Will I regret never going to Disney?
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Anonymous
| Disney is a lot of fun if you can afford it. I would spend money on optimizing your time in the park (lightening lane etc.) and choosing a few special dining experiences (a good character breakfast, be our guest, california grill, a few good choices in Epcot etc.) save money bringing your own food to the parks or doing snacks/quick service most meals, and most of all, staying off premises. As a kid, it is just as exciting to stay any in any massive hotel in the lake beuna vista or Kissimmee areas as it is to stay on premises. Waiting in long lines, not so much. |
Anonymous
If by world you mean Florida, then maybe? But the world is vast and amazingly varied. There are literally thousands of more magical places imo. I am at the Great Barrier Reef with my family at the moment, and was at Bora Bora last week, and let me tell you, both are way, way more magical than a crowded overpriced park with blinking electronics and crappy food. |
Anonymous
Sorry, but I have been to the two places this poster mentions and of course she is correct . This post is directed at families of means. It may sound snobby, but of course the actual WORLD is more amazing than some pre-packaged experience, heavily marketed. To my way of thinking , you are a lazy, unimaginative parent if you just fall in line and sign up for a Disney vacation. Help your child take a much bigger, more authentic view of the possibilities! |
Anonymous
| Hint: “The most magical place on earth” is Disney’s tag line for Disney World. That poster wasn’t being serious. |
Anonymous
| I remember not being able to sleep before our family's annual visit. That is how special it was to me as a child. Go now, 10 is getting a bit old for the magic window, but you still have time. |
Anonymous
I went to Bora Bora for our honeymoon. I love to travel. We spend $100k on many vacations per year. For young children ages 3-8, Disney can be magical. If you can’t afford it, fine. Being all holier than thou about it is so annoying. I’m not flying halfway across the world with my 4 or 5yo. No thanks. 2 hour flight to Orlando is just so easy. |
Anonymous
Yeah, I flew half way around the world with a 1, 3, and 5 year old and they were up every single morning at 1 a.m. like clockwork and would not go to sleep. The beach was pitch dark, and the resort coffee shop didn't open until 6. It was utterly miserable, not at all magical. But they did love Disney! And honestly ... it's an environmental disaster for everyone to take their kids to every real magical place in the world. Over 4 million people a year visit Animal Kingdom for a (actually very nice) "fake" safari in which you get to see lots of animals in a 30 minute trip through a "fake" savannah. Can you imagine the environmental impact if they all went to Africa on safari?! My kids have been on the "fake" AK safari -- I'm not taking them on the "real" safari because: 1) carbon footprint; and 2) let those African animals live in peace without every American going over to stare at them and drive through their habitat in jeeps. And going on the "fake" spaceship launch experience at Epcot (which is pretty fun, and if you're brave enough, actually gets 2.5 G's) -- and is just a fraction of the cost and environmental impact of going up in Space X for a suborbital trip! It's less than .1% of the price, so if it's more than .1% of the fun, that math works! I just get aggravated by all the "it's not REAL" posters --- sometimes fake is better than real, for lots of different reasons. PS We've stayed in all the "real" NPS historic hotels, but Wilderness Lodge is still pretty fun -- I think of it as an homage, rather than a fake. |
Anonymous
Interesting you brought up Mission: Space and Kilimanjaro Safari. You’re very right about those two. As for the Safari: Jane Goodell served as a consultant for it (and for Animal Kingdom in general) and has said it is the best-run zoo she has ever seen. As for Mission: Space — According to NASA, it’s the closest thing to actual astronaut training that regular people can experience. I think the people tut-tutting about Disney don’t realize the care that goes into these experiences. Another example: of course Epcot pavilions are not actually foreign countries, but Disney hires people from those countries to work at the pavilions. It’s sort of cool to be able to talk to people from a dozen different countries, just by walking around Epcot. |
Anonymous
I don’t understand how mission space still exists. Everyone I know has gotten physically ill on that ride. |
Anonymous
I’m the pp. we love animal kingdom and the safari ride. My boys used to love dinosaurs and were in heaven in dinoland. They would run around collecting wilderness badges and had the best time. My boys loved the T. rex restaurant at downtown Disney. There is also something special about Star Wars. My boys are now 11 and 13 and the magic is gone. They will still have fun but it isn’t the same when they were younger and had hours of fun digging for dinosaur bones. They would jump and dance along with the parades. Disney is just so well done. |
Anonymous
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Like others, I want to echo that going to Disney is fun if you spend the money for the extras (lightning lanes/Genie passes) that cut down on the wait times. Waiting 90 minutes to get on a 1 minute ride is not fun. Especially in the summer when it's hella hot. Maybe the character breakfasts etc. if you have little ones and want them to interact. But I think most younger kids (up to age 7) are almost as/equally happy with a local theme park especially if they're not jaded with lots of $$ vacations. Plus they get tired more easily so they can't take full advantage of a full day to do all the rides. And then older kids (above 11 or so) can find it too young for them, with the exception of the Star Wars and Avatar rides and a few coasters.
So then if you have kids in that narrow age band who really find it amazing and the $$ for the extras, it's a good trip. But some people really love the controlled environment and customer service (and it's not too far from the DMV area). Others are equally happy with Sesame Place/Dutch Wonderland for the younger set and Busch Gardens/Hershey Park for slightly older kids, where you can drive and pay 1/4 the price for tix. |
Anonymous
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I went for the first time at 12 and it was plenty magical. I didn't care about meeting characters but the rides and special effects were fun and memorable. It does seem to require a lot of planning ahead nowadays because there is so much in Orlando now and it seems way more crowded. When I first went in 1985 it was just Magic Kingdom and the new Epcot, and Universal was a brand new park when I went again in 1990.
We did take our kids to Magic Kingdom for a day when they were 6-8 as part of a family reunion. They enjoyed it but didn't seem especially captivated. They were pretty fried by the afternoon and wanted to go back to the house and swim. They are not really into characters or theme parks though - we've been to one park that's local to us several times but they've never asked to go back to Disney, or to Universal or other Orlando attractions. Meanwhile my sister took her kids (same ages as mine) to Disney/Orlando every 1-2 years so they had been there 3 times before this trip and the magic was gone, they were completely over it. OP, if your child likes Disney or really wants to go, I'd say it's worth it (go during a cooler and less crowded season), but if not, he can certainly go at any age and find some aspect he enjoys. If you're not into rides, heat, overpriced food, crowds, and standing in line, vacation elsewhere. He'll be fine. |
Anonymous
| its extremely expensive and artificial. but it's also an easy flight from dc. its a huge place with tons to do (including but not just the 4 parks). its almost all extremely kid friendly in a way that most places are not. there are tons of restaurants and bars. some of the sit-down ones outside the parks (at the resorts and disney springs etc.) are decent. its also not just rides at the parks - the shows are also entertaining and a way to mix it up. 10 is on the older side (rides will be more exciting than things like photos with characters) but not too old. it takes some planning but its easier planning than lots of unfamiliar cities would be. its better/more enjoyable if you give yourself some time and don't try to do everything (nobody wants to spend the entire trip in ride lines and sometimes its nice to just do a 1/2 day at the amusement park, also go to the pool, etc.). the place is really that big and that is why some people even go back more than once. |
Anonymous
The sad thing is that is IS pretty expensive for a vacation, especially for the middle class- which are the people that seem to be the most into Disney and what I see walking around there. It is as if they feel they must go, everyone goes, so they must bc it is “magical.” |
Anonymous
Tickets to Busch Gardens and Hershey Park are not that much less expensive. It is the other stuff that adds up at Disney but tickets aren't that much more. |