Metaphysics of the Disney Bubble

[Stargazer65]

Is the Disney Bubble a real thing that exists in space and time, or is it simply a DVC state of mind?
In your experience, what aspects differentiate so-called "normal life" from life in the Disney Bubble?

 

[WilsonFlyer]

It used to be.

 

[Sandisw]

It does for me! It is nice to walk around and just take it in…nothing like seeing that castle!

I don’t have to think about real life at all…even the resorts are just, for me, part of the magic.

 

[BeachClub2014]

It's a real thing for our family, perhaps because we want it to be. There is something intangible that just flips on like a switch when we drive through the entrance to WDW and go to our resort. Once in the "bubble", we can go into our Disney mode and just enjoy. We take other non-WDW vacations, which are also great, but they just don't create the same feeling as does being at WDW.

 

[kes601]

We have NEVER gone off site once arriving at Disney until it is time to head home. It just feels like you are away from reality. For us it is a real thing.

It's going to be very strange in June as we will need to hit a grocery store at some point on day 1 or 2 after checking in.

 

[heynowirv]

We have NEVER gone off site once arriving at Disney until it is time to head home. It just feels like you are away from reality. For us it is a real thing.

It's going to be very strange in June as we will need to hit a grocery store at some point on day 1 or 2 after checking in.

Why not stop on your way in?

 

[Carol_]

Is the Disney Bubble a real thing that exists in space and time, or is it simply a DVC state of mind?
In your experience, what aspects differentiate so-called "normal life" from life in the Disney Bubble?

It was real before we joined DVC, but since the changes, the bubble is hazier.

 

[kes601]

Why not stop on your way in?

Plan to pull into Orlando between 5a and 6a. Would rather have groceries after our room is ready.

 

[heynowirv]

Plan to pull into Orlando between 5a and 6a. Would rather have groceries after our room is ready.

Why not have them delivered? Or will you have a vehicle? Also Bell Services has the ability to keep things refrigerated/Frozen until your room is ready.

 

[kes601]

Why not have them delivered? Or will you have a vehicle? Also Bell Services has the ability to keep things refrigerated/Frozen until your room is ready.

We'll have our car. Simpler in our mind to just get what we need and go to our room with it since we can park right outside of the building. We may end up just bringing the drinks with us and then what little items we will need that are refrigerated we can get from SSR. We are in a studio so not a lot of space in those coolers.....

 

[heynowirv]

We'll have our car. Simpler in our mind to just get what we need and go to our room with it since we can park right outside of the building. We may end up just bringing the drinks with us and then what little items we will need that are refrigerated we can get from SSR. We are in a studio so not a lot of space in those coolers.....

However you do it have a great trip!

 

[jo-jo]

We'll have our car. Simpler in our mind to just get what we need and go to our room with it since we can park right outside of the building. We may end up just bringing the drinks with us and then what little items we will need that are refrigerated we can get from SSR. We are in a studio so not a lot of space in those coolers.....

You're driving? Could bring a collapsible cooler? Buy your perishable stuff, at SSR add ice. Should be ok until you have your room. I'd add the ice in zip lock bags. I would be unhappy to plan to go to resort store and find out they don't have X.
.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

We'll have our car. Simpler in our mind to just get what we need and go to our room with it since we can park right outside of the building. We may end up just bringing the drinks with us and then what little items we will need that are refrigerated we can get from SSR. We are in a studio so not a lot of space in those coolers.....

We used Instacart. Seriously - must easier than going to the grocery. They drop it off at Bell, and within an hour or so. Plus, they keep it in the chiller, so cold is not a problem.

 

[wabbott]

I'll take a stab at this. Yes, there is a Disney Bubble. The closest thing I can compare it to is the feeling I used to get as a kid when the car turned down the street to our home, after being gone for a while. The nostalgia washes over you like the surf.

Spring, 2019 was our first trip to WDW since 1995. We had visited in 1979, 1982, 1983, 1990 & 1995. Had a blast every time.

Life intervened since, I guess, and one day I asked my wife, "You want to go back one last time?" Sure, why not. So we splurged and booked at GF. When I drove through the gate and saw the old antique Cadillac out front, there that feeling was. Only other place that does that for me is our favorite beach stay in PC Beach, FL. Tons of memories there from since 1959.

My Disney history wasn't so much Disney Sunday night, since we couldn't get that network where we lived. It was the movies and comics.

Comics: Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Uncle Scrooge, Gyro Gearloose, Huey, Dewey & Louie. I still have a few from the 50s and 60s, and many, many reprints done by Bruce Hamilton in the 80s and 90s. The interviews with comic artist Carl Barks are priceless.

Movies: Probably 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Harper Goff's interpretation of the Nautilus is for the ages. As a six year old, I was overwhelmed. Then there were the True-Life Adventures: The Living Desert, The Vanishing Prairie, etc.

Since 2019, we've been to WDW in 2020, 2021, and will be there this October. We've been to DLR/DCA in 2019, and twice in 2021. We'll go back there in 2022. We plan to go as much as we can until we can't travel at all.

Yes, there is a Disney Bubble.

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

Last May we left the bubble for the first time ever. DH and I drove to the store from AK to get groceries. We were shocked at what “normal” around there looks like. Let’s just say it was very clear we were no longer at WDW.

Going to universal or discovery cove is also outside of the bubble, but still touristy so it doesn’t feel as jarring.

 

[mort1331]

Plan to pull into Orlando between 5a and 6a. Would rather have groceries after our room is ready.

We do this everytime we drive from Canada. I book the room to include the day before. So when we do pull in at 4am or 6am I have a room set and ready and not waiting till 4 or later as reports have said.
We also book a room for the day we leave,,if flying, like Aulani. Our flight is at 10pm so we want the room for the day instead of being roomless at 11am.
Just a thought for you.

 

[mort1331]

To answer the OP. It is a bubble for us. But then any vacation is . I feel the stress and tension leave as soon as we arrive and the kids know because I agree to almost anything. But I get the same feeling going to the cottage,,,as I am pulling into the driveway and all electronics are off...ahhhh.

 

[DVCSunDevil]

The Disney bubble is REAL! For me, it encompasses the parks, Disney resorts and Disney Springs. You can really feel the magic when you are in those places. I used to think the "bubble" included anything on WDW property, but on our last stay I realized that is incorrect.

Because we had to bank some points for a bigger trip we are planning next year, we had to redeem Hilton points at the Hilton next to Disney Springs as part of a split stay during our last trip in February. The Hilton was on the front end of our stay, thank goodness, because in retrospect I would not want to have ended our trip there. We all agreed that it just didn't feel like Disney at all when we were at the Hilton. The pool area (with the lazy river) was great, but it felt like a pool that would be at any other resort across the US. It only started to feel somewhat like Disney when we would walk across the street to Disney Springs, but even then the mood was more subdued than usual because we knew we would be heading back to the Hilton. On changeover day, we took a taxi over to Polynesian to check in. The ENTIRE mood/vibe improved the second we pulled into the driveway at Polynesian. Seriously. For the entire rest of the trip it felt completely like "Disney" again.

Not that our mood was bad during the Hilton part of our stay, but it wasn't the typical vibe we always had when staying at a Disney property. It was our first stay at a non Disney property, but the Hilton was on WDW property so we figured there wouldn't be too much difference. We were wrong. I can tell you from first hand experience that the Disney Bubble is real!

 

[Brian Noble]

For me the bubble has two aspects.

1: I am too busy to check up on what's going on in the world. For whatever reason, I stop reading the NYT/WaPo/WSJ, checking twitter, etc. while I am at WDW. That happens at a "regular" vacation too, but to a lesser extent. For example, on my last trip I remembered that Michigan was playing in the sweet sixteen only by seeing the game on the TV in the bar at Boathouse. "Oh yeah, that's still going on!"

2: The curated physical space of RCID means you don't see "ordinary commercial US". There are a few exceptions to that (the McDonalds over by Blizzard Beach; the two Speedways) but they are rare enough that they don't hit you. Disney Springs is less of an exception than you'd think, at least for me.

Unlike some others, I get the "bubble" experience even when staying at a non-Disney-owned resort, depending on where it is located. For example, several of our stays have been at Wyndham Bonnet Creek. The Bonnet Creek resort area (BCRA) is landlocked by RCID on three sides, and I-4 on the fourth, so the only way in and out is Disney property. The BCRA is also carefully curated and landscaped giving it a very "resort-y" vibe in ways that maybe the Disney Springs resort area doesn't. Hotel Plaza blvd is really built to get traffic in to/out of Disney Springs, and the "weight" of that artery takes away a little bit from the resort vibe.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Last May we left the bubble for the first time ever. DH and I drove to the store from AK to get groceries. We were shocked at what “normal” around there looks like. Let’s just say it was very clear we were no longer at WDW.

Going to universal or discovery cove is also outside of the bubble, but still touristy so it doesn’t feel as jarring.

Not exactly sure where you went, but I find that a bit offensive to those of us that do, or have lived in the area. Most of the areas around Disney are quite nice, and some quite upscale.
EVERY metropolitan area will have some less desirable spots.

For me, there is definitely a bubble. That said, after many years spending vacation only in the bubble…. It feels really, really good to leave it and experience some normality every now and then.