WDW Magic... Some People Get It... Some People Don't

[garyhoov]

There's no doubt about it. NASCAR is one of America's most popular sports. Millions pack into racetracks across the country. The industry itself generates billions.

But I'm sorry. I just don't get it. I don't see the excitement of watching a car go round-and-round the track. I'd rather do something else with my Saturday afternoon.

That's a GREAT analogy (though it may not work for a Nascar fan)! I have absolutely no interest in American Idol, but some people obviously love it. I love motorcycles, but most peoples eyes glaze over when I start talking about the Aprilia Tuono.

I have an interesting perspective, because I hated Disney World when I went there in 1973 and I hated Disneyland when I went there in 1975. When I went back around 1996 it was driving me crazy. Everything was Disney. By the end of my trip, I couldn't wait to see anything non-disney and use a toilet that didn't flush itself.

. . . but when I got back to the real world, something clicked and I began to miss the idea that people could be nicer and things could be cleaner and better. It was like a switch flipped and I went from hating it to loving it. Maybe if I had been a little older or a little younger when I went back, maybe if my son had been a little older or a little younger, maybe if I didn't have a son or didn't have a wife, the switch wouldn't have flipped and I'd still be one of them.:lookaroun

 

[LittleLeota]

We were pixie-dusted in '79 when we visited with parents, g.parents and our 3-year old in tow. I understand our pull to WDW - it's all about nostalgia and as previously noted, "the joy of experiencing it all together."

I'm experiencing some anxiety, tho, about our upcoming trip in March and need advice. Spouse and I are spending ten days there on our own. Both our kids have families of their own now and tho we've vacationed at WDW together in the past, at present they can't afford it and we can't afford to take them all. My dilemma: how do we spend ten days - TEN DAYS - at the World without feeling guilty. I know, I know - we deserve a get-away just the two of us; we KNOW we'll be able to go at our own pace and do things we normally miss on those family trips when we try to accommodate everyone's interest. But I really need some help for those times when I know I'll run into a tiny Cinderella on her way to a Princess breakfast and I'll have to swallow hard not to remember our own 3-year old granddaughter all dressed up in her Belle-like finest. Any advice from other Grandmas and Grandpas out there?<!-- / message -->

 

[PSU_Princess]

Since I met my husband we have tried to take a Disney trip every 2-3 years, prior to that I had only been there one time. I love Disney, I get a tear in my eye the first time we get off the monorail and I tell my hubby that we are in Mickey's house. I get depressed when we get home and search on the internet for all things Disney (how I found this site ).

BUT.....I also enjoy a relaxing beach vacation and ski trips. When it came time to plan our honeymoon we both knew that we just wanted to spend a week relaxing and not doing much of anything, so we went to Aruba. It was an amazing vacation and I'm sure that we will go back some day.

As much as I love Disney, I still want to be able to take other vacations. I can't wait until we have children and can experience the magic of taking them to Disney for the first time.

 

[figment1985]

My fiancee and I live in NC and we have gone twice this year, both long trips. People give us SUCH a hard time about going so often (I used to go once a year with my family), people just don't get it, they don't even try to get. They are stubborn.

 

[mouselvrmom]

I went to disney almost every year as a kid growing up so it is really no surprise that I am a disney nut! I took a little break for awhile there after I left home, but once I had kids I wanted to start taking them. However, there is some hope for those who did not go as children. My husband only went once with his mom and sisters when he was 18. He of course thought that it was- eh. However, after I talked him into taking our kids to DL in 2005, he has gotten steadily more excited about our disney trips. Last year he was convinced to buy into the vacation club & he has our next two vacations planned out already. It's so sweet really to see him getting so excited about something that he really never loved before!

 

[Uponastar]

We were pixie-dusted in '79 when we visited with parents, g.parents and our 3-year old in tow. I understand our pull to WDW - it's all about nostalgia and as previously noted, "the joy of experiencing it all together."

I'm experiencing some anxiety, tho, about our upcoming trip in March and need advice. Spouse and I are spending ten days there on our own. Both our kids have families of their own now and tho we've vacationed at WDW together in the past, at present they can't afford it and we can't afford to take them all. My dilemma: how do we spend ten days - TEN DAYS - at the World without feeling guilty. I know, I know - we deserve a get-away just the two of us; we KNOW we'll be able to go at our own pace and do things we normally miss on those family trips when we try to accommodate everyone's interest. But I really need some help for those times when I know I'll run into a tiny Cinderella on her way to a Princess breakfast and I'll have to swallow hard not to remember our own 3-year old granddaughter all dressed up in her Belle-like finest. Any advice from other Grandmas and Grandpas out there?<!-- / message -->

If you're anything like us, you'll get over that guilt really fast! :lol:
Family trips are the absolute best, of course, but there is something really special about those "just-the-two-of-us" trips, as well. DH and I have been going on our own for a few years now and enjoy ourselves immensely each time! We tend to follow a more leisurely pace then we do when the whole gang is there. Hotel-hopping, people watching, relaxing strolls around the World Showcase, floating on the lazy rivers in the Water Parks, and just a generally less stringent schedule makes for a lovely time!
But, as far as seeing those tiny Cinderellas. . .I'm afraid I can't help you there. My girls are 26 and 24 and every time I see the little princesses at the parks the old memories come back with a heart tugging vengeance! I just try to remind myself that I'm very fortunate to have those memories and that, if I'm lucky, I'll be making more memories with my yet-to-be-born grandkids some day!
As for you, just try to remind yourself that some time for just the two of you is a good thing, to be sure! And that will help make family trips all the more special! Enjoy!

 

[Dagger]

My sentiments exactly. :sohappy:

Here, here!

 

[justducky78]

I agree - some people just don't "get it" but a lot of times it depends on who you're with or how many times you've been. In 1988 my parents took the family to WDW for the obligatory trip to Disney! My sister was in the marching band in Epcot and we did the parks and stayed off-site and that was about it. I loved it, of course, because I was a kid - and what kid doesn't love Disney?! But, I also just loved being on vacation with my family - in Florida - on a plane for the first time! My parents enjoyed it to some degree but I think they thought it was too commercial and of course staying off-site didn't make for the most relaxing vacation. :lol:

So we had a good time, but when we got home, it was just another family vacation - no more special than the others. They've never been back.

It wasn't until I met my husband in 1994 that I became a huge fan - because he was! He grew up going to Disney every year and his enthusiasm for it rubbed off on me. He had been many times, always stayed on-property and knew all the tricks and tips. We now go every couple years (other trips in between) and love it! We would go more often but we're deluxe snobs (which is a whole other thread!!) and do like to travel to other places in the world, too. We are the Disney freaks in the family and can't wait to share it with more people - we know if they experience it with us, they'll love it.

So, I guess my point is, we just have to give people a chance! They may not "get it" yet, but who knows, maybe one day they will...I hope.

 

[HappyHaunts999]

Oh I get it- My whole family and I are in Camp 1...I am slowly trying to convert my husband who is in Camp 2...but...Wow, where do I begin...I have been to WDW over 50 times. There is just something about walking under the train station through those tunnels that open up to Main Street...I always get teary eyed as we turn the bend to see the Castle. I have started to become even more obsessed and emotional about the whole experience in my old age (26). My best friend and I drove 7 hours to spend one Saturday at the parks. That night as we were watching the Wishes fireworks show, we looked at each other and we were both crying. I think it is the fact that Disney lets you be a kid again, the innocence of everything. There is only 1 word for it-Magic. The landscaping, the sounds, the smells, the food, the shows, the parades....everything is magical. I can't wait to take my own children someday, and let them expereince the magic of Disney, the happiest place on earth!!!!!!!!!
Next trip-19 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :sohappy:

 

[majortom1981]

Hmm

I am going to get majorly flammed for this but IT is easier for people who live in states like in the mid west or in florida to enjoy WDW.

I live 40 min outside NYC, Where there are tons of things to do and some really great restauraunts.

People who live near cities like this I find would have a harder time understanding wdw because there is so much to do in the city and deal with crowds all day.

WDW has an awful lot of crowds and an awful lot of planning involved. Now with the meal plan its kinda hard to walk into a restauraunt without a reservation and get seated.


Some people dont want to deal with that stuff when they deal with it at home.

 

[hokielutz]

...but we're making progress in our goal to get everyone we know to visit and especially, take their kids! The one I love hearing from the other parents of 3-5 year olds is... oh..my kids are far too young.... :brick:

Absolutely... I have heard the same thing from my wife's brother's family. We have a timeshare in Orlando that sleeps 8 comfortably and wanted to take them and my wife's parents to Orlando in May of 2007. At first they were all for the trip and we started to show their boys.. one will be 3 this month and the other is 5.. pictures and video from our last trip... including the first person view of the Everest ride. They loved what they were seeing..

But when it came time for them decide on a particular week in May... they backed out with the same excuse you gave... "Our kids are too young... they won't remember anything... "

Their loss

 

[DukeEarthwalker]

You know majortom, I think you're more right than you know. I live 90 minutes from NYC (I'm in PA) and even out here people say exactly what you said.

But in my opinion, this is also the same crowd that's trying to "fit in" with their peers and WDW simply isn't "cool" or "sophisticated" to that sect. They are trying to be "grown-up" from career reasons or whatever.

I personnally could not live in a world like that, which is why I enjoy WDW. I can feel as young as I am (23) and it ok. Then I can turn around and take my gf to a nice dinner if I want. I can play both sides.

 

[hokielutz]

One more post and then I will stop.

everytime my wife and I go to WDW, our soon to be wedded neighbors, (best friends, drinking buddies, and our house/cat sitters everytime we go on vacation) always make a comment about how they "don't get it on why we go there." They also say, "There are no thrilling roller coasters and its a kids place... and you (wife & I) don't have kids."

True we don't have kids. I was the 3 year old who remembers my first trip to Disney and I also remember the trips when I was 6 yrs, 7, 9, 11, 13, 17, 20, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, and presently at the tender age of 29. My wife wasn't so lucky, but I gave her a Disney education.. and she fell head over heels for the magic when she and I were dating in college. We love the experience everytime we go and we hope our best friends will go with us one of these days. So we will keep nudging and coaxing until one time... we'll get pictures of them in Mickey Ears on Main Street with the Cinderella's castle in the background. :sohappy:

 

[mitchk]

I get this a lot from my friends "Why are you going back to Disney, you should go some place other than Disney...." My buddy Omar often jokes, that if Mitch don't get to hug Mickey Mouse at least once a year he'll die. They just don't understand what a magical place it is. My soon to be wife and I, are headed back to Disney in May for our honeymoon. I just love the whole atmosphere of Disney World, you feel like your in a different world, with no worries, or cares. I don't think, or a least hope, that I'll ever get tired of Disney:wave:

 

[mikesoccer40]

It makes our's families year

I am a military man who has spent almost the last twenty years doing the governements business world-wide and Disney is what my family uses to shed all of the troubles, hardships and times of separation that we endure.
We had always loved Disney before we went as a family for the first time in 2000 and we have only missed one year since and in fact are going for our second time this year at the end of this month.
Simply put, Disney make the outside world disappear. All the troubles, all the job difficulties melt away once we drive underneath the Welcome sign (actually it is a family rule to leave it all outside Disney) and check in for our week of magic. We always pick a package, pre-arrange our meals and plan which day to go to which park; this means that once we check in we no longer have any cares and can use every moment to enjoy each other and to be 1000% in the moment. I can remember each trip to Disney as a benchmark in my childs lives and how close we were and remain.
One of the best memories that will last a lifetime for my kids is that their great-grandmother went with us in 2000. We had lived all over the US and they had only seen her a couple times a year for most of their lives so the trip was a big deal to them and to her. She passed a couple years after that trip, but for the rest of their lives they will remember Disney and GG and the fun we all had.
i think that that is ultimately what the magic is, when you are there and totally in the moment with your family nothing else matters and a warm glow fills every inch of you. Thank you Mickey and thank you Walt for the gift my family recieves every year we visit.

 

[mouselvrmom]

I am a military man who has spent almost the last twenty years doing the governements business world-wide and Disney is what my family uses to shed all of the troubles, hardships and times of separation that we endure.
We had always loved Disney before we went as a family for the first time in 2000 and we have only missed one year since and in fact are going for our second time this year at the end of this month.
Simply put, Disney make the outside world disappear. All the troubles, all the job difficulties melt away once we drive underneath the Welcome sign (actually it is a family rule to leave it all outside Disney) and check in for our week of magic. We always pick a package, pre-arrange our meals and plan which day to go to which park; this means that once we check in we no longer have any cares and can use every moment to enjoy each other and to be 1000% in the moment. I can remember each trip to Disney as a benchmark in my childs lives and how close we were and remain.
One of the best memories that will last a lifetime for my kids is that their great-grandmother went with us in 2000. We had lived all over the US and they had only seen her a couple times a year for most of their lives so the trip was a big deal to them and to her. She passed a couple years after that trip, but for the rest of their lives they will remember Disney and GG and the fun we all had.
i think that that is ultimately what the magic is, when you are there and totally in the moment with your family nothing else matters and a warm glow fills every inch of you. Thank you Mickey and thank you Walt for the gift my family recieves every year we visit.

Couldn't have said it better myself!!:sohappy:

 

[Grim Grinner]

Hi, I'm Andy and I love Disney-

It's actually quite cool seeing so many people from Illinois on these boards. I used to work at a game store in Oak Brook, and whenever someone would pull out the Disney credit card, I knew I'd found someone who shares in the magic.

Growing up, I went to WDW 5 or 6 times. I was there for the opening of Epcot Center and MGM. Going was such a monumental time in my life, and I always came away inspired and wanting to expand my horizons.

I believe I enjoy it more as an adult now, than I did before. Now I can go at my own pace, watch what I want- and take the time to soak in the little details that no other place has.

Every single time I've gone, something truly magicial has happened- things that break all odds. I'm always selected to participate in shows, and I win whatever contests are held (I really wish I could go this year).

It's my reset switch. While I'm there, nothing matters other than when I'm going to get my next turkey leg or Dole Whip.

I brought a new Disney fan into the world when I showed my skeptical best friend why the park was so cool. Once he caught on, he was hooked. Like me, for him- it was all about the little details and inside jokes.

 

[mrtoad]

You summed it perfectly. Good memories are the most valuable possession you can have. For us the money we spend to go each year pays huge dividends in our happiness department.

I am a military man who has spent almost the last twenty years doing the governements business world-wide and Disney is what my family uses to shed all of the troubles, hardships and times of separation that we endure.
We had always loved Disney before we went as a family for the first time in 2000 and we have only missed one year since and in fact are going for our second time this year at the end of this month.
Simply put, Disney make the outside world disappear. All the troubles, all the job difficulties melt away once we drive underneath the Welcome sign (actually it is a family rule to leave it all outside Disney) and check in for our week of magic. We always pick a package, pre-arrange our meals and plan which day to go to which park; this means that once we check in we no longer have any cares and can use every moment to enjoy each other and to be 1000% in the moment. I can remember each trip to Disney as a benchmark in my childs lives and how close we were and remain.
One of the best memories that will last a lifetime for my kids is that their great-grandmother went with us in 2000. We had lived all over the US and they had only seen her a couple times a year for most of their lives so the trip was a big deal to them and to her. She passed a couple years after that trip, but for the rest of their lives they will remember Disney and GG and the fun we all had.
i think that that is ultimately what the magic is, when you are there and totally in the moment with your family nothing else matters and a warm glow fills every inch of you. Thank you Mickey and thank you Walt for the gift my family recieves every year we visit.

 

[Uponastar]

I am a military man who has spent almost the last twenty years doing the governements business world-wide and Disney is what my family uses to shed all of the troubles, hardships and times of separation that we endure.
We had always loved Disney before we went as a family for the first time in 2000 and we have only missed one year since and in fact are going for our second time this year at the end of this month.
Simply put, Disney make the outside world disappear. All the troubles, all the job difficulties melt away once we drive underneath the Welcome sign (actually it is a family rule to leave it all outside Disney) and check in for our week of magic. We always pick a package, pre-arrange our meals and plan which day to go to which park; this means that once we check in we no longer have any cares and can use every moment to enjoy each other and to be 1000% in the moment. I can remember each trip to Disney as a benchmark in my childs lives and how close we were and remain.
One of the best memories that will last a lifetime for my kids is that their great-grandmother went with us in 2000. We had lived all over the US and they had only seen her a couple times a year for most of their lives so the trip was a big deal to them and to her. She passed a couple years after that trip, but for the rest of their lives they will remember Disney and GG and the fun we all had.
i think that that is ultimately what the magic is, when you are there and totally in the moment with your family nothing else matters and a warm glow fills every inch of you. Thank you Mickey and thank you Walt for the gift my family recieves every year we visit.

That is Disney magic in a nutshell!
Perfectly stated!

 

[Craig & Lisa]

We have a neighbor who asked us for info about Disney and we loaded them up with just about everything we could give them. They seemed to be a bit overwhelmed, but when I told them to just do things as they come to them they'll do fine. Well, when they got back they just could not thank us enough, in fact they are going back in April. Guess they've been infected too.