The drug known as "Disney"

Walt Disney World
1

I’m starting to think Disney is a drug. Or maybe they put drugs in the water.

More and more I’m seeing posts that seem to have more to do with the mental well-being of Disney-goers. You know. Post-Disney blues, pre-Disney jitters, once-in-a-lifetime trips turning into repeat visits, and those who eventually grow to annual or even more often.

It is like a drug addiction. Have to keep getting your Disney fix. When not at Disney, your world revolves around thinking about Disney, looking at Disney T-shirts on etsy, reading all he details on the upcoming Disney enhancements, planning yet another trip beyond the trip you already have planned, etc.

What is it that makes Disney so incredibly addictive? I mean, okay. We love amusement parks. For us a vacation isn’t a vacation unless an amusement parks is involved. But no other places becomes an obsession. Even while we’re in another amusement park, I’ll find myself longing to be back at Disney. It starts out innocently enough. I mean, everyone’s gotta see the House of Mouse once in their life.

Okay, twice.

Well, every few years.

And next thing you know, you’re sacrificing your ability to eventually retire by financing yet another trip.

How does one get off this drug? Is it even possible? Can one go cold turkey? I’m guessing not. I think the only way off is probably having to taper off. So, maybe first just adding an extra year between visits. Then two years, until you’re only going once every 5 years.

Anyone have the antidote? If you do…well, I’ll want it. But not until after my trip in 2020…and the one we have planned for 2025. But after that, for sure. Maybe.

15 Likes
2

Cold turkey is about the only way to go.

Usually in a stretch when the finances don’t allow for the time to go.

Just beware… like many other addictions, going back for “one hit” years after you’d “kicked the habit” out of nostalgia or missing it, can set off the beginning of a new round of the addiction.

Good Luck. :joy:

5 Likes
3

It’s definitely a drug. I don’t know why, but even during a trip I am feverishly trying to work out when I can next visit. Though after next years trip, it will be a long time I think.

4 Likes
4

It’s a drug. I’m addicted. And I’ve no interest in getting clean.

12 Likes
5

The older I get, the worse it gets. I didn’t go my first time until I was 19. My parents just couldn’t afford a vacation like that. In 2007, DBF (now DH)'s father paid for his entire family to go on a week long vacation. 20 people! I thought I had planned for that vacation. I bought the Birnbaum book. I had sticky notes of what I wanted to do and we went at a really slow time so we accomplished quite a lot.

Fast-forward 9 years: DBF became DH, we bought a house, we furnished it, and then I screamed “ENOUGH, I’M GOING BACK!” and so we did. This was 2016. I subscribed to TP, I learned all about dummy bands and how to use them (may they rest in peace), and we went. It was fantastic. We hit the parks hard from RD to PC.

Then we came home and tried to start a family. So far, that has not gone as planned. So, to keep myself occupied, I started planning / helping plan trips for friends and family. That worked for a while but in about January of this year, it was no longer enough. I started looking at dates. I started hitting the boards and the chat everyday. It’s the first browser tab I open every morning. It’s the last thing I do before turning off my phone at night. I’m so high on Disney right now I can’t stand it.

THEN, I talked DH into getting APs for this year. We have two trips planned currently: one in June and one in September. I’m thinking of adding one in February and one in May before they run out. We’ll see what DH says but he’s just as high as I am so anything is possible.

Wow. That turned into more than I expected.

11 Likes
6

Admitting you have a problem is the first step in the 12 step programs, right?

Hello, my name is ryan1, and I’m a Disney addict.

I don’t plan to move on to step two.

9 Likes
7

I second this motion!

4 Likes
8

When in June will you be there?

9

15-22

10

Dude! You’re my twin! And I arrive on the evening of the 21st and I am there until the afternoon of the 22nd

1 Like
11

And PS also too I am all alone

12

This sounds like a great time for a twin meet-up!

DH and I will be at EPCOT the morning/afternoon of the 21st and either DS or the closest outlet that evening. The 22nd is MK before a late afternoon departure.

2 Likes
13

Isn’t @profmatt arriving sometime near there?

14

Not nearly close enough. Sad trombones

15

I was thinking about some time in MK on the 22nd as well, before I go and hang out with the talking black and white cat and his not sister

16

Le sigh.

You lost me on that one.

17

This is so dangerously close to the truth in my case that it’s not even funny.

Yes.

Find something more addictive.

I used to be utterly addicted to Apple products. I spent all my time on the MacRumors forums and spent more money than I have buying and upgrading Apple products. I had the best of everything they sell all the time. In the same way that I book and cancel ADRs, I would buy and return Apple products. (They have a great returns policy.) My current Apple Watch is the sixth I tried in the space of about a month. I was regularly walking to my local UPS depot to return something. My credit card statements were pages long, full of purchases and returns.

But now, I very rarely visit MacRumors. And I haven’t bought or even thought about buying an Apple product in months.

It’s not the rides per se. There are better rides. Alton Towers has a number of terrific rides. I’ve been there three or four times in the last ten years. But I never felt addicted to going. I may go again. I may not. I’m entirely indifferent to the possibilities.

It’s not — for me — Disney, per se, either. I’m not really into Disney movies. I don’t look upon Walt Disney as some kind of hero. (Nor was I one of the ones on the Apple forums who worshipped Steve Jobs.)

Part of it is a childhood thing. [Overshare alert] Bad things happened to me when I was a kid and I told a therapist once that I’d had my childhood stolen from me. There was a question about suing an institution and whether I should. What would I want the outcome to be? £5,000 so I could go to DisneyWorld, I said. This was before I’d been and developed my now addiction to the place.

Part of it is the atmosphere of the place. Not just how it looks, feels, smells, and so on. But it’s all so innocent. There’s no malice, no cynicism. The cast members are (mostly) so lovely. I feel totally safe there. Totally free to be who I am. There’s so much to see and do. I don’t feel bored or lonely.

And consider FOP. My top two fantasies are: to be able to fly and to explore (in safety) an alien planet. You (virtually) literally get to do that on FOP. It’s mind-blowing. (I have a third fantasy, not currently catered to by Disney. Ahem.)

Soon you will be able to go into space and wander through an alien world. Wow!

Additionally for me is the fact that I’ve always loved the US. Perhaps that’s a childhood thing, too. I first visited when I was 7 years old. The idea of visiting somewhere such a long way away was incredible to me. And it was so big, and the buildings were all huge, and it looked so different from how the UK looks.

I still get a thrill when I get off a plane in the US, despite having visited many times and, indeed, having lived in the US for three years.

There is something magical about the US for me. And WDW is icing on that cake.

10 Likes
18

That’s OK I’m getting together with some friends

1 Like
19

@profmatt will be there from 25 June to 2 July.

20

Too late to meet up with us twinnies