Why do we keep coming back???

[foots]

This is not a joke, really. But what is it about Disney that keep making us want to come back? Have you ever really asked yourself this question? The wife and I are planning our 4th trip to WDW for September.

Each time we leave Disney (we take our trips in September) we say to each other, ok we can skip a few years before we come back, but the next year when I start thinking about where to go on vacation Disney pop’s back in my mind. And when I ask the wife if she’d like to go back to Disney for vacation, it’s always an enthusiastic YES!

The thing is I really can’t put my finger on the exact reason that we keep coming back, yes we have fun, but we have fun on every vacation we go on, for the most part.

When family and friends ask us what it is about Disney that we like so much that we keep going back, we just say we enjoy everything, it’s just a nice trip.

We enjoy the Smokey Mountains too, (about 5 trips) but have only been back there once (after 1st trip to Disney) since starting our Disney vacations.
We normally stay at POP Century, but did stay at Coronado Springs Resort last year, (very nice) but will be going back to POP this year. It’s really all we need for the time we spend in our room and we really like POP Century, it was our intro resort to Disney World. And since we usually go in September, we use the free dining plan while there. And our stay is normally between 5 and 7 nights each visit.

So as you all can see we are not doing it “big time” by no means. So what is it?

I just can’t figure out what it is about Disney that keeps us wanting to come back year after year so strong.

But if I had to guess I would say…..

Maybe it’s that my wife seems to really, really enjoy our Disney vacations.

Or maybe that once there, I park at the resort, and don’t get back into the car again until we check-out, because everything we need is there for us.

Or maybe after everything has been planned and you get there, it’s really a stress free good time.

Or maybe Disney plays and show some type of subliminal messages at the parks and resorts that makes us/you want to come back every year. (Not kidding)

Hey or maybe we just love the World , who knows. See you there in September

Foots

 

[JeremyGNJ]

To me it sounds like it's because you don't really know anything else. All you mention is the Smokey Mountains and Disney.

Book an all-inclusive Caribbean resort, and you'll probably skip a few years without even thinking about Disney!

 

[FLchick415]

Well, for me, it's because Disney is actually cheaper. Because I live in Florida, I don't have airfare to worry about. I get FL resident discounts. I stay at the Value resorts. I've been to Vegas, NYC, and yeah they're all great and I'd go back in a heartbeat. I guess I treat them the way some people treat Disney. Those are my once every few years trips where as Disney is "home".

 

[preludejf]

I have asked myself this same question. I think it is because I pay one price for everything (always stay on property and always get dining plan), park the car and off we go. I don't have to drive, I don't have to cook, I don't have to plan where or what we will eat. Everything is there. Everything is planned.

BTW, we are well traveled and still love WDW and still go back every 1-2 years.

 

[BigMommaMouse]

I think it all depend on your families personality. We love Disney, the whole family does. As my children have gotten older we have found different things to do there every year.
I have tried other places, because people insist you need too. Nothing has compared to Disney. Sometimes we need to skip a year or two, and we are dying to go back.
I really like Walt himself. The way he dreamed and envisioned families staying there to escape the throngs of life. For the two weeks get to be 100% in the moment together as a family.

 

[SuperRob]

My wife and I honeymooned at Walt Disney World. She told me that it's the happiest she's ever been.

So I will gladly spend my hard-earned money and the rest of my life making her that happy again.

 

[alicia080979]

Dh& I are the same way. You can see from my signature that once we started in 2009 we were hooked. After our last couple of trips we said, ok...it is starting to lose the magic and decided to take some time off. Well that didn't exactly work out, lol.
I am still relatively young (mid 30's) and been to some amazing places (Kenya on an African Safari in the Serengeti was the most amazing experience of my life), Carribean, Mexico, various states here in the US but we just keep coming back to Disney.

Everytime DH & I ask ourselves what it is, the only one thing we can attribute it to is that when we get to Disney we are able to forget the rest of the world. We can be big kids, relax, forget about work and the stress back home and just escape. When we go on other vacations, it just doesn't do that for us. We are going to the beach this June (and fitting in 4 days of Disney) and will go to a different beach in September for 5 days before our big trip at Disney but we just can't stay away. It is 'home' to us now.

After some of the changes at Disney and things that we don't love, we are talking about going to Universal next year but we will see how these next 2 trips go, lol.

 

[MichiganDVC]

Its only gotten worse for me. We'd leave WDW after a nice 5 day trip and I'd think, "yeah, I don't need to go back for a while."

Then two months later, I get an email about Food and Wine, or 30% AP room discount, etc... and the wheels start turning! I start researching times and days and options and I end up making a short video to convince DW that this is the right thing to do!

This used to happen every 4 months.

The last time I went to WDW (albeit it was a one night, 36 hour trip), I was getting pouty on the departure afternoon because I wasn't ready to leave yet. And we already had our June trip planned, but I was still sad.

Its not June yet and I'm getting ready to play D-Cot all day to prepare.

 

[Luv2Run]

Disney magic, baby.

In all seriousness, though, in all the places I've vacationed, WDW is the only one who puts as much attention to detail into every little thing in order to make the guests' experience as top notch as possible. It literally feels like my second home, and even so, I still find myself discovering something new to enjoy at each visit.

 

[JeremyGNJ]

Everytime DH & I ask ourselves what it is, the only one thing we can attribute it to is that when we get to Disney we are able to forget the rest of the world. We can be big kids, relax, forget about work and the stress back home and just escape. When we go on other vacations, it just doesn't do that for us. We are going to the beach this June (and fitting in 4 days of Disney) and will go to a different beach in September for 5 days before our big trip at Disney but we just can't stay away. It is 'home' to us now.

See I find an all-inclusive like Sandals to be MUCH more condusive to "forgetting the rest of the world".

No Busses, No cell phones, no appointments, no tipping, no problem mon.

 

[DisneyFive]

Wow, this is so similar to us, it's crazy. 4 September trips so far, four years in a row, all with free dining, the first two at POP!, and we've asked ourselves the same question... what makes us keep wanting to go back?

We were convinced, after our second trip that we would take a year off and do something else instead, like Universal/Sea World, etc... Well, around March the following year, I started to get the Disney itch, and then so did the rest of the family... We decided to give Disney another go, but we MADE SURE to do new things the third trip. It was awesome. A Sea World day, new restaurants, new resort (POR)... It made for another magical stay.

Now, our priority is to do as many new, exciting things each trip to keep it fresh.

Having said that, we are taking our fifth year off from Disney. It hasn't been an easy decision, and I get those pangs to go back, especially now that FD has been offered again! We've had a great run, but we need a break for a year. We're doing a non Disney family Caribbean cruise instead. I can't wait to show the kids what cruising is all about.

We plan to be back to Disney in 2015. This year off gives us a chance to want Disney even more, and hopefully keep it fresh again.

So, what keeps us going back year after year?

• We all love it, and the memories, photos, and videos we've made there are just magical.
• The kids are only this age for a short time, and Disney is a perfect place to be. I can't wait for a camping trip to Yellowstone and surrounding states, but that will be when the kids are old enough to appreciate it.
• I love the "all inclusive" feel of the Disney vacation. With FD, and staying onsite, I don't have to worry about driving or paying for meals. It's all about having fun, non stop for a week or more, pretty much care free.
• Let's face it, wherever you turn in WDW, there is fun to be had. Close your eyes, spin around, stop and start walking... you're bound to run into... fun.
• My wife and I love being "kids again" Neither of us went as kids, so our first trip in 2010 blew... us... away.
• Hot/warm weather, and swimming at the pools!
• There is NO OTHER PLACE like Disney. It's a magical world all in it's own.
• The price fits our budget. Is is cheap? Heck no, but our cruise isn't going to be any less costly. We don't go bonkers on the Disney budget. We stay at values or mods, and the FD has helped immensely.
• Oh, there is so much. I could go on and on...

Great thread OP!

Dan

 

[MichiganDVC]

Its only gotten worse for me. We'd leave WDW after a nice 5 day trip and I'd think, "yeah, I don't need to go back for a while."

Then two months later, I get an email about Food and Wine, or 30% AP room discount, etc... and the wheels start turning! I start researching times and days and options and I end up making a short video to convince DW that this is the right thing to do!

This used to happen every 4 months.

The last time I went to WDW (albeit it was a one night, 36 hour trip), I was getting pouty on the departure afternoon because I wasn't ready to leave yet. And we already had our June trip planned, but I was still sad.

Its not June yet and I'm getting ready to play D-Cot all day to prepare.

And before I get flamed, I've lived in Europe and been back twice since. I live in the Detroit-area and regularly vacation in Chicago and Toronto, as well as northern Michigan. I've been on 6+ cruises to Caribbean/Mexico/Central and South America. I've visited every state except for Hawaii (until July), Alaska, and a few states on Atlantic Seaboard/New England.
I'm pretty well traveled for 35.

Still love Disney best.

 

[pixie2416]

My wife and I honeymooned at Walt Disney World. She told me that it's the happiest she's ever been.

So I will gladly spend my hard-earned money and the rest of my life making her that happy again.

What a wonderful husband!

 

[kakiegirl]

We are the same way. We have tried skipping years vacationing other places and we were always feeling like we could be at Disney so we finally gave up. I think Disney is the one place we go that we feel like we leave the real world behind and we spend a lot of quality family time together. We are on the go people and a vacation lounging on a beach somewhere would not be for us and we love all the different things you can do while in Disney. I was feeling guilty about a year ago for not taking my daughter, who is now 15 other places, so I asked her if you could go anywhere else other than Disneyworld for vacation where would you want to go. She thought or a few minutes then she said Disneyland.

 

[BigMommaMouse]

And before I get flamed, I've lived in Europe and been back twice since. I live in the Detroit-area and regularly vacation in Chicago and Toronto, as well as northern Michigan. I've been on 6+ cruises to Caribbean/Mexico/Central and South America. I've visited every state except for Hawaii (until July), Alaska, and a few states on Atlantic Seaboard/New England.
I'm pretty well traveled for 35.

Still love Disney best.

It's a Disney forum passion for Disney should be expected.

 

[Jrsy Boy]

In all seriousness, though, in all the places I've vacationed, WDW is the only one who puts as much attention to detail into every little thing in order to make the guests' experience as top notch as possible. It literally feels like my second home, and even so, I still find myself discovering something new to enjoy at each visit.

I will second this and add that the cast members make you truly feel like a guest, unlike some places we have also visited where the seasonal employees make you feel either like a mark or like an inconvenience. I would also say that, after visiting HersheyPark, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Cedar Point and Kings Island, Walt Disney really was a visionary when it came to planning his parks. Some of those places you long a for a wheel & spoke design to make getting around easier.

 

[tsme]

We're the same with Disney. We just love it. It's not having to drive anywhere, everything is there for you. I love the colors, the smells, the pixie dust, everything. I love that feeling of happiness that overcomes me when I get there. I drop my worries at the airport when we get there, so I'm relaxed. I love seeing how happy my family is there. We try to do something new every visit. It's so much fun, it's like coming home. And yes we have traveled many other places, so it's not that we don't know any other place. It's just that Disney is our favorite!

 

[Miffy]

I've been to many places all over the world, but--as other posters have said--I keep coming back to Disney. I just love it there.

I don't think anyone thinks it's odd when someone vacations every year in the south of France, for example. That's chic and sophisticated. But, as demonstrated by the OP, even people who enjoy going to WDW all the time seem to think it needs some kind of justification.

What I'm saying is: It doesn't need any justification or reason! If you love something or someone or some activity, etc., etc., etc., you love it. And life's too short to ignore the people and things you love.

 

[ArwenMarie]

This is about all of the Orlando parks, not just Disney, but same idea...

I live in the suburbs, but I'm a city person at heart. My idea of hell is having to sit on a beach or next to a lake for a week "relaxing". I like to do stuff. I like to see stuff. I also don't drink and a lot of other resorts and vacation destination-type places are sort of boring at night if you don't drink at all.

I think if we didn't go to the Orlando parks, we would go to see other cities in the U.S. or around the world. Which will be great! One day in the future! My kids just aren't ready to appreciate those trips, or maybe I'm not ready to take them.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I've been to many places all over the world, but--as other posters have said--I keep coming back to Disney. I just love it there.

I don't think anyone thinks it's odd when someone vacations every year in the south of France, for example. That's chic and sophisticated. But, as demonstrated by the OP, even people who enjoy going to WDW all the time seem to think it needs some kind of justification.

What I'm saying is: It doesn't need any justification or reason! If you love something or someone or some activity, etc., etc., etc., you love it. And life's too short to ignore the people and things you love.

Yeah, there is real snobbery when it comes to Disney.