Has Disney ruined you for other parks?

[Karibeth19]

For my family, it has!!! We decided to take a quick getaway to Branson this past weekend, and decided to go to Silver Dollar City. We had avoided going in the past because it seemed so expensive to go to the park for just a day ($120 for the 3 of us), but we found out we could get discounted AAA tickets that also got you in a second day for free. On the way up there, DH and I were telling DD, "Now, we know that SDC is not WDW, but it is still fun, and we are going to have a great time and not compare it to Disney all day." Well, about an hour into it, all three of us were making comparisons! Don't get me wrong, it's a nice park and we had a great time. But, there are not that many rides, and only a couple of the shows were appealing to us. Also, it was a slow day so we really didn't have to wait in any lines. By 3:00, we had run out of things to do. We tried to ride some things a second time, but the lines were getting long, and nothing was so great that we wanted to wait to ride it again. So we left, and did not return the next day to use the second day on our ticket. We came away from our weekend missing Disney even more, and spent the whole drive home listening to the park music on my iPod through the FM modulator! We even commented several times over the weekend that we wish all those rumors of Disney buying land in Missouri/Texas/Wherever in the Mid-West to build a new park could someday be true. As nice as other parks may be, nobody does it like Disney, and they have ruined us for anyone else!


The only thing that SDC does have over Disney...Refillable park mugs! You pay $7.00 for the mug, pay only $1.50 for refills and they are good for life!

 

[Loves Disney]

Yup! I went to Six Flags last summer before our Disney trip and compared almost everything to Disney. My common thought was, "this is cool, but not Disney cool." lol. I would find myself on the rides thinking, "wow, this is fun! But no where near as fun as the Disney rides."

Despite my comparing everything to WDW, I feel lucky to be able to compare things to Disney...some people never even go during a lifetime!

 

[sistertrip]

Not only has WDW ruined me for other parks, but for basically any other vacation spot. Everytime I start to think of going someplace else, I think to myself "or we could go do Disney World..."

 

[sconnell]

Oh my, YES! DH & I just popped into Six Flags Over GA this weekend and the whole time I'm thinking, Well, Disney does this. Or Disney has that. lol

 

[Sonno]

I think the main thing folks need to understand is the fundamental difference between "Theme Parks" and "Amusement Parks"

Here are a couple good reads:
http://lumen.georgetown.edu/projects/postertool/index.cfm?fuseaction=poster.display&posterID=3255

(and the other one I can't seem to find the link to...)

 

[sistertrip]

Thanks, Sonno, it had never occurred to me that there was a difference between "theme" and "amusement" parks.

 

[spoiltrotten12]

We also frequently holiday in Spain and visit Portaventura Theme Park. We love it just as much as we love Disney!

 

[bluejasmine]

OMG has WDW spoiled and ruined us.. We were actually looking into a vacation at Universal and it was HALF the price of our WDW trip and well we ended up booking WDW when we heard it was running free dining again, we did it last yr and it was such an incredible deal!
My kids dont even want to go to Paramounts Carowinds which is 3 hrs away, or anywhere else for that matter we discussed Bush Gardens and Dollywood..

 

[orljustin]

We just went to Silver Dollar City two weekends ago, for four days (well, 2 plus two halves), and we didn't have enough time to do everything we wanted to. We also took time to hit White Water for a couple hours and Celebration city.

SDC's new Grand Exposition has 10 fairly common fair type rides, but it is really a well themed area for a non-Disney park, as I mentioned several times to my wife. The parks were well maintained, and fully staffed, even with low attendance levels. Celebration City is also very well done and manicured.

The low point was the counter service restaurants. Very slow at times. Actually the low point was the teacups ride. The hostess was a senior citizen. Her actions doubled the time it took to get on the ride. After unload, she walked out onto the unload ramp to address those waiting. She went over park rules, which included removing anything that wasn't clothing (fanny packs, belt cameras, everything!), then her rule, which was "don't close the door - I'll do it on my way around". After that lengthy spiel we get to board. She then starts going around to each car to slowly close the door. Overheard from the guy in the car next to me "When she grabbed my cap, I thought I was going to kill her). Finally, she gets the doors closed, ambles over to the board, makes some inane announcement and finally starts.

Aaarrgh. Lady, this isn't a shuttle mission. Get them in, check the door, hit the button, get them out. *** cares about fanny packs? She seriously added 10 unnecessary minutes onto the experience.

Aside from her and the food, everything was great. We even have a new addition to the family from SDC - it hops about and eats carrots.

 

[Ghost]

Although I love rollercoaster and do visit other parks... there is nothing like a Disney park...

I only needed one visit to fall in love and get addicted

 

[lindakmonty]

yes and no... nothing compares to WDW, that's for sure! But it hasn't ruined us for other parks. Here in Ohio, we are fortunate enough to have Cedar Point an hour from my house, Geauga Lake, and Kings Island. Cedar Point is an amazement park...has all the highest, tallest, fastest coasters! Disney can't compare to some of those rides... but overall I definitely prefer Disney for the atmosphere, the "magic".... Cedar Point is the place for thrill rides, Disney is the place for the family experiences!

 

[eliza61]

Most definitely. We've gone to six flags great adventure in NJ and Dorney Park in PA and almost always immediately compare it to Disney. (which I guess is a bit unfair)

We were hooked from the first day of the first visit

 

[ElleBelle]

Not only has WDW ruined me for other parks, but for basically any other vacation spot. Everytime I start to think of going someplace else, I think to myself "or we could go do Disney World..."

Sounds JUST like us!

**DH and I in the car on the way home from Target the other week**....
DH to me: "You know that trip we were talking about taking to Atlantic City later this summer?"
Me to DH: "Yeah..."
DH to me: "Well, I was thinking... the free dining promo at Disney is ending soon, ...and..."
Me to DH: "YEAH?!?!?!"

Well, you get the drift. Our measly 2 nights in Atlantic City (about 2 hours from our home) turned into 6 days/ 5 nights at the Wilderness lodge in the end of September with free dining- all before we ever got home from Target. 100% justifiable if you ask DH!

 

[BYC]

I spent a day in Dollywood a couple of weeks ago. It was not near as nice as Disney....except the music! The Bluegrass and Country music was GREAT! Rides were OK. Also, the food was really good...and plentiful!

 

[kimbac3]

I'm the same way! We are thinking of going to Colonial Williamsburg and Busch Gardens next year. But by the time I figured out how much it would cost I was like "For that much money we could go back to Disney!!" DH thinks the kids should see other places..I think we should spend the money where I know we will have fun!!
Even Hershey was dissapointing to us this year..the chocolate helped though!!
Kimba

 

[rlduvall]

I'm the same way! We are thinking of going to Colonial Williamsburg and Busch Gardens next year. But by the time I figured out how much it would cost I was like "For that much money we could go back to Disney!!" DH thinks the kids should see other places..I think we should spend the money where I know we will have fun!!
Even Hershey was dissapointing to us this year..the chocolate helped though!!
Kimba

OMG. That's exactly what we did last week. Went to Colonial Williamsburg and Busch Gardens. My DH is exactly like yours, but I could go to Disney every year. I fought it for as along as I could because I knew it would cost over $2,000. for 5 nights (driving from Tulsa - ugh) and I would rather have had that money for a Disney trip.

Putting aside my Disney bias, I actually had a very good time. Virginia is beautiful and Busch Gardens was fun - but no Disney. Make sure you do the Colonial Williamsburg Ghost Tour. That was a highlight of our vacation.

BTW. When my DH insisted on driving to Virginia, I said okay, but only if I can go to Disney during the free dining promotion. He said, "Sure, but take a friend, I'm burnt out on Disney." So that's what I'm doing. Don't you agree that sometimes trips are more fun without all the responsibility of the family? Am I horrible, or what? Of course, I did take my DS just last December, so I'm not a total disgrace.

 

[EeyoreFan1]

I have no reason to go to places like Carowinds, or Six Flags, or even Universal, because I know Disney tops them all!

 

[Biscuitsmom31]

I have to disagree about Silver Dollar City. We Love Disney and we also love Silver Dollar City. It's a totally different atmoshere, Silver Dollar City is much more relaxed and I enjoy the old time feel and bluegrass music. There are many things at SDC that you won't find at Disney (i.e. people blowing glass, hand-making pocket knives, and fresh fried pork rinds).

I do agree however that SOONER FOOTBALL ROCKS!

 

[katlas&kids]

OMG. That's exactly what we did last week. Went to Colonial Williamsburg and Busch Gardens. My DH is exactly like yours, but I could go to Disney every year. I fought it for as along as I could because I knew it would cost over $2,000. for 5 nights (driving from Tulsa - ugh) and I would rather have had that money for a Disney trip.

Hey, I live just south of Willamsburg and you didn't even say hi! It is nice here, but you were lucky enough to miss the humidity! I can't wait for our first trip to WDW in Aug!

 

[johnnyh14]

The only thing that makes some other parks ok for me is the big coasters. Other than that Disney is the best. One local park we go to also has free pepsi products.