ZZUB
Roll Tide, Mean It
- Joined
- May 9, 2003
- Messages
- 947
My wife read this chapter last night and she said it was quite a departure from the rest of my Trip Report where any criticism I’ve leveled has been tempered with humor. Several of you have responded to this chapter with the same concern that it was overly negative. One person was made “numb” by it.
Let me say outright that I am not anti-Disney all of a sudden. I was not in a rage when I wrote this chapter, nor was I in a rage that night at Crystal Palace. While I was admittedly disappointed by the poor service we’d received and the mediocre food we'd eaten, I was not actually in a rage.
Nor does this have anything to do with money. I would have been equally annoyed had I received wrong answers from PORiverside cast members. For me, this is about candidly assessing what our trip to Disney World was like and the value we received for our money.
A growing trend that concerns me is that expectations are being raised to stratospheric levels and the end result is that more and more people are disappointed after their vacations. Some people become obsessed with receiving the same type of special treatment they’ve read about. They hunt for the elusive “magic.” And when they don’t get to wake up Tink, or they don’t get to ride in the front of the Monorail, their trips are ruined. The expectations for a Disney vacation are lofty enough without adding the additional layer of internet-induced fanaticism on top of it.
Our Trip Reports tend to focus on the highlights. We naturally don’t report about every instance when our children are less than sublime or our spouses don’t move as quickly as we want them to. For instance, in our house, my daughter has what is known as the “fuss about Mickey” that I’ve never written about and never will. But amongst my family, we all remember what happened that night. My sister’s family has the “Contemporary Scene of 2004.” In other words, our trips aren’t perfect. Bad and disappointing things happen to us, too. And yet, by not reporting some of the more negative aspects of our trips, I think we leave the impression to many readers that our trips are superlative and perfection can be achieved at Disney World. It can’t.
And while it is true that for our family, our vacation began when we arrived at the Wilderness Lodge, it would be incorrect and inaccurate to surmise that our problems ceased to exist in the same moment. I'll say again, it isn't really a magic kingdom.
Recently, I have seen reports of people who are sincerely disappointed after they return because their trip just didn’t measure up. Therefore, I wrote about my disappointment with the diminution of Disney’s service in an attempt to present a more accurate picture of what our trip was like. It was not a reflection of any rage, sadness, remorse, pissiness, grumpiness or any other ness. I think people should know what they’re buying when they plan a Disney vacation and Chapter Thirteen (no offense Chapter 11) was a digest of a snapshot in time. We are not fictional characters who vacation on Fantasy Island. But much in the same way that guests of Fantasy Island discovered their fantasies weren’t all they hoped they would be, our trips to Disney World are not perfection.
Although Tonga Toast comes remarkably close.
_________________
Click Here For Chapter Fourteen
Let me say outright that I am not anti-Disney all of a sudden. I was not in a rage when I wrote this chapter, nor was I in a rage that night at Crystal Palace. While I was admittedly disappointed by the poor service we’d received and the mediocre food we'd eaten, I was not actually in a rage.
Nor does this have anything to do with money. I would have been equally annoyed had I received wrong answers from PORiverside cast members. For me, this is about candidly assessing what our trip to Disney World was like and the value we received for our money.
A growing trend that concerns me is that expectations are being raised to stratospheric levels and the end result is that more and more people are disappointed after their vacations. Some people become obsessed with receiving the same type of special treatment they’ve read about. They hunt for the elusive “magic.” And when they don’t get to wake up Tink, or they don’t get to ride in the front of the Monorail, their trips are ruined. The expectations for a Disney vacation are lofty enough without adding the additional layer of internet-induced fanaticism on top of it.
Our Trip Reports tend to focus on the highlights. We naturally don’t report about every instance when our children are less than sublime or our spouses don’t move as quickly as we want them to. For instance, in our house, my daughter has what is known as the “fuss about Mickey” that I’ve never written about and never will. But amongst my family, we all remember what happened that night. My sister’s family has the “Contemporary Scene of 2004.” In other words, our trips aren’t perfect. Bad and disappointing things happen to us, too. And yet, by not reporting some of the more negative aspects of our trips, I think we leave the impression to many readers that our trips are superlative and perfection can be achieved at Disney World. It can’t.
And while it is true that for our family, our vacation began when we arrived at the Wilderness Lodge, it would be incorrect and inaccurate to surmise that our problems ceased to exist in the same moment. I'll say again, it isn't really a magic kingdom.
Recently, I have seen reports of people who are sincerely disappointed after they return because their trip just didn’t measure up. Therefore, I wrote about my disappointment with the diminution of Disney’s service in an attempt to present a more accurate picture of what our trip was like. It was not a reflection of any rage, sadness, remorse, pissiness, grumpiness or any other ness. I think people should know what they’re buying when they plan a Disney vacation and Chapter Thirteen (no offense Chapter 11) was a digest of a snapshot in time. We are not fictional characters who vacation on Fantasy Island. But much in the same way that guests of Fantasy Island discovered their fantasies weren’t all they hoped they would be, our trips to Disney World are not perfection.
Although Tonga Toast comes remarkably close.
_________________
Click Here For Chapter Fourteen
. OR, they could get what they pay for and raise the quality a smidge.
