Who gets clinically depressed upon leaving WDW?

[bartleby1]

Oh boy, my DH thinks I'm nuts because I always cry on our way out of the MK the last day. Our trip last summer, I was trying to be so good for my kids sake, and I swore that I wouldn't get emotional. Well, as we were walking out of the MK, I turned around to make sure DH and DD were behind me and my other 2 kids when I saw one single tear rolling down my 5 yr old DD's cheek. Of course, this was enough to make me lose it. I went and picked her up and the two of us walked out of the Magic Kingdom sobbing like a couple of loons, lol! It was a true disney bonding moment for us.

Funny thing is, before we left the MK that day, we had asked DD if she wanted to stay longer or go back to the pool for a swim. She opted for the pool. So when I asked her why she was so upset when we left MK since she had said she wanted to go to the pool, she said, "I didn't think it would be so sad to leave". I so totally understood her, although, I didn't expect that from a 5 yr old. DH just thinks we're crazy and thinks I've created a monster, lol!

 

[jamal]

Yes, we definitely have DD when we leave. We are so blessed and fortunate to be able to go at all, then we get sad when we are not there or planning a trip! DS 11 asks me why I read Disboards ; I tell him it helps me feel closer to Disney and the magic!

Sometimes it's hard to explain to non-addicts why we love to return to the World. It's because we are truly escaping, truly relaxing, truly enjoying each other as a family with real life a million miles away ! A Disney vacation has any and everything we could ever want in an escape, except a bargain price.

Ahhh...it's nice to find people who get it!!!

 

[Golliwobbler]

I can attest that looking into/buying into DVC will help your PDD! (post disney depression). That way, you know there's a trip around the very short corner! You also won't have a hotel bill waiting for you at the end of your stay!

OK...so if buying in is something like $17,000 these days (I think?), and for that you could get about 680 shares of Disney stock earning about 1% per year, has anyone done the math on comparative breakeven, or same for alternative investments? Is there a thread out there on this?

 

[Donna]

i always have to stop by walt's picture under the train station and my family laughs that i'm saying goodbye to walt til the next trip. I always say "You da man walt"! LOL! my ds10 dies of embarrassment.
As for whether this is "clinically" depressed....probably not in the true sense of the word but i definitely have coping problems when i get home. I'm not talking about a few days, it is a good couple weeks before i can deal with real life. The only real cure is going back...it's a vicious cycle!

 

[LoriMistress]

I completely understand. At our final night at WDW, DH and I were down trodden. We were so upset that we were going to leave. We were thinking about just leaving everything in California so we could live and work at WDW.

 

[jdonat]

We've been home a month.... We're still down..

But, that means its 11 months till next New Years! -we've made our
reservations for NYE and need to make our ressies for the rest of the week next monday!
So, we're set for BWV over New Years...
If the job situation gets better, we'll try for a summer trip... we'll have to see.

John

 

[wendydarling826]

We call this syndrome PDD [post-Disney Depression] and it is a much more profound case of the blues than I ever experienced after any other vacation. I agree that joining DVC helps ~ now we feel as if we have another home, from which we are temporarily away, and it makes the waiting for the next trip "home" a little more bearable.

 

[minster22]

There is always a degree of post-Disney depression for me when I come home but the worst ever was after an 18 day trip.....7 nights at the GF and then 10 nights at the concierge garden suites at the BWI(an unexpected upgrade from a standard room!!). When we were hugging the staff goodbye in the concierge lounge, I broke in to serious tears. I waitress in my "real"life and to go back to being the server instead of the servee was more than tough(ever see any of those Celebrity cruise commercials?). It took a month or two to snap out of it. My best friend and I had saved for 2 years for that fabulous trip and though I have been many times since (DVC member now)I don't know if that level of luxury will ever be duplicated!!

 

[oxfordcircus]

There is always a degree of post-Disney depression for me when I come home but the worst ever was after an 18 day trip.....7 nights at the GF and then 10 nights at the concierge garden suites at the BWI(an unexpected upgrade from a standard room!!). When we were hugging the staff goodbye in the concierge lounge, I broke in to serious tears. I waitress in my "real"life and to go back to being the server instead of the servee was more than tough(ever see any of those Celebrity cruise commercials?). It took a month or two to snap out of it. My best friend and I had saved for 2 years for that fabulous trip and though I have been many times since (DVC member now)I don't know if that level of luxury will ever be duplicated!!

I hear you. I went from being in the MK one day back to my job as an oncology nurse the next.

(wife of oxford circus)

 

[oxfordcircus]

I cry watching Wishes, usually the last thing we do...

I call it the Holiday Hangover when we return home, uugghh!

I choked back tears at Wishes, and I thought I was going "around the bend". Glad to know I'm not the only one.

 

[oxfordcircus]

No, you are not alone. That is why we moved here

But how does one pull that off? Seriously, how do you find a job, and a life, in a strange place? I am intrigued...

 

[Glendamax]

But how does one pull that off? Seriously, how do you find a job, and a life, in a strange place? I am intrigued...

So glad you asked this question, because I would like to know too. I'm single, so I have no kids to stay here for, but still it seems like it would be difficult to live somewhere and have NO friends

 

[maliboomer]

Someone even defines it on Urban Dictionary. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=post-disney+depression .

 

[disneymouse]

on our last hour there my DH, DS6 AND DD2 and i took the magic kingdom train around twice. finally, it was time to get off at the mainstreet station. we all were feeling the blues. we stood there looking looking at mainstreet wistfully saying our goodbyes to disney. thIS kindly older CM overheard us and came over to give my children mickey stickers. it was aliitle pixie dust to send us home with.

 

[David R]

So glad you asked this question, because I would like to know too. I'm single, so I have no kids to stay here for, but still it seems like it would be difficult to live somewhere and have NO friends

I can't speak for others but this is what I did. I work at a University and would like to stay in academia. There are websites dedicated just to carrying educational job postings - I'm sure that there are other websites dedicated to a lot of disciplines.

So once a day I just looked at the new openings in Orlando and I applied to 2 different jobs. I was flown in for both interviews and one of them made me an offer at the end of the interview which I accepted immediately after a short salary negotiation. That night I went to Downtown Disney by myself to celebrate and it was surreal knowing that I'd be living down there a few short weeks later. Went back home, resigned from my job, packed a budget truck and took the 2.5 day drive down to my new home! (I did fly to Orlando once more to rent an apartment before the final move)

You can make new friends anywhere, you just need to get involved in the community!

 

[hogwartsdropout]

I cried my eyes out leaving POR

 

[livingthedream]

Our family finally "lived the dream" the first two weeks of December of 2005. Ours was a unique situation. My 2 teenage boys recently moved to another city to live with their father. However, we had planned a once in a lifetime trip to WDW for many years while the boys still lived with us. Then, unexpectedly their dad asked that the boys live with him. Long story short, in spite of our life-changing circumstances, we still were able to complete our much anticipated trip and include the boys.

It was indeed a dream come true!! It was extra-special for us to spend that family time together. We all got along so well. We found so many special moments. The look of awe in my almost 15 year old eyes. My 12 year old motion phobic boy overcoming his fears and riding the big rides and loving it! Hanging on to every single second we could spend together. It was like living stolen moments.

Then it was over. I don't know that a vacation could have been so magical. It could have turned out so badly. Our expectations were so unrealistically high, and yet the trip lived up to all our expectations and more. However, now its over, we've been back for two months, and yes I've been through stretches of clinical depression ever since.

I've ever so slowly found days and weeks where I feel I can function in our "real" world, but it has been a long struggle.

It is very expensive for us to go for 2 weeks for 4 people because we need 2 rooms, and we have to navigate the logistics of getting holiday time with the boys so we can travel with them, but I wish we could figure out a way.

My husband is already talking about how just he and I could make another trip, but I am so scared that not having the boys with us would haunt me and make the next trip sad instead of cheering me up.

Yes, there are many personal circumstances where leaving WDW can create clinical depression. It likely stems from the fact that a true family connection often happens there, and it doesn't happen like that at home nearly as much as we would like it to.

That's my arm-chair psychological analysis. And I bet I'm not too far wrong. No matter what, though, I will always have a special place in my heart for WDW. Sorry to spill my guts so much on the boards.

 

[sfbank]

Here is another one. I cried the day before going on Peter Pan and Pirates, then walking on the Boardwalk. I could barely choke my food down at Spoodles at breakfast before our flight. You know that big lump you have in your throat when you are going to cry? Anyway, I have to agree with other posters, the only way to help, not heal, the depressions is to plan another trip. I already am planning the one after the one this December when we are taking my parents for their first trip ever. Then we will be heading back down in July or Aug 08.

 

[Polyfor30th]

LOL, I start to get depressed BEFORE my trip if I think about the last day. I so understand.

I'm right there with you. I will heave a big sigh while on the plane because I'm already thinking it's close to the end, wahhhh! But whatever weepiness I feel is usually abated til at least the last day because I am too busy enjoying myself to think about it (for the most part )

 

[momto2]

We have been to WDW many times. This last time (Jan) was amazing. My kids have always return with the 'I wish we were still in Disney', but this time I can't stop thinking about it ~ all the time. I can't wait until our next trip. Yes, have been planning it. I think this means I went from a Disney fan to a Disney Fanatic!!!