Place that didn't live up to expectations

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The outer banks. A lot of it feels trashy. The parts that don't are newly built cookie cutter type neighborhoods. I don't get it.

It's just the beach. And it's cheap and close. For beach people, all they need is the beach. It's not about the Food Lion or the Duck Donuts or the Wright Brothers memorial. It's just about finding your twenty feet of beach and feeling the sand and hearing the ocean. Is it better than any other beach? No, of course not. It's just my home beach. That I grew up going to. And without all the hullabaloo or crowds or french fries of Rehoboth or Dewey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ocean City.

For the first couple of years I lived in DC, people were always talking about going to OC. When I finally went there I was so disappointed. Spent a few hours and never went back.

+1

Rockville Pike with water.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Disneyworld. What a s—show.

I enjoyed Disney as a whole more than expected, but the Magic Kingdom was kind of a disappointment. Way too many "rides" that were really just sitting and looking at animatronic crap. I don't need to wait 45 minutes to see a bunch of dolls in a cave sing It's a Small World.

Thank you for saying this so I don’t feel insane. That thread about spending 14k on a Disney vacation made me feel nuts because I cannot imagine spending that much to see Small World and the Hall of Presidents, sit in the Tiki Room, etc. I don’t get the appeal at all, and I have been as a child and adult.

I also don't get it. It's not Magical at all. WAY TOO MANY people running over people with their scooter chairs. Everyone is "executive" line skippers. The best I can say about any Disney park - they are clean and provide a lot of jobs. I would never spend any money to go to any of them again. Never.

+1 Disney is the worst. I truly don't understand it.

+ infinity
And I especially don't understand people who return - year after year - sometimes a couple of times per year! Stuff of nightmares!

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Paris, for a reason that hasn't been mentioned yet. There is a ton of racism against anyone perceived to be Arab or Middle Eastern there (which I'm not, but I look like I could be). I would never go back.

Mackinac Island. I thought it was boring AF, and it takes forever and a day to drive there from civilization.

Las Vegas. So tacky and gross and smells like cigarettes everywhere. Completely depressing to see all the compulsive gamblers feeding their money into slot machines. I thought there would at least be something redeeming about it, but I liked pretty much nothing about it.

The Berkshires. Boring. What is the appeal?

+1 Totally agree. Go on a hike, see a concert at Tanglewood - that's about it. You're done in 12 hours.

I love the Berkshires. Visit all the different little towns. New England-y charm. Great farm to table restaurants. Crisp air/nature. Thick sweaters. Warm cozy lodges/fireplaces. Wine tasting. Cider donuts. But I’m coming from NYC so open/quiet/uncrowded spaces are like a sanctuary to me.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Costa Rica

I felt like I was in a Spanish speaking Daytona. Most disappointing vacation ever.

There is a bunch of us on this thread. After years of being a one dissenting voice, feel seen, finally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did someone say Aruba or am I thinking of another thread? Would like to hear feedback on Aruba since we have a trip booked there this year.

If Aruba was unimpressive, what other nearby beaches would be better in July?

Oh yes, Aruba was really disappointing. I was there in Jan 2020. Most of the island is trashy. Restaurants are cheesy and bad.
The whole place is a flash back to the 80s. Lots of drunk people from middle America.

Sort of agree with this, though not to the same degree. The beaches are beautiful. The Ritz is fine. We found one really phenomenal restaurant but it only seats like 10 people/night and needs to be booked way in advance. Couple cool bars on the water with a typical tiki bar, island drinks, Jimmy Buffet cover band kind of vibe. You could be in worse places.

But the island is a relatively unattractive desert. As far as we could tell there wasn’t much cool local flavor to be found. You just kind of stay at the resorts or go hang in the slums with the hookers. Like a lot of similar places, you arrive and get in a car and drive through what looks like urban sprawl in Jacksonville (90% of the island) before you actually reach the place you’d envisioned. To be fair I kind of feel the same way about Hawaii, though it’s only 50% sprawl and has cool places you can go find.

Overall, glad I went once but wouldn’t go back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Great Barrier Reef. Washed out corals.

+1
It must have been something 30 years ago. So much of it is dead now.

Although I went all around Australia and had some wonderful moments, I felt like it wasn't *that* different from the US & was disappointed by it.

I've traveled quite a bit and lived overseas for 15 years but have never made it to Australia mostly because it is a big trip and I'm pretty sure this would be my takeaway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New Orleans - what a disgusting pit. I felt like I needed to delouse after visiting. Gross half dead addicts everywhere.

+1

Also, the food and the weather, both horrible. I cannot imagine living there.

Damn. I was thinking of visiting this Spring, but now I won’t!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Egypt. Disgusting. McDonald’s by the pyramids. Blegh

Buenos Aires. Never been so bored in my life and I don’t eat red meat

Munich. So boring. I just can’t.

Geneva. I just fell asleep remembering when I lived there and have never been so bored in my entire life

Monaco. Why bother.

Could you give an example of a place where you had fun and explain why? I'm not trying to be snarky. Just curious.

Stockholm. Loved all the bread and people were so friendly!

Lebanon. The beaches were amazing and the food? Oh my!

Speaking of food. Cyprus! Better Greek food than in Greece

Loved Kenya and Namibia. Nature and red sand.

Iceland, but you have to leave Reykjavik and for the love of God don’t go to the touristy blue lagoon. Much better and cheaper sodas outside of the ring area! Once you leave the golden triangle area, Iceland isn’t crowded and the waterfalls are incredible

Antarctica and Galapagos. Enough said!

Cape Town. The mountains and ocean vibe. Super affordable and excellent restaurants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Egypt. Disgusting. McDonald’s by the pyramids. Blegh

Buenos Aires. Never been so bored in my life and I don’t eat red meat

Munich. So boring. I just can’t.

Geneva. I just fell asleep remembering when I lived there and have never been so bored in my entire life

Monaco. Why bother.

With your attitude, why do you even bother to go anywhere?

I’ve been to 130+ countries. I’m not allowed to have an opinion? I thought that was the purpose of this thread?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Grand Canyon from the rim. Maybe if you hike down into it or that cool glass overlook, but one section of the rim looks like the rest.

You have to hike down into the canyon.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Honestly, I still have nightmares about the stuff I saw on the streets of New Orleans. So violent and disgusting.

Tell me more. New Orleans is so divisive. People seem to either love it or think it’s the most disgusting city ever. I’ve never been but am thinking about spending a few nights there in April.

It is divisive. It's my favorite city, the place I think of as home, and my husband can't stand it. For him, New Orleans is too loud, too dirty, too disorderly, too everything. He loves the food, but that's it.

I say you should go! April is a beautiful time to be in New Orleans. Just don't spend all of your time in the Quarter. There are a lot of other great parts of the city. I don't actually spend much time in the Quarter at all when I'm there. I might do some window shopping at the antique stores on Royal, visit the Historic New Orleans Collection, or have dinner at Galatoires, but that's about it. The Quarter has too many people who feel like coming to New Orleans gives them license to act like idiots, too much drinking. It's like Debauchery Disneyland.

I would certainly agree with those who think the French Quarter is overrated and not worth too much time. Bourbon Street in particular is absolutely filthy and there just isn't much culture there. It's mostly just tourists who are passionate about getting drunk in public. But I still had an awesome time there. I did a self-guided walking tour in the Garden District, a guided cemetery tour, and had some truly fabulous meals. The Red Witch cocktail (bourbon and pinot noir) at the Old No. 77 bar in the warehouse district remains a personal favorite. I would also highly recommend hitting the Museum of Art and nearby sculpture garden.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:New Orleans - what a disgusting pit. I felt like I needed to delouse after visiting. Gross half dead addicts everywhere.

+1

Also, the food and the weather, both horrible. I cannot imagine living there.

Damn. I was thinking of visiting this Spring, but now I won’t!

I did live there. It's unique and fully of soul. It's not clean or sanitized but one of my favorite places in the world because of that. And I'm sorry, but you didn't like the food?!? I am struggling to imagine that.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I realize this is a DC message board, but as a tourist visiting, I’m sad to say DC. There was just such a dead vibe to the place, such a lack of energy compared with other cities like NY and Boston. Sorry guys.

My children absolutely loved old town Alexandria though, where we stayed - the cobblestones, restaurants, shopping, waterfront.

I agree with this. DC is perhaps the most bland city in the country.

Native here and agree. Exciting times in DC is talk of GS pay scales and TSP returns. City also doesn’t have much character. All the natives have been priced out for condos and Whole Foods.

I think DC had more character 15 years ago when it was still a little gritty but there was less crime. Now so many parts have gentrified but crime is also up. It’s like the worst of both worlds. But it was never a NYC or a Boston or a anything like that. Agreed.

Ha! Less crime 15 years ago? Um, you aren't from here.

Oh and NYC is disgusting now and has been for years and Boston is great to look at but the food sucks.

I'm sorry what? The food in Boston is incredible! North End Italian, seafood, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Savannah - I got a very sad vibe from it. It was uncomfortably mournful.

A lot of very old Southern towns are like this. Maybe because of the ghosts and all the bad things that happened over the years. And those swamps, although so so crucial for conservation and native species, are very creepy.

This was my reaction to Charleston. It was quite eerie.