Question for those "done with Disney"

[mm1971]

I was just wondering..it occured to my husband and I last night..what if..just what if when we go in May this year we too are sickend by the FP+ and dont want to go back..where else would we go? we are totally stumped..its always been Disney for us..we just dont have a clue where else to go that could come close.. for those who are done with Disney..where are you now planning to vacation to? thanks in advance

Not done with Disney, actually heading back in August and seriously thinking about October for the Halloween fun. I thought I would send some options where we go when not heading to Disney:

1) Niagra Falls - 3-4 days was enough, but we had a great time visiting the sites and hanging in the midway type area at nights.

2) Punta Cana, Dominican - Went February vacation. What a great time, especially if you can get away from winter.

3) France - We vdid sneak to the Disney Paris, but don't tell anyone. We had a great time learning about the culture and seeing the sites.

We have been to Disney every year since 2006 so we also do our Disney vacations. Are these better or worse than Disney? Nope, just different and each has it's plusses and minuses.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

We've never been Disneyworld every year people. We spent a week in Pigeon Forge/Gatlingburg Tennessee last summer and loved it. This summer we are spending a week in Chicago museum-hopping. Next summer we are going to an all-inclusive in Mexico. We have plans to do Disneyland/SoCal for my husband's 50th (he's from California) and we did a Disney Cruise two years ago. An Alaska cruise is also on our radar (probably with Disney so the kids dont get bored)

There is so much to do in the world, and while we enjoy our Disney trips, they are not the be-all-end-all. Which also may be why this whole FP+ thing isn't bothering me as much as some others. If WDW no longer meets our needs, I'll just spend my time and money elsewhere.

 

[Disney Queenie]

Ireland
London/Paris DLP
California, DL and a Los Angeles Cruise
Hawaii Cruise
Florida Vacation with a cruise- Discovery Cove, SeaWorld, Universal 3 days and a 4 day cruise out of Port Canaveral

I would like to do a Disney cruise, but not sure the cost will make it doable

 

[snoopy352]

We went in Dec. and didn't have any issues with FP+. Going again in April and looking forward to being able to ride Soarin' three times again as we did in Dec. thanks to FP+. Something we couldn't do on past trips. But even if we couldn't... I'd STILL pick Disney World over any other vacation spot. So Glad I still feel the magic that being said... Hoping they change FP+ so we can us it in more than one park per day.
Nancy

Are you saying you could not ride Soarin' 3 times with FP legacy but can ride Soarin' 3 times with FP+?

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I'm also not done with Disney.

That said, I've also always made a point to check out other places to visit.

I do love Florida winter weather! Florida has lots of fun places to visit. Not only are there a bunch of other theme parks, but there are lots of great cities to visit. The Ft.Lauderdale/Miami area has tons of fun things. St Augustine is amazing! The Everglades, Tampa, the Keys.

We love visiting national parks and museums. There are just tons of exciting places to visit all over the USA: national forests, beaches, mountains, and tons of historical locations! If that's not enough, consider all the amazing state parks! Most parks are pretty reasonable in terms of cost.

 

[FLchick415]

I don't think I'll EVER be "done" with Disney (unless it gets to a point where I can truly no longer afford it)...it's just one of the many places I love to visit as I really enjoy traveling in general. I've been to NYC, Niagara Falls, Vegas...and my Bucket List is still full. Disney is just something I squeeze in between my big trips.

 

[flicx]

After 30 plus years of going I'm not completely done. I still have some days left on non expiration tickets. However with a lot of the factors kicking in the past few years I can see a possible stopping point being closer than ever. Disney lost a lot of our money 5 years ago. We used to go every year and just saw what we thought was a decline in many areas along with too many price increases. We have since started vacationing in vegas and various other places. Quite frankly we have found a lot of much more affordable options. We will continue to monitor Disney to see what direction they are headed in, but for now it's still a wait and see thing for us.

 

[xie]

We are taking a break from WDW for a few years. Sure, part of it is the debacle that is the current state of service and overcrowding in the parks. We cancelled two upcoming WDW reservations after our last trip in January of this year.

But, it's also that our family no longer has any under-13s, and older kids means doing some things we want to do with them before they grow up and leave home for good.

So here's our upcoming trip list over the next decade (through the end of college). It's fluid, and there are things we are talking about adding to it, but I think everything on this list is fairly definite that we'll do it sometime:

- 8 days this September at Universal Orlando / Hard Rock Hotel, our first on property stay there, to see all the Harry Potter stuff
- Trip next winter to Northeast US for skiiing/sledding/snowmobiling (still selecting where)
- Summer trip to Washington state / Vancouver (national parks etc.)
- Winter trip to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone Snow Lodge
- Ireland, Scotland, England trip(s) -too much we want to do here for just one trip, we think
- Trip to Japan (and I'm sure a visit to Tokyo Disney / DisneySea while we are there)
- Trip to Alaska
- A 4 day trip to California to see DisneyLand/DCA

Plus a bunch of other 4-day trips we've identified in the continental US, mostly to see various national parks out west.

Aside from the overseas trips to Europe and Japan, most of these trips will cost less, some significantly so, than a week in a deluxe on property at WDW.

Given, I'm a confident trip planner, and the only place will will do any sort of guided tours (and these will only be day tours) are in Japan, because we will get more out of the museums with an English speaking guide. We'll pay for some guided day snowmobiling tours of course. If you wanted full on start-to-finish, soup-to-nuts guided tour vacation packages to these places, it would cost more; if you are willing to do a lot of research and planning yourself, thanks to the internet, it's totally doable.

 

[CandleontheWater]

My family is taking a step back from Disney at least for the moment. We traveled last Oct with FP+ and we just didn't enjoy it, when the kids are older, we'll try again.

But, I see you have two little boys. If your boys are like my boys and LOVE Thomas the Tank Engine, you should check out the Hard Rock hotel and casino in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. They have a whole kids club dedicated to HIT entertainment stars like Angelina Ballerina, Bob the Builder and most importantly Thomas! If there is anything my boys like better than Mickey its Thomas, so we are going to give that a shot instead of Disney for our next vacation.

From my research it has many things that we enjoy about a Disney vacation (one-stop-shop for dining and entertainment, family friendly, no need to rent a car or drive anywhere, easy to get around the resort) but none of the things we don't (no ADRs, no FP+, no touring plans or schedules, easy to change plans on the fly).

If we enjoy this we'll try Atlantis and then likely a Dreamworks cruise on Royal Caribbean.

 

[Pig Pen]

I have been an avid WDW fan since 1975 and a DVC owner since 2002. Sadly I just listed my DVC today with the Timeshare Store and did not renew my annual pass this past January. It has nothing to do with the FP situation, but more with general burn-out and a change in priorities.

We moved to central FL almost 3 years ago. We probably visited WDW at least monthly (sometimes much more frequently) since moving here. I am now at the point where it seems like a chore to go rather than pleasure. It no longer feels like an escape from reality like it used to. Maybe because we live so close?

We thought we would keep our DVC for the kids and grandkids, but figured out we could rent points and still come out ahead. Maybe we will even take advantage of the dreaded "free dining" if the family visits during the right time.

Anyway, we are going to spend our entertainment money on travel elsewhere. We have trips to Italy and New England planned over the next few months and when we retire in 7 years, we are going "home free" - selling everything and traveling the world - living as a local. I have been marking the map every time I hear about a new locate that interests me.

 

[minmate]

There are all kinds of places to go! Some of our recent favorite memories have been made in New York City, Boston, Charleston (South Carolina beaches), and even just spending weekends up north at the family cabin. Turns out, not where you are, but who you're with that really matters.