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.

I'm the Disney Vacation Club owner. We've been to DC and the Smithsonia. And Paris, London, Munich, the Bahamas, the Caribbean, etc. etc. etc.

OP here: FL residents and those who work for airlines are different. Where we live you would have to fly. These are families with three kids, two adults. I guess they're really into DisneyWorld. Maybe they have tons of air miles. I just never realized this was a thing.

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?

Where do you live?

If you're in FL or in the south than going to DW isn't really as "big" of a trip as if you lived in the mid-Atlantic...and if you live close enough for season passes than you should be going 3x/year to break even and more. FL residents get a discount on season passes.

Some people have family in FL or are Disney obsessed. Your grandsons will not expect to go to Disney all the time if you do t take them.

Went to Disney every weekend for a year when we lived in Florida. Kids never grew tired of it. But don’t be sad. PP...we have also taken them to the Smithsonuem!

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.

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).

I haven't posted yet on this thread, but I go to Disney a few times each year because I like to run their races. I don't bring my kids on every trip, and I don't bring every kid on every trip. My oldest son also enjoys running the races, so he comes with me the most and runs as well.

So even though we go a few times a year, we don't do a full week each time, usually just a long weekend.

We are more national park than theme park people. Took the kids once at 5 and 7. Offered another trip as tweens to include Harry Potter World too and they declined. I think we went to the finger lakes instead. That is more escapism for me..no gift shops every which way! But if that is your place..then by all means enjoy

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).

I basically grew up there since I lived so close. I went with my family, with Girl Scouts, school field trips and Grad Night. Then camping there with my friends in college (I went to college at UF), then with my DH, then with work friends and family out of state.

Like some people go to the beach every year, all my memories are tied up at Disney. Now my children's memories are tied up there, as well.

Disney has the 3 theme parks, two waterparks, the campground, Disney Springs, countless restaurants. A ton of shows, musics. We enjoy a lot of smaller things at the parks, like just hanging out and listening to the music. We like the flower show in the spring, the wine fest in the fall.

We like the attention to detail and the service, too.

As one friend told me, "It's our happy place."

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.

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’s the escapism. It’s a different world so far removed from every day life. I get off the plane, onto the Magical express, and I’m blissfully unaware there is an outside world. To us, it’s like freedom. My husband talks about it all the time. It’s like immersive freedom.

I take the kids a few times a yr. Similar to having season passes, my bff and her husband are Sr. Level Mgmt. One of their benefits is that they can take people into the park.

If the kids have a 3 day weekend and I can get cheap airfare, we go. We all commute to work together and then they go to the office and the kids and I play.

On the weekend, we’ll bum around the park together or just get something to eat.

They live about 15 min from work. We stay with them. It ends up costing me about $1000 for a 3 day weekend.

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.

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).

I own at the Disney Vacation Club. I grew up 90 minutes from Disney. When we lived in Florida, we went three times a year easily. Our season passes were relatively inexpensive.

Now, we go once a year, typically. Sometimes we trade out by taking cruises.

We take friends and family and always have a blast.