When did you realize that Disney ruined you for anyplace else?

[FionaLovesShrek]

2004. I told DD we couldn't afford WDW that summer, but we would go to Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom for the weekend. I could not believe how poor that park was. I felt terrible DD wasn't even able to ride most of the rides and she loves roller coasters. She could ride all the rides at Disney but only kiddie rides at Six Flags due to height? She was so upset and I felt like I ruined her summer. We will never return to a Six Flags park.

 

[blueroses]

I was born in 1970 and my parents took me and my brother to WDW several times a year from the time the park opened to when I graduated high school because we lived in FL and after we moved we still had family in FL. Down side to that? I think we only stayed onsite once or twice. But anyway, WDW has ALWAYS meant "vacation" to me. That said....

Has WDW spoiled me for any other theme or amusement parks? Yes!!

Has WDW spoiled me for any other vacation spots? No!!

I completely agree with MomofKatie. I love Space Mountain, as well as Mount Ranier. I love shopping on 5th Ave AND shopping at Downtown Disney. I like the USA pavillon, but I get choked up visiting Washington, DC and seeing the monuments (and this is coming from a bona fide blue state pinko - I guess that makes me some shade of purple ).

 

[Mickey76]

It wasn't a specific moment, but once I was older, able to go to WDW on my own and could really appreciate everything there is to see and do, I was able to realize that there is no other place on Earth I'd rather be than WDW.

 

[Disney Girlie-Wirlie]

Oh my goodness, I always realize it. But I gues I first relaized it when I was a senior in High School. All the kids in my graduating class went to Cancun for their senior trip and My sister and I wanted to go to Disney World! And we convinced our 2 best friends at the time to want to do the same. They were all for it! Since then I've convinced alot of friends to make the trip with me. In fact, I've been to Dsiney World with every single one of my best friends.
Now, the first time I realized that it was borderline embarrasing how Disney has ruined anyplace else for me is when I started dating my now DH.
I'm very lucky that he didn't hightail it out of our relationship after realizing what a Disney freak I am. Guys like him are very few and far between. I love that he accepts that about me....And he accepted it so much that he proposed to me in Cinderella's Castle and I even convinced him to make WDW part of our honeymoon. He still thinks I'm crazy with the whole Disney thing but he just laughs it off.

 

[mickey12810]

1. I joke that every time we travel south of the Mason-Dixon line, DH thinks we need to spend a few days at WDW.

2. The kids are tired of it and we're not, so we go without them.

3. When I get home and start checking the DISBoards again, even though I don't know when we're going back.


These are all signs that there's no place else for us.

I agree!

 

[DisneyGeek2000]

The summer that just passed, I went to Disney for vacation and my brother went to the Jersey Shore. He spent twice as much on his hotel and I am pretty sure it wasn't anywhere near as nice as a Disney resort. I am also sure that he spent more than I did. I always feel like im getting ripped off from any vacation spot other than Disney.

Our trips to the Jersey shore cost us nearly if not more than our Disney trips too! By the time you rent a house for a week ($2000, at least), food, tickets for the boardwalk, snacks for the beach, etc - wow - I think I have even taken Disney vacations and spent less!

 

[Partridge4ever]

For me it was several years ago. We were at Dollywood, which is a very nice park. I was sitting in this show called Heartland. It's shown on a video screen, but at certain places leaves fall on you, there's a mist of rain, butterflies fly around. Well you could CLEARLY see the wires attached to the butterflies. I remember thinking that at WDW you'd either not be able to tell or you'd have to really look.

For DD if was when we took the 4 day Disney cruise followed by a few days at WDW. Afterwards she said, "That was fun Mommy, but next time can you get Daddy to just drive us? It took too long for that boat to get there."

 

[Tissa]

For DD if was when we took the 4 day Disney cruise followed by a few days at WDW. Afterwards she said, "That was fun Mommy, but next time can you get Daddy to just drive us? It took too long for that boat to get there."

That's why I haven't booked a cruise yet. I could just picture ds looking at the ship going wow and then telling me Ok now let go to Disneyworld

 

[Tissa]

Exactly...not to mention day trips to musuems, weekends (for me) in Mackinac, etc...just because we "vacation" at Disney so often doesn't mean we are uncultured swines.

We're uncultured swines and proud of it.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Oh gosh, this is such an easy question to answer, it isn't even funny.

The first time I went to (the now defunct) Astroworld, after my first visit to WDW! That place was beyond nasty; the food, the grounds, the people, etc. Before, it was all I knew!

 

[airtime]

DisneyDotty - Disney on a dime? A girl after my own heart! Good luck!

 

[BAST]

For us, the realization came this year. Last August we decided we were done with WDW for a few years - the kids (now 5 and 7) had been to WDW five times and we wanted to see some other places. I started planning a trip where we would drive out west (we live in Wisconsin). However, no one was getting very excited with a long drive and the sites we would visit (Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore, etc..). Also, could not come up with any other truly family friendly vacations destinations. The kids started pushing for WDW and Universal and once again we will be in WDW in August.

 

[jenrose66]

Disney ruined every place else for me after my honeymoon trip. I can't think of anywhere else I'd rather spend my vacations. Now if only I can convince my husband of that so we can purchase DVC He still thinks we have a chance of going elsewhere for our yearly trips...

 

[Taratink]

We keep trying to plan a beach vacation in the islands but somehow our plane keeps landing in Orlando. There is some magnetic pull.
Tara

 

[digskat]

In November 2004, we made our first trip to Disney as a family. My wife had been several times, and I slipped over from Daytona one Spring Break, but our two young children had never been. We drove for 21 hours, and I used up a large portion of my vacation credits. We had an amazing time, and vowed we would go back as often as possible.
The following summer, we travelled 3 hours, to our nearest amusement park. This park isn't a bad park, it consists of 60 rides, including 10 roller coasters, and a decent water park, but we continuously commented on it just not being Disney. We pulled up to the parking kiosk, and the staff member couldn't even be bothered to speak to us, instead she simply held out her hand for payment, and thrust out our change. We parked, and entered the park. Throughout the day, we noticed the staff standing around socializing with each other, and totally ignoring guests, their just didn't seem to be the same joy. Our children were excited to see characters they had seen on television, but this park didn't have covered areas, and when it started to spit, they cut the line right in front of us, even though there weren't any people behind us. We waited in lines, rode the rides, and did enjoy them.
It didn't take long to figure out the difference between this place and Disney, WDW doesn't cut corners. The wait in line at the Tower of Terror, is part of the ride, there are things to see in the gardens, the lobby, the library, etc., and the staff play up the ride. The Rockin Roller Coaster has the tribute lobby, the sound room, and the parking garage. The haunted house isn't just a square building, with que area out front, it has character. Disney is more than rides, it is excellent shows, varied foods, cultural diversity, and most importantly atmosphere.
We returned to Disney this past October, staying a few days longer, and staying on site for the first time. THe building we had requested wasn't available, and my son wasn't happy with the change in plans. The CM at the desk, offered to change our building assigment as soon as a room was available in the other. I replied that it wasn't necessary, that he didn't need to get his way all of the time. Her response was, "But sir, this is Disney." We enjoyed this trip even more, and have decided to make this an annual trip. I would rather spend the extra $3000, drive the extra 2100 miles, and use up the extra 4-5 days to experience Disney, than disappoint ourselves elsewhere.

 

[Ride Junkie]

Oh my goodness, I always realize it. But I gues I first relaized it when I was a senior in High School. All the kids in my graduating class went to Cancun for their senior trip and My sister and I wanted to go to Disney World! And we convinced our 2 best friends at the time to want to do the same. They were all for it! Since then I've convinced alot of friends to make the trip with me. In fact, I've been to Dsiney World with every single one of my best friends.
Now, the first time I realized that it was borderline embarrasing how Disney has ruined anyplace else for me is when I started dating my now DH.
I'm very lucky that he didn't hightail it out of our relationship after realizing what a Disney freak I am. Guys like him are very few and far between. I love that he accepts that about me....And he accepted it so much that he proposed to me in Cinderella's Castle and I even convinced him to make WDW part of our honeymoon. He still thinks I'm crazy with the whole Disney thing but he just laughs it off.

Disney Girlie-Wirlie - Off the subject here, but I just noticed that you were engaged at Cinderella's Castle in 2004 & honeymooned at WDW in May 2005. We got engaged at Sleeping Beauty castle at Disneyland in January 2005 & honeymooned at WDW in June 2005! It seems there are a lot of us...we are truly Disney junkies!

 

[tink2]

I haven't read all of these, but I know for dh and I, it was the day we went to Six Flags over Georgia. We hadn't been in many, many years- got married, had kids, went to WDW. We decided to take a weekend trip in Atlanta and go to Six Flags by ourselves and fulfill our coaster desires. Well, before we even got in the gate we found ourselves comparing everything to WDW- which it doesn't. We got there early- of course- and were waiting for the gates to open. The family in front of us were talking about their strategy for opening and I started laughing. They looked at me and I explained that it reminded me of myself at WDW. They laughed and were Disney people themselves. Anyway, throughout the day- it just didn't compare- the park was filthy, they had some version of fastpass that you pay a fortune for and nobody that had it seemed to be happy (as we entered every ride before them), there were many rides you had to pay for after park admission- we didn't, and the rides just don't compare. Sure, they had coasters, but please. The animatronics (spelled right) were an absolute joke compared to Disney! Anyway, we haven't been back since and probably won't until our kids are old enough to become coaster freaks too.
We also realize it when we are talking about our vacations this year- we're doing a big family trip at the beach in June and WDW in Dec. (just me, dh, dd, and ds). Yep, kids are very excited about the beach, but already talk about WDW more and it is 11 months away! They are already asking who they can eat with! ha!
WDW or bust for us!!!

 

[christianweecare]

1975--Disneymoon. Almost 31 years later, two kids, one grandchild--we're still going and going and going back! DH & I finally took the plung and bought DVC this past fall! Now it's home!

 

[kaabost]

DH want to go skiing. I like skiing but I cannot get nearly as excited about skiing as I do a WDW trip. BUT......to be fair, on our last trip, we went to WDW. Thus, we are due for a ski trip. The thing is that I just started a new job and $ will be tight for the next 1/2 year or so. I don't think that we can afford skiing this winter. It's really expensive (even if we try to go in our region......like Snowshoe West Virginia). However, we should have no problem affording the WDW trip next January that I have been counting down to for the past 2 years (especially with my Disney credit card points and Disney Dollars that I have gradually purchased). I feel trouble brewing in the Kaabost household! We can go skiing next winter, right?

 

[splashmt]

We realized this when we just "never wanted to go anywhere else besides Disney World". There's just so much to do for our with our 5 year old son. No other place can have sand to play in, rides to ride on, parades to marvel over, restaraunts to salivate over, fireworks to cry over, water parks to relax in, etc. etc. etc. People in my family think that I am crazy for going to Disney ALL the TIME... Gee, don't you want to experience other things? But, for us, each time is different and wonderful. I can remember leaving WDW in Grade 11 (first time I went). I had tears in my eyes regarding how much "good clean fun" it was, soooooooo sweet and cute. At the time, I wasn't very sweet It made a great impression on me and I am thankful everyday about having Disney being a big part of my life.