PlutoTheDog89
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2011
Maybe "bad" isn't right right word for it.
Let's rewind back to last January. We're fresh off our Christmas trip and feeling especially nostalgic. The Post Disney Depression was hitting really hard. My cousin had been talking about bringing her two little ones down to Disney for a while. We always figured she would one day - but didn't think it'd be so soon. She asked me to break out my planning skills and crunch some numbers for her. Long story short, she settled on Halloween. We had never been for Halloween, so when she asked if we'd wanna join them, we quickly said "yes." We debated Halloween over Christmas for a little while, as we didn't think we'd be able to swing both vacations. Then it happened. We logged onto southwest.com and saw flights for Easter at a little over $100 each way.
We joked for a while "let's celebrate all three holidays at Disney!"
Then I crunched the numbers and sold my family on APs. We bit the bullet and booked Easter, Halloween and Christmas.
Easter was fun. It was a less-than-ordinary trip as we focused on eating and enjoying EPCOT, rather than getting on all the rides. It was as short 4-day trip that we really liked and enjoyed. We've talked about going back.
Halloween was fun, but chaotic. Our cousins and their little ones joined us and in the moment, it felt underwhelming. We very much catered the trip to them and the little ones. Looking back, it was fun—just different.
For Christmas, another family joined us. They joined us a few years ago and it was fun, but this trip was different. Their styles clashed with ours. They liked to hang at the hotel; we like to go to the parks; they barely eat; we love to eat. I tried to build an itinerary around them and to their likings—grabbing FP+'s to the rides and building an efficient day at the parks, while allowing for plenty of time to kick back and relax. And still, they never really seemed happy. It put us on edge — they weren't happy about waiting for Illuminations or the shows; they didn't let their hair down and looked at us in disgust while we enjoyed our food; and whenever we'd recommend something, they'd act as though we were forcing them. We weren't. In fact, midway through the trip we asked if they liked the trip and they said "yes." We urged them to throw out ideas and they had nothing...
Anyway - it wasn't a bad trip, it just felt incomplete and all over the place. We usually spend our last day at Disney discussing plans for our next trip, but everyone just couldn't wait to get home. I'm thinking of letting a few days pass, then bringing up the fact that our APs expire after Easter and it'd be worth it to head down one last time—just the four of us, as a family.
I think we also struggled with—during Easter and Halloween, we didn't mind missing a ride or two, because we knew we'd be back. Now we have no plans set and we didn't really get to do everything we wanted.
So I guess my question is—how do you rebound from a less-than-stellar trip? I'm afraid the overall feeling of it not living up to expectations may tarnish Disney for the time being. In other words, I'm afraid the bad memories will override the good ones and we won't be so quick to go back. Maybe the lack of excitement over "getting back to Disney" is indication that we need some time off? I was chatting with my sister one night and brought up how in years past, we'd have an entire year to look forward to Disney and the anticipation would push us to do more. This trip we spent a lot of time at the resort and I think going so often was the main cause.
Any advice? Any feedback?
Let's rewind back to last January. We're fresh off our Christmas trip and feeling especially nostalgic. The Post Disney Depression was hitting really hard. My cousin had been talking about bringing her two little ones down to Disney for a while. We always figured she would one day - but didn't think it'd be so soon. She asked me to break out my planning skills and crunch some numbers for her. Long story short, she settled on Halloween. We had never been for Halloween, so when she asked if we'd wanna join them, we quickly said "yes." We debated Halloween over Christmas for a little while, as we didn't think we'd be able to swing both vacations. Then it happened. We logged onto southwest.com and saw flights for Easter at a little over $100 each way.
We joked for a while "let's celebrate all three holidays at Disney!"
Then I crunched the numbers and sold my family on APs. We bit the bullet and booked Easter, Halloween and Christmas.
Easter was fun. It was a less-than-ordinary trip as we focused on eating and enjoying EPCOT, rather than getting on all the rides. It was as short 4-day trip that we really liked and enjoyed. We've talked about going back.
Halloween was fun, but chaotic. Our cousins and their little ones joined us and in the moment, it felt underwhelming. We very much catered the trip to them and the little ones. Looking back, it was fun—just different.
For Christmas, another family joined us. They joined us a few years ago and it was fun, but this trip was different. Their styles clashed with ours. They liked to hang at the hotel; we like to go to the parks; they barely eat; we love to eat. I tried to build an itinerary around them and to their likings—grabbing FP+'s to the rides and building an efficient day at the parks, while allowing for plenty of time to kick back and relax. And still, they never really seemed happy. It put us on edge — they weren't happy about waiting for Illuminations or the shows; they didn't let their hair down and looked at us in disgust while we enjoyed our food; and whenever we'd recommend something, they'd act as though we were forcing them. We weren't. In fact, midway through the trip we asked if they liked the trip and they said "yes." We urged them to throw out ideas and they had nothing...
Anyway - it wasn't a bad trip, it just felt incomplete and all over the place. We usually spend our last day at Disney discussing plans for our next trip, but everyone just couldn't wait to get home. I'm thinking of letting a few days pass, then bringing up the fact that our APs expire after Easter and it'd be worth it to head down one last time—just the four of us, as a family.
I think we also struggled with—during Easter and Halloween, we didn't mind missing a ride or two, because we knew we'd be back. Now we have no plans set and we didn't really get to do everything we wanted.
So I guess my question is—how do you rebound from a less-than-stellar trip? I'm afraid the overall feeling of it not living up to expectations may tarnish Disney for the time being. In other words, I'm afraid the bad memories will override the good ones and we won't be so quick to go back. Maybe the lack of excitement over "getting back to Disney" is indication that we need some time off? I was chatting with my sister one night and brought up how in years past, we'd have an entire year to look forward to Disney and the anticipation would push us to do more. This trip we spent a lot of time at the resort and I think going so often was the main cause.
Any advice? Any feedback?
