Metaphysics of the Disney Bubble

[culli]

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.

Yeah I hate going to the grocery store...I try to use delivery if we can for this very reason!!! I notice the anxiety level jumps a bit whenever we leave the bubble, that is why I prefer an EPCOT resort as the "bubble" seems to be larger before you have to step outside it.

 

[Brian Noble]

We were shocked at what “normal” around there looks like. Let’s just say it was very clear we were no longer at WDW.

I'm not sure what you mean. Can you explain this?

 

[WilsonFlyer]

I'm not sure what you mean. Can you explain this?

I agree. We stay at AKK often and venture out to 192 all the time, and while there are the typical t-shirt/'ticket' stores, aside from the couple of closed restaurants that just haven't sold their lots yet; it looks pretty typical to any suburban area in any city in the US. Actually nicer, I think, than most. Especially when you venture SW towards Margaritaville and Target (Which is where we always go to get groceries.). There are some really nice chain restaurants down that way as well (At which we eat often and save a lot of $$.) and the mini 'City-walk' type area associated with Margaritaville (Can't remember what it's called off the top of my head.)

In the other direction is Celebration which we like also. There are a couple of 'questionable' strip centers down that way, but none any more so than anywhere else.

The corner around Sherberth must be what they're talking about, but I expect that look around a corner that immediately exits WDW. And even that corner has gotten better since they added the CVS and rebuilt that hotel.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

Yeah I hate going to the grocery store...I try to use delivery if we can for this very reason!!! I notice the anxiety level jumps a bit whenever we leave the bubble, that is why I prefer an EPCOT resort as the "bubble" seems to be larger before you have to step outside it.

And maybe it's because we drive and have our own vehicle, or maybe it's because we tend to stay on the edge of the bubble anyway at AKK, but we really like popping out of the bubble to go eat and grab things at Target, Publix, and Wally-World. Saves us a ton of money when we're there, and really convenient, especially from Kidani or Jambo. 2 miles out and 2 miles back in. Can't beat it. Except at shift changes. LOL

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

It may or may not be nicer than the average suburban area, but Disney isn’t the average suburban area. Disney is a little protected fantasyland that I (we) go to to escape from life in suburbia for a little while.

 

[Brian Noble]

I'm still not sure what you mean by:

We were shocked at what “normal” around there looks like

Did you mean "the average suburban area" is "shocking" or did you mean something different?

 

[Spivey378]

Reminds me of the time I went to Bonnaroo. Definite bubble and shock when leaving after 4 nights.

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

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.

I agree. When I am there, in the bubble, the real world melts away for the most part. Hence why I keep going despite all the changes that annoy me!

 

[bumbershoot]

I don't care about the bubble. I don't think I've ever had a stay where I stay on property the entire time.

But when I travel I like to "live like a local" in some ways, and that means grocery store and restaurants. I have zero need to be in some "bubble" at World, Land, or either domestic Universal.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I think there’s a bubble, and I enjoy it very much. Earlier this year we booked a timeshare getaway, Hilton in Orlando. We only stayed for two of the three nights, but we got the feeling of the resort, and it was just OK. Our best times of the weekend was dinner at the Turf Club at SSR, and breakfast at Kona on our last day.

There were no little touches that made me happy we stayed there.

I don’t mind doing grocery shopping when we stay at WDW. There are some things I like at Publics, some things I can’t get at home.

 

[bwang123]

Its a vacation bubble. We have the same feel in a lot of our vacation spots.

 

[Memorymakerfor4]

I spent a summer overseas in college and went to McDonald's a few times over the course of the two months to eat something familiar and to get ice. That's what leaving property feels like to me. You've immersed in another culture, and in a lot of ways a language, and forget what your normal life looks like. Ever tried to open your front door with your magic band?

 

[Timandalicia]

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?

Love this post and these responses. Someone posted a question a while ago on where to sit in the park for a zoom class (during covid). In that situation, she was communicating with a group of people (her class), all of whom were in the same world (no matter where they were), but none of them in hers. And she knew that: And wanted a special place in her world (Disney) to experience that interaction. So yes, it is real.

One of the things that makes it so different from the other reality is the “jen a sais quoi” that is experienced harmoniously with everyone else while you are there. With that, I think maybe it is better left unquantified.

 

[AdamsMum]

Its a vacation bubble. We have the same feel in a lot of our vacation spots.

This is it for me, a vacation bubble. When I go on vacation I tend to ignore the outside world, spend more money on entertainment, dining, shopping, without worrying about the cost. I relax and leave my day to day concerns at home, ignore my phone except for emergencies (which thankfully never occurred). However, on my last trip to Disney in December 2021, the bubble was definitely strained by being on my phone all day (well it seemed like it). I know for many that Disney is meant to be an exciting trip, not a relaxing one. With the number of trips I've taken (fewer than many DVC members), it had become a place to pick and choose my activities, go when I feel like it, or not. The business of checking my phone all day, mobile order (a nightmare), trying to get on walk up lists was exhausting for me. I felt disappointed and definitely not "included". I'll wait until 2023 to visit again, hopefully the bugs will have been worked out by then. I'll have to eat some points this year, or maybe try renting. I know, I know I sound old and stuck in my ways. I'm still not ready to sell my contracts though. Go figure!