So, I think I've been "Disney Shamed"...

Don't let there be any shame in your Disney game! :flower1:

People at my office actually come to me for trip advice at this point.
 
I had gone to Disney as a kid and all I really cared about was riding as many rides as possible and maybe seeing fireworks. I never really thought about an adult trip until DW and I were pricing out a vacation right after we got married. We hadn’t had a proper honeymoon so we were looking at something special like a tropical island or whatever. We were at a travel agency and saw a Disney promo poster and it just hit us. How fun would it be to go there as adults!

We went and it was the first year AK was open so that was amazing by itself. And I remember sitting at the Dawa bar getting buzzed, listening to a live band and people watching and how good it felt. That and a lot of other experiences on that trip - like really appreciating World Showcase (and not just the drinking), watching shows, enjoying nice slow paced meals - permanently changed my perception of Disney.

We’ve been back many times with kids but it never went back to being that place where we run around like crazy trying to ride everything. I think my kids had a better time as a result and still love it even as older teens.

Other people don’t get it but that’s ok.
 
One thing I found interesting:

When I went to Hong Kong and mainland China last year to complete my goal of visiting all 6 resorts, non-Disney people told me “That’s so cool.”

But when I mention that I’m going back to WDW for the second time this year, non-Disney people go “Ugh. Why?”

I love it, and I don’t think most people realize the incredible variety of things to do there. The general public still views it as something for children. Or even if they do come once, WDW is so big that their visit is almost entirely surface level.

At the same time, I recognize that traveling to Disney is traveling to a bubble. There’s an amazing breadth of experiences available, but it’s not genuinely seeing another part of the country or world. It’s like going to NYC but never leaving midtown.

I just try to focus on the positive.

That being said, Disney is getting so insanely expensive that I think soon I will hit a point where I say “I love Disney, but I’d rather go less often if it means going to Efteling or Morocco or somewhere I’ve never been that I really want to go.”
 


Welcome to the club! 😁
And I got Disney-shamed again last week! Visiting my family in the Midwest, and my long time friend who actually met me once at WDW and brought her granddaughter asked me "How many times have you been so far?" When I told her, she threw back her head and laughed and laughed! Ummm....okay. You and your dh winter in Palm Springs every year, so how is that different?!!!
 
Isn't it weird that people go to 'Vegas' over and over (like the fools that they are) ;), and no one make any smart remarks.

This is so funny! My husband and I take an adults only trip every year and we either go to Vegas or Disney. People always comment that it's weird to like 2 totally opposite places...I let them know that I don't think they are that different! They are both lively places where you can always find something to do!
What ticks me off the most is not the Disney shaming so much as the insinuation that we are naive and don't know there are other places to go. I always comment back that we have gone so many places and will continue to travel to New places as well...and we will go to Disney and Vegas many times in between because they are our favorite!
The friend of mine that is the worst is the one who has a beach house that she goes to every year and the 3/4 of the trips (besides her beach house) she has been on in the last decade I planned for her (another friend planned the other 1/4)!
Some people just don't see what is right in front of them!!
 
I had a co-worker that couldn’t even bring himself to go with his adult kids and young grandkids to Disney World (next month) due to “Adults shouldn’t like children's’ things.” I tried to give him a better out for not going—with his grandkids of all people—by mentioning Galaxy’s Edge crowds being a potential reason to skip out.

I just ignore his disbelief that I go 3 or more times per year on short trips and don’t bother bringing up his 2-3 cruises per year. Never mind that he hasn’t added a new route in a decade.
 


I've been there with everyone here but honestly I think I get it less for Disney than for everything else.

I'm the 'toy expert' certified. I've been working in toys/video games retail all my life. I also collect them because how am I going to know all the details of the new dolls or games if I don't own them, right? Then I married another toy collector and slipped into sci-fi geekery with him. I've been an avid Marvel reader since I was knee high to my mom, I have weird pets, I'm genderqueer, I have an art degree. In short NOTHING I do has ever been considered mature by my family. I used to dwell on this, now thanks to the hubs I just let it go when they comment. What I consider mature has always been helping others, treating people with respect, paying your debts when owed, and taking care of responsibilities. The family has stopped trying to remold me to their standards and if a friend would 'shame' me for going to WDW without kids then they probably won't be a friend for very long. 8-)
You sound so interesting. Nobody needs to remold you. If anything, people should emulate you.
 
I travel to WDW at least twice and sometimes three times a year. Often solo. People "ambush" me all the time to ask about it: "Really? Disney World again?" "Didn't you just go there?" "I don't think I could go alone. Don't you get bored?"

To me that isn't "Disney-shaming" and it isn't an "ambush". I don't think they are haters. People are curious. To most people a long (over 5 days) WDW vacation is something one does once every three to six years. To some people that's a once-in-a-lifetime vacation. When they meet someone who travels there regularly they are curious. If YOU feel some shame then it could be considered "shaming". I don't feel any shame at all for my vacation choices and I'm happy to share my experiences and reasons with people who ask. Then I ask them about where they love to go.

It's all perception. You can see it as shaming or "haters-gonna-hate" or intrusive; or you can see it a people are interested in you.
You need to hang out with a better class of people. Disney class.
 
This is so funny! My husband and I take an adults only trip every year and we either go to Vegas or Disney. People always comment that it's weird to like 2 totally opposite places...I let them know that I don't think they are that different! They are both lively places where you can always find something to do!
What ticks me off the most is not the Disney shaming so much as the insinuation that we are naive and don't know there are other places to go. I always comment back that we have gone so many places and will continue to travel to New places as well...and we will go to Disney and Vegas many times in between because they are our favorite!
The friend of mine that is the worst is the one who has a beach house that she goes to every year and the 3/4 of the trips (besides her beach house) she has been on in the last decade I planned for her (another friend planned the other 1/4)!
Some people just don't see what is right in front of them!!

Exactly. It seems like people ONLY see that you go to WDW and ignore everything else. I have been to 7 different countries and 15 different states but all some see is that I am going to Disney "again". I think that they are just jealous.
 
You need to hang out with a better class of people. Disney class.
Thank you for an interesting perspective. The people I hang out with aren't all Disney class and I love it. They are curious about why I choose WDW several times a year and I'm curious why they choose their destinations. It leads to fun and interesting discussions. I don't think I could hang out with only Disney class of people. Too narrow a focus for me. But I sure love the narrow focus here on the DIS boards. It's fun to share (even virtually) my excitement for yet another WDW trip.
 
So, last night out of the clear blue, someone I know basically "Disney Shamed" me. Like, it was that "(As a single adult with no kids) Why go to Disney when you can go so many other places?" conversation. I basically told him, "You know, I like it. If it's not for you, that's fine."

I must say I was annoyed by it. This is someone I'm good friends with, so I know he didn't really mean any harm, but why can't people just respect the fact that we all have different tastes in things?

Has anyone ever encountered this? How did you deal with it?

All the time! People just can't seem to understand why I love solo Disney. Most of my friends and family can't understand my solo vacations in general. Just last week a friend mentioned that she can't understand why my husband "allows" me to vacation alone. I just laughed. I've been solo vacationing since I was 18. And I do it all over the world, not just Disney. To quote everybody loves Raymond, they ask "why you do it but what they mean to say is HOW do you do it". I do think most are just jealous honestly. They don't have the desire nor the balls to be alone. They think my disney solo trips are sad, I think their fear of being alone even sadder.
 
Pure ignorance usually when people say the 'Disney again' line.

I just say I enjoy it. If they persist and become annoying I may comment that it is my life, my money and totally my choice. They do not get a vote. 😊
Go other places? I have been all over the world already; some places I would go back to but mostly not for one reason or another.
I agree Disney shaming is about jealousy or as I already commented, ignorance.
Also a trip to Disney is not for the weak....it can be quite rigorous and lots of work, but pure fun IMHO.
 
The funny thing in my area is most people choose either Myrtle Beach, SC(huge tourist trap....doesn't feel lived in at all) or Dollywood/Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg(which Dollywood basically is like Hoop De Doo all the time). Hardly any variations, though some will go to Carowinds instead. At least with Disney, you have beaches no more than a two hour drive away, you have the KSC, and if you want history, St. Augustine is right up the road.

Yea, people judge us for going to WDW over and over, but they go to Myrtle Beach and Carowinds over and over and can't believe we've never been! (ok, the kids have both been to Carowinds on school trips, but neither has any desire to go back) I say to each their own!
I've personally never been solo, but did spend some solo time while chaperoning DS's band trip to WDW just to see what it was like. What I "missed" was being able to share stuff with DH and kids, but that's because most memories I have are tied to them. I did enjoy doing what I wanted when I wanted, and I actually talked to strangers, CM's, and had fun so I could see going solo if I was single- definitely!
Wouldn't everyone here agree that it's no one's business what someone wants to do in their leisure time? It's just like any other un-solicited advice or comments- people are going to be rude and insert their opinion whether you ask or not- so don't let them get you down! If it makes you happy and it's not bothering anyone else, go for it!
 
I get 'Disney-shamed' by my co-workers too. But I don't let it bother me. They do think I'm crazy but they just don't understand it. But then they know I'd "different". In my case, I'm a single gay male in his 30s. And I've been doing solo trips to Disney just about annually over the last 10 years.

They don't understand why I don't broaden my horizons and try to go to different places and I have to deal with some of their groans and almost scolding tones each time I tell them I am going again. Most of them are also the "beach" crowd. To them, a vacation is more along those lines of lying on a white sandy beach.

Sure, they can be a bit annoying, but I always have plenty to say back to them about why I love Disney and I can be quite effusive in my love of Disney and am never reluctant to explain why I love it and go back. Disney is home to me as well, and I think it's a great point that some have mentioned that it is in many ways a "reliable" trip. We know what to expect and how to vacation here and it's a guarantee good time for us that is safe, generally speaking. Other places are much more unpredictable and fraught with peril. I know exactly what I am getting with Disney and it's magic each and every time.
 
Well yeah, but that's true about pretty much everywhere I go. Someone always has a better place to suggest. Except Tokyo. Everyone seems to love Tokyo.
 
For most of us, if not all of us, Disney is our happy place. It holds a special place in our hearts. We visit the parks and consume the movies and shows and purchase the merch because it brings us a certain kind of happiness that other things don't. Just like how some people go to Mexico every year, or play video games daily, or tune in every week for a television show, we too have our escape, that just-so-happens to involve Disney. We aren't hurting anyone by spending our money and time on Disney, yet people always seem to have an opinion of it. Next time someone comments, just ask, "care to explain to me how something that brings me joy is any of your business?" and keep it pushing! If they have any conscience at all, they'll feel like a total D bag!
 
For most of us, if not all of us, Disney is our happy place. It holds a special place in our hearts. We visit the parks and consume the movies and shows and purchase the merch because it brings us a certain kind of happiness that other things don't. Just like how some people go to Mexico every year, or play video games daily, or tune in every week for a television show, we too have our escape, that just-so-happens to involve Disney. We aren't hurting anyone by spending our money and time on Disney, yet people always seem to have an opinion of it. Next time someone comments, just ask, "care to explain to me how something that brings me joy is any of your business?" and keep it pushing! If they have any conscience at all, they'll feel like a total D bag!
The people that judge me basically imply that I am not sophisticated like they are because they go to exotic faraway once-in-a-lifetime bucket list destinations and I continue to go to Disney.

When we visited Arizona and California in April, six out of the ten days we spent in Disneyland. My Music teacher friend who has surfed all over the world, including California, asked me where we were staying in Cali. When I told him that we were staying at the Disneyland Hotel, he chuckled and said, “Of course you are.”
 

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