Do people really take kids to Disney three X per year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do these Disnwh fanatics ever travel outside of the country? I hate DL and can think of a million other exotic parts of the world to explore and see. Mickey Mouse, bad food and long lines in the continental USA. No thank you.

I'm a pp "Disney Fanatic" (the one who goes a few times a year for the races.)

Yes, I travel outside the country. In the past 18 months I have been to Morocco, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Chile, Hungary, and...Canada (Quebec.) I have one more International trip (Toronto) planned for this year. In 2019 I plan to visit Poland and Kenya.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People love Disney. You either love it, or you don’t. But Disney people don’t expect others to understand, and we are fine you think we are crazy.

That said, it’s possible these folks own Disney Vacation Club membership and so they visit often. Or they just like Disney.

You are forgetting all the people who are in between. I like to go so not on the "hate" club but, am not obsessed with it.

We do exist!

But you like to go. You like it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two moms at the pool told me they have season passes and take their three children 3-4 times per year. These are solidly upper middle class but not extremely wealthy families. I'm wondering if this is normal behavior. We took our kids to Disney once, for a week. I'm wondering if my young grandsons will expect this?

We have gone twice in 20 years.

[Anonymous]

I really liked the Disney hotels we have stayed at (Yacht Club and Animal Kingdom). I would happily go back and just stay at the hotel. Theme parks were way too crowded for us (even on a week that was supposed to be non crowded).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not being judgemental but I am curious. I know Disney is a theme park but what do you do there that draws you back so often?

I went to Disney once, in 1988. I remember having a good time (I was a kid).

For us, it is sharing joy with our children. We know they still love going as teenagers -- and we still love going with them! We do other trips to beach, mountains, etc., but do plan annual trip to WDW.[/quote]


Are you rich?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in PA and I am shocked and saddened when I hear of people visiting Disney every year, but have never been to DC or a Smithsonian Museum. Leaves me speechless.

Why do you care so much what other people do? You have no idea what other museums or cities they have visited.

Not the PP, and I don't "care" what other people do, but this is how one friend put it: "We love going to Disney because it's like traveling to Europe without having to actually go to dirty cities where people smoke constantly!" That's right. She thinks a trip to Epcot = a trip to Europe.

NP here. We go to Disney once a year and I am a Disney lover. I also love to travel. I have taken kids to Europe and going to Epcot was way better. We now have a toddler and plan to go to Disney but hesitant about Europe.

I have gone to both Iceland and Paris alone in the past year but not with kids. Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE travel and Europe but it isn’t very enjoyable to travel far with 3 young children.

We probably go on 10 trips per year and 1 is Disney. I personally wouldn’t want to use all our vacation time at Disney.

How in the world do you get this much time off?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in PA and I am shocked and saddened when I hear of people visiting Disney every year, but have never been to DC or a Smithsonian Museum. Leaves me speechless.

Why do you care so much what other people do? You have no idea what other museums or cities they have visited.

Not the PP, and I don't "care" what other people do, but this is how one friend put it: "We love going to Disney because it's like traveling to Europe without having to actually go to dirty cities where people smoke constantly!" That's right. She thinks a trip to Epcot = a trip to Europe.

NP here. We go to Disney once a year and I am a Disney lover. I also love to travel. I have taken kids to Europe and going to Epcot was way better. We now have a toddler and plan to go to Disney but hesitant about Europe.

I have gone to both Iceland and Paris alone in the past year but not with kids. Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE travel and Europe but it isn’t very enjoyable to travel far with 3 young children.

We probably go on 10 trips per year and 1 is Disney. I personally wouldn’t want to use all our vacation time at Disney.

I thought Iceland and Paris were fabulous with kids (3 under 10).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not being judgemental but I am curious. I know Disney is a theme park but what do you do there that draws you back so often?

I went to Disney once, in 1988. I remember having a good time (I was a kid).

My husband and I had annual passes before having kids. We love going because we love being immersed in the Disney “bubble”

When we go, we don’t try to ride everything, or go to every show- we won’t wait more than 20 minutes for anything. We just like the feeling of being taken care of, the escapism. When we go to WDW we know what to expect. We did a good deal of travel in our 20s. Now, we’re just over it. We want a Sure Thing when we go on vacation.

Everything is clean, no one is begging for money at stoplights, and we never get stuck in traffic. The grounds are beautifully kept. For us it’s less about the parks, and more about the whole property and how seamless everything is.

Guessing you’re the same people who would consider a resort as a trip to a foreign country and would never try a National Park because of bugs?

Ugh. No. I’ve been backpacking. I’ve stayed at hostels all over the world. I’ve spent a month traveling by train. But honestly? All the travel experiences started to blend together. I got tired of the hassle. And I started to be able to afford Disney. So now it’s a Disney vacation at least once a year, sometimes 3+ if we spring for an annual pass. I started being the kind of person who likes to vacation at the same spot every year— I just happen to hate the beach, and I don’t ski or golf, so... Disney.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not being judgemental but I am curious. I know Disney is a theme park but what do you do there that draws you back so often?

I went to Disney once, in 1988. I remember having a good time (I was a kid).

For us, it is sharing joy with our children. We know they still love going as teenagers -- and we still love going with them! We do other trips to beach, mountains, etc., but do plan annual trip to WDW.[/quote]


Are you rich?

Solidly middle class. We drive to coastal New England and stay in a lower-priced hotel (30 minutes from the beach) for about a week. We drive to Maine and New Hampshire for mountains.

Our WDW trip is about 5 days staying on property in a moderate hotel. We drive there from DC area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in PA and I am shocked and saddened when I hear of people visiting Disney every year, but have never been to DC or a Smithsonian Museum. Leaves me speechless.

Why do you care so much what other people do? You have no idea what other museums or cities they have visited.

Not the PP, and I don't "care" what other people do, but this is how one friend put it: "We love going to Disney because it's like traveling to Europe without having to actually go to dirty cities where people smoke constantly!" That's right. She thinks a trip to Epcot = a trip to Europe.

I do agree with her about the smoking! It is shocking how much they smoke, even the young kids. While in Italy we saw all groups of people smoking from high school to older people. It was terrible eating out and inhaling all the smoke. I felt like I smoked a pack a day.

Sure, the smoking is gross. But equating a trip to Disney/Epcot with a trip to Europe is just... sad.

[Anonymous]

We are a family that goes 2-3 times per year. In addition to Disney/Universal, our family goes to the Caribbean and other cities in the US each year, where they do culturally enriching activities such as museum or monument visiting. Every kid is different and every parent parents differently. Disney/Universal trips work for us and our kids. While it doesn’t appeal to me or my kids (not at this point in their lives), I don’t judge or eye roll parents who take their children hiking in Mongolia or camping in Patagonia so I would appreciate them extending the same courtesy to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in PA and I am shocked and saddened when I hear of people visiting Disney every year, but have never been to DC or a Smithsonian Museum. Leaves me speechless.

Why do you care so much what other people do? You have no idea what other museums or cities they have visited.

Not the PP, and I don't "care" what other people do, but this is how one friend put it: "We love going to Disney because it's like traveling to Europe without having to actually go to dirty cities where people smoke constantly!" That's right. She thinks a trip to Epcot = a trip to Europe.

NP here. We go to Disney once a year and I am a Disney lover. I also love to travel. I have taken kids to Europe and going to Epcot was way better. We now have a toddler and plan to go to Disney but hesitant about Europe.

I have gone to both Iceland and Paris alone in the past year but not with kids. Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE travel and Europe but it isn’t very enjoyable to travel far with 3 young children.

We probably go on 10 trips per year and 1 is Disney. I personally wouldn’t want to use all our vacation time at Disney.

How in the world do you get this much time off?

I’m a SAHM. Half the trips are 4 day long weekends. We usually only go to Disney for 4 days. That’s all you need in my opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in PA and I am shocked and saddened when I hear of people visiting Disney every year, but have never been to DC or a Smithsonian Museum. Leaves me speechless.

Why do you care so much what other people do? You have no idea what other museums or cities they have visited.

Not the PP, and I don't "care" what other people do, but this is how one friend put it: "We love going to Disney because it's like traveling to Europe without having to actually go to dirty cities where people smoke constantly!" That's right. She thinks a trip to Epcot = a trip to Europe.

NP here. We go to Disney once a year and I am a Disney lover. I also love to travel. I have taken kids to Europe and going to Epcot was way better. We now have a toddler and plan to go to Disney but hesitant about Europe.

I have gone to both Iceland and Paris alone in the past year but not with kids. Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE travel and Europe but it isn’t very enjoyable to travel far with 3 young children.

We probably go on 10 trips per year and 1 is Disney. I personally wouldn’t want to use all our vacation time at Disney.

I thought Iceland and Paris were fabulous with kids (3 under 10).

My youngest is 17m old. I can barely go on a 3 hour drive to Rehoboth.

I’m planning to go to Asia with the older 2 next year. I’m sure the older 2 would have a great time in Iceland and Paris. It is pretty miserable going anywhere with the toddler right now.