Did anyone ever regret their trip?

[ny0090]

My first trip to Disney World was a complete disaster. There were 12 of us (9 adults, 1 child, and 2 babies) travelling to Orlando and we decided to do one day at WDW. We had planned to go to Hollywood Studios early in the morning and Magic Kingdom at night. Unfortunately we didn't get to the park until late in the afternoon (a few people in our group overslept). For some reason we still all decided to buy park hopper passes in hopes of going to both parks. By the time we entered HS, all the fastpasses were gone so we stood in line for over an hour and a half to ride the Rock n' Roller Coaster. Then we waited another hour and a half to ride the Tower of Terror. Afterwards we went to watch Fantasmic and it started to rain....HARD! We were completely drenched and freezing cold because it was February. The kids were crying and crying. There was no choice but to go back to the hotel or risk everyone getting sick for the rest of the trip. Did I mention that we were staying at an off site hotel? We knew that the trip back to the hotel to change our clothes and to drive back to Magic Kingdom would take way too much time. It was unanimously decided that we would just call it a night. The only problem was the fact that we had spent so much money on park hopper passes that we never used. At that point majority of us just wanted to leave and accept the fact that we wasted our money. But some of the group wanted to ask for a refund. That meant waiting around in our soaking wet clothes in a crowded gift shop (everyone at the park was huddled together in the store waiting for the rain to stop) while the others went to guest relations. An hour later I said goodbye to Disney World.

 

[LoverDisney]

When we first went in 2012, I knew we would visit again and again. Our trips have been magical and very memorable. Disney is not for everyone and that's okay.

 

[loves to dive]

nope, there have been trips that were just o.k. and there have been portions of trips that have been let downs, but I think that happens on every vacation. We are scuba divers, DH, myself, DS and DIL (she got certified because we all love it so much she felt it would be a good idea to enjoy it with us). DS and I love to do the dive in the living seas, it's an easy dive but fun if you haven't been able to blow bubbles in awhile. We planned a dive her first trip with us, all excited to share it with her. She got in the water and just wasn't comfortable from the get go, her BC was inflated too far and she couldn't get comfortable. Since there are Disney divemasters in the water they wouldn't allow me to get out and spend some time with her on the surface to reassure her so about 10 min. into the dive she aborted. DS and I finished the dive but we were both so disappointed she didn't enjoy it as much as we did. Last trip DS had just received a disability discharge from the Navy (back problems) and was in a lot of pain and not able to do all we normally do. We had to go back to the room every day for a few hours for him to rest and we couldn't ride the rides he normally loves, so while we all enjoyed the trip it wasn't as much fun as in the past. Won't matter we will go back, I'm doing a solo trip for F&W and we will still also do other trips.

 

[aVASTGrl]

Nope, I can't say either me or my family have ever regretted money spent on a Disney vacation, even when things have gone wrong. We always end up comparing other theme/amusement parks to WDW and wish we were at Disney instead. Even when I was kid, I was always afraid to go on fair rides because they are so rickety and sad compared to Disney rides!

OP, I think it's good that you gave your kids the Disney experience, and now you know what kind of vacations and experiences they enjoy!

 

[Rosebud123]

Do you regret the trip or are you going through withdrawal? LOL. I'm always really bummed after a trip, mostly because I put SO much effort into planning for it and paying for it! It's not that I regret the trip; I'm just sad that it's over!!

 

[sharona]

OP, I know how you feel. Our first trip when my DD and nephew were 4 and 5 was expensive and the kids were happier in the resort pool than at the parks. I did briefly regret spending all that money once we got home but that soon passed and the wonderful memories remain. I do think that when the kids are young the trip is for the parents to see WDW through their children's eyes and you'll remember their happiness forever. Of course they also enjoy other places and maybe they prefer the ones that they're more familiar with a bit more. It sounds like you may have put all your vacation eggs in one basket which always stinks once the vacation is over!

 

[itchin2go]

There are some trips that are better than others. Our first WDW trip was like, freaky magical - for all involved. It has probably been less so each time, and some times, kind of disappointing, but overall, we love it, and for us, it's a pretty economical vacation. It's within driving distance, we have cheap accommodations ...

That said, to your point about not being able to do much else in the summer - we DIDN'T go to Disney this summer, and we didn't do much. We went to a concert in a nearby city (3 hrs away), and hung out for the weekend, my daughter did a community theater play (which entailed a lot of time, but very little money), and she did one week long camp at her school. Frankly, that's enough. I grew up staying home in the summer and just being happy to have the time off.

I think there IS a possibility of building it up to be too much, and the reality not matching the expectations. Conversely, I was at a kind of bad point in my life when we took our first trip, and it was just what I needed. I really expected it to be a disaster, and it exceeded my expectations at every point. It's probably why later trips have been less magical - I expect more now!

 

[librarymom2007]

No, never. We never have as much fun as we do at Disney.

 

[lovndisney12]

Chalk it up to your kids can never say - "I always wanted to go to Disney and you never took me!" Like with everything, people take away different experiences than others and it can vary on so many different circumstances. You will always have the fact that you did do a Disney family trip and as PP said - gave it a try. Are you out quite a bit of cash? Absolutely, but at least you now know it isn't something that you probably will be doing any time again soon, if ever. That is fine and there is nothing wrong with that. Is it hard right now because the money is gone (and perhaps the bills still coming)? Sure. We've enjoyed our Disney trips but have spent money on plenty of other trips / activities / large ticket items (like a crappy car) that other people love and we say - "well, that was a waste of money!" And just think, if you hadn't gone - you would still wonder.

And for what it is worth, my sister finally took her son and DH to Disney after all our rave reviews (we even gave her a lot of tips and pointers), and while she didn't come right out and say it - I think felt a lot like you.

 

[DisTXMom]

Try and keep perspective. Kids don't really know they Disney is supposed to be better than the little local park- both are fun to them. One of the biggest differences is that at Disney, we all do things together, whereas at the local parks, it's more watching your kids go on rides. For them, it's all fun. The joy is that Disney lets us be right there as big kids with our kids . I totally get what you're saying though- my kids had a blast riding dirty old carnival rides at rodeo last year and I thought as I watched them "they're having as much fun today as they did at Disney and this only cost me $50 for the whole day". Disney is less frequent and they will have special memories tied to there.

 

[CourtneyBags]

I have a worry that my daughter's second trip will not meet up to the expectations that we had from our first trip. Everything was amazing and it's all she talks about. We are going back in Nov and I hope everything works out just as well the first time.

 

[MrInfinity]

We've had some pretty disastrous trips to WDW and still never regretted them. The disasters add character and memories in a way. I'm really sorry you didn't love it.. or that your kids didn't. Now you know! You can plan accordingly. To be fair, small local parks are cool too. Kids can go to those many times in a year, so they become familiar and comfortable. To the point where you can say... "we're going to Happy Hollow" or whatever, and they immediately scream Yay!!!! A vacation is a totally different experience.

 

[kj2mom]

I am soo glad someone mentioned the kids liking to swim in the resort pool.....last month we spent one night (after our AK day) at our time share.We invited some twin friends we met online (I joined a site for twin moms when I was pregnant and over the 13 years we have made some great online friends, some of whom live in the Orlando area) to come have dinner with us and swim. It was such a fun night. All 13 of us got pizza (for the same price of the three of us eating at CS in the parks) and just hung out but yikes, the other nights we saw Wishes, Illuminations, Frozen fireworks, Fantasmic!.....when all is said and done I am just happy my children were enjoying themselves even if their favorite part was something as simple as swimming in the pool and getting pizza! I think it does help that we came home spending less than I anticipated and work went splendidly, enough so that I am taking a day off next week to take a day trip to the beach. It is soo hard because we want to rank fun and expense, I try to not focus on that and I think it does help to eliminate regrets.

 

[soniam]

I wonder if it's the money. I think I would regret almost any vacation if I had spent so much that I felt broke and that I didn't have any money to do things. It's easy to not regret spending money if you have a lot. But if you don't feel you have a lot, spending a lot could definitely feel bad.

 

[kerplop]

I regret our first trip. It had its magic, don't get me wrong, but at the time we were overwhelmed and stressed. Some TMI (I think anyway) backstory. There was family drama and I fought with my mother over a decision she'd made - I ended up missing rope drop one day because I stayed in my bed and cried for awhile. I was extremely overweight and my feet hurt, my legs hurt, my everything hurt. I felt like I was letting my family down in a major way because I couldn't keep up and I felt I was "ruining it" because I had to quit after 5-6 hours in a day. I was upset I'd wasted a ton of money on a bad vacation. ADRs got missed a few times and the plan I'd tried to stick to so strictly had to be abandoned. The last day my wife twisted her ankle and was slow too, then got upset for the same reason I was about ruining the trip. TL;DR, but it was a lot of tears and frustration. The next trip was much better because all of that worked itself out and we didn't experience a single hiccup. Every trip after was great and the last one was just about perfect! So really only that first trip I regret, only because I was not prepared like I thought. Sometimes you just can't be!

 

[Karin1984]

Just don't give up yet, saying you will never go back. From my own life: my parents took me and my brother to DLP when we were about 10 years old. Lot of fun, judging by the pics. A year later we were in France again and my parents asked us on the way back: 'shall we stop a few days to go to Disney?' Both my brother and I said no. We were done vacationing and wanted to go home.

Now years and years later ive been to DLP more times than I can count, visited DL and WDW and cannot wait till my next wdw vacation begin (25 days!).

I understand youre disappointed (I learned later I disappointed my mother by saying no). But that Disney doesn't mean to your kids now what it did to you, doesn't mean they will always feel like that.

Cherish the memories and keep in mind things can change. Disney World isnt going anywhere. It will be here for a few more decades at least.

 

[Karin1984]

Double post

 

[crostorfer]

The only thing I've ever truly regretted is bringing my husband along for the ride.....but I digress.

That said, before and after the trip I always have a little internal panic about how much money the whole thing is. I was sitting here earlier tonight, chewing my nails, thinking about how between airfare and the resort for 4 nights alone I've already dropped $2600, and I got a great deal on airfare. Once you add in park and party tickets, and I'm up to $3280. Add in food, beverage, tips and miscellaneous crap and I'm up to $4000. Thats $1000 per day for three people, each day. It all just seems really excessive. I could spend $4000 a lot of other ways.....

Then again, once we are there I never worry about money and just focus on having a great time. They must put something in the water that makes it easier to drop dollars like you are flushing Benjamins down the toilet.

 

[DisneyPrince1982]

I don't regret trips because the alternative is being at home and working, and just about everything is better than that! lol

 

[GrumpyDad1974]

We loved all our trips even when DD was 15 and we were/are sooo uncool... Anyway, I'm not sure how much you spent on the vacation? If we spent as much as some people do for deluxe's, I can see some regret happening especially if we had no money left after. As much as we would love a deluxe hotel I can't justify it, I'm cheap. I would rather do more vacations throughout the year with little splurges, instead of something big. To put money in perspective we spend $2-3000 for a week in Disney and $1-1500 om a long holiday weekend.