I totally understand. Our family took our first trip in October. We said we were not going back for a few years but I have talked my husband in to going again this coming October. I suffer from Anxiety and Depression and our last trip was the biggest highlight I have had in my life in a while. I spent all my free time planning the trip instead of worrying. It gave me something to look forward too and be excited for. When My husband (who had teased me about how crazy i was with the planning) told me I did a great job planning and thanked me for such a great trip I swear I felt a little high. Real life disappeared while in Disney. I had no worries, it was just me and my family having fun. When i was talking to my husband about booking again, I told him jokingly that it was for my mental health, except I guess it really wasnât a joke.
I too went to Disney to heal my heart. BackstoryâŚwe had been going to Disney every 2-4 years since 2005. At the time weâd get our fill, but then get the bug again a few years later. Fastforward to 2013âwe had a serious car accident. I suffered a mild brain injury which continues to affect me, and Iâve needed four spinal surgery over the course of 18 months. The last one I woke up from with significant nerve damage and barely able to walk. Throughout all of this, we did make a few trips to Disney because for once I just wanted APs, but the reality was that the surgeries interfered with most of my plans. Although I can say that Disney has been the BEST place to be if you are handicapped or in intense pain.
While going through so much intense therapy and rehab, Disney became my Happy Place when I had to focus on something besides the pain. It probably became a bit of an obsession, but when pain controls every single moment of your life and your brain doesnât want to work like it used to and youâve still got a family and responsibilities you are obligated to, at some point you just break.
So I rented a condo for a whole month, took my 15 year old daughter along with me and just remembered what it was like to be happy and have fun. Itâs not like I had a bad family life or anything, but working 24/7 to take care of a family of five (teens, husband, in laws), homeschool, volunteer and just generally live life while learning to walk all over again and hurt all the time and relearn how this new brain of yours works, just sent me over the edge. So I bought APs, rented a condo and spent the month just remembering how to breathe.
While my daughter hung out with cast members, took selfies with princesses and rode all the rides she wanted, I was happy to smell flowers, ride Living with the Land and Small World over and over again and cry at Happily Ever After. I donât say it lightly (or to my friends who think Iâm crazy) but being at Disney truly was a healing experience for me and for the relationship I had with my daughter. And my husband, father in law and 18 year old son learned to mange without me for a few weeks. Weâd spent so many years just going from one activity to another, me being the primary carer for the whole family, with no fun in between because it was all I could do physically and mentally to keep up with Life.
We are going for a whilrwhind trip (DH & DD) for my birthday Feb. 1 and I canât wait. And one last time before our APs expire we are going in the spring. I am debating whether to renew my AP or not, but I think it may be time to move on to something else. Especially with the crowds and prices rising. But I donât have to decide that now.
Yeah, we probably are all crazy to be so obsessed with Disney. When my kids were little it was just the wonder on their faces that kept us coming back. Then it was a healing placefor me. Some sit on the beach or climb mountains, but being handicap now, that wasnât an option. At Disney I could ride my scooter around, no one cared if I had a cane and everyplace was easy to get to. My daughter and I re-learned how to have fun together. I got my independence back. YeahâŚI love Disney for so many reasons.
Iâve loved reading everyoneâs stories â thank you so much for sharing them.
A thought occurred to me this afternoon. One of my lifelong fantasies is to be able to fly. And another is to explore another planet. With FOP you get to do that. No other vacation offers that. Sure, Iâve loved my city breaks, but in a sense once youâve seen one city, youâve seen them all. WDW gives you experiences that are out of this world. In some cases, literally.
Itâs pretty amazing how very real the flying feels in FOP
You know I am kind of taken back with FOP. I mean I watched Avatar and I loved the bancees. The only thing is I hate high buildings, high bridges, and the like. When I first went on Soarinâ and came out of that cloud over the San Franceso bridge I about died. Got used to it and love it now but I donât know if I can handle FOP or not. Got to try, but if I fall off my Banchee, what a fall it will be. 
Weird thing is I used to run trains over a 165â high railroad bridge about every day but if I have to drive over a high highway bridge, it gives me the willes. 
Iâve wanted to go to Disney world my whole life. Bugged my parents about it for years (which must have been hard for them since it was so out of our budget) and finally got to go to paris when I was 14. Then I went back with a friend at 18. But it wasnât the big one. So I kept pushing, with literally everyone I knew. Eventually my 60 year old mother (bless her) agreed to go. Iâm not sure she was prepared for the amount of energy and planning she got from me (then 27). Within 3 weeks of her agreeing I had booked it. She spent the next 10 months being bombarded with restaurant choices, ride descriptions, possible schedules etc. And got excited herself. Then we were there, the once in a lifetime, most money Iâve ever spent on anything trip, and it was amazing! And we came back and that was supposed to be it. Bucket list item ticked. Since then we went back to paris for Halloween (got a pic with darth and jack skellington) and have booked to visit Cali and DL this september. I am guarding my savings and now Iâm trying to figure out what to do for my 30th- back to the world and the new star wars attractions, or do Asia while my mostly dragged along but still enjoys it mother is young enough to be my travel buddy (my friends fall into 2 camps, donât do Disney or canât afford Disney and while Iâll happily go to Florida on my own, Tokyo is another thing entirely). So a Disney addiction is definitely a thing. And I have it bad
I think the thing to point out here is WDW is not in everyoneâ budget. It is super expensive but that said it is not even close to some vacation destinations. Almost every kid and a good many adults want to go to WDW. The problem becomes not all can afford it. I personally could not even dream about such a place at a young age When I was old enough and I was making enough to barely afford a WDW vacation for my family, I saved until we could afford to go AFTER mandatory bills were paid. Bottom line is sometimes it takes a long time to achieve this dream, but given time and using your head when it comes to expenses, you can and may one day be able to make this trip.
My dh has significant difficulties with Heights and such. While fop was definately intense for him, he was the first one to ask if we were doing it again!
Itâs insanely expensive!
For fun I got a quote for a 10 night trip in August. Flight and accommodation at Beach Club was over ÂŁ5,000 â and thatâs without entry tickets and food!
Iâd love to stay on property but I donât think Iâll ever be able to justify that cost. If my friend with a house in Florida will let me use it again, I think thatâs the only way I could do another WDW trip.
Although the idea of walking to Epcot every night for dinner is enticing, Iâd rather spend the hotel money on deluxe dining experiences, and VIP tours and whatnot. Even then, that would cost me a lot less than the hotel would cost.
I absolutely hate heights and had to close my eyes for most of Soarin even though I knew we werenât high up. I hated it and struggled with my feet dangling. No problem whatsoever with flight of passage. My feet were firmly on the ground and I loved it.
Oh my word, what an awful auto correct! I just realised it was there 
That was meant to say ADOPT. Not shoot!
Iâm promise, Iâm a pacifist!
You will be fine. The ride is really well designed. Just think of it as a flying horse and hold on to the hand holds. It is wonderful. I, too, donât like heights, but there is something about the Disney heights that is magic. They just donât bother me.
We went in December, rolled our tickets into APâs (my family is from Kansas and Colorado, so it is a hike to get there) and are going back in May and October (ahem, to get our moneyâs worth). Iâm already nagging my daughter (who does all the planning) to go to Animal Kingdom on the first day at rope drop - (the secret of getting on FOP) to ride it again.
My recollection is that youâre pretty comprehensively strapped in so thereâs no possibility of âfalling offâ and plunging into Pandora.
Itâs a different feeling to Soarinâ. The whole experience somehow feels more secure.
Yeah, I can ride the most thrilling of coasters, but Soarinâ gives me the flop sweat. I feel like I am sliding out of the seat the entire time. My palms are starting to sweat just typing about itâŚ
We are trying for the first time to take a three year break. And I donât think I am going to make it. My plan was to do a few different things in the meantime. This summer doing a Virginia Busch Gardens Colonial Williamsburg road trip. I just do not feel the excitement yet although I should because it will be all new.
I totally get what your feeling
same, I lost my marbles on Soarin and will never go back. LOVED FoP.
LONG: I love Disney for quite a few reasons: the nostalgia, the âbubbleâ and the planning/control, plus I am just so impressed with Disney as a company and their ability to turn a profit on everything.
Nostalgia: We went every other year growing up in the 90âs/00âs as my father doesnât fly/cruise, Disney was our big, fancy, family vacation. We would stay at the GF (then eventually switched to BC for the pool), swim in the lagoon (yep), monorail to MK. My parents would dress my brother up and I in matching sweatshirts (4 years apart) and we would be in these precious sweatshirts with the fab 5 on them, wearing our jean shorts with our fanny packs and socks-frilly for me, high tubes for him. We would do all the rides, takes photos with the characters who were walking around (remember that?), get their autographs and just create these amazing memories. We were there for Cinderellaâs Castle as the cake, the opening year of Animal Kingdom and when Who Framed Roger Rabbit had an area in MGM. We stopped going for a few years when we entered middle school/HS, then randomly started back up my Senior year of High School when college touring. I was looking at colleges in the south and my parents did NOT want me that far away, so they purposely had me visit UGA and UF in August, and we decided to tack on a Disney/Universal trip. Dad and I drove to Athens, then Gainesville, then Orlando. It was a wonderful trip and reminded me how much I love Disney. (I also loved UGA and the heat didnât bother me one bit.) We did two more trips after that one and within those trips we realized (2009/10? and 2013 + I was over 21 so nice factor to add in there) that there was a bit of difference in the family love for Disney, meaning: My Dad, @BenF12400 and I LOVE Disney, my Mom is indifferent and my brother is not a fan. Thus, my Dad and I schedule trips on our own and are on the same page when it comes to touring.
The happy place/bubble is becoming more prevalent to me as I get older and bad stuff continues to happen in the world. Everyone is nice and happy in Disney (well, the CMs), the likelihood of something tragic happening to me at Disney is pretty low, I feel healthy walking so many miles, itâs normally warm and sunny. Story: The other day I got on the DC circulator bus in Georgetown heading to Union Station. At one of the GW stops, a homeless crackhead got on the bus, sat down right next to me and started yelling. Just yelling. At no one. I just sat there, stared out the window and thought âthis would never happen on the bus to MK.â I got into the office and started looking at Disney World Careers. I didnât get far, one of our auditors decided to put in his notice while looking at the requirements of Part-Time Pirate Host, so I had to x that out and figure out how hard it would be to hire a qualified replacement auditor a month before busy seasonâŚspoiler alert: impossible.
Planning: I donât think I need to explain the planning to anyone on here. I am a type A freak and I love it. I also love that we have open outlook calendars at work and I put in my touring plans, dinner reservations, naps breaks, etc. and will get texts from coworkers throughout the day asking how Splash Mountain between 11:10 and 12:10 was.
Iâm just so fascinated by Disney as a company. Disney sees their guests are waiting around for an hour before fireworks to get the best possible view. Money time, letâs create dessert parties. Disney doesnât like that guests are using uber to get around. Money time, letâs create Minnie Vans. Yes, it is making a trip to Disney near impossible for most people, but I am absolutely fascinated. Donât even get me started on Disney Institute and RunDisneyâŚ
My count down to my February trip is 20 days!
Thank so much for your reply. I was a little afraid that it might be too much for me but many have said it isnât that bad even for one that doesnât like heights. Funny I can fly no problem, but get me in a high building or looking over the edge of a mountain and I tend to freak out.
Yes, I used this principle for riding Soarâin.
Funny thing about Soarin. At first it set me back a bit going over the Golden Gate Bridge. It was so beautiful though that I had to go back. My wife just wanted to go right after we got off over and over again. I got used to it and even started lifting my feet to go over the mountains and such. I canât say I like the new Soarin film as much as the old one (California Adventure). If you arenât seated just right, many scenes seem off at a weird angle .