DEBATE: Should Disney really be this popular?

[Captain Crook]

After our California vacation, in which as most of you know, we visited San Francisco, Monterey, Big Sur, DL & Las Vegas I got to wondering about Disney as the most popular vacation destination on earth. My kids admit that their favorite part of the trip was, in fact, Disnyland...But not by a lot, both (oddly enough) loved San Francisco.

My wife and I always take Caribbean vacations every year to do some diving & decompression so although Disney has lightened our wallets with quite a few vacation nights over the past 13 years (especially), it has never been the whole ball of wax (although yearly it seems to be getting a higher & higher percentage).

After seeing more of this great big Country I got to wondering about what Disney is trying to accomplish. Should we adults be so thrilled about being cocooned at a Resort thats all about make believe rather than actually going out and seeing the real world on its own terms?

We talk about Disney and Walt as if it were the Holy Grail. I think Walt, while proud that his achievments have been so revered would probably be apt to reflect on this devotion much like Wlliam Shatner does on Trekkies ("Don't you people have lives?").

What do you guys think? Are we crazy or Crazed? I'm sure all of us here on the DIS know people (many people?) who think our facination with Disney is...Well, weird. Is it? Should we be living our lives in the real world or is this real enough?

Note: Moderatrs please be leinient as the folks on this board are the ones who's responses I care about.

 

[WDWHound]

Disney, especially the parks, is all about escapism. A little recreational escapism is a good thing, as long as its balanced with other activities more grounded in the real world. There is nothing wrong with being cocooned for a while, as long as you are willing to leave the cocoon and see the rest of the world at some point.

I care a great deal about Disney because it can be the best escapism out there and I get a great deal of enjoyment from it. I also get a great deal of enjoyment from visiting other places and doing other things. I care a great deal about these things too, but they make for less interesting discussions on boards like these.

So to answer your question, some of us may care too much, some may not. It all depends on how balanced a persons life is. Moderation in everything is always the best way to go.

 

[Bob O]

Myself i love wdw for the escape it provides me and my family!!!!!! In my every day world i deal with scum and BS and when i go to wdw i escape away from all that and can go to a small part of the world where everything is clean, people are very friendly and do things i cant do at home. On my first visit in 1982 i loved the cleaniess and the enviroment it provded me as well as the rides/attractions and that is why i go back, not as often as i would like too but why i will always go back and why im concerned it stays the way it is. But i also love history and roller coaster's so when not going to wdw i do go to places where i can learn about history and fulfill my coaster fix. But for me the escape from reality is very big!!!!

 

[hopemax]

I've been waiting for other people to reply, especially AV, I'm finding it really hard to put my thoughts into words. Especially when I already feel there's a big chasm between why I go to Disney, what I get out of the Disney experience than a lot of the rest of you, and they seem to better at getting deep points across.

I've never gone to Disney to cocoon myself from anything. I go to Disney to be reminded of, "what could be." What is possible when a person decides to do something that "everyone" (including many of the people working on the darn thing) thinks it is a mistake. It's "proof" that sometimes the majority is wrong.

Kids and adults have a lot of things in common.

Learning something about your history is not automatically "boring."

It's okay for adults to play, to laugh, to not be so serious all the time.

The future isn't something that has to be feared.

You're not stuck with anything. Don't like something, work to change it.

It's not about escapism for me. It's about looking at life from a different point of view. Is any of this making sense at all? Or have I just further marked myself as a loony?

 

[Planogirl]

I like your reply hopemax.

I think it's a combination of "what could be" and escapism for me. I've always enjoyed imagining a perfect world, a place that is interesting and friendly and fun all at once. I also love to escape from the day to day cares of life and put on my own rose-colored glasses for a week or so. I think it's healthy and almost necessary for people to be able to indulge in fantasy for just a little while in our complicated lives.

I do find these little slices of comfort food for the mind and spirit in other places besides Disney places but Disney is the most consistent and most all-encompassing that I've found so far.

 

[DVC-Landbaron]

As you can probably tell from the length of some of my posts, I hate short stories. There isn’t enough time to develop characters and plots are usually thin. Not always, but usually.

I like long books. Give me a trashy pulp novel, but make 700 pages long and I’m hooked and almost always disappointed when I finish it. I like Stephen King, Ludlum, and Tolkien for this reason. Hey, How many 19 year olds actually made it through all three Dune books? In a row!! Well, I did!! (the one time I finished a series and thanked God there were not any more!!!)

I like long music!! I LOVE pink Floyd concept albums and can even listen to them without mind-altering enhancements!! I love Beethoven symphonies!! And don’t care for Chopin because he’s usually the opposite!! The longer the better!! If a song is good at three or four minutes, it’s gotta be GREAT at seven or eight minutes!! Karnevil #9(sp) both parts 1 & 2, the long version of Thick as a Brick, and Kashmir!! WOW!! What an album that’d make!! Fire up the burner!!

I like long movies!! But where the books can be a on the rotten side, the movies have to be well done. I can watch Lawrence of Arabia over and over again just for the cinematography alone!! Once Upon a Time in America (the 4+ hour one only!!) and Once Upon a Time in the West are two of my favorites. Films like these take the time to immerse you in their world, in detail, in story and in all the little things that make up ambience of film. Star Wars had some of that as well, but then there’s Jar-Jar to consider and…

Anyway, Disney made that “ambience of film” for me in 3-D.

So, my good Captain, you ask “Why”?

Because of the overwhelming quality that they used to (and still do on most things) put into their product. And the cost, while higher than their run of the mill competition, was surprising very, very low. And for me that was pure escapism value!!!

But I was always careful to include other vacation destinations as well. I made sure we drove and explored different routes there and back, sightseeing along the way. And every other or at least every third year we’d take the non-Disney trip. Boston/New York, Colorado, Yellowstone, New Orleans, etc. Sometimes you just can’t replace the real world!!

We talk about Disney and Walt as if it were the Holy Grail. I think Walt, while proud that his achievements have been so revered would probably be apt to reflect on this devotion much like William Shatner does on Trekkies ("Don't you people have lives?").

Well, I don’t think that applies. Star Trek, and I like that too, is not interactive. I plop down my money or click on the tube and they waste my time for two hours. Not that I mind that, and more times than not I get a whole bunch of enjoyment out of it. But I can’t touch it. I can’t walk through it, taking my dear sweet time. And I can’t sleep in it. Or eat it. Or… well… just plain ‘experience’ it. Disney, on the other hand, is entertaining, interactive, educational and inspiring. And for the most part it’s LIVE!!

And I really have to admit. That if it were not for the despicable state of the Walt Ideal, and what we have now compared to what Walt invented, I wouldn’t be here. I simply don’t care enough about it. I’m not the type to seek an autograph or go to a ‘fest’. And even though I LOVE science fiction, Dr. Who, Star Trek, and especially the Beatles, I have never gone to any of their get-togethers or even visit their web sites. I felt that way about Disney when I first discovered the DIS.

But shortly thereafter I started to notice those damned vacuum cleaners and they cut an hour away from me and… well… the rest, as they say, is history.

So, no. I don’t think we need a life. I, at least, post here to state my views as to why I am so upset at the way Disney has changed doing business over the years. Something that used to give me great joy. A business, and the only business, I’d ever get so worked up over. Because it was unique. Because it was a real value. Because is was… well… MAGIC!!!

 

[DisneyKidds]

Boy Baron - sometimes I really like the way you think. It is just too bad you can't get your head out of your a** and abandon the third vehicle . I just listened to Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety and the only thing that was lit up was the stereo.

Why WDW? It is simply how you feel when you are there - and how you look forward to it when you are not. Not because we don't do other things. Not because we need a life. Not because we are crazy. Because Disney is different, it is MAGIC. Maybe it is escapism, maybe it is fantasy, maybe it is the warn feelings of a day gone by, it might be just about the quality of the offerings and the overall experience - hell, it is all of those and then some.

We go on several beach vacations a year, we go skiing, we see a lot of other things. However, we look forward to none as much as our WDW vacations. We remember none as vividly as those WDW vacations. Our family time is so precious and WDW is a place where we can have it all - and have it together.

Sure - I loved hiking the Lake Chutes at Breckenridge and scaring the bejesus out of myself on a 50 degree slope - but the wife and kids couldn't be there with me. Body surfing at the shore - same deal. A tennis clinic at Topnotch would be great, soaking in the Roman baths at Gurneys, a massage at Seaview - all wonderful and high quality experiences - but not necessarily for the whole family. Even other 'family' destinations, such as the Sagamore, are great - but they can't hold a candle to Disney. Of course we 'get it', but a lot of others don't.

 

[Another Voice]

Disney is not a replacement or an escape from real life.

Disney should be an enhancement to it.

I think it was daVinci that said the only way to discover what is possible is go beyond it and discover what is impossible. I think that life works like that to. The only way to discover what life can be is to step outside the boundaries of it every once and while. By stretching the edges of my experiences, I can expand the boundaries of what is possible in my life. I can sit on a surfboard for hours watching dolphins play in the surf and understand that we are not the only thinking beings on this world. I can sit on a mountaintop on a clear dark night and watch the Milky Way turn overhead spanning distances and forces that are forever beyond human understanding. And I also enjoy watching what the human mind can imagine – sometimes on the pages of a book, sometimes in the darkness of a theater, and sometimes in “real life” all around me.

Disney at its best is just one of the ways to “step outside normal life” – it is a way of pushing back the boundaries of imagination by showing that what most people consider to be impossible really isn’t. By using storytelling, it is a way of giving me experiences that I would not have otherwise been able to have. For a brief moment I can be lost on a jungle river, be attacked by a pirate ship, fly through space or creep through a haunted house. Sure, the experiences themselves are fake – but the emotions are not. And that’s why the experience has a lasting effect.

There is a downside to storytelling however. For a story to work it must be simple, understandable and clear cut. It must be everything that real life isn’t. Real life is messy, confusing and full of pain. Many people begin to think that simply believing in something is the same as creating it in a reality; that by believing you can live in a fantasy world that the fantasy world is really how things are supposed to be. Instead of expanding the possibilities in their lives, they shrink the scope of their lives into a small, hard, impenetrable ball which they think will protect them from pain. Disney was never meant for that.

That’s also the root of my frustration with the current Disney. The Company used to exist to expand and strive. Everything it did it tried to create something new. Today – it’s curled up in a tight little ball. It’s afraid and is unwilling to risk the pain of failure. And so it misses its chance for greatness as well.

 

[JºoºhnG]

In my every day world i deal with scum and BS

For me this Quote from Bob O says it all too well for me. I am a 911/Police Dispatcher. I work in a profession where day in and day out not only do I deal with everyone else's problems but when I get home I must deal with my own. I deal with death, destruction, mayhem and anything else that can be thrown my way. I may not deal with it as closely as Bob O being on the front line but sometimes being slightly removed can even be worse, no matter how hard I try to help, I must pass the torch to the officer in the field and then hope what I have done was sufficient...

So do I need Disney? Maybe not...Do I want Disney? Yes! Do I need a little Escapism? Yes. Does WDW provide this for me and my Family YES ! When I leave on the family Disney vacation I take two full days of driving to unwind and get in relaxation mode. When I arrive in Kississime/Lake Beuna Vista it is like I am in a different world, problems are left behind this is mine and my families time and no one is going to take that away from us.

Should I get a life? I have one Thank you very much... but while I am at Disney that is my Fantasy Life !! I don't worry about the next call, I don't worry about sending my officers to dangerous calls, I don't worry about the next person to tell me they are going to kill themselves and their wife and their kids, I can relax for a couple of weeks and only worry about what smoothie to order or how many times to ride ToT or TT....is that so bad? Of course not. To me it's MAGIC !

Sure over the past few years Disney has lost a bit of it's Lustre and that is coming from a recent convert because I will tell you that up until 6 years I had no desire to visit WDW but boy has that changed. I sit here at work with my Disney Hat, Shirt, Watch and ring on, listening to Mouse Radio One while typing this... I am a believer that with a little elbow grease and hard work the shine can be put back on the crown. I truly believe that the Magic is still there for most of us even if we do get a little cynical sometimes, but I think that comes from being a little jaded by our surroundings or at least my surroundings.

Should I get out and see the rest of the world, should I experience other cultures,of course in due time, at this time for me and my family anyways, we enjoy Disney and will continue to for as long as it brings us joy and then.....who knows...?

Remember:

...there's a great big beautiful tomorrow...!

Have a Disney Day !!!

 

[Eeyore2U]

Disney is my choice for a vacation destination for a number of reasons. Mostly the insulation from the real world. In all honesty, I never see my DW as relaxed as when at WDW. WE go other places but have that "it would be better at WDW" conversation three or four times a day.

I know many here will say the "magic" has faded. I think that's a personal feeling. Maybe it will for me, maybe it won't, only time will tell.

 

[Buzz2001]

Besides the escape from the real world, it is a cheap vacation. We have vacationed at other locations across the US and WDW works out to be one of the cheapest for what you get. For example, if we go to Cape Cod for a week in the summer, it either costs me anywhere from $1500 to $2000 just to rent an average house or if I stay at a hotel/motel, it costs up to $300+ per night because it is peak season. And these hotels do not compare to any WDW resort. Then you have to add in the food and entertainment.

 

[Annie&Hallie'sMom]

Escapism is what I need once a year (or more often). When I hit FL, I don't have to drive any where, I don't have to cook, I don't have to clean...I just am. I can do what I want when I want. And everyone goes out of their way to please me.

I don't stress about things and I can act like the kid that is still a part of me.

How can I not want to go back again and again?

 

[treesinger]

WDW shouldn't, IMO, be a one and only vacation destination for anyone except the hardcore "WDW ONLY" fans. There is simply too much out here in the USA to see. None of us will die having seen HALF of what this country has to offer even if we aggressively seek out the beautiful, strange, and unusual sides of the USA.

To me, WDW is much more than a vacation. I've been going since I was 4 years old. On my 4th birthday, in fact!! And we never went more than a couple years in between visits. So now, I'll be carrying on that tradition for my children as they grow up. My 20 mo. old still remembers the trip in March to a very small degree. She sees certain pictures and tells us about them. Whenever she sees the mouse ears, she yells "MOUSE!!, ME MOUSE!!" (she can't say "Mickey" so she says "Me" instead!! Too cute!!)

Anyway, WDW is as much a part of our lives as any other special occassion. I typically like to experience WDW when I want to be very active on my vacation. I'm a commando at heart! Although on this next trip, we're trying the calm, soak-in-the-atmosphere approach.

Loving WDW doesn't imply that anyone "needs a life". I don't think you meant it as offensive as some read it to be. I think you meant that there is more to life and vacations than Disney, so why don't we expose ourselves to it?

I would say, with very few exceptions, we already do see plenty of the rest of the world. Some keep returning back to WDW because of the festive atmosphere. Some because of the disconnection with the rest of the world. Some for nostalgia. Somw just to see what's new. Some because WDW is comfortable and familiar. Some because WDW has done such a great job at making a destination that the whole family will love at the same time. And, last but not least, some beacuse WDW is simply the best entertainment out there.

I don't get around very much. My vacations have consisted solely of WDW, Myrtle Beach, and Ft Lauderdale for the last 8 years. I still wish to see Williamsburg soon. Being we won't fly anywhere until I get a job that can pay for tickets, I'll be sticking to places within a day's drive.

There is something to be said for familiarity as well. Vacations are expensive, and we would like to know what we're getting for our hard-earned buck. At WDW, we know exactly what we're getting. We know we'll get quality. We know we'll have fun. We know the kids will love it. We know we will too!!
In a way, going to WDW is like returning home. We know where everything is. We're familiar with all the ins and outs. We don't need a park map anymore because we know the parks like the layouts of our houses. We know where the restaurants are and know where to drive should we desire to leave the property. WDW is part fantasy, part escape, but also part alternate reality. WDW isn't so much a vacation as a part of our lives that we visit from time to time. Should we never go again, there would be this small hole in our lives that would never be filled again. WDW is the life we wish we could live every day. But if I can only get a week at a time, I'll take that too!!

 

[Sandy Fisher]

Until I graduated from high school (back in the dark ages of the early 60's), I had never been on a "vacation". Went to camp each summer, less than 30-minute drive from home, went on day trips swimming, picnics, etc. My first ever vacation was to Ocean City, MD in 1962.
I was 39 years old on our first trip to the Magic Kingdom, 1982. It was love at first sight and has been ever since.
My family has been on numerous vacation trips to varied destinations. DH and I have been to even more varied destinations. Except for WDW, my favorite is a beach trip where we literally sit and soak up the nature around us. I can be totally happy walking on the beaches, watching the tides, feeling the gulf breezes, etc.
Maybe I will "outgrow" WDW as a destination but I rather doubt it. It's fun, fantasy, magic, and all the other attributes listed in other posts. Yeh, it should be this popular. It is a getaway for me, from the humdrum day-to-day life that I live most of the year. And like someone else mentioned ---- I don't have to clean, cook, entertain anyone, do laundry, clean the litter box, etc. And it's a great place to be a kid (for me and for DH) because we never experienced anything even close to it when we were kids.

 

[Captain Crook]

Thanks for the varied responses...I'm enjoying them.

I hope no one took offense to my descriptions of the "get a life" attitude I portrayed (vis-a-vie Shattner to the Trekkies) for no malise was intended...I fall into this category myself do I not? I simply meant that many people do look at "us" this way, don't they?

I too, use WDW as escapism for the rough & tumble world, but this years trip showed me that it is easy to go for the tried and true when perhap there is something more (I won't say better) waited to be discovered that could actually be better for us in our development as human beings...

 

[Bob O]

Ditto's to JohnG'(dont know how to make fancy mickey ears!!)post. A dispatchers job is very stressfull and and we need our eacpe from our reality!!
Captain-the "get a life" isnt taken as a insult by me as alot of family members will say(even wife) "Your going to wdw again" but some people dont find the magic in it that we do!!!

 

[Bob O]

Ditto's to JohnG'(dont know how to make fancy mickey ears!!)post. A dispatchers job is very stressfull and and we need our eacpe from our reality!!
Captain-the "get a life" isnt taken as a insult by me as alot of family members will say(even wife) "Your going to wdw again" but some people dont find the magic in it that we do!!!

 

[Planogirl]

Captain Crook, I think that I understand what you're saying. We always took little trips to other places but WDW has been my big trip, my primary focus for a long time now. I talked about going to other places but I never really pursued it. I was more than a little nervous about our trip to southern California because even though it included Disneyland most of it was not Disney-related. Frankly, I wasn't sure how I'd feel about that. Disneyland was wonderful but San Diego was also wonderful and now I feel downright eager to get out there and see EVERYTHING. It has occurred to me that maybe WDW is the best there is but that doesn't mean that other places might not be good too. And it might just be healthy to discover what everywhere else is all about.

I hope that I'm making a little bit of sense.

 

[raidermatt]

perhaps there is something more (I won't say better) waited to be discovered that could actually be better for us in our development as human beings...

We all develop in different ways and to different degrees. Personally, I do want to see other things, and we do go to different places. But I also don't feel I NEED to go other places on my vacation to develop as a person.

That's not to say that's a better or worse approach, only different.

I've taken trips to places and gained a surprising amount of satsfaction, but I've also been places that were a disappointment.

In some ways, I do view WDW or DLR as an escape from the real world, but only in the sense that I try to take complete leave of my day-to-day responsibilities. I try to do that regardless of the vacation destination, however. (Not always 100% successful of course, but I think I do pretty good...).

So just like anything else, there are those who probably don't truly have things in perspective. And with a site like this, its probably fairly easy to view many of us that way. But in most cases, I think that's just because we don't see each other's other interests. Sort of like forming an opinion of a customer service rep based on conversations with that person on the phone. You may get some insight into that person, but its going to be superficial, and will be off-base in many cases.

imho.