Does Disney Ever Get Too Familiar?

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

I recently had my mom and a good friend who has a timeshare near Disney tell me they felt Disney World was losing some of its appeal to them because it was too familiar....I'm the type that as soon as we get home I start dreaming about the next trip Keep in mind we usually only go every three years so its not like we are at overkill....does anyone else think too much Disney kills the magic?

[It'sWDW4me]

I don't know that it would ever be possible for Disney World to lose any of it's magic for me. But then again, I've "only" had 5 trips in. But I have noticed a change in my trips between my first and my latest. There are still a lot of things I haven't done and I'm pretty confident that I will, eventually, get a chance to do everything on my "must do" list. I'm not in a rush, rush, rush - I'm slowing down to really take a look at what wonderful surprises/intricacies the imagineers have wrought. Instead of thinking that "if I don't see it now, I never will", I just think "well, next time I'll..."

Nah, I'm an addict and I suspect my addiction will last an immeasurably long time.

[DisneyPrincess21]

I recently had my mom and a good friend who has a timeshare near Disney tell me they felt Disney World was losing some of its appeal to them because it was too familiar....I'm the type that as soon as we get home I start dreaming about the next trip Keep in mind we usually only go every three years so its not like we are at overkill....does anyone else think too much Disney kills the magic?

NO WAY!! I can't imagine ever going to WDW and not being thrilled I am there. But maybe that is just me, I am a "Disney Freak" LOL

So far me and my family went once when I was a kid, then back spring 2006. And for "just this once" for Christmas 2007. And I managed to talk them into going again for December 2008. And me and my mom are going this December.
I can't stand the idea of not going atleast once a year. My mom said "that this is for sure our last trip to WDW for a while". I said, "Mom you have been saying that since 2007!"

Hey if they don't want to go back next year I am sure I can find someone who is perfectly willing to go with me.... But I have a feeling mom will change her mind and want to go. She is a closet "Disney Freak" just not as much as me. She can't express it because Dad doesn't share our same love for Disney

I have a feeling that this trip since it is just me and mom, she will be able to be a kid 100% because we both love Disney

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

I'm thinking part of it was we've been at Christmas time every visit and this last visit everything was so crowded we felt we needed to rush a lot to do everything....I'm hoping I can talk her into going back at a different time of year and this time slow down the pace to make it more relaxing....if not, guess mom will be staying at home

[DisneyPrincess21]

I'm thinking part of it was we've been at Christmas time every visit and this last visit everything was so crowded we felt we needed to rush a lot to do everything....I'm hoping I can talk her into going back at a different time of year and this time slow down the pace to make it more relaxing....if not, guess mom will be staying at home

You should try going in between thanksgiving and Christmas. Everything is decorated but no crowds. I know what the Christmas day/week crowds are like, and the people at the parks after thanksgiving and before the week of Christmas are not even comparable. We went the first time Christmas week and it was insane but still enjoyable. Last year and this year we are going at the beginning of December when the crowd's are very low.

[MistressGracey]

I have been a Disney fanatic since age 9 (I'm 35 now) and though we make the pilgrimage to WDW every single year, it never, ever loses it's appeal for me. For us Disneyphiles, WDW is much more than a resort with theme parks and rides and restaurants. We go for the feeling it gives us just to be there, I think. I can't ever see myself getting tired of WDW or not wanting to go. Other folks sometimes don't "get it", they say things like, "You're kids are older now. Why don't you go to Hawaii or the Bahamas?" But we are a Disney family, tried and true, through and through, and like the PP said...as soon as we get back from one WDW trip, we are planning our next jaunt to the Mouse House.

[renecat]

Back in Dec. 2006 my DH and I went for 9 days.
The last night when we were leaving Epcot I told him I thought I was in disney burnout.
Well he quit his job that following March so in 2007 had no vacation time. By Easter 2008 my sister said something to me about her & I taking my two youngest Granddaughters. Thats
all it took I was back in disney mode. We went Dec. 2008 and we are leaving this Monday Sept 7th.
So you may feel like you"ve been there done that but it doesn't take long to want to get back again.
Poly: 09/07-09/13/2009

[barbiegirl314]

WDW will never lose it's magic for me and I've been there many,many times. Many were as a child and several have been as a "grown up" with my DH, DS 4 and DS 13.

We have time share and usually go to WDW about every 12-18 months. I still get that excited feeling in my stomach when I start planning my next trip and when I get home from a trip I start thinking about when we should go back.

My next trip will be Oct. 2010 for Halloween and I'm already thinking about what ADR's I want to get and costumes for MNSSHP.

I think what keeps it fresh for us is that we always try to do something new each trip (this past trip it was Soarin' , Test Track and Disney Quest) and we also go at diffrent times of the year. We've been there for MVMCP a couple of times, right before Thanksgiving, early fall and this past year we went in May and got to experience Epcots Flower and Garden Festival for the 1st time.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Back in Dec. 2006 my DH and I went for 9 days.
The last night when we were leaving Epcot I told him I thought I was in disney burnout.
Well he quit his job that following March so in 2007 had no vacation time. By Easter 2008 my sister said something to me about her & I taking my two youngest Granddaughters. Thats
all it took I was back in disney mode. We went Dec. 2008 and we are leaving this Monday Sept 7th.
So you may feel like you"ve been there done that but it doesn't take long to want to get back again.
Poly: 09/07-09/13/2009

That's what I'm counting on...when it comes down to it, she'll be ready...plus she's taking two other trips in between so maybe she'll be ready for Disney again...either way, my son and I will be there.....

[jrpersinger]

Yes -- DH and I are currently in burnout mode. Our trip in Aug was not so great. Bad experience with the WL and some of the rudest guest I have ever seen in my life. It just wasn't that great. We both said before we make a choice not to go back, we are going to take a year off and go back in 2011. But I have to say I have been going for 30 years, several times a year for the most part and this was the first time we didn't have a good trip. So I think odds are, we will be back to our normally coverd Pixie Dust selves soon!

[tinksmom02]

I don't think I'll ever get too familiar with Disney (DH, yes, but not me!). Like others have said, each trip has gotten just a little more relaxing as we get more and more familiar with the parks and what we like and want to see and do.

Every year DH says this is the last trip...and I agree. Then I just sit back and wait for him to say "you know, I wouldn't mind going back." Which he always does, about 4-6 months after the trip. Then I quick-book with Terrisue before he changes his mind again!

[Red Randal]

I'm kind of in between. I try to make it one trip a year. I get excited for new stuff I've never done and, of course, the butterflies and excitement really get going when I'm on my way there. But it's certainly not the childhood "can't sleep at all" the nights before the trip.

It's more of a calm and calculated approach for me now. I know when I have to rush but I enjoy being able to take it easy, stop and enjoy the small things, and know pretty much exactly how much I can handle in a day.

[Tink1]

.....
It's more of a calm and calculated approach for me now. I know when I have to rush but I enjoy being able to take it easy, stop and enjoy the small things, and know pretty much exactly how much I can handle in a day.

I agree, I think it evolves rather than gets too familiar. You get into a more relaxed comfort zone.

I can tell you that working with the business side of the Disney has changed the way I look at the parks far more than the frequency of trips.

I will be going soon with my husband who has not been there in 10 years (he chooses to stay home with the dogs when we do Disney, but goes with us on all other vacations)

It will be interesting to see his take on it as a comparison to the Disney parks of the 1990's.

Nanc

[ransam]

to me it's nice relaxing feeling...a feeling of after so much planning, saving, working,, i'm finally here....
I can remember in 1999, it was the first time i had gone in almost 7 years...just sitting in the back seat as my gf drove us to the resort and seeing all the billboards, and it was, in a weird way, like i was coming home....
disney can never be to familar, casue every trip is different...it seems i take a different approach everytime i go...

[handmaidenofprincesses]

No way! I think, for me, the better I get to know everything the better it gets. Laugh if you want, but for me, it's like going home

[MNNHFLTX]

I do have a "take it or leave it" attitude with some attractions/features. I may bypass them two trips in a row and then when I finally go on it again it seems a little fresher. Test Track is like that for me. I don't think I went on that a for several years, then my last trip just a couple of weeks ago I went on it several times and had a lot of fun!

But there are so many attractions that I will never get tired of--Philharmagic and Soarin, for example. I could on them several times during a trip and they would never seem too familiar.

[WorldTraveler]

To me this post has different meanings. Having been 25+ times, the theme parks can at times get old. What I mean is if DD is pushing to do attractions over and over she wears me down. So to think of WDW as the parks, my answer would be yes.
But as a resort, I can never get enough. It is the little things that you may not notice that makes being there so peaceful.
We try to do new things each trip and plan some special meals. This next trip in October we will be in the parks 3 of 7 days and may visit the water parks 2 days.
Never get tired of WDW in whole.
Already planning trip for March. Can not get enough.

[Daisy'sMom]

I have been going to Disney since it opened and will continue to go. Why? Because it still holds all the magic and wonder I felt the first time I stepped onto Main Street. I feel bad for those who have lost their magic.

[Gator]

Interesting post. I've been 4 times since 2002 and am going back in Jan 2010 - just 13 months after my last trip. To be honest, it's the first time I'm not counting down everyday to go back. It's probably because I was just there for 10 days. Don't get me wrong....I'm still looking forward to being there. It's just that as I get further from that first magical trip and the incredible follow-up, I don't think WDW can live up to the pure joy I felt on those trips.

[diz_girl]

Yes -- DH and I are currently in burnout mode. Our trip in Aug was not so great. Bad experience with the WL and some of the rudest guest I have ever seen in my life. It just wasn't that great. We both said before we make a choice not to go back, we are going to take a year off and go back in 2011. But I have to say I have been going for 30 years, several times a year for the most part and this was the first time we didn't have a good trip. So I think odds are, we will be back to our normally coverd Pixie Dust selves soon!

Give it a couple of months. Our trip this past December was the first one where I couldn't wait to leave and didn't get sad when we left. Nothing that Disney did, my SIL gave both me and my DS (then 17 months), which made the trip less than magical. Needless, to say in a couple of months I was itching to plan another trip.