That’s a hard question! I am a ride-a-holic and definitely enjoy everything WDW has to offer in that department. But honestly, I think it’s being able to disconnect from the real world and become one with Disney! Our last trip, I didn’t get on FB, or Instagram…I didn’t text or call anyone…the tv never went on in our room - DH and I just enjoyed living in the moment. 
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For me, it’s about the look on my daughter’s face when she sees her favorite princess and gives them a hug; it’s the look on my sons face as he waits to ride 7DMT; soaking up all the memories with my wife of our kids enjoying the magic of it all…it’s not one thing, but the whole magic.
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My $0.02. Food is about the last reason to go to Disney World to me; I found the food mostly overpriced and unremarkable. To me, the whole point of Disney are the parks - the rides and the atmosphere. (Frankly, it’s hard to separate the two IMHO.)
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My biggest reason for going to and loving disney is the bubble.
That magical feeling of nothing else matters while you are there. That life pauses and is left at the gates until you must return back to reality.
A recapturing of innocence. A time to believe in make believe. A time you can be a kid again.
That for me is Disney.
after that I like the rides. The classics. The thrills. The festival of fantasy parade. The joy of watching Disney light up the night sky.
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For me, it’s atmosphere by a long shot. With my girlies getting older we try to maximize the number of late closings. It was really disappointing that MK closed early most of last summer and every night we were there. Behind a late night at Epcot, bouncing around MK at close to midnight are memories I will always have. There is no other place so immersive. We love Universal too but for pure “forget the world and bond with my sweethearts” nothing compares.
Then rides and food are a push. I personally like the rides at Universal better and for thills we can go anywhere. WDW has some great ones too, EE and FoP being the two tops for us, but at no other place are we so at peace just walking around and not on rides.
The food is fine. Nothing stands out too much. The experiences are great at CRT and BOG. Food is always only ok. To me nothing compares to a couple of beers in Norway and then Germany with a pretzel followed by letting the girls shop around and then pizza at Via Napoli followed by Illuminations and ice cream. It’s what I look forward to most and I will alter our entire trip around to making sure we have great weather our favorite night.
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You know, I hadn’t really consciously thought about this, but there is truth in this. There is just something about the “dark hours” at amusement parks (including Disney) that creates memories.
Several years ago, for example, during a trip to King’s Island, we were on our last day there and stayed until closing. It was dark, lights on all the rides, and the family, after an exhausting day, just spending those last few moments together eating our snacks together. It is, above everything else on the trip, the thing that is most memorable. I know we did lots of rides, had lots of fun…but when I look back on that trip, it is that moment that stands out.
I’m going to have to keep that in mind in the future, since I don’t necessary consciously think to be “in the moment” when the time comes.
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Last trip we only rope dropped AK to get an extra ride on FoP. (BTW, when doing that, think about Uber instead of shuttle bus. Saves a ton of time and aggravation). My DD’s are 11 and 14. Thankfully they still count-down to going again and because older really love the nights. Our next trip will be in Feb '19 and many of our FP+'s will be early afternoons, then a nice dinner and close the parks down. The heat won’t be a problem and in truth we don’t have to do every ride. I am always refreshing close times to try to plan the latest days possible.
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The resort is higher on my list than I would have originally anticipated. DD wants to swim and DH wants to unwind in the afternoons so we end up eating more meals there. So I wanted a resort with more options this trip.
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It’s about experiences. My DD9 does not play with toys. She never got into Barbies or other dolls or anything else for that matter. What she likes to do is try new things, and this will be her first trip to WDW. So while trying new things will include the rides, it will also include eating food that we don’t get here at home and meeting characters that don’t exists outside of the Disney bubble.
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It’s the atmosphere for us. We are season pass holders at Six Flags Great Adventure, but we go there for the thrill rides. Same thing at Hershey Park.
We forget the world and enjoy our time in the bubble. My girls love the theming of the hotels and just riding on a bus to the Magic Kingdom brings back memories of them meeting the characters and seeing the castle for the first time.
Now that my girls are teens, they are interested in the dining aspect of the trip. Only a few character breakfasts are planned this year. Instead it’s the California Grill, Yachtsman Steakhouse, Sanaa and Narcosse’s that draw their attention.
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For me it’s the atmosphere of the parks which is absolutely about the rides and meet and greets as well. I have so many great memories on each ride- Tomorrowland Speedway first thing in the morning with my then dd9; Peter Pans flight with the whole family; same for Its a Small World; Haunted Mansion last thing on a late night. I could go on and on but the attractions are definitely integral to my experience. Not so much the food although I do love the snacks- homemade ice cream sandwich, dole whip, mickey’s ice cream bar, etc.
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