The appeal of Disney parks

Raven-Phile said:

billb7581 said:
If I ask my kids if they want to go to the Lilo and Stitch show, and they tell me "No Dad, that's lame" what am I supposed to do, drag them in there kicking and screaming?

See, it seems to me like you only gave the option of little kiddie stuff, or the rides. I find it hilarious that you call people out for being "unusual" and "not normal" and whatever the hell else you've said over the course of your trolldom here because they want to stay at a hotel when a park is 2 hours away, but then you pull crap like this.

I can almost guarantee with 100% certainty, that the kids were reading your body language, and feeding off your negativity and that's why they were in that mind set. If you'd have gone in just looking to relax and hang out, I bet it would have been very different. You'd never do that, because you were expecting Disney to offer something that is not there and never will be.

I merely read the map and told them what we were close to. I didn't edit it in any way.

I could spend multiple days in EPCOT alone, especially World Showcase.

Not with 2 young kids you cant.

1. Parades saw the one in AK, kids thought it was lame
2. Fireworks saw the fireworks at Epcot, they were good.
3. Stunt Shows saw Indiana Jones and the other one with the cars meh..
4. Stage Shows - such as?
5. Atmosphere Entertainment the band in the biergarten was pretty good
6. Characters lame, who cares
7. Bike rides I can ride a bike at home
8. Boat rides we rented little speed boats that couldnt get out of our own way because the cast member neglected to mention the 300 lb weight limit. I am 6'4" 260 and my son is 5' 105
9. Train rides
10. Monorail rides rode the monorail,
11. Horseback rides we've done that here, kids didnt like it.
12. Activities at the resorts including marshmallow roasting, movies on the beach, pool activities
13. Golf I golf, but noone else does
14. Minigolf big deal can minigolf anywehre
15. Water parks with heated pools and slides closed in Nov
16. Cirque du soleil no interest
17. Food and Wine Festival we went there. I was looking forward to the Cheddar Cheese soup from La Cellier, what I got was a dixie cup full of runny gritty soup because the chese was curdled.
18. Christmas Parties saw some lights or something, whatever
19. Halloween Parties not applicable.
20. Dueling Pianos saw the piano guy at Riverside he was pretty good
21. Night clubs for 9 and 12 year olds?
22. Rooftop dining while watching fireworks couldnt get a reservation, this was a huge sticking point but it looks like they are trying to fix this.
23. Luaus ?
24. ESPN Wide World of Sports went to ESPN to catch the Raider game Thursday night.
25. Nature trails no interest
26. Savannas went on the safari, it was OK
    
27. Shows with Puppets no interest
28. Shows with Muppets saw some 3d muppet thing. The 2 old guys in the balcony were pretty funny.
29. Talking and meeting and experiencing people from all over the world
30. Using your imagination
31. Asking questions
32. Taking risks
33. Taking pictures
34. Being curious
    
35. Learning
    

OhioStater said:
I find it rather sad that someone can go to Disney...with their children...and not enjoy it.

Really?

I didn't say they didn't enjoy it. But they didnt enjoy it any more than Dorney Park or going to the shore. For the price I was expecting better food and just flat out more. I guess you have to use your imagination to imagine you're having a better time than you actually are.

Wow, Disney to Dorney. I like Dorney, too, but mostly will go there because I already have a pass. I'd keep going, but I'm wasting my breath.

I found that if you don't want to like something...you aren't going to like it. I know lots of people who are not big on Disney. But, attendance seems to be pretty strong and all four of the Florida parks are in the Top 10 in attendance so obviously there are folks who do not agree with bill.

And, for the record, my two young kids (9 and 5) really enjoy Epcot. It is their third favorite park, but they still enjoy it. I think the Nemo show at Animal Kingdom is one of the premier stage shows in any amusement park (and I rate the Dollywood stage shows pretty high). Kids either love the characters or they don't. My son will pose with a few of them by my daughter is crazy for them...particularly the princesses.

If you can't get excited about the Osbourne X-Mas lights then I just don't think there is any reason to talk about it any further. I've seen them...well...more times than I can count and I've enjoyed it every single time.

Not with 2 young kids you can't.

Having done it, I'm sure you can understand that this is surprising news.

Finding Nemo: The Musical is arguably one of the best musicals I've seen, despite its shorter run time. It's almost as good as The Lion King, which wins only because the musical African themes add so much to it. My union stage manager wife is even impressed by it, and she's the one who snickers at bad community theater.

Where is Laugh Floor at? I've been to Disney countless times and can't seem to remember ever seeing this.

As far as Disney goes I just love the place and can spend days at all the parks. Then again I'm not expecting to spill ice out of my drinks on the thrill ride collection there.

wahoo skipper said:
If you can't get excited about the Osbourne X-Mas lights then I just don't think there is any reason to talk about it any further. I've seen them...well...more times than I can count and I've enjoyed it every single time.

We'll be making *another* return trip to DHS in the next couple weekends for those lights....and some Toy Story (haven't plugged the ride in at least six months, a new record). Just recently went to the park *just* for Fantasmic! and had a great time. Call me a Kool-Aid drinker if you must, but when I drive onto Disney property, the smile is on my face and I'm completely relaxed in a way I don't get during my normal day-to-day life.

Brian Noble said:

Not with 2 young kids you can't.

Having done it, I'm sure you can understand that this is surprising news.

Unless they were infants, I am not buying you tooled on over to Morocco and sat there with 2 young kids.

.

But, attendance seems to be pretty strong and all four of the Florida parks are in the Top 10 in attendance so obviously there are folks who do not agree with bill.

Argumentum ad populum

wahoo skipper said:
... I know lots of people who are not big on Disney. But, attendance seems to be pretty strong and all four of the Florida parks are in the Top 10 in attendance so obviously there are folks who do not agree with bill.

I am not trying to defend Bill and I am not picking on you Wahoo (you just happened to supply the text) but you said it yourself that you know lots of folks who are not big on Disney. Obviously Bill is not not high on Disney. Why can't he have that opinion?

Wow...

What did you think about The Lion King show at Animal Kingdom? I found it so powerful that I cried.

You didn't get thrilled with Dinosaur? That ride is somewhat amazing.

Did you take your family on Kilimanjaro Safari? I could ride that over and over all day long. Where else other than Africa and Animal Kingdom can you do anything like that?

The drop on the water rapids ride at AK is unique and really makes the ride a lot of fun. Did you scream like me the first time you realized that you were going down that?

I haven't been on Expedition Everest yet, but it looks like a nice family mine coaster. I really dig the theme and story a lot. Did you allow yourself to be immersed in the story and theme of each ride? And how many roller coasters have you rode before include a reverse in direction onto another separate portion of track?

Moving on to Disney Studios, Rocking Roller Coaster and Twilight Zone Tower of Terror are two of the most exciting rides in all of Central Florida. You didn't think so?

Muppets 3-D is the funniest show I have ever seen. You know the Muppets have a new movie coming out in a few weeks? How exciting is that? :)

Star Tours makes me ill. I bet you LOVED it. HAHA!

You were not impressed with millions of Christmas lights at the Osbourne Christmas Light Display? Or am I misunderstanding you and you really just saw a few lights?

What about EPCOT? Just walking around the park is an awesome experience.

The show at the end of the night is not just a firework show. It's a little outdated if you already watched it ten years ago, but Illuminations is amazing excitement. You must have been rushing to get out of the park during that show instead of gathering around World Showcase Lagoon like everyone else.

Animal Kingdom, Disney Studios, and EPCOT all have a few duds, in my opinion, but nothing beats The Magic Kingdom for me. They make it effortless to get lost in your own imagination. How in the world could you not get excited by not seeing your favorite Disney characters in person? The only explanations that I can come up with is that you don't watch Disney movies, or you didn't want to find excitement in it. My most precious childhood memory was when I was at Magic Kingdom and gave Pinocchio, my favorite Disney character, a great big hug. I was just as excited to see him in the parade last time I went to the park.

You have to be willing to let go of your real-life problems and realities, and give in to your inner child a little bit. My eyes watered a little bit the last time I saw that parade. Disney just knows where to find my soul, and how to poke at it.

How could you not be thrilled at seeing the illusions and feeling the scary fun in The Haunted Mansion? How could you not feel your heart race at one of the largest water ride drops in the world on Splash Mountain? What about wizzing around Space Mountain's track in complete darkness?

Almost everything offered at MK is just plain *fun*. The only attraction at MK I don't like is It's A Small World. I've rode it dozens of times, but never without falling asleep. lol

Another thing I would like to address... Instead of complaining that a few of the dark rides had long lines and you didn't want to wait, you should have got a Fastpass for those rides, and came back after you rode some shorter-lined rides.

Did you eat at any of the counter service places? I love Disney's personal pizza. YUM! Their burgers are pretty good too. I'm sure you could have found a yummy place to eat at Disney that didn't require reservations. If you found the reservations system to be burdensome, why use it?

Personally, opening your mind more to new ideas, and learning to enjoy yourself will help you live a fuller and happier life. Stop being so uptight. If you find that enjoying your life is not doable, you should figure out why you are so miserable, and forcefully change that part of your life. It might be a change that is very severe, and might require a lot of major sacrifices, but you will be this way until you face those problems. (...and that concludes the lecture from Krause: The Self-Proclaimed Self-Help Guru.) :)

Shades said:

I am not trying to defend Bill and I am not picking on you Wahoo (you just happened to supply the text) but you said it yourself that you know lots of folks who are not big on Disney. Obviously Bill is not not high on Disney. Why can't he have that opinion?

I don't think anyone is objecting to the opinion, I think people are merely saying if you go with the idea that you're not going to have a great time, then you will likely be proven correct.

The only ride we didnt get on that the kids wanted to was Toy Story, the first time they ran out of fast passes and the wait was 90 minutes, same thing the second time but the wait was 45 minutes. My kids didn't feel like waiting. I never complained about the wait times. There was barely anyone there, we never waited longer than 20 minutes for anything.

The burgers were dry the pizza was OK but the caeser salad gave me the squirts.

All in all I thought the table service food was mediocre except for the dessert zepoli at Via Napoli.

Is that really one of the highest log flumes? Zoom Phloom on Morey's seems at least the same or higher (shrug)

RideMan said:
Jeff: The Laugh Floor is a perfect example. I didn't even know it existed until I got there. When I was waiting for it I thought it sounded cute. When I saw what they were doing with be show, it blew me away*. :) And best of all, the tricks employed mean the show is a little different every time. But before I got in line for it, I had never heard of it. Disney's parks are full of that kind of thing.

I agree completely. You can't just look at the name of the ride or show and decide if its worth doing. And sometimes children have to be encouraged to try something new.

I went to Disney with my wife a couple of years ago. I hadn't been there since I was little and wasn't sure how much fun it would be as adults. I new very little about the new attractions (except for the coasters) so went into everything with an open mind and had more fun then I could have imagined. Sure, there are a few week attractions, but the majority were highly entertaining. I can't wait to go back, and next time we'll have our daughter with us, which will just add to the fun.

We didnt bypass the shows entirely, but the ones we saw were weak IMO. Muppet, the bug life tree of life deal, the osbourne christmas lights, hoop de doo review. A lot of the juvinile stuff had a longer line than the good stuff just due to the nature of the week being durning the school year.

Unless they were infants, I am not buying you tooled on over to Morocco and sat there with 2 young kids.

First, the claim was "you can't spend two days in Epcot with young kids," not "you can't spend two days in the Morocco pavilion with young kids."

Second, I absolutely have "tooled on over to Morocco and sat there" with my kids who were not infants. Mo Rockin' is a fixture on our Epcot days. Early grade school, we'd combine that with a visit to Aladdin and Jasmine, who have a meet-and-greet set up in the back of the shops. As they got older, the shops and the exhibits got more interesting than the characters. Tangierine Cafe is our favorite WS counter service location, so usually lunch or dinner happens here as well. All together, we can easily spend an hour and change in and around this pavilion having a good time before moving on to something else. And, Morocco doesn't even have a Kim Possible mission.

I get that you are sure *you* couldn't do it. I can also imagine your horror at paying admission to do these things. That's not the same as "it can't be done." Don't conflate "I don't like it" with "no one can possibly like it."

I think people are merely saying if you go with the idea that you're not going to have a great time, then you will likely be proven correct.

This, and then some. We *told him up front* that he wasn't going to enjoy it.

I don't have any problem with Bill's opinion. I was simply sharing my own and it is in contrast to Bill's.

The Laugh Floor/Factory is in Tomorrowland next door to Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. It was formerly...well...a few things. I think it was the first location for America Sings (360 degree movie) and then became that unusual Robin Williams 360 movie (the name escapes me) but I remember something about 9-eye because there were nine screens.

Now it is an interactive movie where they interact with the audience while telling jokes and trying to make you laugh. I thought it was pretty good and I always enjoy an attraction with a short wait and air conditioning.

I think the more traditional 3D/4D shows are suffering because the quality and availability of 3D movies at your local theatre is so much better than it use to be. Now there is a 3D movie out every few weekends and they are pretty dynamic at that.

I would be willing to bet I've seen the Indiana Jones Stunt Show more than everyone in here combined. But, I still get a kick out of it. And, I really enjoyed the auto stunt show too. I think Disney Studios has really come into its own and my only real criticisms might be that they have never really updated the Great Movie Ride (and some of those movies are REALLY dated) and the Backstage Tour is just a shell of its former self. But, they have good parades, Beauty and the Beast is a good stage show and Philharmagic is worth the wait.

Brian Noble said:
I can also imagine your horror at paying admission to do these things. That's not the same as "it can't be done." Don't conflate "I don't like it" with "no one can possibly like it."

Exactly this.

I asked my kids if they wanted to do the kim possible thing. Answer was no. My daughter is about 7 years past the princess thing and my son could care less about anything there, characterwise, other than Star Wars. He is about 4 years past Cars and Toy Story. Once you did Mission Space and GM test track, there wasn't anything there that cool to do. We did other things but nothing was all that earth shattering.

Philharmagic is worth the wait.

Was that the thing with Donald Duck conducting the orchestra? Like you said it was 3D meh whatever.... and water shot out at you like every other 3D show there.

Shades said:
Why can't he have that opinion?

He's 100% entitled to that opinion, and I don't care that he has it. It's the fact that he's trying to argue that the rest of us who don't agree are wrong that's the issue.

I couldn't care less if someone doesn't like Disney, but basically spending $4000 to prove his own opinion is ludicrous.