Help Me Explain to Non-Disney People Why I Love Disney...

[Pixiedust34]

I've discovered that you're either a Disney-person, or you're not. The Non-Disney people are clueless and unless they get a bucketload of pixie dust dumped on their heads, will most likely remain so.

That's OK, though! If they don't go to Disney, that's one less person in line in front of us.

 

[DznyLvr2005]

It's just not explainable!!! You won't know unless your one of those people! As you can see in my siggie my Next trip to Disney will be my 14th time there...

 

[golden1]

What bugs me the most is when people look down their nose about WDW when they have never been! I've known several people like that. I tell them, "Go once and if you hate it, don't go again. But at least try it!" Everyone I know who goes once at least "likes" WDW. Most love it. There is really something for everyone there.

 

[Shannon G]

I've given up trying to explain it... But, like some other posters have mentioned, here's what I don't understand - I live in New England, and plenty of people go to the SAME place on the Cape every summer, or to the SAME place in Maine or New Hampshire (not saying there's anything wrong with that either - my own family has been going to the same place in Maine every summer since I was about 5 - and I'm 32 now). So why doesn't anyone ever look at those people like they're crazy for always going to the same place on vacation?

 

[LongIslandCouple]

I'm 31, DW is 30. Most of my friends are DINKs (double income no kids) like us. They all go on vacation for at least a week a year and can afford to go virtually anywhere they want.

Their negative reaction to Disney is two-fold: The misconception that there isn't anything for adults to enjoy and the misconception that they will be spending almost all their time waiting on lines.

I usually start by talking up Pleasure Island and Fast Pass and recommending they go when crowds are generally down (i.e. when school is in). I talk about some of the better restaurants and the benefits of staying on property - particularly by the Boardwalk.

Three other couples have taken our advice and all have asked when we are going again so that maybe we could do a group trip...

But remember folks, any person you hook into Disney is just another person making your line longer, so be careful how many people you persuade!

 

[Caylin]

I've actually included "must love Disney" or at least be willing not to disparage it in my presence, for future relationships. My friends and I adore Disney and go every year. I'm extremely outspoken, and when people get all uptight about adults liking Disney so much I take it as a character flaw in them, not me! I'm even willing to tell them so!
We all put up people making fun of our ideas, and I'm not going to let those people ruin my favorite place. Also, it's so much more fun when you "convert" someone!
In other words, yay for us for sticking up for what we love and not letting other people influence our decisions!

 

[Skylarr29]

I have given up trying to explain it. You either get it or you dont...most people dont so that is why I love coming here where everyone understands my addiction and I dont have to keep explaining it...cause you already get it!!

 

[wvjovifan]

I, too, have given up trying to explain myself....I am 50 years old and I can go where I want to!!!!! We don't like to just sit at the beach, I get bored in the mountains, I don't gamble, I would go stir crazy on a ship.... WDW has everything we need to be as busy or as relaxed as we choose to be!!! We used to go every few years with the kids, but now that they are grown, Disney has become the vacation of choice for DH and myself. We are taking our 2nd "just us" trip in May (for my birthday!!!) and we can't wait...DH has finally gotten caught up in the planning phase with me and we are having a ball. People think we are crazy to keep going, but I just ignore them and secretly enjoy the fact that I have awesome vacations!!! It's the exact same way with my Jovi addiction....the one's who don't experience it first hand just don't get it!!!!!!

 

[imercier]

Most of the folks I talk to who are a little down on (our) trips to Walt Disney World are those who went a LONG, LONG time ago and went to (like) one park. So often I hear, "yeah, I went to Epcot in the late 80's and it was pretty boring." Well...what changes they've made in the last 25 years!!! And I believe someone else mentioned the thing about it being for kids only.

Bottom line, though, is that they have to go once and they'll most likely change their mind. My sister-in-law was one of those folks. She went and will never be the same.

 

[chesirechik]

DH & I go through the same thing at work.

Our past trip DH told people at his work that we were going to Tampa for a work conference for me because he said he just didn't feel like listening to all the comments he would have got from his co-workers.

Luckily I work with a lady who is a DVC member so I have someone to talk Disney with at work!

 

[tinkerbell6]

Either "Again?" or people will act like Disney is something you just *have* to do once for your kids' sake. DH and I love Disney as much as our DD! People were shocked that we actually went to DL when we were first married, when we didn't even have kids! DD is only 7 and has been to DL 3 times, WDW once (second trip coming up soon!).

I have family that spend a month each year in Hawaii. I love Hawaii, it's beautiful, but I can't sit on a beach hour after hour, day after day, week after week. I don't mock their choice to go there. We will likely go there again someday. We DO take other vacations, but frankly, every second (at least) trip is Disney-related! We have a limited amount of vacation dollars, so for now, Disney is usually where it's at for us.

I guess, like many others have said...you either get it, or you don't. If they don't, good! Less people in line in front of me at Big Thunder Mountain!

 

[mommykds]

Oh I have given up trying to make people understand why were keep going back to Disneyworld. My best friend can't even understand. She takes her kids to the beach or Hershey & cannot understand why I would pay so much to go to "just an amusement park!" Sometimes I just say I am going to Florida & leave it at that. Anyone who knows me, my DH, or my kids knows that were are Disney fans all the way & that we are always planning a Disney trip at any given time. We don't want to go anywhere else right now. We have a great time at Disney..we have fun as a family & we get to act like kids with our kids. It is just perfect for us...Either you get it or you don't...

 

[huskies90]

I don't want to go to Europe right now. Maybe later when my kids are older...

My in-laws don't understand why we keep going over and over. To them, WDW is the Magic Kingdom and that's it. They don't even bother with our pictures and barely ask us about our trip when we return. Plus, they think that only rich people go to Disney....

I am similar to you except it is my parents. We just got back and my dad wouldn't even watch the video I put together of our pictures (mostly of his own grandkids). He had several cracks about Disney including making fun the mickey mouse watch I was wearing and honestly, he really hurt my feelings. My family is the opposite, the are pretty well off so they look at WDW as very "middle class" and there are so much more you can do with your vacation $$. I went to Europe when I was a kid and I was bored silly. I know my kids would have more fun at Disney. My sister went WDW two years in a row. After the first time she couldn't wait to go back but after this time she had nothing but negative to say and that she will "never go back." I know she still loves Disney but my dad is pretty influential (especially with my sister). Negative people can really put a damper on things...

Don't let the negative people get in the way of your fun. This is a great thread. It always makes me feel better when I know there are so many other people who love Disney.

I was at a huge super bowl party on Sunday where I did not know everyone. During a commercial someone asked "has anyone been to Disney recently?" Before I could shout out we went over Thanksgiving, the whole room piped in about their recent trips some of which had multiple within the year and some couples with no kids. It made me feel good knowing I wasn't alone.

I think there are more of us out there than them. If you look at the crowds at the turnstiles, that is probably a true statement...

 

[XOoOoVEEoOoOX]

My mother is like that. I was dreading telling her about the spur of the moment trip--dd and I leave tomorrow! Particularly since dh can't go because of work issues. She thinks that I make him go when he really loves to go, as well. Anyway, when I finally told her, she said, "What, AGAIN??" I just looked her in the eye and said, "We like it there. We have fun." I was shocked that she backed right down.

Now I have converted several people so I have others in my little cult. One friend was so bummed about our upcoming trip that she's now booked one for summer! And I'm helping a coworker plan her honeymoon there this fall.

That coworker who is having her Honeymoon @ WDW is so lucky....my dream guy would love disney as much as i do...and could afford to let me have the wedding (and honeymoon) of my dreams @ WDW lol...**Vero stops daydreaming***

 

[k5thbeatle]

I gave up on trying to explain it a looong time ago

I've found that either people "get it" or they don't. So I don't waste my time anymore. Besides..that time could be better spent planning my next trip

My sentiments exactly! I gave up long ago and care less what others think.

One observation I have made is that a lot of people who have gone and don't see what all the fuss is about have made the mistake of trying to see and do everything in a limited amount of time. Just my own observation.

 

[mickey0216]

Mini-rant coming...

If you start to become angry, bored or frustrated by the content or length of my post, please skip it and move on to the next post.

1. My mantra for Walt Disney World is fairly simple: WDW. If you get it - No explanation is necessary. If you don't - No explanation will do...

2. I catch grief from most of my co-workers. Most of them don’t “get it.” When they hear that I am going to WDW again, I generally hear 'Weren't you just there?" Yeah... and I'm going back!

3. My one sister, my brother, and their spouses, have been going on vacation together for several years. For the past few years they have been going to the Dominican Republic. They went again this past summer. My DW and I went to WDW just after Thanksgiving. During the Christmas Holiday, my brother says to me "When you get tired of going to Disney and you want to go on a real vacation you can go with Cindy and I to the Dominican Republic." Yeah, like that's going to happen. I have a fair complexion and I get sun burned if I am out in the sun for an extended period of time. I am an infrequent social drinker. What is there to do on a tropical island at night... Ding ding ding we have a winner - Drink. I just don’t see what I’d do on an island for a week.

4. I am the Disney lover in our household. The DW “allows” me to go to WDW so that I can keep my sanity. I work in IT for a very large company, and I have a very demanding and stressful job. I tend to work 50-60 hours per week. WDW is my “Happy Place”. It is the only place where I can leave my job behind. While I take my Blackberry, laptop and SecureID card with me, and I typically connect to work everyday for an hour or so while the DW showers in the morning or at night when she is getting ready for bed. Other then that, I do not think about work. PS. Prior to our honeymoon at the CR in 1980 I had never heard of WDW. It’s all her fault.

5. In regards to WDW being for kids… phooey!! Prior to our most recent trip, the DW and I hadn’t had a vacation without kids since my DD was born in 1985. We text messaged and talked to our DS17 on a daily basis, and had similar communication with our DD who goes to PSU. My wife has said the following several times since our return: “It was the best WDW vacation ever. The next time I want to stay at the Grand Floridian.”


Please forgive me for the length of my post. If I offended anyone in anyway, please forgive me.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

Is there any other vacation destination that one has to "explain" or "apologize for" like WDW? Why don't people who take monthly junkets to casinos get grief? Why don't families who spend all their dough at the beach have to answer questions? Why don't enthusiasts who ride their Harleys up and down the highways have to give an account for their actions? Why don't hikers, horseback riders, golfers, shoppers, music lovers, or wine connesuiers have to explain their actions and travels in pursuit of their interests? Have I asked enough questions yet?

 

[IvyandLace]

DH and I (no kids) have gone to WDW about 9+ times in the last 6 years. What I hate most IS the negativity: I get that from family members. We started our Disney craze with a special trip with my nephew and my side of the family (we are very close). Since "my" side of the family went and loved it, DH really wanted "his" side to understand the magic as well. Well, let's just say that I totally understand whoever it was who posted that their parents view WDW as very "middle-class". My Father-in-law (pharmaceutical drug rep who travel all the time and stays high class for free) and Brother-in-law (champagne taste on a beer budget) had such a *snobby* attitude the whole trip that I am still having a hard time being around them. Yes, I did feel hurt. Almost like DH and I weren't "good" enough to be with them because of our "childish obssession" with Disney. I mean, BIL actually got upset with us for not "warning him" when we went to the Primetime Cafe because he did not realize that the waiters were "playing" with us. *sighs and shakes head at the memory*

DH is a high school teacher and can appear very aloof, very serious, but you get him inside those gates and WOW! All those long hours with crazy parents and even crazier administration just melt away-it is the only vacation for him that we have found that offers so much of a "mental vacation", a true "getaway". It is definitely our "Happy Place" as well, and I take offense at the people in my life who choose not to understand how important this is to us.

IVY

 

[Golliwobbler]

...the first part is that we will always be percieved as a bit "off" for our addiction (cheese slipped off the cracker, missing a few pieces of the puzzle, no hay in the loft, sewing machine is out of thread, loose gyros, elevator stuck between floors, defective hard drive, members of the control group, so dense light bends around us) - you know the drill

...but we all need to explain sometime or another for one reason or another (if nothing more than to try to get the in-laws to come along on a Dis-trip so you don't end up fishing in a creek in the rain in Minnesota in autumn...their best idea of a good vacation)

...and my explanation is that where a lot of the magic we knew in our youth has been "lost in time like tears in rain" and the hope of its return in our every day life is drowned out by the constant drum beat of hate, fear and lies, at WDW the magic is real and nothing else is, and is to be honestly seen, felt, witnessed again in the smiling faces of every child you come across, whether the child is 8 or 80, tired, poor or even dying.

WDW restores my hope.

That and it is the only place I know of where I can get those Dole Pineapple floats.

Then I look around and the in-laws are staring at me nervously, walking slowly backwards to the door, reaching out for their coats on the chair but NOT taking their eyes of me, mother-in-law telling husband John to "honey, please start the car..."

 

[Stitch1404]

Originally posted by Golliwobbler:
WDW restores my hope.

You hit the nail right on the head! Disney reminds me of what it's like to be a kid again. I missed out on a lot of my childhood and Disney lets me remember being a kid. It lets me forget everything else, even if it is just for 7 days...it's worth it. I just got back from WDW on January 9th and I am going back February 25th. I was wondering where I should tell people I am going, I didn't want to say WDW again because they will all think I am strange. But some people had some good answers, I think I can defend myself as to why I want to go again.

By the way, one person who I told I was going back said, "oh, you must really love rollercoasters." oh boy.