The freedom of NOT doing Disney

[MolonLabe]

We're doing a Sea World, Universal, IOA week next month. 7 days in Orlando and Disney free.... well probably Disney free, we might do MSSHP on our last night.

I'm fine with it. Personally I'm fed up with WDW, perhaps the charm of it has worn off? Perhaps the desire to not have to "deal" with all the advanced reservations?

Anyway, my youngest is 8 now and it's a great time for something different after 3 years of week long trips to WDW.

I've got Grand Floridian booked for 7 nights in the beginning of February, we'll see if I cancel that like I did the Poly.

WDW is simply too much work at this point.

When 8 and 10 y/o girls don't even want to do WDW this trip, you know the Mouse has really let the parks take a bad turn.

 

[crostorfer]

I absolutely understand. We're staying at Uni and going over to WDW just for MNSSHP and one afternoon at F&W. That one evening at the Magic Kingdom for a hard ticket party resulted in more stress in planning than 4 days at Universal combined. It is a pain in the rear end.

We're kind of done with WDW. I had thought so before we went in Spring Break, but that trip was kind of the nail in the coffin. From now on Orlando trips will be fewer and far between and not involve WDW, and we'll be heading west to Anaheim much more often. I've had it with the planning, the crowds, and the hassle for a decreasing return on my vacation investment.

 

[lauritagoddess]

We're doing our first Universal stay in February, staying for a week. We went to Universal 4 years ago, taking 2 days to do the parks during one of our WDW trips, and then did a long weekend Universal/SeaWorld trip 3 years ago, but stayed offsite. I'm really looking forward to being able to stay onsite and just have the leisure to do Universal. My DS wants to take a couple of days to still go to WDW, to MK and Epcot, but I think we'll wait and see when we get there and play it by ear.

For those who haven't tried a trip to DL, that's usually our normal February vacation. With there just being the two parks, and with being so close to them, even if you stay offsite in one of the hotels on Harbor Blvd, it's definitely much more relaxing than a trip to WDW. And there's nothing like park hopping when it literally means just walking across from one park to another.

 

[Davey Jones II]

News flash for the OP: Disney isn't forcing anyone to tour their parks.

We're doing Disney because we want to do Disney. And, frankly, I can't imagine spending ten days in Orlando and only doing a couple of parks. Six (plus water parks) is more my speed.

 

[Dashzap]

And, frankly, I can't imagine spending ten days in Orlando and only doing a couple of parks.

When the kids were little, we would spend a week at Disney's Beach Club and only spend one morning in a park. We'd do character meals, ride the monorail, explore resorts, and enjoy Stormalong Bay, all at a relaxed pace.

Different strokes for different folks.

 

[rebbyparker]

News flash for the OP: Disney isn't forcing anyone to tour their parks.

We're doing Disney because we want to do Disney. And, frankly, I can't imagine spending ten days in Orlando and only doing a couple of parks. Six (plus water parks) is more my speed.

We're doing more than a couple parks. We've got plans for Universal, Discovery Cove, Seaworld and Busch Gardens. Spending multiple days at Universal, DC and Seaworld. So I think we'll have lots to do.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

News flash for the OP: Disney isn't forcing anyone to tour their parks.

We're doing Disney because we want to do Disney. And, frankly, I can't imagine spending ten days in Orlando and only doing a couple of parks. Six (plus water parks) is more my speed.

Defensive much?!?!

Let me guess, you've never even been to US/IOA.

 

[sydneysmom]

News flash for the OP: Disney isn't forcing anyone to tour their parks.

We're doing Disney because we want to do Disney. And, frankly, I can't imagine spending ten days in Orlando and only doing a couple of parks. Six (plus water parks) is more my speed.

thank you for the cheery "news flash" and yes, I'm aware of this.... this is why I posted on the UNIVERSAL site, and not the Disney site. This is OUR family's option.... I AM glad we aren't going. I'm looking forward to something new and exciting for our family. You can't imagine spending time elsewhere... that's YOUR family's choice. Hope you have a wonderful vacation!!!! I know that we will !

 

[lorivegas]

I know the last posts were in a bit of a "feud", so off subject now but I just wanted to say HOW MUCH we agree with the very first thread... NO PLANNING is the BEST VACATION EVER!! We go every single year to Disney for the last 20 years and this whole new FP system has RUINED it for me... It is hard enough to plan your adrs around the day and the rides.. but NOW I HAVE TO PLAN RIDES AND MEALS AND SHOWS AND WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE .... 60 DAYS OUT???!! HELL TO THE NO ! I know Disney and its crowds have grown so much, that they now need a new system.. I like the old fast pass MUCH better. Now technology is biting us in the a** ... while its convenient to change fast pass on phone, EVERYONE DOES THIS and then there is nothing left to pick from. Unless they allow more than the 3 or 4 fast pass selections, or AT LEAST allow us to book them all for ALL the parks we want to visit in 1 day.. not to wait till they expire or making us have to PHYSICALLY be IN the park we want to visit.. UNIVERSAL has this system beat, stay onsite... get express pass.. simple. (at least for now). I know i got off subject... UNIVERSAL HERE WE COME again, ( just got back in August and were back in November !

 

[HeddyRuth]

We are west coast people and are used to Disneyland (staying minutes away from the park. Walking from one park to the other in just a few minutes as well as down town Disney as well as easily getting last minute reservations for dinner) and let me just say that my first visit to WDW was exhausting. Taking an hour to get anywhere irritates the heck out if me. Sometimes we had to take a cab to get to a dining reservation to get there I time. No reasonable possibilities for "popping" back to the room for a nap or change if clothes. Then we discovered Universal and all was good. We cruise Disney about every year and have every trip combined with a trip to universal. Just my two cents.

 

[keishashadow]

News flash for the OP: Disney isn't forcing anyone to tour their parks.

We're doing Disney because we want to do Disney. And, frankly, I can't imagine spending ten days in Orlando and only doing a couple of parks. Six (plus water parks) is more my speed.

to each their own. I can't imagine spending a week in Orlando and only doing Disney, even though my accommodations there are 'prepaid' via DVC.

we always try to work in a few days @ Universal and often enjoy the various waterparks, Sea World & Discovery Cove...not to mention just enjoying flopping by the great pool of our chosen resort . R&R is under-rated by many Orlando commandos.

The area is a wonderful home base for exploring Florida & a great jumping off point for cruising. It's great to have so many options available imo.

 

[Planogirl]

News flash for the OP: Disney isn't forcing anyone to tour their parks.

We're doing Disney because we want to do Disney. And, frankly, I can't imagine spending ten days in Orlando and only doing a couple of parks. Six (plus water parks) is more my speed.

I'd agree with you if anyone was posting in the WDW forums trying to talk people out of going to the Disney parks. Like others have said to each their own.

As for us, we will likely completely avoid WDW the next time we travel to Florida. I find it all too frustrating and exhausting and there's certainly plenty to do in the area that isn't like that. I'm thinking of making Cabana Bay our base of operations and really checking out the local attractions. When not in the Universal parks of course.

 

[macraven]

everyone has their own style of doing the orlando parks.

i don't bash any of the parks as i do them all and like what i do.

i'm not one to stir the pot and post on the motherland forums that start a heated discussion.
what would i gain by doing that?
sharing experiences of what works and what doesn't, can be productive.

to flat out make harsh statements that you know will turn ugly, is not how i communicate to strangers.

what i post in all the forums is to share experiences, answer questions and learn new things about the parks.


the majority of my time is at the darkside.

in 5 days i will be at epcot and mk for the week.
will be at a motherland resort until i switch to the darkside resorts for 12 days.

i've done 12 night stays at the motherland but prefer only doing 1/2 of what i used to do there now.
it works for me.
don't do water parks, can do that at places near where i live if i want that kind of entertainment.

for me, a vacation is a de-stressing time.
do parks, eat out, see friends, do entertainment, keep busy at a much slower pace.


i'm always amazed that peeps want to know how they can be satisfied and happy staying for a lengthy time at the darkside.
it's more than just staying onsite and doing a couple of parks.
it's my complete vacation and done in a relaxed way and never boring for me.

i find that i can do the motherland in a shorter time period and be satisfied with it.
i'm not questioning the poster of their style of motherland length of stay and parks they do to keep busy.
but why be confrontational on the darkside forums and state why bother to go to UO when disney has what you want.......

if you want others to follow you and join in with their feelings, you would get a bigger audience on another forum, than here.

 

[pcstang]

everyone has their own style of doing the orlando parks. i don't bash any of the parks as i do them all and like what i do. i'm not one to stir the pot and post on the motherland forums that start a heated discussion. what would i gain by doing that? sharing experiences of what works and what doesn't, can be productive. to flat out make harsh statements that you know will turn ugly, is not how i communicate to strangers. what i post in all the forums is to share experiences, answer questions and learn new things about the parks. the majority of my time is at the darkside. in 5 days i will be at epcot and mk for the week. will be at a motherland resort until i switch to the darkside resorts for 12 days. i've done 12 night stays at the motherland but prefer only doing 1/2 of what i used to do there now. it works for me. don't do water parks, can do that at places near where i live if i want that kind of entertainment. for me, a vacation is a de-stressing time. do parks, eat out, see friends, do entertainment, keep busy at a much slower pace. i'm always amazed that peeps want to know how they can be satisfied and happy staying for a lengthy time at the darkside. it's more than just staying onsite and doing a couple of parks. it's my complete vacation and done in a relaxed way and never boring for me. i find that i can do the motherland in a shorter time period and be satisfied with it. i'm not questioning the poster of their style of motherland length of stay and parks they do to keep busy. but why be confrontational on the darkside forums and state why bother to go to UO when disney has what you want....... if you want others to follow you and join in with their feelings, you would get a bigger audience on another forum, than here.

Very nice post!!!!

 

[Planogirl]

everyone has their own style of doing the orlando parks.

i don't bash any of the parks as i do them all and like what i do.

i'm not one to stir the pot and post on the motherland forums that start a heated discussion.
what would i gain by doing that?
sharing experiences of what works and what doesn't, can be productive.

to flat out make harsh statements that you know will turn ugly, is not how i communicate to strangers.

what i post in all the forums is to share experiences, answer questions and learn new things about the parks.


the majority of my time is at the darkside.

in 5 days i will be at epcot and mk for the week.
will be at a motherland resort until i switch to the darkside resorts for 12 days.

i've done 12 night stays at the motherland but prefer only doing 1/2 of what i used to do there now.
it works for me.
don't do water parks, can do that at places near where i live if i want that kind of entertainment.

for me, a vacation is a de-stressing time.
do parks, eat out, see friends, do entertainment, keep busy at a much slower pace.


i'm always amazed that peeps want to know how they can be satisfied and happy staying for a lengthy time at the darkside.
it's more than just staying onsite and doing a couple of parks.
it's my complete vacation and done in a relaxed way and never boring for me.

i find that i can do the motherland in a shorter time period and be satisfied with it.
i'm not questioning the poster of their style of motherland length of stay and parks they do to keep busy.
but why be confrontational on the darkside forums and state why bother to go to UO when disney has what you want.......

if you want others to follow you and join in with their feelings, you would get a bigger audience on another forum, than here.

I agree...great post.

 

[sydneysmom]

everyone has their own style of doing the orlando parks.

i don't bash any of the parks as i do them all and like what i do.

i'm not one to stir the pot and post on the motherland forums that start a heated discussion.
what would i gain by doing that?
sharing experiences of what works and what doesn't, can be productive.

to flat out make harsh statements that you know will turn ugly, is not how i communicate to strangers.

what i post in all the forums is to share experiences, answer questions and learn new things about the parks.


the majority of my time is at the darkside.

in 5 days i will be at epcot and mk for the week.
will be at a motherland resort until i switch to the darkside resorts for 12 days.

i've done 12 night stays at the motherland but prefer only doing 1/2 of what i used to do there now.
it works for me.
don't do water parks, can do that at places near where i live if i want that kind of entertainment.

for me, a vacation is a de-stressing time.
do parks, eat out, see friends, do entertainment, keep busy at a much slower pace.


i'm always amazed that peeps want to know how they can be satisfied and happy staying for a lengthy time at the darkside.
it's more than just staying onsite and doing a couple of parks.
it's my complete vacation and done in a relaxed way and never boring for me.

i find that i can do the motherland in a shorter time period and be satisfied with it.
i'm not questioning the poster of their style of motherland length of stay and parks they do to keep busy.
but why be confrontational on the darkside forums and state why bother to go to UO when disney has what you want.......

if you want others to follow you and join in with their feelings, you would get a bigger audience on another forum, than here.

and for all this, is exactly why I chose to post over here. It seemed like such a lovely group and for someone who knows absolutely NOTHING about Universal. I first came over here with the thought in mind of "how do we do a split vacation" to "how am I going to just say no to Disney....and live to tell....." to "OMG, I can't wait to make our trip a Universal only trip". And I was right, this IS a lovely group of people full of great ideas.

Along the way I've got to read so many people's trip reports, posts, thoughts and experiences, for which I'm grateful. It's the kindest bunch of folks I've encountered on the Disboards. And while I'll always love Disney, our family is ready for a new adventure.... and you guys all helped make that possible.

It's funny though when you get to that point, there's always someone that comes behind to slam you.... like I'm cheating on Disney or something. It's quite okay to love both.... or want to do one or the other. But to slam someone for making that choice seems so very silly to me. But it's okay.... we all have to make the decisions that work for our families. This is ours. And to be truthful, I'm so thrilled to gain an extra day of vacation, be able to go to Universal and Sea World, stay onsite and on top of all of that, save over $3500 doing it.

One bad apple isn't going to spoil the bunch for me..... I've enjoyed and will continue to enjoy hearing everyone's experiences and making new friends over here. It gets me more excited for our trip....and lord knows, we are a ways away, so I have to live vicariously through everyone else for now!!

 

[macraven]

Yes, this is the Disboard and there are different forums for different topics. Not every forum is about WDW. I certainly don't post on the WISH board when I am not on a diet, or on the DVC unless I want to rent or buy DVC, etc. This forum is about Universal and Islands of Adventure. There are over 25 forums that deal strictly with Disney and only 3 that deal strictly with Universal. This is a place for us to help others plan their vacations to Universal. Honestly if you have no plans to visit Universal or have never been, I don't see why you would even want to participate on this forum. If you have been and have some complaints, we are very tolerant of that but to enter a discussion just to bash Universal is not the way we play over here.

And to clarify the wait times. You will notice that Islands does not have the wait times as Universal right now. With the opening of a new themed area (harry potter) at Universal, it is crazy busy right now. I was at MK when Fantasyland was opening. It was the off-season and I had family visiting. We planned November because of the smaller crowds but Fantasyland opening caused huge crowds. That is just how things go at themeparks and I certainly didn't fault Disney for the wait times. But my scariest time ever at a themepark happened during fireworks that night at MK. I really thought my grandkids and I were going to be crushed. I am used to huge crowds but this time was truly scary. But I still don't blame Disney, they were trying to do crowd control but no one was listening.

ETA: I can understand the disagreement with the OP if they had posted this on one of the WDW planning forums. But they posted it here on the Universal forums among fans of Universal. I can imagine the uproar if this post was on another forum.

when this thread first started in July, the moderator posted the above in trying to keep this thread in the correct direction.

it was to the poster that said, "I scrolled to the top of this page .....yep it reads DIS BOARDS . And who says I haven't been to uni ?

hopefully we can get back on track and learn how others enjoy their darkside trips.

 

[Planogirl]

These forums were only about WDW when they started so the name DIS made sense. The owners have wisely expanded to include other experiences and I appreciate that they have carved out little areas that aren't just about Disney. Even before I became 'ahem' a bit discouraged, I was appreciative of it then because I wanted to see and enjoy other places too.

Anyway, we stayed offsite the last we visited the week before Christmas week and it worked out real well. We might go to Florida the same week this year and I see staying at Cabana Bay for all or even part of the time as an advantage because of the early entry. I'll need to read up on the resort first before I decide though.

 

[old lady]

I did that once. The reason was I didn't have time see Universal studios and the other parks.

 

[quantumottle]

This is one of the absolute best posts I've read in quite some time. My entire family feels the same way you do. The final straw for us was FastPass+. I've given the Mouse the last dollar I will ever give him, and nobody in my family misses it one bit.

It took me a good long while to get to the point where my eye doesn't twitch thinking that we are ONLY doing Universal for our next trip and skipping Disney....and believe me, I had guilt about it. The more I read about Universal from all of you, the more excited I keep getting.

I was out on the Disney thread about trip planning and reading that just raised my anxiety level... people are worried about waking up for making ADR's, booking FP+, will their kids be disappointed, will there be free dining, a whole host of issues. When I planned our last 2 trips, it was like a part time job. Now, the planning is fun... it's the obsessing that takes too much control.

Since we decided on an only Universal vacation, I feel free.... I feel like we're actually going 'on vacation'.... we don't have to make dining reservations, no fast passes, we're staying at Royal Pacific, so we will get the benefit of 'skip the line'. My husband said to me yesterday, 'you realize that if I don't go back to Disney, I'm okay with that?'. It just make me laugh... and sigh a sigh of relief that I can actually just RELAX and have fun instead of giving everyone their day's orders.

Does anyone else feel this way once you've made the decision to not do Disney ?