Did anyone ever regret their trip?

[danceintherain]

I can't say I ever have regretted it, nor do I think I ever will. It's actually less likely that we'll regret any vacations in the future, because we have a complete budget now, so one part of the budget doesn't affect anything else. Vacations are important to us, so we have a certain amount of money set aside for it every year. I would never take a vacation if it meant I couldn't do anything else fun with my kids for months.

Also, I remember traveling as a kid enough to know that all I cared about was whether the hotel had a pool, and wherever we ate had chicken nuggets, pizza, or french fries. Yes, I liked going to Disney, but I enjoyed other places too. I also enjoyed the fact that my Dad was actually with us. He has always done a lot of business travel... Disney was one of the only actual vacations we took when I was growing up. Everywhere else was to visit family. I probably would have been just as happy going to Yellowstone or something, as long as we stayed in a hotel (I've always hated camping).

When I plan our trips, I do think about the kids to some degree, but most of the planning choices I make are based on DH and I. We were considering staying in a Value resort for our next trip, but as soon as I realized we'd have enough for a moderate, I immediately considered the change. Maybe the 5 year old would love the theme of Pop Century better, but he's not going to suffer at all if we stay at Coronado Springs instead. DH may actually suffer if he sees a giant statue staring at him, when we return to our room late at night.

Finally, Disney is an easy vacation for us. We've been enough that I can put it all together in a short amount of time, and already have a reasonable idea of what we want to do, and what we want to skip. I thought about other places for our upcoming trip, but Disney really is a place the whole family can enjoy together. If we went just about anywhere else, we'd probably want to find childcare for our kids, so we could participate in activities they can't participate in. I would have to put a lot of hours into the research before we left. It also wouldn't likely be much less expensive than Disney.

Overall, Disney isn't for everyone. If it was, there would be 1000 parks all over the world now. There are plenty of families who go once, and never have a desire to return. My 5 year old has been talking about 'taking the train to Disney World' again since we got back from our last trip when he was a little under 3, so we'll go back and he'll love it.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

In 2013, our friends booked a Carnival out of Port Canaveral. I was going to die if we had to drive thru Orlando and NOT go to Disney (lots of new stuff, hadnt been in 5 yrs). My honey compromised and we got two base days MK and HS before the cruise. Horrible cruise, haven't gotten on a Carnival since (not getting into it, but with Gold cruiser status with them, I knew what their typical standard was, and this wasn't it.) Couldn't wait to pack up and go, found out a business contact had bought us will call tix hoppers, basically ran off the ship, back to EP and had another epic Disney day, this time all 4 parks!

Bottom line, I came back totally regretting the cruise and soooo thankful that the parks were the best part of the trip. Turns out, 5 weeks later, we ended up on a surprise Disney cruise for my folk's anniversary, and my love and confidence in a cruise experience were once again restored!

Last year, the FP+ roll out sucked some of the fun out of the trio with massive crowds and lots of problems. Almost regretted the park experience that year. But they have made it so much better.

Bottom line. Some.experiences have been better than others, but the parks are usually a solid experience. And now that we live here, I feel like I'm missing something if I don't go every few days. It's time to pursue a career now! (Today IS the big day!!)

 

[Hootch]

Several years ago, I had a rough trip to WDW. We were meeting my parents and my sister's family at the beach. We decided to add three days at WDW before meeting them.

Our plane was delayed in ATL. The rental car company wanted to give us a 12 passenger van. Disney told me the rate I booked at wasn't valid. They were going to move from a preferred to a non preferred room for a higher price. My suitcase was lost. I did not get it back until two days into the trip because a woman took my luggage to her hotel and would not return it until she got hers. The first night I had a call from my boss telling me that my vacation might be cancelled. I had a number of conversations that ended with "I'll call you right back, I need to get on a ride".They instead shipped my laptop to me. It took me about 15 minutes to determine the consultants on the other side had totally screwed up their analysis.

The next year we had booked a condo for a week at the beach. I mentioned to my wife that I would prefer going to WDW instead of the beach even with all of the issues we had.

Our trip this year was probably the hardest one since that short trip. My wife commented that we were spending more time in the parks and accomplishing less and she was right. This may be blasphemy, but the two days at Universal were easier..

Oh well, it's NYC next year and DC the year after that along with college visits.

 

[amg35]

Nope.

I can't see regretting any vacation unless maybe I took it and I really couldn't afford it so I was in a bad financial position when I got home. Or if something terrible happened while I was away that I knew I should have stayed home for (an illness of someone close I knew about, something like that)
There may be some vacations (of any kind) that I liked more than others, but regret? No.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I slightly regret going 3 years in a row, although each trip was different.

 

[wdwfanva]

Only thing we ever regretted about our trips was having to come home !!!!

 

[smiths02]

I think kids just also go on to the next fun thing.
My son started school today (4th grade), so we asked him last night if he had a good summer. The boy had amnesia. We went to Disney for 8 nights....we had not been in 4 years and had never been on vacation as a family of 5 (I have almost 3 year old twins as well). We also dropped some money taking my DS and two of his friends to a local Medieval Times. His grandparents took him for two nights to visit Montecello. He rode in the Veteran's Day Parade with his grandpa and dad on July 3rd.

 

[hsmamato2]

Op it sounds to me like it's more about the money spent,leaving you afterward with no money for smaller fun things at home....while a vacation is great,it can't replace those simpler everyday fun things that kids like to do...I love my vacations,and my memories,but I am always looking for things to do on a regular basis too.... Or look at it this way, they loved Disney,and they love other things too,that's ok! I agree with many pp's.... my kids love the local stupid amusement parks,I enjoy it when they're having fun, but Disney trips mean we ALL have fun- to the kids,no difference- to me,a BIG difference.

 

[minnie mum]

Yep. Twice. A few years ago we went for a week in late Jan. This was our only trip to WDW that early in the year, but it preceded a DCL cruise. The whole week was pretty awful. DH didn't really want to be there to start with. He only agreed to please me. No complaining or grumbling, but his complete lack of enthusiasm was a buzz kill. Now add in horrible weather. It rained Every. Single. Day. Monsoon, bouncing up from the pavement, all day rain. And it was cold! Finally add in the huge, uncontrolled, chanting tour groups that shall not be named. We couldn't wait to board the ship.

Fast forward to this year's late Feb/Mar. ( skipping the 2 or 3 intervening, quite pleasant trips). Weather was mild. Resort (CSR) was just OK. We stayed there at DHs insistence, because he wanted a Business Class room. The dining was OK, with a TS meal once a day, breakfast and snacks in the BC lounge, and CS at our favorite spots. The parks were OK. None of our favorite attractions were c!osed. But it was our first trip with FP+ and we didn't like the results. No more riding our favorites multiple times in a day. No more short standby lines for anything we really wanted to see. Long lines at the FP kiosks. Problems with our MBs that required multiple trips to get them resolved. Finding at the end of the day that we saw and did a lot less than we previously had been able to do. On the drive home we realized that after 40 years the magic just wasnt there any more. DH remarked that it seemed stupid to spend the kind of money we'd just spent on a vacation that was just OK, when we could have had a great trip for significantly less at our favourite Caribbean resort.

The only return trip to WDW that I forsee is in a couple of years when we take our DGS (and his parents) for his first trip. Other than that, I think our vacations will be elsewhere.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

We have been concerned about the expense when money was tight, but we have never regretted the trip. We invest in memories, and our memories from our trips to WDW are amazing - well worth the money spent. But, just as with everything else in life, we had to learn how to incorporate vacation expenses into our overall budget.

When something costs so much that you have to make sacrifices for it, you hope that you deem it to be worthy of those sacrifices. Sounds like this was not the case for you. Not sure what you hope to achieve by asking others if they felt the same. It isn't going to make you feel any better if others do - at least, it shouldn't.

 

[Sparkly]

I regret doing Universal this trip. We got very little done and by lunchtime I just wanted to go back to the resort, way back over at WDW. Way too hot.

 

[Buttrcp16]

When something costs so much that you have to make sacrifices for it, you hope that you deem it to be worthy of those sacrifices.

Couldn't have said it better. If I had to scrimp and save every penny for a Disney trip, and forgo doing anything fun at home the rest of the year, I might find myself regretting the trip as well - and I'm about as big a Disney fan as you'll find. Disney vacations can be very expensive, and it kind of sounds like maybe you didn't really have the budget for it. It's like putting all your eggs in one basket- blowing all your money on one trip that you hope everyone will love so much they don't mind the huge sacrifices it took in order to go. And when that doesn't happen, it leaves you regretful. Maybe next time (if there is a next time) you can look at reducing the cost of the Disney trip in order to have money left over for other things. Whether that be driving instead of flying, staying off site, eating PBJs for lunch, or buying 3 day tickets instead of 6, there are always ways to make a Disney trip within your budget.

 

[Pmlocke]

I understand where you are coming from and honestly it tends to validate what I have been saying for years-Disney is for adults. Not just any adult but us baby boomers who grew up with the Magical World of Disney, the original Mousketeers Club show and seeing the movies every seven years at the movie theater when they were released by Disney. Our first time at Disney World was 1984 with our two boys. Half way through the first day they both said "Is this it?" We were devastated. My wife and I cried when we first walked in and saw that castle. A dream come true. Unfortunately, our boys never had that dream. The world had grown up and Disney Magic wasn't the same for them as it was for us. Look at the families at the parks today, cell phones, constant texting, looking at the park through the lens of a phone is not the way to experience Disney. This year a mother remarked to her two daughters, both under ten, "if you don't put those phones down I am going to take them away from you." I see so many times adults and kids walking through the park with their faces buried in their phones. We have since gone back with our sons and their families and the fun of experiencing the Magic with the grandkids was wonderful but things only got better when my wife and I started to go down every year alone. Just the two of us and let me tell you-the greatest time ever. Our last five trips have been just the two of us and we are eagerly waiting for the next trip in February, 2016. We don't ever get fast passes, we don't make any plans other than booking dinner reservations. We let the day plan itself which is something only a couple with no kids can do. If the ride has a wait for more than 20 minutes, we keep walking. We take our breaks often (both in our 60's so we tend to sit a lot) and spend a lot of time crowd watching. We have found that this offers us a stress free vacation and we are never overtires, bored, upset with waiting in long lines, etc. When you get older and decide to spend the week there just as a couple, you will see what I mean.

 

[GPC0321]

I don't have kids, but I can tell you from the POV of someone who has experienced WDW from the age of 4 through 24, and will be going back in March at the age of 42, that I never really appreciated WDW until that last time I went at 24!
My first trip was in 1978 when it was just the Magic Kingdom. The only real memory I have of that trip is a vague one of running through a torrential downpour across a hotel parking lot and into a gift shop where the air-conditioning was freezing and there were lots of Mickey Mouse magnets.

Second trip I was about ten maybe? EPCOT was open then, and I do remember really enjoying that. Still, it wasn't all THAT great.

I was 14 the next time I went, but it was a parks and cruise combo ("The Big Red Boat" to Nassau), and I hardly remember much about the parks that trip. The cruise was awesome!

Ten years later, my dad was going to be in Orlando for a conference, so my mom and I decided we'd book a resort (first time staying on property) and park-hopper tickets, fly down, meet Dad, and Disney our butts off for a few days! It was SO much fun! My poor mother wound up with pneumonia, and by the time we got off the plane at home she was so bad off she went and laid in the car while we got the luggage. She was sick! She said she knew she wasn't 100% at Disney, but no one would ever have known! She went hard core day and night! That's how much fun she had...she didn't even recognize how sick she was!
Since that trip she and I have reminisced about Disney quite often, always saying we had to get back there.
My point is...don't think you've wasted a dime. You haven't. I don't know how old your kids are, but you can bet when they get older, they will look back on WDW fondly. In a few years, they may pop up and mention going back again. And it'll be a whole new experience from the one they've had.

 

[dkrauss]

What I've done is "come to terms" with the cost. Now please note this is just me and in no way applies to others, how you deal and feel is your right and no one should tell you you're wrong. I hope no one takes this post in that way because I don't mean it in that way.

We just recently (the past 4 years) have become enamored with WDW. We've done 1 trip per year............through 2015. In 2016 we'll do at least 2 (I'm not counting our Disney cruise) and we're looking into getting AP's for 2017. We just love the feel and theming at WDW.........for us it truly makes us feel young. Now you must understand I'm a bit of a planner and since 2014 I've never paid rack rate for a room..(well not really our December trip we paid rack for AoA, but this was an unexpected trip for Disapalooza). I'm always looking to where I can save money..........I found the best place to save is with rooms, food, and suvies........ We're renting DVC points for our Jan 2016 trip at the BWV. We're saving in the neighborhood of 50% on the room. I'm looking at the AP+ for many of the discounts it offers on just about anything.........even tickets (when you visit for more than 10 days)

I live at the Jersey Shore...........a week on LBI can cost up to and exceed 2K depending on your taste in room. Throw in food and entertainment.......it can cost............and no Mickey or Goofy Hey I guess it all depends on what you're looking for in a vacation.............WDW is not the classic "relaxing" vacation.

Every trip we've done in this past 4 years has been amazing..........always new and different. We find something new on every vacation! Have never been disappointed! But again.........that's us.

Doug

 

[BudgieMama]

Not me...

I know lots of people on the UK boards go every year, and at the end of our first visit last summer I said to my husband "I couldn't do this every year"... but I'm gutted we can't go this summer. It took a couple of months to come round from that, but I would love to be going every year! (Not that we could afford that. Transatlantic airfare is a killer!)

My DH said it would be once and done, so the biggest surprise for me was that on the flight home, he told me he wanted to go back... and then 6 months ago agreed to go back next year instead of waiting until 2018!

Sorry it wasn't everything you hoped, OP

 

[DekrRini]

The thing I remember most about my first WDW trip was being disappointed. I expected it to be a bigger, better version of Six Flags. It wasn't, of course. This was back when it was only Magic Kingdom. I didn't realize on that first trip that WDW is more about the little magical touches than the rides. So on subsequent trips, I've always enjoyed myself. Some trips better than others.

My last trip was memorable. My first Star Wars weekend and I LOVED it. Until I fell flat on my face and tried to eat concrete. Literally. Luckily it was my last day so I didn't have to walk around the parks looking like I'd been beat up in a bar brawl. Then the plane trip home was the worst I'd ever experienced and it didn't help that my injured ribs hurt like holy heck. Everything that could go wrong went wrong. Flight delays, etc, meant I didn't get back to St. Louis until around 1am. My luggage was lost, of course. And I had no idea how to get back to my truck since the shuttles aren't just sitting there waiting at 1am. My poor sister got a call at 1am with me crying because I didn't know what to do. She talked me down and I ended up getting home close to 2am after missing my exit on the interstate. But I'm going back in December for my birthday trip and I'm also heading back for my second Star Wars weekend.

The trips are expensive for sure, but it's a great place for a single woman to visit alone without worrying about safety. I've thought about going other places for vacation, but there's no place like WDW for me.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

If the kids didn't like it, no need to go back. You tried it, you now know they'd prefer a smaller park close to home, no need to regret it.

With kids, it's possible they'll say their favorite part of the trip was swimming at the hotel, getting to eat french fries every day or watching TV in the room. Then you know you don't need to take them back. Maybe when they are a bit older, or if they become fans of something Disney puts out.

And when they get old enough you can go without them.

 

[Vincent405]

Probably not regret since my DD had a great time, but I certainly have no desire to go back and only would because of her and if DW actually wanted too.

 

[Veggie]

I won't regret my kids first trip because I really want to go back to Disney. I can see them not really caring. DD (4) has already told me she doesn't want to go to Disney or go in an airplane she wants to go back to great wolf lodge.

On the drive home from great wolf lodge we asked the kids what their favourite part was. Watching Star Wars rebels and other shows because we don't have the Disney Chanel at home.

At least I am prepared for them to say the best part of Disney is the hour or so of tv they will watch before bed lol

Your children sound exactly like my children. They would rather be at Great Wolf Lodge watching the Disney Channel. Sigh!