Is it better to wait for Disney?

[Tink28]

As a Brit I cannot get to WDW as often as I would like, it is usually about every 3 Years or so and I really look forward to these trips and seeing what is new and enjoying old favourites, but there are times I would love to be able to just pop across the pond for a weekend visit just to get my Disney fix!

 

[Goofyernmost]

As a Brit I cannot get to WDW as often as I would like, it is usually about every 3 Years or so and I really look forward to these trips and seeing what is new and enjoying old favourites, but there are times I would love to be able to just pop across the pond for a weekend visit just to get my Disney fix!

That's pretty much what I do being just a 10 hour drive to the gate. I don't do weekends though because I always find that to be one of the most crowded times, but, I will drive down on a Monday, spend three or four days in the area and then head back home. I no longer plan way ahead, I just go when the mood strikes me. Stay offsite so I can do that easily. Actually, I do Disney almost exactly the same way now, that I did in 1983. I hate being tied to a schedule.

 

[disneyfirstLJ]

I have only been to Disney World once. I found that you can't fit everything that you want to do in that first trip. I tried but it just wasn't possible. I am going back in April for the second time and have created a "bucket" list for this trip since I don't think I will be able to go back for a while. I see the appeal going every year or twice a year because there is so much to see and do.

 

[WDWResort]

I've had an AP for two years now, live three and half hours away and try to make a trip up there as often as possible. Half of the of the fun in going to Disney (to me) is staying at a Disney resort. Whether it be a value, moderate or deluxe. A lot of locals don't get that part, they go home after. I imagine it's more of a "local fair" then it is "vacation" for locals.

While I hold dear memories of my childhood there, it's definitely not the park I grew up with, but I still enjoy escaping for a weekend. It's my escape from reality and home away from home. It's not even so much about experiencing the attractions anymore, it's just to walk around and try to learn or discover something new. A lot of angst coming from Disney fans, from what I gather, comes from locals. People who go every day at the end of their work day, or on a Thursday for a drink at Epcot with their friends.

People will have their opinions and that's okay, you can't really ignore the decline in the quality of the parks, especially if you go three or four times a week. If I didn't follow updates, I'll never really notice that food & bev prices were raised, or that a tiki man in the Tiki room has a missing arm.

I choose to be blissfully ignorant while I'm there. Things change and evolve to the present time. Some people may not like it, some choose to accept it, some choose to ignore it and some choose to praise it.

What I'm getting at is, don't let the negative opinions of others get to you or let it ruin your vacation time. I choose to ignore any comment or debate that doesn't get anywhere and just goes in circles. (How they mostly all are). Also, trolls will troll.

 

[Ulysses McGill]

I've been on both sides of it...

My parents took me to Disney when I was too young to remember just so they could see EPCOT, which was brand new at the time. Then I didn't return again until about 1989, and then not again till 1994, and then a 12 year gap before I made it back in 2006. Each time I went it was magical in its own way, but because of the gaps in my visits, it was almost confusing because I was trying to reconcile my memory of where things were supposed to be relative to where they currently existed at the time. That said, I never failed to have a great time. However, I always felt pressured to cram as much in as humanly possible within the park hours because there was never any real qay to know when I might ever be back again, so I rushed through things regularly and did not get to appreciate the little details.

Fast forward to 2012, and my wife and I move to Florida for work and invest in annual passes. Now, we are able to go much more frequently, and simply enjoy things at a casual pace. We have plenty of time to attend shows, look for hidden Mickeys, trade pins or whatever.

So the gist of it is - Whether you go sometimes or all the time, you can't go wrong. It's great either way.

 

[Nick Wilde]

There are a lot of advantages to going frequently. The biggest one is being able to experience all of the special events like Star Wars Weekends, 4th of July Fireworks, New Years, Food and Wine, etc.

You also do not have to really do all of the obsessive, down to the minute planning as there is not real urge to "do everything" like there is when you are only there year or two. I have gone to a park just to ride a single attraction or meet up with friends.

The only real down side to going all the time is your trips are typically short so you never really get to settle in like you do when you are there for a week or more.

This is exactly the thing I would've said.

 

[FutureCEO]

If I had the luxury of living in Central Florida....I would go alot. Maybe not necessarily to go on rides but to soaked up the atmosphere and the food.

With that being said, I went 5 or so times in 20 years and then I have gone every year since 2006 and the rides are getting boring.

 

[Gomer]

A lot of this comes down to your personality. Some people thrive on consistency and some people need new things to excite them. Are you someone who likes the familiar? Do you frequent the same restaurants, watch the same movies over and over, have a favorite meal that you eat on a regular basis? If you are one of those people, you are probably happier going more often as the consistency of that familiarity that you get over multiple visits is something you would crave.

To others who want something new in the parks every time they go, more frequent visits will lose some of its magic as your vacations start to get redundant.

I am firmly in the former camp. I love that Disney World feels like a second home and things are consistent on each return visit. I welcome additions, but don’t need them to find excitement in my vacation. Just returning to a place that is fun and feels like home is enough for me.

 

[CP_alum08]

If you would've asked me a year or two ago I would have said going multiple times. We were locals/AP holders and went several times a year, mostly weekend trips. Since then we have moved back up to MI and have not been to WDW in almost 2 years.

During our stint as locals, there were multiple times we found ourselves doing things just for the sake of killing time. Several conversations like "do you want to go on the backlot tour? I guess we can, we haven't done it in a while and it will eat up some time." To me that was walking a very thin line between fun and bored.

We are planning a 2015 trip but I think that will be it for a while. Sadly, Nothing new at the parks interests me. I don't think there is anything wrong for going for the sake of nostalgia but I don't need it every year.

 

[Disnee4Me]

If I lived in central/southern Florida, I'd definitely be an annual passholder.

I agree. I will inherit 1/2 of my mom's condo, but that's way down in Delray Beach, some 3 1/2 hours away. And at the rate we are going with my DH's medical issues, I probably won't be able to retire until I'm 70 ... some 12+ years away. But hey I'll so be there as much as I can once I spend half the year in Florida as a retiree.

 

[WDWVolFan]

Greetings all,
I have been reading this board for a few months now, both before and after my trip to Disney in July. One thing I have noticed is that there are a lot of people who go to WDW ALOT. Which is awesome. I absolutely love Disney. I am 24 years old, and I have gone 4 times. Each time is magical and I love it and I want to go back.
After reading a lot of topics, I got to wondering.
Is it better to go fewer times and truly get a new/magical experience every time?
Or is it better to be at Disney annually/multiple times a year, and be able to experience it frequently?
I personally would love to go more than I have, but I feel like it would take away the awe of experiencing Disney. There is a lot of negativity about DHS lately, but I am sitting here thinking that I love the parks. Maybe some of the negativity (disappointment?) is coming from those people who are there on a consistent basis and can see how it has changed.
I would love to hear how others feel.
I agree with a lot of what people say on here, but I also feel that since I haven't been there a ton, I don't necessarily see what others do.

When we got next year, it will be 3 years since we went.

I think 2-3 years is a good gap.
On the non-Disney years, we go to the beach or some other cool place. It works

 

[DfromATX]

I have only been to Disney World once. I found that you can't fit everything that you want to do in that first trip. I tried but it just wasn't possible. I am going back in April for the second time and have created a "bucket" list for this trip since I don't think I will be able to go back for a while. I see the appeal going every year or twice a year because there is so much to see and do.

We've been 4 times so far and we find something new every trip. So dorky me... I went to their website and went thru every attraction at all parks and made a list of stuff we haven't done yet. I was amazed at what all we've missed, especially at Epcot! And, at risk of being ridiculed, I'll admit we didn't even know there was a ride in the "white ball" until our third trip!

 

[Chef Mickey]

I say go as much as possible.

 

[horizons82]

Earlier I wrote a little about being a passholder and why I wouldn't be renewing our passes.

That said, I want everyone to know how much I DO love the parks and I DO think they can be magical and amazing, but as I said, it seems to take more and more homework to ensure an "optimal" experience when one does visit.

All of that said, while I won't be renewing our annual passes, I think a much better option for people like me (who are locals) are the special 3-day and 4-day Fl Resident passes which are usually good from Jan-June (or maybe just through May?) with only a couple of black-out dates.

For me, this will be the best of both worlds as the cost is significantly less than passes and there will be a little more anticipation and magic to the trips since we'd be going during the course of a few months rather than all year 'round. For those who are FL residents and don't enjoy the planning required for every single visit or got burned out doing them with annual passes (like I did), this seems like a nice in-between option.

All IMHO of course.

 

[Much-Pixie-Dust]

We go twice a year and have for the last 5 years. Each time is magical, in different ways. First off, we live a bit over 1,000 miles away, so just leaving the snow and ice in the winter to go to Florida is magical for us! We will stay about 12 days in the summer and take about a 4-5 day trip in the winter. I love going at both times for different reasons. We started going on Disney cruises this summer, and have already scheduled one for the winter and summer in 2015. Now we won't be spending as much time at the parks (just 1 day and night during the winter trip to do MVMCP). All this thinking of past trips, makes me wish I was there now!

 

[LAKid53]

We are Florida residents, live about 4 hours away and go every 2-3 months. So far this year we've gone in January, April, May, July and Labor Day. And still have a trip in October, with a Disney cruise at the end of that one, plus Thanksgiving. I was thinking of going in early December for the Christmas Party, but I noticed that they start back up on November 30th, so guess what we will be doing that night?

And if my daughter could get some time off after Christmas, I would seriously considered THAT week....

We already have 3 trips booked for next year - January, two in February and I just put us on the wait list for the DVC cruise next August. Fortunately, my daughter's BF is as Disney nuts as we are and he has happily joined the insanity.

And I just inquired about a trip to Disneyland next April - first time in 30 years!

I assume eventually we will not go as frequently...like when we are pushing up daisies! LOL

 

[scoobygirl39541]

Ideally I would love to experience wdw every 5 years.... however, I don't have the will power, so we end up going twice a year haha

 

[Susan Savia]

We fit in two trips on our Annual Passes each year and always find new things to check out and always enjoy our favorites too.

 

[jaklgreen]

I think it depends on the type of person you are. I LOVE WDW, it is my happy place. I am happy just being there even if I do not ride a single thing. Just walking around and staying at a WDW resort is my little piece of heaven. I go at least once a year and about every other year I go twice. I live in the Midwest. I think if you are a type of person that needs to "get your moneys worth" by hitting as many rides and attractions as you can then I think waiting between visits would be more your style. I truly believe that you either "get" Disney or you don't. I can not believe how some people complain about the smallest things when it comes to WDW but are blind to it at other theme parks. For me the good always out weighs the bad. If you love it go as much as you like. If little things start to bother you then I would not visit as often.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

I'm in the go as often as you can group! I never used to be. We'd go every 3 years or so with kids/grandkids. THEN, my husband and I discovered the joy of going to WDW by ourselves We realized that we just loved doing what we wanted to do when we wanted to do it! We are older, in our 60's, and love just wandering around the resorts or the parks, taking the time to really look at things (the architecture and details at the parks is amazing), visit with people from all over the world (we've met some wonderful, interesting people like this), and yes while waiting in standby Having said all that, we decided to go to WDW every year because my husband has a serious diagnosis, and he may have to cut back on all activities soon. We won't know exactly when until his lab results change for the worse which they will (he won't get any better). So, we thank our lucky stars that we can go every year and feel like kids again, forget about all the worries of the outside world, and enjoy being together I guess I'd say you never know when you might not be able to go physically, so go and enjoy it while you can! We are going this November and I am going to surprise my husband with a trip in the spring too.!!! Can't wait til that rolls around