I try and keep this blog pretty informative and not directly about me. At least as much as I can considering I’m writing it and these are my opinions. Today, however, I thought I’d answer a question I get asked all the time. “You’re going to Disney World? Again? Why?! Isn’t there somewhere better/new/different you’d like to go?” The short answer is, that there are a ton of reasons I keep going back. Also, of course I like going to other places. I frequently do and I’ve been lucky enough to travel both domestically and internationally a fair bit. However, here are the top 5 reasons why I keep going back.

There is so much to see and do at Walt Disney World

Believe it or not, there is so much to do, I haven’t done it all, in spite of going a “million times”. For example, I haven’t ridden a horse at the Campground, I haven’t played a round of golf, I haven’t taken a tennis lesson, I haven’t gone fishing, I haven’t taken a fireworks cruise, the list goes on. The list of things Disney has to offer is vast. I usually do something new each trip.

Disney is ALWAYS changing things up

New attractions, updates to existing attractions, new hotels and new restaurants. All this keeps it an exciting and fresh place to visit. For example, on my last trip they had just opened up Disney Springs. Although I’ve been going to this since it was The Disney Marketplace and there wasn’t even a Disney Westside, it was a new experience. Why? because they tore down pretty much a whole section and redid it with a totally new feel. They kept some of the things I really loved, like the Lego store (seriously love that place so hard) but the way the built everything around it, it felt like a new experience.

Nostalgia

Disney to many people, myself included, has a very nostalgic place in our hearts. Who doesn’t remember the movies and cartoons from their youth? In my case, we traveled there a lot so there’s the returning to my childhood aspect in a Walt Disney World vacation as well. There really is nothing that makes me feel like a kid again like riding Thunder Mountain. Used to be Maelstrom… but Epcot likes destroying my childhood memories. RIP Maelstrom. (Yes, I’m still salty about that)

My Father and our Family

My father and I both shared a love of Disney. We were both very much big kids forced to live adult lives. We didn’t like structure, we weren’t the best at following directions, we drove like maniacs, we loved good food and wine and we both loved Disney. Sadly, he is no longer with us, but the love of Disney he instilled in me will never die. If I’m to expand on this, and it’s my blog so I will, in a very real sense, Walt Disney World was family’s our second home. Living very close by (Miami) we went frequently. My family, while very close, were not the family game night, eat dinner at the dinning table, kind of family. We really did the majority of our bonding on vacation. Since Walt Disney World was so close, we ended up doing a lot of it there. Also, when my father got ill we went after major surgeries or minor surgeries. One of the fondest memories of my entire life takes place at Walt Disney World in what is now Saratoga Springs. My father had recently had his leg amputated during a battle with Cancer. While he whooped cancer’s @$$, he didn’t leave unscathed. He was weak and the stump, as the remaining leg is called, didn’t heal very well. It was a long and hard fought battle, but once he had recovered a bit, was finally cleared to travel and had a good prosthetic leg, we went to Walt Disney World. I will never forgot the moment when, in the bedroom of our Villa, he got up from his wheelchair , set his crutches aside, and walked for the first time unassisted. Only someone who has watched a beloved family member struggle and suffer as much as we watched our dad do, can fully understand that moment. If I were to put what I felt into words for you, it very much felt like my father was coming back to us, and that he really was on the road to recovery. These kinds of memories make Walt Disney World a very special place for me. I’ve since made many other memories here and it’s not all about my dad. Although the one where he ran the pontoon boat we rented onto some rocks is a great one. These memories of loved ones and family time together make Walt Disney World very special and a place I enjoy going back to, much like some people visit the family lake house.

Vacation vs Travel

I say this a lot to people when they ask me and it’s usually an answer to the question “why not go somewhere else”. The answer is that, to me there are two kinds of trips I take. One is a vacation and the other is travel. Now, I adore travel, I greatly enjoy going to a new place and learning about different cultures and having different experiences. I firmly believe nothing broadens your mind or helps make you a better person than learning about other cultures and people. It breeds empathy and understanding in a world which, sadly, is severely lacking in these. However, life is hectic and crazy and we all work way too damned much. Often what I need is a vacation. To me, that means unwinding, reducing stress, chilling. Walt Disney World is where I do that. For some people this is the beach, for some it’s camping, for others it’s skiing, for me, it’s Walt Disney World. Perhaps it’s that his is where I went as a child on vacations to relax and reconnect with family, but few places for me have come close to being a relaxing vacation in the same way Walt Disney World is. Now, before you go off on me about how you need to wake up at dawn and get to the parks and you need to make all the reservations and so on and so forth, remember, I’ve been a 100+ times, I know that. I also know the place like the back of my hand and their reservation systems for me are super easy at this point. That’s why I’m a Specialist in Disney Travel, for me, booking your ADRs 180 days before or fastpass+ 60 days before is really routine and simple. Actually, I became a Specialist in Disney Travel because in many ways, the act of planning ANY vacation to Walt Disney World is incredibly enjoyable for me.

So there you have it. That’s why I keep going back. I promise I’ll go back to more informative posts now, but in the meantime, please leave your reasons for traveling to Walt Disney World in the comments below. I always love hearing them!!