Do WDW fans use "Walt Disney World" and "Disney" interchangeably?

[bcla]

Or maybe just as a place name.

It's something I noticed around here. In the now locked thread about Disney cutting off funding to the BSA via VoluntEARS, there was one commenter who called it an action by "WDW" although it was from the Walt Disney Company and applied to all US operations from theme parks, to headquarters, Pixar, and even ABC/ESPN.

I know of plenty of people who visit Disney theme parks, and in my corner of the world I haven't heard anyone call it "going to Disney". I heard that meaning once in a commercial where Disney theme parks were offering a one-day ticket in exchange for a full day of volunteering with a registered charity. Still - it seems rather nonspecific. Around here we've got Disney Stores. There's a concert hall named after Walt. There's a museum. There's Disney HQ in Burbank as well as the movie studio. Around here we consider "Disney" to be a company and not a place.

 

[Uncle Remus]

Or maybe just as a place name.

It's something I noticed around here. In the now locked thread about Disney cutting off funding to the BSA via VoluntEARS, there was one commenter who called it an action by "WDW" although it was from the Walt Disney Company and applied to all US operations from theme parks, to headquarters, Pixar, and even ABC/ESPN.

I know of plenty of people who visit Disney theme parks, and in my corner of the world I haven't heard anyone call it "going to Disney". I heard that meaning once in a commercial where Disney theme parks were offering a one-day ticket in exchange for a full day of volunteering with a registered charity. Still - it seems rather nonspecific. Around here we've got Disney Stores. There's a concert hall named after Walt. There's a museum. There's Disney HQ in Burbank as well as the movie studio. Around here we consider "Disney" to be a company and not a place.

I use Disney interchangeably; Disney to me is the corporation and the place WDW because we don't go to other Disney locations, Disney is Disney World.

 

[jdb in AZ]

Since we've been to Disneyland several times, then Disney World, then on a Disney cruise, and last year we went to the Disney museum, yes, we differentiate between all of the above. They're all "Disney" but each is very different.

Walt's brother Roy "requested" that Walt Disney World be called just that, out of respect for Walt. Calling it "Disney" is quite common but it irks me, because there's so much more to "Disney" than the parks in Florida.

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

I live in Orlando, and I've grown up calling WDW simply "Disney".

"Wanna go to Disney?", "Haven't been to Disney in a while", "It's over there by Disney"... I can't remember the last time I heard someone call it Walt Disney World in real life. I call the company just Disney too.

Anything else would be specified, like 'Disneyland" or "Disney Store".

 

[Squirlz]

You would have to ask each poster independently about what they mean. I don't see any specific trend myself.

 

[linda0706]

I live in Orlando, and I've grown up calling WDW simply "Disney". "Wanna go to Disney?", "Haven't been to Disney in a while", "It's over there by Disney"... I can't remember the last time I heard someone call it Walt Disney World in real life. I call the company just Disney too. Anything else would be specified, like 'Disneyland" or "Disney Store".

I grew up in Orlando too and "Disney" is how we refer to it also.

 

[KaLyn]

In PA here and the Florida parks are always referred to as "Disney" or sometimes "Disney World".

 

[lauradis]

Actually Magic Kingdom is Disney to me. And no not the "magic kingdom park"

Im old school and its hard to not say Magic Kingdom and think of all the disney parks.

so yes kinda disney is wdw to me too.

are you confused yet?

 

[BadgerGirl84]

Yes, I use them interchangeably. At least every other day me or my husband is saying "I wish I was at Disney." Actually, I think we call going to WDW "going to Disney" more often than not.

 

[lovelybelle]

To me, WDW is Disney. The others are their place names: California, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, as well as The Studios and TDA and TDO.

I'm a cm though so I'm very used to casual mentions and acronyms!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Actually Magic Kingdom is Disney to me. And no not the "magic kingdom park"

Im old school and its hard to not say Magic Kingdom and think of all the disney parks.

so yes kinda disney is wdw to me too.

are you confused yet?

Until joining the Dis, "Disneyworld" and "Magic Kingdom" were interchangeable for me. Epcot and Animal Kingdom were owned by Disney, but not what I thought of when I heard "Disneyworld".

 

[Tiramisu]

If someone here says that they're "going to Disney," they're generally understood to mean WDW.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

I will use "Disney" sometimes when referring to WDW, but never WDW when I'm referring to Disney corp. So, for example, if I am planning a trip to Walt Disney world, I might say that I am going to Disney. If I'm talking about Frozen, though, I would never say it was made by WDW or Walt Disney World. Just Disney or Walt Disney.

 

[Meriweather]

Disney is the company.
I use Disney World and Disneyland to talk about the parks and Disney cruise line for that.

 

[wiigirl]

I use Disney interchangeably; Disney to me is the corporation and the place WDW because we don't go to other Disney locations, Disney is Disney World.

 

[goofyintoronto]

If someone here says that they're "going to Disney," they're generally understood to mean WDW.

Yep. Exactly. I always use "Disney" too. Saying "walt disney world" is just way too long and a waste of breath because when you say "disney", as pp said above, everyone knows youre talking about "disney world".

 

[CaliBear]

I grew up about an hour from Disneyland. I have never called any park "Disney". To me that is the name of the company.

 

[gwynne]

I think for many that pretty much only go to Florida the terms Disneyworld and Disney are interchangeable. It's that way for me.

For people who frequent or occasionally go to Disneyland, it seems to be different.

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

Since we've been to Disneyland several times, then Disney World, then on a Disney cruise, and last year we went to the Disney museum, yes, we differentiate between all of the above. They're all "Disney" but each is very different.

Walt's brother Roy "requested" that Walt Disney World be called just that, out of respect for Walt. Calling it "Disney" is quite common but it irks me, because there's so much more to "Disney" than the parks in Florida.

I differentiate as well. It is a bit of a pet peeve of mine. Disney is a person and a family, not a place. Out of respect I write WDW in my posts and I refer to it as Walt Disney World. We also visit the CA parks and I refer to them as their names, DLR, DL, and CA. Reading or hearing, "We are going down to Disney." is annoying to me. I don't say anything about though, except on this thread

 

[bcla]

I differentiate as well. It is a bit of a pet peeve of mine. Disney is a person and a family, not a place. Out of respect I write WDW in my posts and I refer to it as Walt Disney World. We also visit the CA parks and I refer to them as their names, DLR, DL, and CA. Reading or hearing, "We are going down to Disney." is annoying to me. I don't say anything about though, except on this thread

The whole "DLR" thing actually annoys me to as it sounds kind of contrived in its own way. However, I grew up before that era, and the "Resort" moniker is officially used by the Walt Disney Company.

Of course I rather miss that edge. That was when Disneyland was primarily a locals park that was also frequented by hordes of Japanese tourists with huge cameras. It was before Disney owned the Disneyland Hotel and there was something mildly sleazy about the place. It was when you got the pleasure of sucking in copious quantities of leaded gas exhaust coming from the tram and safety standards barely existed. I remember saving up ride tickets as well as how low the prices were even after they moved to an all you can eat model for rides. Back in 1982 it was $12, which adjusted for inflation is about $30. And we probably got a discount with the Magic Kingdom Club. Those were the days.