last night which was soooo overbooked. Very hard time seeing anything without camping out on a curb for 2 hours and what is the point of that?? But good news! Buzz was a walk-on. Never could get the FP's we wanted at the times we wanted. Gonna make the best of this last trip here, but threw the bounceback in the trash can.

 

[J_Carioca]

One area I always thought they could improve the 'magic' in is along the roadways within WDW that connect the parks and resorts. These areas are little more than shrubbery and woodlands, which is nice in some respects, but couldn't they put up a few (tasteful) Mickey statues or some indicators that you are actually in WDW and not just in the middle of nowhere?

Nooo! I love the green space. I often see deer on the way to MK and I love it. Wouldn't trade that for a few Mickey statues

 

[Mom@disney]

Just came back from our trip. And for the first time I don't know when we will return. Anybody who knows me knows that I'm a Disney fanatic...I'm a little kid at heart. On this last trip I definately did not see the magic, I actually broke down and cried while in frontier land from realizing that my most favourite place on earth, the place where dreams come true, is no longer that. I wish Walt was still here to kick the suits in the a**.

 

[Baldy]

...... you have to find the details or watch the kids........ watching for the details and listening to a little kid go on and one about the dinosaurs just makes me smile.........Find what speaks to you. You'll find it. Watch other guests react to attractions next time you go and see if that sparks it.

Thank you! This was just what I needed to read.
I was feeling a little uneasy about keeping the magic going on our upcoming trip. Reading your post gave me that tingly feeling of excitement that I used to get as a child on Christmas eve.