I'm really confused by this response??? Do you really find the parks, overall, are overrated? Why would you ever spend the money to go, then?
So I must ask, what do you like about Walt Disney World if you hate the Parks? Not being snarky, I just really do want to know.
I do find the parks overrated. We do resort/DS only vacations because, after so many vacations, the parks are stale. Very little has changed since we became die hards back in 1999. There is no way I will pay $100+ to go into a park to do the same thing I have done over and over and over again.
However, we love the “bubble” of WDW…so we stay at a WDW resort, use those amenities. We use the amenities at other resorts, and we enjoy DS/Boardwalk...bowling, boat rides, mini golf, swimming, dining, people watching, bars, child care, etc. It's a cheap vacation - resort and meals and some spending cash (we don't do souvenirs). We typically have free airline miles...so, it's easy for us to get away almost spur of the moment because the price is reasonable.
When the parks start getting their makeovers done…looking at you, AK and HS, we will spend the money once again. But, Epcot has been the same forever and Magic Kingdom…meh.
I will admit, we do love AK and if it was not ridiculous to get in, we would probably do a 1 day there in June.
My BFF is planning her first trip to WDW and looked to me for help and I said “I cannot recommend the parks…sorry, you are on your own”. Witchy, yep. But, it’s how I feel.