How do you rationalize ANOTHER trip to Disney?

[hsmamato2]

a little of all of that,OP! I LOVE Disney,and when we plan to go again,my family rolls their eyes(not immediate family) and say things like " ooohh...I wonder what it's like THERE....." I love the familiarity of it all, the hotels,the restaurants,the way my highly allergic son has always been able to eat well....if I couldn't afford any other trips ever,I'd mix it up a little, but as it is, we manage to visit other places also...and we still get our Disney fix! we travel quite a bit compared to most of our friends, but nothing too expensive,so we get the opportunity to see lots of wonderful sights and if a Disney park is somewhere near ANY of those sites, we go there too!

 

[hsmamato2]

oh,and I just tell people "you know we're Disney geeks,we can't help ourselves!"

 

[hsmamato2]

I don't know about 'spoiling' the kids.....there are all sorts of ways to spoil the kids....or not..... and a regular family activity Disney trips,camping,whatever could be see by some as spoiling....I see it more as a tradition we all have together....and hope that as the kids grow up,it might be something we can still enjoy together. I have an 18 yr. old, who is Disney 'spoiled' since he was a baby....I hope he never stops enjoying our family trips together!
How many people can say that the whole family is happy together,doing that trip? it works for us......

 

[ilovejack02]

No one bats an eye here when we say we are going to Destin again, it is quite the norm around here for a yearly beach trip. The moment I say Disney , I hear "AGAIN ??" lol even though it has been two years since we last went. We did happen to do it twice in one year that year. We are planning on sometime next year, but it will only be a day maybe in Epcot. My DS8 has a wicked love of roller coasters and Legos , so our main focus will be Universal and Legoland, Disney will be for me ; ). Doesnt even phase me when people question us about it , yes I know there are other places in the world. We go there too! Let us worry about our travels and you worry about yours .. or lack there of lol.
Hmm, I need to go get suitcases down, Destin beach trip coming up soon ... LOL YES AGAIN oh and yes I am leaving on another trip again soon, yes we did just get back from a trip to the Smokey Mountains a week ago.
See ? It's not just Disney people question me about lol, its the fact that we go on multiple trips a year that I get questioned about all the time. Wait till my friends find out I am going to NYC in the fall . : )

 

[crisi]

It is interesting that people don't need to justify their cabin on a lake, but for some reason, Disney vacations have to be justified.

Anybody who knows me at all knows not to "go there." And for new people, I tell them the truth: I grew up 90 minutes from the front gates. So, it IS my childhood, and now it will be my son's as well.

Around here, people justify their cabins on the lake. A friend of mine has one and the amount of "I would never drive two hours just to get away for the weekend" and "that is such a lot of work" and "don't you have other things to spend money on" and "it must be nice to be able to afford" etc. that she gets is pretty high. Another friend is in the process of building his. I've bit my tongue, because I know my "that's the last thing I'd do" sort of comments would be taken as a need to justify (it isn't, different strokes) but I know not everyone has.

 

[blanq]

I honestly don't feel the need to rationalize or explain to anyone why we take a trip to Disney or anywhere else. We enjoy traveling, we have the money, so we go. Enough said!

This. Honestly, after 12 trips, I have never had anyone give me any grief over my vacation habits. We travel frequently, and not just to WDW.

 

[Melmac]

For us, traveling is a necessary line in our budget. Both of us love WDW and although we do travel elsewhere, WDW is our favourite spot. We rationalize it by buying a very modest house with a low mortgage, only have 1 car payment (and the other car is 8 years old and will be driven until it dies) and have no kids. After we fund our retirement accounts and bills, vacations come first! WDW is our happy place and we love it there.

I get comments all the time from my co-workers about traveling there. I think a lot of people assume WDW is for kids and since they have never been, they have an opinion on whether it is a good vacation spot or not rolleyes. I believe if we had kids, the opinions and comments would be a lot different.

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

For us, traveling is a necessary line in our budget. Both of us love WDW and although we do travel elsewhere, WDW is our favourite spot. We rationalize it by buying a very modest house with a low mortgage, only have 1 car payment (and the other car is 8 years old and will be driven until it dies) and have no kids. After we fund our retirement accounts and bills, vacations come first! WDW is our happy place and we love it there.

I get comments all the time from my co-workers about traveling there. However, one has a cottage (something I would never buy) and the other travels to Las Vegas every year (not my interest). I think a lot of people assume WDW is for kids and since they have never been, they have an opinion on whether it is a good vacation spot or not rolleyes. I believe if we had kids, the opinions and comments would be a lot different.

Yeah, they would be different,but there would still be comments. "Don't you think you should expose your kids to more of the world?" "All the money you spend on a Disney trip could get you to the Grand Canyon or a beach cottage for 2 weeks" .Either they get it,or they don't. I'm not changing my vacation plans for anyone other than family.

 

[mommycrawford]

I think each trip evolves from the former one...like when you are little, maybe you are into the princess/meeting character thing, then you want to try thrill rides, then you want to explore resorts. Perhaps you at first are focussed on MK, and then grow into Epcot, or favor future world and another year it's world showcase that captivates....

There is so much going on at WDW, and most people (those who don't understand your wish to go back) only know the surface stuff, the commercial, and not the things that make us come here and want to read other people's trip reports!...The magic!

My daughter and I come to have a week outside of our daily realities...eat what we want, play, explore, get up and go to sleep as we want! And it's clean and we see beautiful foliage, and swim a bit, and believe in something a little bit bigger than the mundane...homework and dishes and bills.

Find your bliss!...Life is short!...too short to worry about what other peole think of your vacation choices! (Those are the people who have too much time on their hands.)

 

[alliesmommy]

This will be our 8th trip in 8 years. We get the "Why don't you go somewhere else?" pr "You're going again?" comments all the time. We took DD on her first trip for her first birthday. I got a lot of the "Why are you taking her? She won't remember it." My response: "I'll consider your opinion." (which I did.....for about 3 seconds). While she doesn't remember the trip, DH and I do and I can't imagine spending her first birthday anywhere else. That trip was magical and I wouldn't trade those memories for anything!

Growing up, I NEVER went on a family vacation. Not one. DH and I came to an agreement very early in our marriage that we would budget a trip a year to somewhere. It just so happens that our favorite somewhere is WDW. Admittedly, we did go to Hawaii last year instead, but this year we were ready to go back to Disney.

I've learned to let any comments just roll off my back. To each his own. I will say that in my experience with my kooky family, that a lot of the comments are made out of jealousy.

 

[Swan4Me]

This past March "my excuse" was we had never seen the Flower & Garden show at Epcot-and I am a MAJOR gardener.

I do always feel like I have to make an excuse to go again-and I am sura all my non-Disney relatives just shake their heads

 

[eliza61]

So, we are all lovers of the mouse. We all get it. However, we all have friends and family who DON'T. When you finally let others know that you are going on yet another trip to Disney, you get a mix of reactions. Some excited, some rolling of the eyes, some looks of disappointment, some of envy. Then all of a sudden, you get a pit in your stomach of "maybe I should have saved that money for more responsible things," "I should go explore a new place because I've been to Disney too many times, already," "maybe I have a Disney problem," etc etc. So my questions are:


Do any of you have that feeling when you book another trip to Disney? (Granted, it doesn't last!)

Also, how do you explain to those "non-Disney lovers" why you are going again? Sometimes, it can be frustrating and I can start second-guessing myself.

Thanks!

1) Generally I never have to explain to my non disney lovers. I have pretty nice friends who all know about my obsession. They know this is part of my personality and love me for who I am. They generally are more surprised if I'm not going to disney.

2) We do love exploring new places. Especially lately it seems that many places can be done for around the same price. We just returned from Paris France for pretty much the same price a week at the world cost.

3) If we have other things that take priority than we don't do disney. for us, very simply disney is a luxury. I never belied the line "we have to do disney in order to "reconnect" with our family. IMO, college tuition comes before disney, savings comes before disney, getting out of debt comes before disney. I make it a point to connect with my husband and kids every single day, I make memories with my kids every day (or I at least try to) This is just my view. I am not saying those arguments are bad for others.

4) what exactly are you second quessing. The money aspect? or just the choice of where to spend your vacation.

 

[disney1990]

So, we are all lovers of the mouse. We all get it. However, we all have friends and family who DON'T. When you finally let others know that you are going on yet another trip to Disney, you get a mix of reactions. Some excited, some rolling of the eyes, some looks of disappointment, some of envy. Then all of a sudden, you get a pit in your stomach of "maybe I should have saved that money for more responsible things," "I should go explore a new place because I've been to Disney too many times, already," "maybe I have a Disney problem," etc etc. So my questions are:


Do any of you have that feeling when you book another trip to Disney? (Granted, it doesn't last!)

Also, how do you explain to those "non-Disney lovers" why you are going again? Sometimes, it can be frustrating and I can start second-guessing myself.

Thanks!

I don't have to rationalize it. People go to the beach every single summer and they don't have an excuse for going. More things change at Disney in a year than at the beach -- same ocean.

I looked just this week at spending a long weekend at the beach -- the rooms rates were $250 to $300 a night - OMG. I can go to Disney and stay in a value for so much less. I am having a hard time going to the beach even for a couple nights -- it feels like such a rip off.

 

[ocean134]

I just got back yesterday and I am already thinking about going back over Labor Day weekend.

 

[momof1princess]

i don't rationalize a trip to WDW to anyone. DH and i pay for our vacations, and go where we want to go. if we want to go to WDW, others are welcome to give their opinions on our choice, but it won't affect our decision, nor do i feel compelled to defend it.

of course, we likely won't go back to WDW for a few more years, as DD13 is now in the HS marching band, and we'll be going wherever they go.

 

[AndreaDM]

I just got back yesterday and I am already thinking about going back over Labor Day weekend.

We just got back this weekend as well and are trying to figure out a way to go at the end of Oct. for a long weekend to take in MNSSHP and to spend more time at AKL since we didn't get to enjoy everything that resort has to offer. I'm still kicking myself for not booking the bounceback offer in our room, but DH woke up really sick our last morning and that totally threw me off.

 

[Pigeon]

We don't go to Disney as much as many here, but if I went six times a year, that would be my decision. I don't need to justify my family's vacation plans to anyone. So, I'd be blunt and tell them they are welcome to plan their own vacations.

 

[disneywatcher]

I get this reaction from my mom when we tell her we are planning our next Disney trip (and this is only our 3rd trip!) I get comments like

"You should deffinately rent a car this trip to see more than just Disney."
Or..."There is more to see in this country than just Walt Disney World."

First, I love that there are things that we can do as a FAMILY at Disney. Any other park or place, the kids get bored fast or my rear is to big for us to all go together or they are to short to go on.

Second, I have YET to see all that there is at this one park (that's actually 4!) and until I do I will not want to go somewhere else (of course after Florida there is Disneyland in CA ) .

I love that there are rides we can all go on as a FAMILY, and that my children get involved in the planning! I love that it's the one place I feel like I can be a kid again and we can see our youngest delight in something as simple as a sprinkler that comes up from the ground.

I don't have to justify where we go on our family vacation to anyone except my DH who is the reason we can go! All he knows is that he loves to see the smiles on his DD's faces and it's worth the money to go to Florida for that.

 

[beansmom]

for me, i tell them Disney is the only place in the world where I see a 10 yr old boy shining out of my 67 year old husband's eyes. That's worth a whole d*mn lot to me.

And I also say "when my dad was 62, he said 'next year, I'm going to retire and the first thing I'm going to do is go to EPCOT....that was in August...he was dead before Halloween. *I* don't wait for the right time...it never comes.'

 

[Sugardimples]

I don't try to rationalize it, I don't explain it, I don't apologize for it. This is what I like to do on my vacation. I have traveled to many places around the world, have visited many island beaches, and have driven across country. At this point in my life, WDW is where I like to spend my vacation time.

I don't care where anyone else goes for their vacation and as long as I'm not asking them to pay for my vacation I'll go where I please.

The End.