By: Ann Dunnington
It’s a time honored question for us Disney fans. Every time we tell people we are once again going to a Disney Park for our vacation, people inevitably ask “Why? Why keep going back? Isn’t it just a kiddie park?”
For many people not inside the Disney Bubble, families often end up taking the once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Walt Disney World resort and thinking that’s enough. What would make you keep going back?
After taking that once-in-a-lifetime trip, many families (including ours!) get drawn into the Disney Bubble and return time and time again! We are now one of those families that make the every-other-year pilgrimage to the Orlando area.
There are a number of reasons for returning to Walt Disney World for your vacation destination. Here are a few reasons our family decides to come back to the Magic:
The Details
Disney Imagineers do such a wonderful job of immersing visitors to the Walt Disney World resort in the storytelling. At Les Chefs de France in Epcot, for example, Little Chef (Remy from the movie Ratatouille, if you were unaware) was added for a little extra Disney flair. This restaurant serves wonderful food, which is all very well and good on its own, but adding in this extra bit of storyline keeps guests immersed in the magic and is a nice little surprise for those who weren’t expecting it!
The Guests are Special
Walt Disney World is one of those places where families go to celebrate special occasions. My husband and I generally go back around the time of our anniversary and we’re always sure to get our “We’re Celebrating” buttons! Wearing this bit of “flare” typically gets you noticed by cast members. As we walk by, Cast Members would often say in a cheery voice, “Happy Anniversary!” How nice it is to have your special occasion noticed and celebrated! Outside of the salutation, while wearing these buttons, we have been honored as Friendship Boat captains, picked to be in the Studio Backlot Tour and have been given many a free dessert at the restaurants. (Of course, it is always best not to assume that you will be given perks for wearing a Celebration button but when they do end up happening, it certainly is extra magical!) The Cast Members always go above and beyond to make guests feel special and welcome whether you’re celebrating something special or not. Cast Members really do make all the difference.
Ease of….EVERYTHING!
Disney makes it so easy to leave your cares at your doorstep. Basically all of the thinking that you would need to do on other vacations you may take is done for you. Take transportation, for example. Disney will pick you up from the Orlando International Airport, drive you to your hotel and drop off your bags for you for free! Then, once on property, you can take the monorail, bus, boat or walk to wherever you want to go on property also for free! It sure does save a lot of stress, especially when you’re tired from a day of park touring. Simply hop on a bus and let Disney do the driving while you relax and enjoy the view. You can literally forget about the real world, which is something we all need, right?!
Have food allergies? Disability? NO PROBLEM!
There is no other place that we can go with our family that so efficiently accommodates food allergies, disabilities or any type of special request. Our family is gluten-free and we have no hesitation dining in any Walt Disney World restaurants. Our favorite bakery, Babycakes NYC, has a location at Downtown Disney and accommodates the most common food allergies and dietary requests. We simply love them! Our favorite dessert is the cupcake-sized brownie. My mouth is watering just thinking about it…and I’m not going to lie, we may have had one of these for breakfast one morning. Hey, it’s vacation, right?! No matter what your allergy, limitation or disability, Disney goes above and beyond to make sure you are comfortable and have everything you need.
There’s ALWAYS Something New
There is no way that you can do everything the Walt Disney World resort has to offer in one trip. With so many hotels, restaurants and attractions you have to go back a few times to even scratch the surface. The best thing is that it will never get old and you will never run out of things to do. There will always be a new attraction, restaurant or experience.
IT’S FUN!
Where else are you encouraged to become a kid again? Need I say more?
Walt Disney World is where memories are made and the more you go the more great memories you’ll have. Our family just can’t get enough and it is certain that we will return for many years to come.
8 replies on “Why We Go Back”
i love this article, we too have been to wdw a few times, and everytime wev booked we get the same questions, Why spend all that money going somewhere youv been? Why dont you want to try other places? Arnt you bored? wah wah wah, I hate having to defend where MY family choose to spend the best 2 weeks of the year, It gets to the point where you just dont want to tell them. To us it is the best place in the world, everytime we go we do something new, see something we would never have seen anywhere else and eat in some of the most fantastics places. Best of al as a family we come together, do everything together with the bigest smiles on our faces. That is why!!!!
Thank you for a great article that hits the mark!!. As a long time WDW guest from the Northern tier of States (over 40+ visits over the last 40 yrs) my friends and family have given up asking me “Why are you going again?” to “when are you going again?” and now most of them now turn to me for WDW advice and hopefully an invite to go.:):) WDW just such a relaxing, stress free and truely magical place that once you’re drawn in, you have that yerning to return again and again….always something new to see or experience and there is never a dull moment. The hardest part is boarding that Magical Express bus to return to the Orlando airport and back to reality, but as a dedicated WDW fan, I am already planning my next trip to “The Most Magical Place on Earth” as my plane is taking off and carrying me home…Thank you again for such a great on the spot article:):)
And where else can a family go that the teenager has as much fun as the 3yo and everyone can all enjoy it together?
The older kids have enjoyed seeing the younger ones experience something for the first time. They fight over who gets to sit with that little one on her first ride on Splash Mountain! And they all talk about our Disney trips for years and years and years.
I always get asked those exact same questions. When we arrive at our resort I always say to my husband »Honey, we’re home!!» That’s how WDW feels to us. My 2 boys 6 & 15 feel the exact same way. On our way home from WDW, they always talk about «next time».
Great article! I don’t try too hard to explain to people that “don’t get it”… We just keep going back and having a great time EVERY time!
My son and I go to WDW every August. He has the luxury of telling everyone he had his first birthday in WDW, he is 12 now, he will be 13 this summer and he has already gone 14 times to WDW, while I have him beat, I am up to visit #106, so this summer the count will go up again. We go every August, and get the travel insurance, and this past August we were grateful we did. Luck have it, our trip home was cancelled due to Hurricane Irene, while everyone at home just got over the initial shock of their first earthquake, they were hit with the storm. I am happy to say we had an extended vacation in WDW. The WDW Staff took great care of us and we returned home 5 days later than scheduled, at home everything was safe and sound. I don’t think we would change a thing, its our favorite destination every August and we are planning our trip for this year. Make sure to save us some of the cinnamon buns from the Magic Kingdom!
I also wanted to comment why my husband and I go to Disney World once a year — we made our first trip in 1987 – our daughter was 5 years old — we are 70 and 77 years old — we joined Disney Vacation Club in 2005 — this was the best thing we ever did — our daughter goes with us every now and then — but we continue to go to Disney World every year (we did go at Mardi Gras time also) but we go now for the Food and Wine Festival in the fall. People also ask us why we continue to go to Disney World — particularly since our children are grown. We too love Disney World — for so many things — the food — the entertainmnt — the relatation at a wonderful resort — and the wonderful feeling we get when we go there — you truly can go without children — and have a wonderful time — but you must love Disney World and the feeling you get from being there. We will continue to go as long as we ae able!! Have a magical day!!
Sorry – in a nutshell:
1. Ex-husband (domestic violence)ruined every trip to Disneyland – vowed to go in the future with someone I liked or loved!
2. Met my present husband, who loves Disneyland! We both are big kids at heart.
3. Last year, hubby had heart surgery, wasn’t sure financially if we could go, won a trip (we had to pay airfare) at a Disney convention (Lynnwood, WA).
We try to go every year, partly because of our anniversary this year-10 years). Disneyland is our happy place, we love & respect Walt Disney and his dream. I get teased at work about me going to Disneyland and liking disney things,like watches and so forth, but I can’t help it, I love Disney and it takes other fans to understand!