Does WDW trip make all others pale in comparison?

[photobob]

I read someone else mention this in another thread and it really hit home with me. Since 1997 we have gone to WDW every other year. In 18 days we are going for our fourth trip to stay on property. I enjoy WDW so much that my vacations on the "off years" can't come close to the experience of WDW. My wife lined up the first trip and I wasn't that hip on going, now I'm the family Disney expert and planner. I work for a newspaper which can give you a cynical and jaded look about life, so WDW is such a beautiful escape from reality....

 

[donna in Oz]

I'm with you, photobob!!!!

 

[KristaTX]

I feel the same way. I went to Seattle in November and just sensed a dark cloud the whole time (literally and figuratively). I went to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, in March. It was okay, but I don't ever need to go back - too dry and deserty even with the beach. On both of those trips I wished I was at WDW instead and mentally compared everything to Disney. (By the way I didn't select those destinations but traveled with friends). Next week I'll be at WDW for the 4th time since June 2002, and I'm already trying to figure out when I'll get to go back. The only place I've been that I really liked and would like to go back to was Switzerland. I just prefer beautiful, immaculate, "safe" places.

 

[waltdisneyworlddreamer]

I couldn't agree more. It has been a while since we've been and I don't feel like we've had a real vacation since. We are going to Myrtle Beach for a week in June but I'm not that excited. A trip to the beach should be a big deal. Even picking out hotels, I'm like yea that's nice but it doesn't compare to WDW. It seems like these other trips are just fillers until you can get back "home".

 

[WeirdEyes]

The only vacation that I've had that even came close was a cruise to the Southern Caribbean. I truly enjoyed it just as much because I was pampered the whole trip and I got to see the beautiful islands and crystal clear Caribbean waters. However, WDW will ALWAYS be my all-time favorite vacation. We even went there on our honeymoon almost 16 years ago!

 

[photobob]

Weirdeyes, good to see another Alabamian posting..

 

[*Fantasia*]

I enjoyed Maui!! I went twice in Nov 02 and Dec 02...And I love Maui!! But I can't compare it to Disney. I love Disney...but if I had a choice between the two...it would be hard to choose. Disney is all about fun and magic. But Maui is just breathtaking.

 

[jimmiej]

Within the last 11 months, DW & I have been to WDW(9 days) & DL(5 days), so we're OK for awhile. But, I'm already planning our 2004 trip(we go every other year). this year we're going to Chicago for a week. I'm excited, but not as much as when we go to WDW.

 

[gonga]

I guess it all depends on where you have been. I guess WDW would be #5 in my all time list of destinations #1 Four Seasons/Maui #2 Cap Juluca/ Anguilla #3 Hotel Cipriani/Venice #4 Biras Creek/Virgin Gorda #5 WDW

Big Adventure for next year.........trying to talk DH into the Burj Al Arab in Dubai - that's going to be a toughie!

 

[Kaycee]

We don't even bother going anywhere else anymore! We just save our money and go to WDW as often as we can. Of course, it does help that DH's mother lives in Charleston, SC and my father lives in St. Augustine, FL. That means we can go to the beach and stuff like that while visiting family instead of taking a vacation there. It also helps that those 2 stops are between our home in Kentucky and WDW. So we tie family visits in with our travel to and from WDW. Any way you look at it, in our family, all roads lead to WDW!!

Kaycee

 

[jsmla]

First of all, I love WDW. I love everything about it, but I've been on lots of vacations that were just as wonderful. I love eating at the Rose and Crown but London's better. I see Impressions de France every time we go but I prefer Paris. Love the AK but am still planning a trip to South Africa. Typhoon Lagoon is neat but Destin is even more so. The Chateau Frontenac is pretty at Epcot but it's more fun to stay there. I don't think vacations are better or worse (excepting my husband's maniacal love of dangerous and uncomfortable outdoor adventuring), just different. You get out of a vacation what you put into one.

 

[disney daft dad]

In the past I had thought that we would do WDW every other year and go to Lanzarote, Cyprus or somewhere in the Med in the year in between... however I did not count on how "persuasive" my hubby and daughter would be...Total mutiny!!!!!!! In the end I had to give in and now I don't even try to do anything else.

At least this way it may be big $$$ but I know that Teri will have a ball and we will have some fab memories in our old age!!!!

So Disney it is as long as we can afford to go we will!!!!!

Disney Daft Mum

Val

 

[finnie48]

Hello to all -


1st time to Europe in 2000 --- Been there, done that!


6th time to WDW in 2000 --- Been there, done that, going back July this year.


We enjoy long week-end trips in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, but for the big ones there isn't a vacation that compares with the magic of the Mouse and his friends.

Peg and Bob

 

[donna in Oz]

After living in Europe for six years and doing frequent traveling, my personal opinion is that there isn't anywhere I would rather visit on a continuing basis than WDW!!

Paris, Rome, Athens, Vienna, etc . . . even a couple of trips to Africa and Israel. All are wonderful but when you've seen 'em, you've seen 'em. Not true at all at WDW . . . . .

It's just gotta be the magic . . . year after year after year . . . . .!!

 

[PatriciaH]

I love WDW and DH and I are even moving to Orlando (probably Celebration) next spring to be closer (and because houses are so much cheaper there.) I would never give up traveling to different places though! I am a travel agent and LOVE to travel anywhere. WDW is a favorite but we also love Mexico, the Caribbean, Las Vegas, California, New York, cruising, Europe, etc..

We are going back to Mexico in October for the third time and let me tell you there is a LOT to do there! We are staying 7 nights and going to see the ruins at Coba, Cozumel for a dolphin swim/snorkeling and Xcaret (a really great nature park) for the day and horseback riding in the jungle/on the beach. I am having a great time planning that trip too. There are so many wonderful places to see and they can be cheaper than WDW! I also think it is really important to see other cultures and places esp. for kids.

 

[disneymom99]

I couldn't agree more!! The first time we went and stayed on property was July 1999. We stayed at Fort Wilderness in the cabins and I have been hooked ever since! My husband can't think of anywhere else he'd rather go- with or without the kids. We love disney so much, that we became members of the DVC in 2002. We go every year, so, it made sense to buy into the DVC. This year we'll be staying at BCV. Can't wait!!!


Gayle

 

[perdidobay]

I love to travel...period. I have to have a yearly trip to WDW, but I enjoy other places too. I am more excited about my July trip to Alaska than I am next years trip to WDW
photobob, do you work for the Anniston Star?

 

[UKDEB]

I'm totally with you, photobob. The first time we visited in 1992, I really wasn't that bothered. We'd planned a trip to (the then) EuroDisney (we're from the UK), but a four day trip was working out at around half the cost of 2 weeks in Orlando. Our travel agent convinced us that we really should be going to Florida, with guaranteed sunshine, and we've never looked back.

I <i>know</i> there are so many other places in the world, and there are many I'd love to visit (it's my ambition to visit all 50 states of the US), but for now there's nothing quite like WDW. I love that familiar feeling as we drive to our accommodation from the airport. I love the total escapism, the cleanliness, the Disneyness ... the magic.

We get 6 weeks' a year off work (plus 8 days public holidays). I think we're pretty lucky here in the UK, compared with you guys, but even so we need to be fairly picky about what we choose to do with that free time. Right now, WDW wins every time!

 

[suzimar57]

i really really love going to wdw & whenever we travel anywhere else (gasp - heresy!!) i always compare that place to wdw: "oh, it's so much cleaner in wdw, the employees (cm!) are so much friendlier at wdw, there's so much more to do at wdw - it even sounds so much better at wdw, with themed music everywhere! there was a time a couple of years ago we were in amsterdam (once again - my DH calls it his wdw!) and i was standing on a street next to a canal, in front of a head shop, with a hooker posing in a window above, smelling the scent of urine wafting in the air from the canal water below, with my ankle wrapped in an ace bandage (the result of tripping on the narrow cobblestone streets) that i REALLY missed being in wdw!!!!

 

[photobob]

Perdido Bay,

I work for The Daily Home, the sister publication to the Anniston Star in Talladega...