Why Disney?

It’s a question, asked in different forms, that I get on a regular basis.  Why are you going to Disney again?  Weren’t you just there?  Aren’t you bored of the place?

While most of those who visit Disney World are first time visitors, there are still a large number of repeat visitors you will run into on each trip.  Their reasons for returning are as varied as the hometowns the hail from.  One thing does hold true, there is a draw in returning.  So what is it?

Perhaps the reason people, myself included, come back again and again is Disney World is ever-changing while at the same time very familiar.  Classic Disney meets with contemporary entertainment.  New attractions regularly replace older ones while true classics remain to be enjoyed by generation after generation.  Attractions advance with the technology of today as imagineers constantly plan the future.  However , the feel of home, that comfort of childhood never leaves.  This I believe was one of Walt Disney’s visions for the Florida project (as it was called in planning), tradition marching forward with progress.

Maybe the reason is because each trip can truly be unique.  Some have their favorites – resort (even room), restaurant, attraction, snack and like to relive that.  I can understand that.  However, with so many different places to stay  (resorts varied in type, theming, from motel to hotel to luxury),  so many places to eat (cuisines of all types), and so much to do (not just rides but shows, shopping, sports, recreation, etc) one can truly make each visit truly unique.  I have been to the World over 20 times but could plan a weeklong visit tomorrow and stay somewhere I never have before and eat at restaurants each day I have never visited in the past.  This ability to always see something new makes return trips as fresh and new as the guest wants them to be.

I think the biggest reason I like returning time and time again is when you cross under the Walt Disney World rainbow arch, you are leaving the real world behind.  You become immersed in a place where you can forget what is going on at home or work or in the world and not have to pick it up again while there.  It is not a coincidence that Disney is much like a different country with its own borders, road signs, transportation and government.  This is by design (both business and recreational) to make you truly feel like you have gone further than Central Florida.

Going to this world,  brings out the kid in the guest by either bringing it back through vivid memories of childhood visits or allowing one to experience them again through eyes of your kids.  You are allowed, actually encouraged, to be a child again.  Explore the unknown, seek comfort in the familiar and live out those fantasies of what you want to be when you grow up – astronaut, explorer, pirate, princess, world traveler, artist, star of the show.  This is what you can do when you truly let your guard down.

There is more of course.  Outstanding service (more on that in a future post) meeting guests and cast members from around the world, art, music, festivals.  What it all works out to is never having to be bored with what is there, because either through design or through imagination, it is ever changing while keeping its heart close to home.