Hello WDWmagic friends,
It's been two months since my amazing trip to WDW. I used to come to the boards a couple of times a day, but this has been my first visit since I've been back.
It's not that I'm sad, but for some reason I haven't been able to bring myself to come be a part of the community. Does this happen to anyone else?
I think I'm ready to be back now. Is a three month old trip report too late?
I totally understand what you mean by the absence thing. It doesn't necessarily have to have anything to do with being sad, or even having a sense of "letdown", although that could certainly be part of it for the first few weeks after the trip. But as I think about it, I think there is a certain "relevancy factor". What I mean by that is that this site is relevant for those of us for whom WDW is an active part of our lives; those of us who try to go once a year, or even more than once a year. For those people, there is always a trip on the horizon. Even if you have just gotten back from a trip, there is still the next one on the horizon only a year away. So this site is still relevant even after you get home, because WDW is still a part of your life inasmuch as you plan to go again next year, the year after that, etc. Now for those who are making a once in a lifetime trip, or that once every 5 year trip, etc, this site might only be relevant in the time leading up to that trip; to ask questions about planning, to share the excitement of the trip coming up, or even to share the trip report once you get back. But once that trip is over, and you have come back to share your trip report and reminisce about that trip, then what? There is no trip on the horizon, nothing else to look forward to, at least not for a long time. So there is really no reason to be here at that point. And I see from your signature that your next trip is 4 years away. So what I just described, could be true of you. You haven't been able to bring yourself to come back because the trip you have been looking foward to is over and there is none on the horizon to be excited about, so you just haven't really seen any point in being here.
It's kind of like if, besides our annual WDW trip, we would decide to take a second vacation to California and visit DisneyLand, among other places. In the time leading up to that trip, I may join a messageboard where I ask all kinds of questions about DL and other California attractions, such as Sea World, or what have you. I may visit that site to find out all I can ahead of time and express my excitement for the upcoming trip. However, once the trip has over, that messageboard has served its purpose and is no longer relevant to me, since I don't plan on coming back anytime soon. That messageboard is only relevant to me as long as that stuff is a current part of my life. So, with this wdwmagic site, it remains relevant to me as long as WDW continues to be part of my life. I get home from one trip, and then have another one a year later to prepare for, etc. So I tend to stay abreast of things pertaining to WDW since I always have the intentions of going back "next year". But again, for those whose next trip is years away, I would think that this site wouldn't be as relevant once that trip is over and there is nothing else to plan for several more years.
But like Steve says above, it depends a lot on how often you go. I'm headed down in two weeks for my 5th Disney trip since March [one to DL, the rest to WDW], so I'm always in planning/preparation/packing mode! :lol:
