Losing the magic or gaining great memories?

[Epcot242]

My friends and I are planning a trip to WDW sometime in either mid-July or early August (would prefer early August). All together, there will be 4 of us. Now, I really love WDW. I see it as an escape from reality for a week or two and so it's great to me to get down there and not worry about anything. When I go with my family, they're happy to be there and generally enjoy themselves, but they're not nearly as much into it as I am. But, so far, I've only gone with my family. What I'm worried about is if I go with my friends, I can see myself virtually hyperventillating with all of the possiblities, while my friends just sort of see it as another amusement park. I'm not really out to convince them that this is the best place on earth (even though I think it is), because they don't have too. I just don't want to go down there after building up how great WDW is for 4 or 5 months and then not have them really enjoy themselves.
So the question I have to my fellow DISers is: did such an experience ruin the magic of WDW for you (not permenantly, but just for the trip) or did you end up pleasantly surprised?

 

[kaabost]

I absolutely understand where you are coming from. I have gone with my family and with friends. All of them have had a great time on the trips but none of them were (or became) the WDW Enthusiast that I am. One of these days, I'll go with someone who is equally enthusiastic. Anyway, though, you will still enjoy your trip very much and having the new dynamic of friends instead of family will be nice. Chances are, your friends haven't been before.....or at least for a long time....so you will get to feel the "new" excitement from them. Just make sure to pay attention to their needs as well. If they aren't QUITE as excited, they may not be quite as commando. Non-commandos get really grumpy when they are pushed to be commandos. I learned that lesson one year with an exDBF. Luckily, WDW is an easy place to meet back up with people should you decide to do separate things for a little while.

 

[DisDarling]

I can relate with other places, I go to the Bristol Renaissance Faire every year, 4 times a year, and when I take others, they are not as enthused or excited as I am- THIS is why I couldnt even THINK of taking others with my family to my most happiest and sacred place on earth- WDW
Ames

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

As for me and my family, we are kind of selfish about WDW. WE don't mind sharing it with thousands of strangers , but I just have no desire to go with friends or extended family. We have invited our parents to go with us so they could be with the grandkids, but both sets have declined the invitation. Truth be told, I am glad they did. I have no desire to be "the WDW planning guy" for a group trip with friends or relatives. I know what I love, but someone else may disagree.

 

[Third times a charm]

Losing the magic or gaining new memories!!!

Wow, I just said something similar to that to my DH. Just before boarding for my flight home on Monday I called DH to let him know we were at the airport ready to board, he asked me if I was really sad leaving. I said no, there wasn't magic on this trip, and I meant it.

Thats not to say I didn't have a fantastic time. because I did. I was able to show off the best place on earth to the greatest 12 girls I've been blessed to be the leader of for several years.

I enjoyed the faces of the scouts seeing the castle, watching Cinderellabration, and meeting Chip N Dale its just totally difference doing those same things with my husband and daughter.

While my family will walk casually through the Swiss Family treehouse; the 16 of us practically ran through it. While DH will take pictures of DD and me on Dumbo, all the scout and chaperones rode together.

We watched Wishes as a family last February, Wishes is the magic. All three of us felt it. I watched it with the girls, most of them talking through it , not feeling it at all.

So while I'm sure you will have a terrific time, it will be a different feeling for you, just go with it. Everyone has different opinions on what they like, I had the luxury of being in charge so I ultimately had the final say for what we did .

There were a few girls afraid of TOT, RNRC, Space Mountain, Dinosaur, BTMR, so with four chaperones we would split up for a short bit so those that wanted to ride could, and those that didn't could see a show or catch a different ride.

DD, DH and I are already talking about when we can go back. It is our happy place and I know I will feel the magic again.

 

[pepe of ohio]

I say this because not all people are in tune to Disney. We've been blessed to take many different people to the World that felt like us. You can not force Disney on others, why I say, pick travels wisely, we want to have a magical experience and others have one too. With new comers, you can not rush and forse the issue, let the magic and experience come to them. Running all over the aprk to show your friends the great rides, you miss all the beauty of Disney World. To me, Disney is not an amusement park with thrill rides but and exhibit of what one man could create for others to have a family experience of seeing, feeling, touching and smelling all the gifts of being totally immersed in Disney magic. Corny, yes but Disney brings relief for a stressed mind and tired body, let the magic overcome and soothe you. Same with your friends, don't expect all the freebies, towel animals, up grades, great view, comped meals, thats not Disney, you make your own way and enjoy whats in front of you.

You should be fine if you let everything come to you and let your friends be overwhelmed with the magic, have fun, laugh and make a memory and they'll be coming back with you for another trip.

 

[disnut8]

I've taken some of the biggest grumps to Disney World and it has never lost the magic for me. And I'm Disney World Addicted and darn proud of it. Not everyone is going to be in tune with the Disney magic every single minute of every single day. But there's something for everyone. They just have to find it.

For my father, the biggest compliment he could have ever given Disney World was after he saw Flights of Wonder for the first time. He said "that was neat". HUGE praise from him.

For my brother-in-law - buying a book somewhere in Epcot and sitting on a bench in Germany and reading and waiting to meet up with us for dinner. He loved that time.

Watching my husband watching as osprey for almost a half hour at Pop Century.

The best - having my very grumpy son take his now wife and stepdaughter for their first time and seeing him introducing them to the magic. All three are transformed.

I didn't push, I didn't try and pull pixie dust out of a pack. I just let them enjoy what they wanted. Huge dividends for them and for me.

Definitely gained great memories.

 

[lillygator]

We have yet to go with any friends....no one seems as in to Disney as we are....so we've never extended an invitation. Now my family on the other hand......are Disney nuts too - so we are overflowing with magic!

 

[donac]

I have gone with family and friends. Most of my family who go are Disney nuts and more so than I. We usually have a great time but we also know that we need to be separate at other times so we do split up and go our separate ways.

Now my friends are somethine else. We have never gone with one set of friends because when she came back from her last trip (8 years ago) all she did was complain about the room, the prices, the bad food. Nothing magical happened and she seemed to hate it. When ever my husband mentions that we shoud go with these people I just change the subject.

We went with another couple and their kids. 4 years ago I went with the wife and the kids and we had a great time. It was very magical. This past summer we went with the wife and the kids and the husband joined us toward the end of the week. It was not so magical. She pushed the group to do a lot more than my family wanted to do. She felt that this was the last Disney vacation with all her kids and she wanted to do most of it before her husband came down because he doesn't like crowds. After the 2nd day my family would often just go about our separate way and meet up with them another time during the day. She wanted to do a water park just abour every day and she would go from 7 in the morning to 11 at night. It was not my idea of a vacation but we were able to salvage it by telling her that we had something else that we wanted to do and we would go off by ourselves. It helped that my sister and her family were there and we could say we were going to meet up with them.

It can be troublesome.

 

[Prinny27]

I have been to Disney with family and all different friends dozens of times and have always had a blast with them! Each group brings a different vibe to each trip, and it's so much fun watching people discover different things their first time there. However, last September DBF and I went with another couple we were good friends with. Well, the guy of that couple was the moodiest, crankiest person I have ever met - he hated everything we did and after every ride, show or meal the first things out of his mouth were at least 10 different things he thought were done badly or screaming at one of us because he was cranky. Needless to say, after a few days of that the mood of our group was brought down completely and no one had a good time, despite DBF and I splitting up from them and doing our own things. I was very happy to board the plane home after that trip! But it in NO WAY ruined the magic of WDW for me - I was back down there a month later with my grandparents having an incredibly magical time!

 

[cmonroe]

This is a good question. I've been to WDW with my family my whole life. We (on my side) are all fanatics. All 16 of us. We've been so many times, that we know what we want to do, what we enjoy together and apart.

Enter August 2004. My first trip with my wife, two children and my in-laws. They had been to WDW about 15 years ago, stayed off site and didn't like it. The only reason they wanted to go was to see our 2 children there. They fully expected to have a "blah" time minus the grand kids. I didn't talk it up too much, because some people you just can't change their mind set no matter what. My wife however had come with the entire family the year before and told her mom and dad, "You have no idea what it's like to go to Disney until you've been with the Monroes." Substitute any Disney fanatic family last name in there. They were skeptical.

Their coworkers asked them how long they were going to Disney for. They replied, "10 days". "10 days! Are you nuts?", the coworkers reacted. "The place is boring, you can do it all in 2!" I laughed when I heard that.

To make a long story short, my in-laws couldn't believe the fantastic time they had with us. The fact is, they could have still hated it, but in our case they hadn't experienced 5% of what WDW had to offer. Shows, meals, treats, attractions. A lot of those things come with experience.

I'd downplay it, even though you want to burst and let them judge themselves. You might make two more fanatics, you might not.

Most importantly, regardless, make sure you have fun! Don't let anyone bring you down!

 

[Gonz Of Lancashire]

Only been with family until this year when friends of ours came with us. We are all really good friends but you need to take time away from each other. We found that even though we all love Disney, each of us had a different interpretation of what makes it special. My family prefer the rides, different foods and generally experiences you don't get at home, whilst my friends preferred the character meetings and shops. Even if it's just a few hours apart, you both can then get what you want out of the trip without feeling like doing something you may or may not want to do.

 

[Epcot242]

So what I'm getting from everyone is to just let them go with the flow and take it all in at their own pace. That sounds good to me! I also agree with the idea of splitting up for a few hours so as to not overwhelm ourselves with our own company.

Now my friends are somethine else. We have never gone with one set of friends because when she came back from her last trip (8 years ago) all she did was complain about the room, the prices, the bad food. Nothing magical happened and she seemed to hate it.

This is how one of my friends that will be going on this trip is. I don't think it's intentional, she's just generally negative about everything. Prices, food quality, etc. She went to Epcot two years ago on Christmas day (a day, she said, when they closed MK due to crowds!! ). She told me a few days ago that she "loathes" Epcot. I think my name explains that I was, to say the least, "bothered" by this comment. Granted, she is a thrill ride buff, she's a very close friend that I want to share WDW with - but that negative attitude that I mentioned earlier will definitely be a big thing to overcome.

Losing the magic or gaining new memories!!!

Wow, I just said something similar to that to my DH. Just before boarding for my flight home on Monday I called DH to let him know we were at the airport ready to board, he asked me if I was really sad leaving. I said no, there wasn't magic on this trip, and I meant it.

Thats not to say I didn't have a fantastic time. because I did. I was able to show off the best place on earth to the greatest 12 girls I've been blessed to be the leader of for several years.

I enjoyed the faces of the scouts seeing the castle, watching Cinderellabration, and meeting Chip N Dale its just totally difference doing those same things with my husband and daughter.

While my family will walk casually through the Swiss Family treehouse; the 16 of us practically ran through it. While DH will take pictures of DD and me on Dumbo, all the scout and chaperones rode together.

We watched Wishes as a family last February, Wishes is the magic. All three of us felt it. I watched it with the girls, most of them talking through it , not feeling it at all.

So while I'm sure you will have a terrific time, it will be a different feeling for you, just go with it. Everyone has different opinions on what they like, I had the luxury of being in charge so I ultimately had the final say for what we did .

There were a few girls afraid of TOT, RNRC, Space Mountain, Dinosaur, BTMR, so with four chaperones we would split up for a short bit so those that wanted to ride could, and those that didn't could see a show or catch a different ride.

DD, DH and I are already talking about when we can go back. It is our happy place and I know I will feel the magic again.

This is exactly what I think it will be like! Again, I don't want to cram fistfulls of WDW down their throats - if anything, they would end up liking it even less because of that. I can just see them talking through Illuminations and joking about things that, to me, are Disney "sacred". I realize that that will be part of the new experience and I think going into it knowing this will help in bracing myself for it. I just want them to have a great time and enjoy themselves without worrying too much about prices and lines and the weather.... etc.

Thanks everyone for the overwhelming support in this! It really helped.

 

[Eeyore2003]

I would vote for "great memories". My advice would be to not "build it up". I think it's fairly obvious once you get there that it isn't "just another amusement park". Some will like some things, others other things, but overall, I would NEVER trade ALL the times I've had at Disney World we've gone with....

DH, myself and our 2 sons
DH, myself, 2 sons and in-laws
DH, myself and younger son
DH, myself, younger son and MIL
DH and myself (several times)
DH, myself, my brother, SIL, niece and nephew
DH, myself, sister and her significant other
DH, myself and our niece

They were ALL wonderful!!! Oh, of course there were "moments", always are, and there were things they weren't as excited about as I was, but then there were things THEY liked that "I" can "take or leave"!!! That's the beauty of Disney, but the most wonderful thing I like about taking "newbies", is to just see it again for the first time through their eyes. Wonderful.

My advice would be to, don't build it up too much, let them discover.

Don't expect much, let the moments surprise you, whether good or what YOU might think as bad.

Remember that as long as everyone is having fun, it doesn't matter what you're doing, or if THEY like it as much as YOU. THEY don't have to, they just want a nice vacation.

Don't stress about showing them EVERYTHING. YOU know what's there, THEY don't. They will not know what they are missing. Again, as long as everyone is enjoying themselves whether it's rides, pool, dinners, shopping etc. It doesn't matter.

It took me about a day and a half on the vacation with my brother to calm down and realize all of these things. Don't force it on them, just do your regular planning and let it flow and see what happens.

I could obviously go on and on about this, but I have to say that so far everyone that we've taken to Disney World has really enjoyed themselves. From my skeptical brother to my 38 year old sister who's one request was to eat at a Cinderella meal!!! They may have not come away as "crazy" as I am, and we definitely had different favorites, but the memories with our children, inlaws and siblings are priceless.

 

[Epcot242]

My advice would be to, don't build it up too much, let them discover.

Don't expect much, let the moments surprise you, whether good or what YOU might think as bad.

Remember that as long as everyone is having fun, it doesn't matter what you're doing, or if THEY like it as much as YOU. THEY don't have to, they just want a nice vacation.

Don't stress about showing them EVERYTHING. YOU know what's there, THEY don't. They will not know what they are missing. Again, as long as everyone is enjoying themselves whether it's rides, pool, dinners, shopping etc. It doesn't matter.

It took me about a day and a half on the vacation with my brother to calm down and realize all of these things. Don't force it on them, just do your regular planning and let it flow and see what happens.

I could obviously go on and on about this, but I have to say that so far everyone that we've taken to Disney World has really enjoyed themselves. From my skeptical brother to my 38 year old sister who's one request was to eat at a Cinderella meal!!! They may have not come away as "crazy" as I am, and we definitely had different favorites, but the memories with our children, inlaws and siblings are priceless.

These are all great points. You're right in saying that they won't know what they're missing... not saying that I'm going to bypass the bigger attractions, just go with the flow and let them explore themselves.

But does anyone have any hints on structuring the day (at least somewhat so we see a decent amount of stuff) without seeming like a Disney commando on a mission to rule the vacation with an iron fist?

 

[Prinny27]

Maybe you should be in charge of making ADR's at restaurants you love the most (providing it has something on the menu for everyone's tastes) because you know what WDW has to offer and they won't. This way you'll give them a different 'taste' of the types of restaurants, and they will also let you say 'we have to be in England by 6:15 for dinner' so you'll be able to put a bit of structure into your days that way.

Also, try to find out if they like a particular movie/character and try to do an attraction revolving around that, this way they'd be sure to enjoy it. And also point out your favorites telling them why you love it, and they'll know it's something to at least try...

Hope that helps!

 

[Eeyore2003]

But does anyone have any hints on structuring the day (at least somewhat so we see a decent amount of stuff) without seeming like a Disney commando on a mission to rule the vacation with an iron fist?

When we take other people, I of course still want to expose them to the most I can. First we decide on where to stay. Then I choose park days. Most of the time I'm there first thing in the AM. Depends on how many days you're staying. I found I like AM EMH for all the parks except AK, then I do evening EMH. I kind of do semi commando, I just explain that we have to get there before opening, then give me an hour, we don't really "run or rush", I just kind of keep them moving through the first hour to hit several headliners right off the bat. Then we slow down for the rest of the day.

We do take an afternoon break at the resort. Just to chill out. Even with my sister and SO in there 30's we all appreciated getting out of the heat. Then we went out for a nice dinner and the night time show.

Plan meals with them. Let them be involved in choosing restaurants. With my brother and family, I kind of narrowed them down and then let them review the choices. With my sister and friend, I directed them to the page on allearsnet and let them review menus.

MOST OF ALL once you're there, remember that you won't accomplish everything on your list!!! I never have. AGAIN, who cares, as long as you're having a good time. Like you said, do the "headliners", anything else I think is a plus for first timers I think.

Also, do they want to do a waterpark??? Do they love to shop??? I just made sure we did a "taste" of different things, but I must say, again, my "siblings" are quite a bit younger than me, all in their 30's, and they all appreciated the pool time and relaxing resort time too. Especially in the heat. If you're there long enough, plan at least one day to sleep in. How about the AK day???

Well, all I can say also is pick up a book if you need to to plan and read the boards for ideas and suggestions. After having done this with several "groups" of people, yes, I've gotten nervous ahead, yes, I SO wanted them to have a wonderful time, but each time I had to "calm" myself down and remember to go with the flow and don't obssess about the schedule.

Look at it like a "guide" to keep you focused, not a set of rules you have to follow to the "tee". I was pretty strict about the "getting there ahead of the crowd thing", I just knew that's how we'd have the most relaxing day and have any chance of getting the most in in a relaxing manner. The worst memory for them would be standing in long lines. When they saw the line times as we'd walk out of the park mid day for our break, they all said they were really happy we got up early.

The best part for me was then to just sit back and watch them take it all in, we've been there so often that we take it all for granted and forget how unbelievable the WHOLE experience is. It's really quite something to all take in.

I'll just add one example, my "skeptical" brother, who said this was his "one and only" Disney vacation was shocked at the size of DOWNTOWN DISNEY!!! We arrived late in the evening and stopped there to get DH and my annual passes, ate at McDonalds' and walked around, they thought this was a park!!! The shear size of the entire Disney complex was amazing to them. It was so much fun seeing there reaction. Now they haven't been back yet again, it's been 1 1/2 years and they're not as crazy as we are, but they had an awesome time and do want to go back again some day.

My sister and SO went with us a year ago last October and are planning on going next October with us again. They LOVED it!!!

Hope this helps.

 

[Epcot242]

When we take other people, I of course still want to expose them to the most I can. First we decide on where to stay. Then I choose park days. Most of the time I'm there first thing in the AM. Depends on how many days you're staying. I found I like AM EMH for all the parks except AK, then I do evening EMH. I kind of do semi commando, I just explain that we have to get there before opening, then give me an hour, we don't really "run or rush", I just kind of keep them moving through the first hour to hit several headliners right off the bat. Then we slow down for the rest of the day.

This sounds like a good idea. Also, I like how you mentioned about letting them choose restaurants. They may not know WDW, but they know what they like to eat! Thanks Eeyore!