I get what you are saying and can identify with a lot of it. Having been there a month ago, yes some of the magic was missing. But we managed to find new magic and make new memories too, in trying new foods, resorts and restaurants we hadn’t before, in some of the random experiences that occurred (lights going out on us in BOG) and just spending time together exploring the parks with our kids the ages they are now - suddenly we could ride coasters all together and no one was too short or screaming in terror! There is definitely some new strategy to figure out to minimize lines and ADR’s can be more scarce, so some of the “fun” planning still comes into play. The biggest downside to our trip was simply the July/August heat which hopefully will be better in October. You have a couple of fantastic resorts booked which you can make the most of with shorter park hours. So, I do hope you end up going!
I really just like looking at all the theming. I have a couple MUST DOS: LwtL, SE, KS, Dino, TSM, RRC, MPhil, PM. Thaaats about it. I enjoy a few others but I really just like to wonder around, looking at stuff.
Edit: I am going for Christmas, so I should have some new magic Ive never seen before!
We keep going back because of a few rides - my sister loves Tower of Terror. One example.
We’ve primarily stayed at deluxe resorts, so some of the magic is being at this or that place, in our imagination.
We like Disney transport. Magic bands. A few restaurants. Mousekeeping. Chatting up CMs and guests.
It’s almost not a trip unless we’re sitting on this speeder, or trying to pull that sword, sitting on a rocker or standing next to the totem pole.
So, tradition plays a big part. Imagination necessary. New is incorporated as well as chaos which helps define trips.
Remember the trip we waded thru ankle deep water in Epcot, the trip we got the free ginger ale, the trip the train hit the alligator and we were late checking in, the trip everyone on the Friendship sang Happy Birthday, the trip we had to drive home by way of Oklahoma because of an ice storm . . .
I suppose there’s a summary here but I’ve got to go round up some documentation for someone to get a non-driver’s license ID card.
I think the quote below is what makes WDW such a satisfying trip to plan for me. There are experiences we’ve already done we can anticipate, experiences we’ve done we want to re-discover through our kids’ perspectives at their current ages, and always something new to try.
“There’s another reason travel planning can produce happiness: We often know enough about a trip to imagine it and look forward to it—but there’s also enough novelty and uncertainty to keep our minds interested.
“In a sense, we start to ‘consume’ a trip as soon as we start thinking about it,” Killingsworth says. “When we imagine eating gelato in a piazza in Rome or going water skiing with friends we don’t see as much as we’d like, we get to experience a version of those events in our mind.”
Also, we are a family that tries to make the best out of any situation we encounter when traveling. We’ve had some doozies on some of our trips. At WDW, it feels a lot more seamless (similar to our cruise experiences) so it’s just not as much effort to overcome hiccups.
We talk a lot of FOMO. I think the opposite feeling exists as well. The Delight of Knowing You Are Right.
You know your plan minimizes waiting, you know you are in the right spot you know you are eating the best available food options. WDW is a game and you are winning. The same feeling is also partially true for UOR, even without the same level of planning, knowing you are right is amazing.
The pure pleasure of taping your Magic Band, the light turns green, you are allowed to go directly to the ride while walking past people who have been waiting for hours. It is a massive dopamine hit. Or refreshing MDE at exactly the right moment to get a Same Day Drop. It is addictive.
It is also an environment that rewards both effort and money. You are having an amazing day because you deserve to have an amazing day because you put effort into it.
I also have to say that Disney is the only place I truly feel removed from all the issues going on in the world. I don’t watch the news, I stay off of social media and no one talks about whats happening outside the Bubble. Its a good mental break from real life. I’m sure I couldn’t do this everywhere. Disney has a way of keeping you busy so you don’t think about real life
You are spot on. Can we just go back and stay until after the election? Pretty please?
NYT on my phone. LOL.
depends on who wins
This is possible in many places!
We go to a YMCA family camp in northern MN. No screens, no internet access. Perfection 
It’s one of my favorite weeks of the summer.
I flew out of the UK on my last trip on the morning of our general election in December. I was on Main Street at MVMCP when the results were being announced. Ordinarily I would have been glued to the TV for days.
And yet it didnt nothing to change the results, but it did change your spirit!
Not really. It was raining.
I spent a week in the BWCA with my church youth group; us Lutherns dontcha’ know. It was amazing. Two summers ago we stayed in a log cabin in between Yellow Stone and the Grand Tetons. There was no AC, no TV, no internet. We hiked during the day and played cards at night. We laughed so hard and had sooooo much fun with the boys that summer. Away from technology with fresh air is a wonderful treat
Wait. What???
Alligators are sometimes slow to move 
but I would also like more details on this, lol
This was in December 1994, on Amtrak’s Sunset Limited, about 1 am, south of Mobile. There were double tracks there, about 14 to 16 feet apart, from center to center. Rumor had it that the engineer thought he was about to hit a log lying across all 4 rails of the two tracks. Until the head turned to look at him. The tail swept up and across the window of a lower level sleeper - scaring the woman inside. Other alligator bits kicked up and knocked loose the hoses between the passenger cars. The train had to stop for nearly an hour while the hoses were reconnected.
If you do the math, that was one big alligator. Of course everyone was joking about alligator nuggets for breakfast.
Before breakfast tho, we were all woken up again, a few hours later, in the middle of somewhere in the Florida panhandle when the locomotive hit a burned out wreck of a car. Apparently someone had put a car on the tracks at a remote crossing and set it on fire. Amtrak was late, the car burned out, the miscreant(s) left. In the dark, the engineer didn’t see the car until too late to stop a long train.
We were at the crossing for several hours while folks made sure the locomotive was undamaged and decided what to do about the burned out car. The sun was well up by the time we got rolling again. Altogether, we were 5 hours late getting to WDW. And we didn’t have any alligator nuggets for breakfast.
But we were grateful for the alligator’s sacrifice, as without him, that car might have still been burning when we got to the crossing. Maybe the engineer would have seen something wrong, but it takes half a mile to stop the train. Transferring all the passengers to other transportation would have been a long operation, if the locomotive had sustained damage.
We took Amtrak as a buffer between the real world and WDW because some in our group of 11 were workaholics. We definitely had some buffer by the time we checked in. 
Wow! That’s quite a trip!!!
Oh wow! Thats an adventure in its self!