Why I’m Grumpy, or “Yes, I’m Going to Disney World Again… and Here’s Why!”

by Alice McNutt Miller
AllEars® Feature Writer

Feature Article

This article appeared in the April 8, 2014 Issue #759 of ALL EARS® (ISSN: 1533-0753)

Recently I've been writing articles for AllEars® about various aspects of planning for trips to Disney parks. Today, I am going to take a slight detour.

I am a reasonable adult, and most people who know me a little bit consider me to be relatively well-informed about politics, popular culture (except for my daughters), and generally what is going on in the world. My day job centers on the very hard topics of finance and risk management. When people start to get to know me better, my Disney Side starts to show through (just do a Google search on my name and see what you come up with — mostly links to AllEars!), and sometimes they begin to cautiously… back… away. One former colleague who recently got in touch with me after searching for me through my online presence, asked me point-blank: "Is there another Alice McNutt Miller who writes on Disney topics? Because I can't believe that that could actually be you." "Nope. That's me." Sigh. Sometimes it really gets to me that I have to spend so much time explaining, when people say, "But I don't understand why you like Disney so much."

If you are a die-hard Disney fan, you have probably faced a skeptical co-worker or neighbor who looks at you dumbfounded when you explain that you are heading out for your annual trip to Walt Disney World, and responds, "You're going there AGAIN?" Well, as Peter Finch famously said in the Oscar-winning movie "Network" (and I am paraphrasing here), I am mad as heck, and I am not going to take this anymore!

Following are some of the objections to visiting Disney parks (for ease of reference, I am going to focus on Walt Disney World, but substitute any Disney park that is your favorite, and it still works) that I have heard (and you may have, as well), and some of my rather Grumpy responses to them.

1. I don't understand why you would want to visit there every year/multiple times per year/ever, etc.

First of all, this question tends to come from people who I know have rented the same beach house in the same town for the same week from time immemorial. This objection is pretty baseless. The fact is that many folks like to spend their vacations in familiar places, doing things they like to do. Why do the same house/same beach town/same week people never get this question? For years we had a house at a ski resort that we went to every year. No one ever asked me why we were skiing there again. Also, even though we visit Disney World a lot, we also like to visit national parks, foreign cities, and even that great little beach town with the wonderful ice cream shop. The next time (and there will be a next time) I get asked this question, I think I will just start talking about my cat.

2. Why would you choose to vacation somewhere that is SO expensive?

This question comes from people who think nothing of dropping the same amount of money that it costs to visit Disney World for a day on a two-hour sporting event or concert. Disney World IS expensive, and with recent price increases is becoming even more so. However, it is my view that even with rising prices, Disney World still offers great value for money. Admission gets you a full day of entertainment, including rides, parades, Broadway quality shows and just plain fun.

Food at Disney World is also expensive. So is the food at sports arenas, and at cafes near the Eiffel Tower. Any time an entertainment venue has a captive audience, it can charge premium prices. There are many tools out there to help you budget and save for a Disney World vacation, and with careful planning, it can cost just about the same amount as other types of vacations.

3. It is SO crowded. I hate crowds.

I give a bit more credence to this argument. Some people just can't handle crowds, and fighting them all day long may make them Grumpy. I usually don't mind the crowds at Disney World. We try to avoid the most mobbed periods for our visits, and even when we can't, to employ strategies to minimize their impact. For example, we arrive early, before many visitors have even made it out of bed, skedaddle during the afternoon, then return to the parks later in the evening when families with younger children have started to leave. We try to visit specific parks on days when they are likely to be less crowded, and make good use of Extra Magic Hours. I also give Disney pretty high marks for crowd management techniques. Just visit your local amusement park on a summer weekend, and you will see the difference.

4. The lines are too long.

A corollary to #3, this argument also has some merit. During crowded periods, wait times for the most popular rides can easily exceed an hour. On the other hand, the seasoned Disney visitor knows to make good use of FastPasses (although we are all currently adjusting to the vagaries of FastPass+), hit the more popular rides either early in the morning, late in the evening or during parades or fireworks, and just skip rides where the wait times are getting too long (about 20-30 minutes for my family). Disney has even made waiting in line fun (see my previous article "Line 'Em Up! Embracing the Queue" for more on that topic at http://allears.net/ae/issue713.htm). Again, visit your local amusement park for a lesson in how NOT to manage lines and one- to two-hour wait times.

5. It is SO commercial! I feel like the whole experience is orchestrated just to get me to buy more stuff.

Well, Disney IS in the business of making money, and they would like you to take home a souvenir or two. It doesn't help that many of the ride exits shunt guests through crowded shops with shelves full of brightly colored plush dolls, and toy pirate swords that are just at your 5-year-old's eye level. I'm not much of a shopper, so this doesn't really bother me, but I can see how it might bother others. However, souvenir hawking is not something Disney created, and probably goes back as far as there have been interesting places of out-of-towners to visit, and have the desire to purchase something to remember ("souvenir" means "to remember" in French) it by. If you don't want to buy anything, don't. It is that simple.

6. Disney does not offer an "authentic" American experience.

This argument often comes from people who wonder why foreigners would waste their time visiting Disney World when there are so many other things that America has to offer. They are also the same people who say that when they visit Paris, they would not deign to set foot in the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre, because they are not "authentic" Parisian experiences. While I do agree that there are many places that foreigners should consider visiting in the United States — especially our amazing National Parks — I'm not sure what is not authentically American about Disney World. On the other hand, you can find plenty of amusement parks overseas that have borrowed (extremely) liberally from the Disney playbook. (See, for example, Europa Park in Germany, with its cute mouse mascot, Euromaus, and "Matterhorn Blitz" roller coaster, among others. Don't get me wrong, if I am ever in that part of Germany, I will want to visit Europa Park!)

7. Disney is for kids.

Um, no. Walt Disney actually built Disneyland in the first place in order for kids and their parents to have fun together. That means that both the kids AND the parents have fun. Since parents are all adults, it would follow that all adults will have fun at Disneyland. OK, OK, that is a logical fallacy. However, I happen to know many adults — including myself — that like to visit Disney parks. Without children. (Just for the record, I have also very much enjoyed the visits that I have made with the children.) Disney World is simply a fun place to be at any age, and there are lots of attractions and experiences that are either geared more toward adult sensibilities, or that might be appreciated more by older guests. (I am hoping that someday my kids will be old enough to really appreciate "The American Adventure," for example, as even though they are now older teenagers I still have a hard time getting them in there.) So while Disney appeals to all ages, I do think that guests with kids and guests without them should cut each other a bit of slack, and any adults that REALLY don't like kids, or don't like being around kids, might want to just do us all a favor and go to Las Vegas.

8. I don't like Disney.

Fine. You don't like Disney. Don't go to Disney World. I DO like Disney. So please don't insult me by questioning my vacation choices. To quote a currently very popular Disney song, from a currently very popular Disney movie (so sorry you had to be subject to Adele Dazeem's lovely rendition of it at the Oscars recently), "Let it go."

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Alice McNutt Miller is a lifelong Disney fan whose fondest childhood memories include "The Wonderful World of Disney" on Sunday nights and her first trip to Disneyland when she was 10 years old. Alice and her family are Disney Vacation Club members, and have now visited every one of the Disney parks throughout the world. They live in Vienna, Virginia.

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RELATED LINKS

You can read other articles by Alice McNutt Miller in the AllEars® Archives:

http://allears.net/ae/archives.htm

… and also in the Guest Blog archives HERE.

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Editor's Note: This story/information was accurate when it was published. Please be sure to confirm all current rates, information and other details before planning your trip.