I’m enjoying the nostalgia as many of you add your memories!
I definitely think WDW was better before many of the updates - 1000 Leagues, gondolas, Walter Cronkite, Future World, Norway’s older ride, etc.
The first year I went to WDW was 1971 shortly after they opened (Dec vs Oct). I recall when EPCOT was still a dream, then getting to enjoy that shortly after opening too. Never cared much for MGM or Animal Kingdom, but we’ve gone to both.
But the last time we went - last year with my mom at her request - it was quite the bummer of a trip with rude employees and disappointing new rides. I have no idea when or if we will go again, esp with 10,000 places I want to see before I die. We had far more fun in Jordan and the Dominican Republic (last two “other” trips if you don’t count Canada or domestic ones) than we had in Disney. The nostalgia is fun. The newer experiences not so much.
Nope. Stand in line. Sit on a ride. Rinse. Repeat. Went to Disneyland once when I was in my 20s. DH gets sick on roller-coasters so no appeal there either. I’d rather go hiking or see a new city.
We are big Disney people. Brought the kids when they were 5 and 6 for the first time and had a fantastic time. Ended up moving to FL the next year for work reasons and have been on and off pass holders for over 20 years. Miss the days when you could spontaneously head to a park with FastPasses. We have so many amazing memories.
One of my favorite trips was when my husband and I went with my sister and her husband (they are also big Disney people but don’t live in the area). Adults only is a whole other experience! With the kids grown and moved out, my husband and I spend a couple of weekends a year there. The people watching at WDW is the best!
I got the never expiring tickets just before they discontinued them. They are still valid and DH and I go for a day or 2 once a year even with no kids. This past year though it was much harder to do a last minute trip. The Fast Pass process now makes it difficult to get the attractions we want with everyone booking 60 days in advance. The wait times are too long without the pass, too. We don’t even go during peak times.
We love it. We go approximately every other year to WDW. Once to DL. This is an “off” year- going to the Smoky Mountains- and the kids (age 17 and 20) are missing Disney.
I can see how it’s not for everyone. The heat can really drain you. There’s a LOT of people. It takes pre-planning. But for us it’s a fun time every time. DH drives a semi so he enjoys a vacation where he doesn’t have to drive at all. We enjoy interacting with the characters (doing something more than just saying hi and posing for a photo). DD’17 is a great artist and made an autograph book with sketches of the characters that they all got excited about. DH gets into conversations with all types of the CMs from bus drivers to janitors to front gate staff (one time this got us Family of the Day). We really haven’t encountered the rude staff people complain about. We’re pretty good at the FP thing and getting to the park early so we don’t wait in too many lines. Single rider line can be entertaining as well, riding with “new friends”. As well as posing for the ride photos.
Nope. Went once. Not a fan. We prefer nature and wildlife destinations like Costa Rica - and it’s not far off pricewise! Also - Disney is so crowded it gets frustrating for what you spend.
@bjscheel We only encountered the rude staff on our last trip with my mom. She has end stage cancer and it’s super obvious. She had a scooter and some of the staff were just horrid about it, I guess assuming she must be a terrorist or something. We’d innocently get in a wrong line or be at the wrong place for transportation (their signs are horrible) and instead of being pleasant about it some folks were practically yelling at her. One guy flat out said, “Can’t you read?” Well, yes we can, but yesterday we were told this is where we were supposed to go. Evidently that person didn’t follow the book, but what he did (using an Emergency Exit gate) made things much easier for mom so it made sense and was nice - it just set us up for the next day’s horror thinking it would be the same. Even folks behind us came up to us saying WTH once. It left a really bad taste.
They also lied to her about things like having beds available in the park should she get tired and not having to wait in lines for anything she wanted to go on (very few - she mainly wanted to stroll Epcot pretending she was back in Europe watching the free shows, etc). Waiting in lines when you might get sick is not an option. When I really fussed about that one a manager gave us a few free Fps, but originally she was told by a WDW direct line representative selling her the package that she wouldn’t need them so we didn’t set any up - couldn’t anyway with her condition. We had no idea if she’d be feeling ok at 10 or not. We ended up not even using 3 per day so why the lie and huge fuss? The manager asked me why I hadn’t gone online to one of the Disney fan sites to see that wasn’t true. Who seriously expects they need to go to an outside the company online site to get real information when they are talking with a representative via calling the company itself?
The resort (Polynesian) was awesome as were a few people at Disney’s parks themselves. They got her in to every restaurant she wanted to go to and one chef even came out to ask her what she thought she could eat - making that solely for her (what a great guy!), but overall, I’d never go there again with those circumstances and wish I’d talked her out of that trip. She did not enjoy herself at all beyond a moment or two and the stress of all the lies just set a really bad vibe.
I always hesitate to say, “never,” but I have serious doubts as to whether we’ll ever go to Disney again due to that trip and there being so many other places we want to see again and/or experience.
D2 and I had an epic Guitar Hero battle at Disney Quest (WDW) last time we went, probably ~10 years ago. She was stunned that her 45 year old mom beat her soundly several times in a row. Too bad Disney Quest is closed now.
@Creekland , I got teary eyed and angry too while reading about your mother’s bad experience at WDW. It’s horrible to plan what should have been a very special, magical visit for someone in her situation and have way too many things go badly, especially when CMs are not helpful or kind. I don’t think that’s typical of the customer service there, but that in no way helps you and your family.
I’m aware that many of their phone staffers are poorly informed, or don’t care to look up correct information, after having read numerous complaints on one popular WDW board. One thing many guests don’t realize is that when they’re at a resort and call the “front desk” they are actually speaking to someone at a call center off-site. It’s important to go to the front desk or concierge station in order to get anything important done.
At least the Poly experience was good. I hope that part of the trip, and the caring chef, are memories on which y’all can focus.
Nope. I’d rather spend August in Las Vegas than a day at any Disney facility. They just plain creep me out. At least Vegas has some good honest greed and debauchery. Disney feels like synthetic sweetness. We took our kids because we considered it a duty, but if they want to go back as adults they are on their own.
We took our kids on a few great WDW trips when they were young. My youngest turned one the day before we left for the first trip. EVERYONE tried to talk me into leaving him home with grandma, saying he would never remember it, why bother. Nope, he was part of our family and even though he was too young to remember, H and I do! The look on his face when the characters came over and interacted with him was priceless to us.
We now live closer and are annual passholders. We make several trips a year with our granddaughters and in fact, I was online at 7:00 yesterday morning (60 days out) making our FP selections…still couldn’t get Slinky! The Beach Club is our favorite resort but we have enjoyed others and stayed offsite on some trips. Hoop De Doo Revue, here we come!
We took our kids to Disney World once and Disney Land once. We preferred Universal, but a day of that was plenty. I find everything looks and sounds the same after 2 days of it. Never need to go again. My kids have fond memories now at 18 and 14 and would love to go back. Much prefer national parks or exploring new cities.
I have a relative that literately goes to Disney 3-4 times a year. That is the ONLY vacation that family takes from the upper Midwest. I find that so odd because obviously they have the money to do some interesting travel.
First was just us (wife and two kids). We stayed at the Wilderness lodge. Charted a boat to take us out in the lagoon in front of the Cinderella Castle to watch the fireworks (awesome). Also took a side trip to Discovery Cove so kids could get close up to Dolphins. Age appropriate rides where available to both kids, and as a foodie I have to say our dining locations were actually pretty good.
We later went with extended family (IL and sister’s family). We rented a large house with a pool this time. And it was as enjoyable as ever. Also, one kid with a food allergy was able to taste some dishes he had never had the opportunity to taste before (DW really good with food allergies).
We’ve all moved on now, but early exposure to thrill rides at DW has some seeking even more intense roller coasters, early encounters with dolphins at DC as encouraged our kids to get scuba certified so they can experience sea life in their natural habitat.
I’m another who is indifferent. We went once to Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Universal Studios on one trip and Epcot on a later trip. I’m glad my kids got to go, but they never asked to go back. As they got older, roller coasters and thrill rides became more important. We live close to Cedar Point and they’ve gone there at least 10 times.
My wife and daughter love Disney World. She went there twice with the marching band in high school (I was a chaperone on both those trips). We took her there for a few days after high school graduation. Plan is to take her there when (if?) she gets into grad school in a couple years. Its fine with me. Parks are well done. No doubt crowded (wait until Star Wars Land opens up later this year in terms of crowds). Also expensive though as they continue to increase prices, crowd sizes stay the same (even grow at some points during the year).
I prefer big coasters. Cedar Point is my home park. Been going there 50 years or so. My son is a big coaster fan as well. At one point we would spend a day at a park sometime in trips across the country. Went to Disneyland for a day on an extended trip to California a few years back. My son and I still hit an amusement park now and then.
We took our kids to Disney World once, when they were ~12 and 10. A five-day package; we stayed in the park (Beach Club?) and never left. It’s totally not my thing, and I kept thinking that in 15 minutes I was going to start hating it. But that 15 minutes never ended, and I never hated it. I even had some fun. The kids loved it, including Disney Quest. My wife loved it, but would not go on any remotely scary rides. We all thought the food was way better than expected. I have never suggested going back, and the kids never suggested it either, or went on their own when they were old enough.
A few years ago, my wife had two days of meetings in Orlando, and she decided to stay afterward and go to Universal. She didn’t think it would be fun to go alone. I didn’t want to go, neither of our (grown up, working, partnered) kids wanted to go, so my wife got the 19-year-old younger daughter of her best friend to go with her. They both had a great time, and got to know each other much better.
I’ve been to Disneyland perhaps 20ish times, Epcot once, Universal in LA several times, CA adventure once. I like them all ok but prefer not to have to minutely plan it and prefer spontaneity, so don’t do fast pass and rushing around.
We mostly did it when our kids were young about 30 and 20 years ago and not much more recently.
We did Epcot impromptu the other year — just rented a car for a day from Tampa and drive down and spend half a day there. We went in the single rider line so we’re able to do quite a bit. We went to the French restaurant when they opened for dinner and were seated w/o reservations.
Our kids enjoyed it at a leisurely pace when they were little. We would rusticate when we got too tired rushing around—it was Swiss Family Robinson Island or something. Our kids were very light in weight so tended not to like turbulent rides because they’d toss them around too much. We liked going in early November when it was slower and less crowded but there were Christmas decorations and carolers dressed up in lovely winter attire.
My D has gone as a college student and young adult with friends. Neither she nor S nor we are Disney fanatics. We prefer National Parks and other options but don’t hate Disney either.
We took both kids to Disney World twice when older D was there for nationals in her sport. The competition took place in the Wide World of Sports complex (Dont’ even know if that still exists). Younger D loves roller coasters and challenged me to get on one. Her comment “Face your fears, Mom!” I got on the roller coaster (Space Mountain?) and was dizzy for the rest of the day. H ended up going on all the rides with the kids. We also went to Sea World on one of the trips. My husband’s aunt lived in Winter Park, which is near Orlando and we stayed with her one time and then at a hotel on the property the next time. The last trip we went on was probably 20 years ago–I’m sure it’s changed since then.
Good memories! We have been to Disneyland several times, but have never visited Disney World. Twice the trips involved taking one of our nieces who were under 10 at that time, and our kids were already in college or pre-college. It was fun to watch the little ones get all excited about the rides etc. One time it was the first year the California Adventure park was open, and it was not at all decorated for Christmas. Everyone piled into the “old” park, and we got to enjoy the new one without any crowds. Soaring over California is my favorite ride (I did enjoy the Splash Mountain ride in the old park ). That was also the year the Electrical parade was exiled to CA park, and we loved watching it three nights in a row.
). That was also the year the Electrical parade was exiled to CA park, and we loved watching it three nights in a row.