Do you prefer Disney as an adult?

[disney1990]

I have only gone as an adult, our first trip was in 1990. 24 years later and I still love it.

 

[kastoney]

I definitely love it more as an adult. In addition to my affinity for all the adult beverages, it has a sense of nostalgia for me that was lost on me when I was a kid. I also have the great privilege of seeing my daughter experience all that is disney and it brings an unparalleled joy to see it through her eyes,

 

[TonyMouse]

I appreciate it much more now that I'm older and have my own family. There is always going to be the kid inside you waiting to get out even if you are a senior

 

[Meetmeinmontauk]

I never got to go as a child. My first trip was in 2011 when I was 23. I'm sure I would have loved it as a child but as an adult I am OBSESSED!

 

[JoeA]

My first trip was when I was 19 or 20, when I moved to FL. After I got married and had kids our family would get "3 Season Salute" passes (pretty much annual passes but with blackout dates during peak times).

My kids pretty much grew up "Disney". We moved to CO and since we loved the place (and still had family in FL) we'd take one or two trips a year. Our favorite was probably New Years 1999!

Now that the kids are in their 20's and don't go as often but my wife and I still go back once a year or so...even joined DVC just, 'cause the future grandkids may like it!

 

[Ulysses]

I've been traveling to WDW since I was two years old. Now I'm fast approaching 31-years old, and I still love it. Nowadays my work practically requires that I have no social life, so for my wife and I, it's a getaway, and a mental break. We don't care about riding all the rides - it's just pure escapism.

We get to be away from work. We're surrounded by things we love - the stories, the characters - and it seems like nothing really can go wrong while you're there.

It also helps that we live less than 2 hours drive, so we can go whenever we want, even if just for the day.

 

[ShannonMB]

We were poor when we went as kids in the 70s. 8 family members piled into 2 cars in July (one without a/c) and stayed with my uncle in his one bedroom apartment (broken a/c). We did one day at MK, which was the only park at the time. Waited for hours for everything, standing in line *praying* for a breeze. Me and my sister shared a burger with teriyaki and a pineapple ring in Adventureland, and we closed the park. It was one of the best days of my life!!

That said, it's kinda nice to fly down, stay in an on-site resort with fully functioning a/c, dine wherever we want, and, as other posters have pointed out, drink! Plus I LOVE giving my kid the Disney experience!

 

[mello]

For me and for my family we love Disney it is the only place I have ever gone on holidays and can completley forget about the rest of the world. It is like nothing else in the world matters. Complete peace and joy and happiness when we go to WDW.

Yes, this.

As adults, we're so much in the "real world" that, to me and DH, it just makes it all that much easier to appreciate the "Disney World"! It's the world we wish we could live in!

 

[Chief Powhatan]

I am glad I got a chance to go as a child, but it was a much different experience than going now as an adult. As a child, we would stay (way) off-site, spend 1 day each at MK, Epcot and SeaWorld and then head home. Now, with our family, it is a completely immersive 1 week experience every year.

 

[Thom72]

Went to Disney in 79 as a child and fell in love, when I reached 15 so much was going on parents divorced new schools, new friends. Didn't go back till I married my first wife and spent out honeymoon at Dixie Landing. Divorced a year later and I was a single parent with a DS. My son is now 14 and I have taken him to DW 5 times in the last 10 years. Disney is more important to me now seeing it through his eyes. Watching wishes fireworks and remembering my childhood with my parents brings back all the joy of having a complete family. Im now remarried with 2 step sons and we will be taking our first DW trip together as a family next June. I know already the tears will be flowing cause they haven't stop since I first starting planning this trip. So for me as an adult DW is so much better. I have the Disney sickness and I refuse a cure!!!!

 

[KeroKero]

I wouldn't say that I LOVE it more as an adult, I just appreciate all that it has to offer that much more now that I've experienced it as a child, a teenager and now as an adult.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

absolutely. all those awesome adult beverages.

 

[niffer5150]

i never got to go to wdw as a kid. my family didn't vacation.

i find wdw offers exactly what i want in a vacation, options. there's a plethora of things to do, ride, and see. i have the option to have someone drive me to the hotel, put my stuff in my room, and all i ever have to worry about for the next X days is being at the right restaurant at the right time if i want to eat dinner... and that's exactly what i want. disney streamlines everything so well and makes it so easy. you can run from ride to ride till you barf or you can spend the whole time on a perfectly groomed sandy "beach" if you want. the options are awesome and combos are endless.

other vacations may offer some fun activities, good food, and nice lodging but nobody offers so many options all in one place. it's clean, safe, and there's something for everyone. where else can you sleep in the piney woods one night, a swampy bayou the next, and spanish colonial mexico the next?

 

[LoveMyMoos]

I never went as a kid, I know, the horrors of my childhood. My husband took me for the first time in 2007, I was 24. He created a monster. But personally, one thing I notice, that my kids pay no mind to, is the sheer attention to detail. Often, an amusement park is an amusement park is an amusement park for them. Anything with some characters and rides, whether it's Six Flags or Carowinds locally, is fun for them, the same as Disney. Disney means extra to them because they like taking a trip, staying in a hotel, doing the special meals, but it's still just an amusement park for them. But noticing Disney's attention to detail, from every light bulb working, to clean parks, to hidden Mickey's, and seeing how it's not something that many other attractions can keep up with, makes me appreciate Disney that much more.

 

[ericstac]

I don't remember going as a kid at all. I love WDW now though and being able to share it with my family.. great times!! I can see how my kids love it but don't appreciate it as much as the wife and I do.. they will learn as they get older.

 

[disney meema]

I've been going to Disneyland since 1963 in California and it was a big part of growing up of growing up in Orange County in the 1960's. Dancing in tomorrowland with great bands and meeting friends and the ticket books (( love )) My first time going to Disney World was in the mid 1980's once I was married and had kiddos, and was I hooked on the week or more disney vacation. On average I've been once a year for the last 30 years.
So Disney and Disneyland was a love from childhood, but Disney World as an adult : ) As far as a preference the experiences still today are very different ones and prefer both and I appreciated going as a child and an adult. But seeing disney through your kids eyes and the your grandchildren's eyes has to make you love it even more as an adult

 

[6loversofdisney]

For me and for my family we love Disney it is the only place I have ever gone on holidays and can completley forget about the rest of the world. It is like nothing else in the world matters. Complete peace and joy and happiness when we go to WDW.

How absolutely perfectly put!!!!

 

[Murfee17]

I appreciate the "Magic" and the little things that make Disney unique! From the smells to the Hidden Mickeys!