Why are you here? (on The DIS, that is)

[All Aboard]

I logged into the DIS today and took note of the banner at the top of the page: "The DIS Message Boards, a live, free forum by, about and for Disney fans." And I thought, "well that sure describes why I spend time on The DIS."

I'm here because I have a big interest in what lies ahead for Disney (and more specifically Walt Disney World). I flat-out love the place. My daughter loves the place, my wife loves the place. I can't think of anywhere I enjoy spending more time with my family than WDW. I want to see it grow and flourish. I want to see the Magic retained and continue to blossom. I want to stay up to date on everything happening at WDW. I want to build friendships with other folks that have a real interest in WDW and who also desire to see the Magic continue to be strong. I want to have valuable and substantive conversations with these folks. That's why I'm here.

So, why are you here?

 

[HorizonsFan]

I couldn't say it any better than you already did. I think that as we discuss minutae, we sometimes forget that we all share a special love for WDW. Some folks love WDW and some folks LOVE WDW. I mean, look at the post count on some of these folks! I don't think they would keep coming back or discuss (relativly) insignificant details about WDW with such passion unless they truly cared about the place.
So, when I get a little testy in the future, I'll try to remember that we all want the best for WDW. Even if we differ on how to make that happen.
I would love to see the small meet that you, Landbaron and the Cap'n had grow into something larger. Can you imagine a whole room full of us discussing the impact of Dino-rama on "THE SHOW"?

 

[HorizonsFan]

Very tempting, I have a few points left...

...but Monday is the first day of school. I don't think my principal would understand.
And since we spent 11 days there already this summer, I don't think my wife would understand either!
Maybe another year... I have 41 left!

BTW, Rowlett is near Dallas. Thanks to the Wright amendment, Southwest can only fly out of Love Field and can only fly to adjoining states. In fact, they can't even sell me a ticket with a connecting flight. I would have to purchase two separate tickets and risk not making the connection. Stupid, huh?

 

[Mickey76]

I'm here because I love Disney. It will always hold a special place in my heart. Coming here allows me to find out about a lot of things, especially since I am going next May with my girlfriend, who is also a member of the boards( piglet203). We have both been to WDW eight times each, but next year will be our first time together. Even though we both know a lot about Disney, we still need helpful tips about some things. For instance, we are going to stay at the Coronado Springs. Neither of us have stayed there, so we often come here to get links that shows photos of the resort or to ask questions regarding the resort. The Disboards have helped us a lot and I hope they continue to do so. Plus, it's like being in a secret club and enjoying the fact that there are others who are just as much a fanatic about Disney as we are.

Mickey76

 

[gary]

I'm here because I like the long-winded essays, monologues, and diatribes by the Eisner lovers and Eisner haters!

Seriously, I like the "rumor" content, the helpful hints, and the occasional pearls of wisdom that can be sifted from said essays, monologues, and diatribes.

Gary

 

[airlarry!]

I love the rumors and gossip...I love people pointing other sites that give good background material on the making of the parks or the movies/animated features (another favorite of mine)...and, like many of you, wish I had worked for Disney at some point in my career. My entire family spent a summer, on a lark, working for WDW while I finished up my college career. I couldn't go, 'cause I had six hours left before law school...and *I* was/is the biggest Disneyphile out of the entire bunch. Bummer.

Anyway, I first started coming here way back when this place was taking its first baby steps for information on planning a big trip we were taking. But now, I read the messages because I keep hoping that guys like Safari Steve or Another Voice or On With The Show and the other *insiders* will surprise me with the news that Tokyo DisneySeas is coming to Orlando, and that the other four parks will be filled to the brim with exciting B,C,D, and E rides over the next couple of years.

Hey. I can dream can't I?

BTW: I don't like to talk about other sites, but if you see any of the pictures laughingplace.com and mouseplanet.com are posting about DisneySeas, you will be amazed at the richness of the imagination of our beloved Imagineers, and saddened that someone greenlighted DCA...and of course let them build AK, a beautifully themed place, and not finish it.

 

[olena]

WDW has always been a favorite destination of mine, though I travel all over. I like the DIS for information, tips, perspective, sharing my enthusiasm and the overall community spirit...

 

[greenhornet]

I haven't been to Disney a lot (but that is changing since i bought a Annual pass) But i love it there Money has kept me away. But when i go down the only problem i have is trying to do everything there is to do. I don't experance the rude people like i do here up north.Disney World is the most relaxing place on earth. I could go there every weekend If i was off and find cheap airfare. why yes the magic is still at disney where me a 32 yo man can be a kid.

 

[Captain Crook]

yes the magic is still at Disney where me a 32 year old man can still feel like a kid.

And me, a 46 year old man!

I agree with you across the board, gcurling...I will also add specifically, the fun & enjoyment I receive from (most of) these discussions. I need the release from the everyday and this gives me that. But I like the discussion and not the pettiness and hard edged debate that sometimes creeps in. I want to learn & understand from folks with opposing views, not simply be told I am wrong...

This is the Disney board and thats what I want to talk about...From rumors to results, good and bad with a majority of people I like & respect...That is the core of the DIS Rumors & Business Board to me.

 

[TheWho]

I agree 100% with gcurling comments. Right on the money. In fact, I get on this board every morning and ask myself a question,"will I learn something new about Disney today?" The answer is always yes. Whether it be about DVC, the business side, the parks, the resorts, or to read about someone's latest trip, I do learn something new everyday. That's cool.

 

[doombuggy]

My mom and I went to see "Riverdance" in September 1999, and she asked me why I was going back to a Disney park AGAIN for my vacation (I ended up going to DL a couple of weeks later, and WDW a few months later). She doesn't understand what a good feeling the place gives you, although she has been there with me. For each person, it's different. I would go there so much, or even work for the company like I do, if I didn't like it. Here, I encounter people who feel like me, and don't make me feel weird because of what I like. Not that I wouldn't like to go other places, but I'm only 33 and hope to get there too.....

 

[JeffJewell]

...because I have a pathological need to write things.

Oh.

You mean as opposed being at any of the other similar outlets for such afflictions.

I've been around Disney as long as I can remember; I learned to read from Carl Barks' Donald Duck comics. Although I missed the inaugural calendar year (it opened in October, and around my house in 1971 you didn't pull the kids out of school to go to Florida), my family got to go to Walt Disney World during the first year of operation in the summer of '72. That trip was a summer tradition for us, nearly every year until about 1983 (and then again in 1988). My grandfather and I would ride If You Had Wings over and over again (the "speed room" although ridiculously simple in execution, was brilliant in design, and Magical in effect) because you didn't have to use a ticket.

College (and the typical sorry assortment of temptations related thereto) and then my first real job/independence/responsibility commanded most of my attention for several years after that. But by 1999, I'd been living in my own house for eight years, had made that first big job change in the "real" career, and begin to have enough cash flowing to justify vacations. It didn't hurt that, just around that time, my new company from yonder job switch sent me to two weeks of training in Orlando. I got to spend several evenings and the entire weekend in the (to me, anyway) new World.

The hook was set, and Disney has reeled us in four times since then (with a fifth scheduled for December).

When I first got back to WDW after the ten year hiatus, I quite naturally found wonderful things I remembered, and found new things I enjoyed. I also found new things that weren't so great. And I missed some old favorites that were now gone.

Preparing for our trips, I did a lot of Disney research on the web, included at DIS. I found out a lot about the changes to the parks during my missing decade. What I found out bothered me, because there seemed to be a clear trend that Disney had started to do things in a cheap way rather than in a Magic way.

I still enjoyed my vacations (obviously, I guess, with another on the horizon), but I was concerned because I felt many projects lacked the attention to detail that I feel is one of the bases for Disney Magic; and it turned out that quite a few of the shortcomings were directly attributable to the Accountanteers. In the long run, I don't think this trend will yeild many true bargains, and if continued, will eventually make Disney no different than any other theme park resort.

Anyway, in a moment of weakness (I told you it was pathological) I signed up for the DIS boards because I was so certain I would find people like me who loved Disney and would obviously agree that the trend had to stop. I thought sure all the lifelong Disney fans here would empathize with my hopes for a big management shakeup.

Boy was I surprised.

I must interject that, very recently, it does seem there are more posters expressing feelings similar to mine. A sign of more folks' limits being reached as we go along?

Anyway, that's why I got here in the first place. I guess I stay because this is still a good place to get early information on things (Although I'm beginning to believe that there are a certain number of Internet rumors that are planted by Disney with an obsfuscatory intention), and because there are certain posters here that I enjoy reading, every time they take the time to write.

Jeff

 

[DaveO]

Jeff - I do not know if it is more poeple thinking that Disney is doomed. Or maybe folks like me have stoped posting because of being told too many times that we are looking through rose colored glasses. We are blind to the burnt out light bulbs and peeling paint, that AK stinks, Space will be cra*, Eisner is the devil, Walt was a saint, all 'off-the self' rides are doomed to fail, and IOA is the new leader in theme parks.

I truely believe that Disney will come out of what is perceived to be a slump. Yes maybe DCA is a failure. But most good companies learn from thier mistakes. I am confident Disney will. DisneySeas is still a Disney product which proves they still have the right stuff. From a business perspective it seems like a great move. Have another company pay for the R&D. Take the best of the best and bring it to the states sprinkling through the parks. What a great upgrade to the Living Seas.

Also I see no issue with building some spinners and 'C' ticket rides. As long as they are well themed and fun. I will wait to see Dino-Rama before I judge. There are other customer segments Disney has to satisfy (3-10 Yos) not just the 'E' ticket types. Space is coming and from what I hear should be great.

I am tired of hearing how the 'blue sky' concepts get cut down to the attractions that they become. When MK opened in 71 there ware no mountains or PoC. Just a lot of rides with 'cut-outs', Toad, PeterPan, Snow White, Small world (limited AA), 20K. And don't forget the spinners - Dumbo - Astro. And the carnival rides - Skyway, carosell, boat rides, race cars.

Who is to say that SM was not designed to be 3X faster and 2X higher with other misc attractions all around it. But it got cut. With the Internet we just know about all the cuts. So things might seem worse then they are.

I guess we will see in 5-7 years which 'side' is correct.

Sorry for the rambling. I would just like to read more about rumors and new things that are comming without the commentary that the 'new attraction' will stink because everything they do now stinks.

Maybe there should be an Eisner Bashers or Disney is Doomed board ...

Bottom line - I love the boards, except for the 'Disney is going downhill and if you can not see that you are stupid' mentality.

The magic is still there for me 110%

Dave O.

Next visit 12/01 DS 1st! Trip #20+

 

[Planogirl]

I visit this board because I learn a lot here and truly enjoy reading the different view points. I usually lurk but I know that if I have a question that this group will likely be the most informed, that is, if ANYONE knows the answer. I can also relate to much of the frustration I see here but also continue to blindly follow Disney down whatever alley they may go in spite of everything. I sometimes need to be reminded why I do this when things become particularly frustrating and I can't take a trip to comfort myself.

The other boards are great for info and fun. The people who come to the DIS are, for the most part, VERY nice.

 

[Quentin Disney]

When I came here on these boards in December of '99 to help my mom plan a New Years Eve trip, I really only came for the help . I was never the one to actually create discussions at that time. Eventually, my courage went up when I began talking and seeing people my age (I'm 20) talk about Disney. The reason why I am here is that this place is like family. You have posters you love to hear from and some that you rather not hear. We all share different experiences and learn from them. We hear from different viewpoints, which make us less close-minded than just listening to one side of the story. The DIS is certainly not a perfect online community, but its kind of close to it. If you were to compare, say RADP in terms of politie users and user-friendly boards, then the DIS would be an online Disney community utopia.

 

[Bob O]

Im here because i love WDW and find out alot of good info here. Its fun reading about others experiences at my favorite vacation destination. I also really enjoy the non-disney banter among the people on these boards if we agree or disagree, its thought provoking and alot of fun!!!

 

[Lori of the Lodge]

I rarely post, however I'm here every day to read what others are saying. These boards are my daily escape. It makes me feel closer to Disney World, and that makes me smile.

I'll be there for a week this fall. Staying at my favorite place in the world, the Wilderness Lodge, and finally going to check out Universal/IOA for the first time.

 

[BRERALEX]

I used to think i knew allll that was disney . Then i came here to the DIS and would frequent the theme park and attractions board, until i git bored. then i found this place new and rumors and i saw that people named captain crook and some landbaron guy and other people havin some looooooooong and sometimes fanatical debates over a theme park! A THEME PARK THAT I LOVE BABY!!!!!!!

I can say i was losing the love and then i started reading some really really really cool posts. the best post i think i ever read was something along the lines titled "robbing peter to pay Paul"? somehting like that. I was just fascinated and blown away and found myself talking to my girlfirend about it. telling her "yeah and then this guy called ...... said this and he keeps going at it with this guy named ...... and we're all grown men and women debating, and talking about DW. I rarely post but im on here everyday just looking for that disney fix. I used to think even up until i found this site that only I loved Disneyworld as much as i did i swore that. And then i found the DIS.

I also sometimes dispise the Dis because off came my "rose colored glasses" and I wish they didnt, double edge sword, happy and sad. But now im happy to be able to point out good Disney stuff (my old favs) and bad not well developed enough Disney stuff (insert a whole mess of stuff here).

SO i come here cause i love the World of the mouse. Taking my son this Sunday for his first trip He's only 3 (2 1/2 to anyone at the entrance). And i cant wait to see every single look on his face. I want him to be pushed in the stroller and me walking backwards in front of him to watch every glimmer of awe and excitment in his eye and i come here to make sure i havent overlooked anything and if this site can help make sure i didnt.

(so i stand and say)

MY NAME IS BRERALEX..........and I'm addicted to the DIS.

 

[DisneyFanGuy]

I too pop by every day to read the posts.

I have been a Disney nut since I was little and visited DL when I was 7 years old. I went home and pretended to be a tour guide on JC, and told all my friends about being shrunk and sent into "Innerspace"

I was irritated with the Disney Company long before I began reading the DIS, and came here with my own opinions. Most people I talk to have no idea what I am venting my spleen about and just let me go on and on. Here I share the love of a company that is unlike any other on earth with many others that seem to feel the same way!

My "if I ran the company" stems from my love of their brand. And if I every really lose perspective, I just go and have some fun at a Six Flags park. I just had an awful experience at a park in Chicago. ( I am going to share the letter I wrote in response on another post.)

A couple of flights on Dumbo will sooth the soul!

 

[larworth]

I won't try to enhance gcurling's opening statement. It says enough for me.

I discovered the DIS a little over a year ago as I was preparing for my last trip. Initially it was just to get tips and little known secrets. After my return, I started to read the trip reports as they would induce these great flashbacks. I soon stumbled onto the Rumors and Biz board and was immediately hooked

Hey, BRERELAX I'm the guy who sits a couple of rows behind you. Do you happen to know which one of the 12 steps we are covering in tonight’s meeting?

I too worried about the rose colored glasses effect. However, what I have gained from all these discussions is a greatly expanded idea of what makes the Disney of yesterday, today (and hopefully tomorrow) so special. Hearing how it touches others, through both their delights and frustrations, has only enhanced my appreciation for just how unique and fragile this all is and how lucky we are. I am sure to cherish my upcoming trip to WDW just that much more.