Community Chat

[Shelbelle]

I dont think you are missing anything. I believe if in your budget, it is nice if parents can take their kids once, if they want to go again, they go when they can go on their own. I dont see the need to keep going back . It is very expensive . 

[bikerbabe]

I’ve never been to DW but I am about 45 minutes from Disneyland in California. It’s definitely a lot more expensive than it used to be but I still love it and I always will.

I go with friends. I’ve sometimes gone alone. Always off season or on slower days.

If that means I never totally grew up, then so be it.😁

[Squirrels Are Trash]

For a decade, I attended two-yearly tech industry conferences that were held at the Disney Orlando properties.  That's 20 times, as an adult. Also, the City of Anaheim used to be my client (Disneyland). I am all Disneyed out. Sill.

My last trip (the year before COVID). I happened to pass by a Princess Party waiting for their Disney Princess and the kids were really cute, all excited in their costumes.

[ninjawife]

I have been to DW multiple times.  The trick to having a memorable experience is to research your trip and plan in advance.  Staying on site is also a bonus.  Having said that I would never go to Florida in the summer.  

[Zhills]

I went to DisneyWorld with an employee on "preview day" before it opened and have been several times and I love it and always will.  

My kids father and grand-father helped build it and we saw it rise out of the swamp!!!!  

Always been magical and always will be!

If you didn't enjoy DW, you must not enjoy much!

[RoughDraft]

@Coastalcarolina   Could it be that you were on the brink of teenhood and might have enjoyed spending your time with friends doing "teen things?" 

[Zoe]

@Coastalcarolina 

Been to Disney probably 30+ times in my lifetime. In my experience, it can be *magical*:

• Getting to hug that character I have loved since childhood and thanking them for being my BFF (when very dark things were happening at home)
• First time I exhaled after having been in downtown NYC on 9/11 was when we visited WDW six weeks later as a family. Just let that breath we'd been holding for over a month out -- and experienced JOY after a very dark time
• The smell of apple pie when you exit PhilHarMagic (multi-sensory)
• Watching the kids in your life run up to their favorite character and give them the biggest squeeze (willing suspension of disbelief is a beautiful thing)
• Watching the characters communicate with deaf visitors
• Getting to tell your favorite character (willing suspension of disbelief) that you're naming your new pet after them -- and those cracker-jack Disney photogs capturing that *exact moment*
• Surprising friends who were on their first visit with a decorated hotel room & a call from Mickey himself (their son was 7yo).
• The holiday tour! Seeing how each resort and park decorates for the holidays is really interesting.
• Disney Institute classes back when they used to offer individual classes
• Backstage tours (visiting the holiday warehouse! Seeing the costumes made! Seeing how the rides work -- like the old Body Wars)
• The vibrant & beautiful Flower & Garden Festival (miss the Celebration home tours) and all of the special installations that the horticulture staff put in
• Candlelight Processional where the cast member choir, a school choir, and an orchestra sing holiday songs from around the world while a celebrity narrates & tells the Christmas story.
• The Halloween party is still one of our family's treasured memories. The headless horsemen coming down Main Street USA during the parade! Lighter crowds...trick or treating throughout the park
• The Christmas parade in Magic Kingdom and the sound of those toy soldiers' feet
• The "free" cookies & cocoa during the Christmas party
• The scavenger hunts throughout MK and EPCOT -- fun for all!
• The life-size gingerbread houses -- and little kids' reaction to them (all that sugar!)
• Splashing in the puddles in EPCOT with the kiddos while wearing matching Mickey ponchos.
• A relaxing loop on the MK train. No destination, just to ride the train (that train tour is awesome -- we still have a spike from the MK railroad!)
• Fireworks & parades every day
• The outdoor movie with Chip & Dale and s'mores by the campfire
• The Disney bus driver (first bus of the day from the resort to MK) singing "Wheels on the Bus" -- all of the kids on that bus had the best time b/c they knew all the words and all of the accompanying actions.
• The Muppets (when Disney remembers that they own them) -- Sam Eagle, when they pop up in Liberty Square, The Muppet show in Studios.

The trick in our experience is not to cram every minute of every day. Plan a rest. Swim in the pool. Take a nap. Schedule a sit-down meal.

Yes, it can be (very) expensive. But if you allow the magic in, you can have a really wonderful visit.

[proudlyfromNJ]

Been a few times to both. Didn't enjoy it at all. Too hot and don't like rides.

[Coastalcarolina]

Wow!  Thank you to all who responded!

@Zoe,  you gave the most descriptive trips!  Glad you enjoyed it!  @Zhills , maybe not DW but we enjoyed more outdoor excursions!  We wore the beaches out, hiked what seemed like hundreds of miles and still remember exquisite vistas from the top of mountains.

I had a bad experience on a roller coaster when I was younger also, so rides are not on my list of fun things.

Glad for everyone that found the "magic", I just did not!

BTW, my grown children went years later and actually said that they were glad they experienced it as an adult, not a child.