Frankly I wish more families would spend time in WDW and stay out of Vegas...my magic kingdom.

I think this is one of the funniest posts in a long time. And to think we did it without calling anyone any especially bad names, and it stayed light. It's the first time in months that I have enjoyed following a busy post. Have a nice week, everyone

What's really funny (in a pathetic sort of way), is this recurring image I have of a family I saw at Disney, Mom, Dad, 2 kids, all very overweight, all on electric scooters, all wearing mouse ears. In the baskets of the scooters were those great big cokes and churros! It was almost like some kind of surrealistic parade in the bizarro world!

erisegaard: Whoa!! I had no idea the problem was THAT serious! Geeze, no wonder the world is such a mess today!!

If you go to "It's a Small World" then you don't need to travel anywhere else - you've seen the world!

Aw, go write a thesis!<BR>

I'm with you JB.<BR>My "have-to job" in my "have-to world" is...well, shall we say less than desirable most of the time. <BR>I don't "have to" go to Disney, but when I do (in OFF season, when there are NO lines, or crowds... or heat - like anyone with any sense should do)<BR>I enjoy myself. <BR><BR>I like Universal too - which , by the way, is WORLDS classier than the big mouse with better food, better hotels and parks that are comparable.<BR> <BR>But, "shhhhh, no one let it slip what the secret handshake is...us cult members have to stick together!"

That is funny Cindy!<BR><BR>I haven't been to Universal but would like to some day. My next trip is probably going to be either to Spain or The Alps - no mouse ears there. Hopefully, the "Cult" won't be upset with me for not going to Disney again.<BR><BR>I am having a baby in 5 days or less (will be induced on the 22nd) and my husband and I can't wait to take her to Disney...and Paris and Rome and introduce her to gourmet food...oh, and junk food too!<BR><BR>I may be part of the "Disney Cult" but I love the rest of the world too!<BR><BR>

erisgaard - first day with your new dictionary? Y

I don't have a problem with WDW - live and let live. However, I remember seeing the Lion King in NYC the first month it was open & couldn't believe the audacity of Disney! After forking over $100 per person for tickets, they forced you to exit the theater through the Disney store next door! Revolting. Cost many a parent another cool $100 I am sure. You are on such a high coming out of the show, you can't but help buying your kids a souvenier. I left the show feeling happy, and left the store feeling manipulated. Maybe it is my problem, not Disney's, but I know when I am being 'worked'.

Eisner and his happy cohorts make millions while the average Disney employee can bearly make ends meet. They wanted to put employee housing at WDW and Eisner nixed that idea. All for himself and to hell with the little people who make t-shirts, work in the Park etc.

tttt to tickly to trash

Why do some people go to Disney every year? Why do some people go to las Vegas every year? Why do some people take a cruise every year? Why do some people like me go back to the same island every year (Barbados) & stay at the same hotel (believe me, the coral & fish don't change!) ? Why do 50 million people tune in to Sponge Bob Square pants every day???Why did my kid have to see Harry Potter 15 times? Why have I read Wuthering Heights 10 times? Why ask why - its a no-brainer. BECAUSE WE LIKE IT AND ITS NO ONE ELSES BUSINESS!!!!

hahaha...is disney a cult...sometimes I wonder.(?) funny.<BR><BR>haha.

The word "cult" doesn't cover it exactly, although some of the elements are there. "Regime" comes closer, and my friends, Ellen has it right: anyone who has anything to do with Disney is "being worked." If that happened to you on an overseas trip, you would scream coercion.<BR><BR>What really tickles me, though, is that lately every time I boot "fodors.com/forums" I get an Orbitz pop-up touting "Orlando Magic."

ttt

My grandparents took me to the Magic Kingdom the first year it opened. Back then you had to purchase Coupons (A,B,C), etc. Epcot was in the planning stages and Egads! no water parks. However you could actually meet Mickey and the others on Main Street and it was just a fun place to be. I have taken my own children twice and will be repeating the trip again this year. Yah, so what it's a business but so is everything, plastic smiles are better than frowns and besides it gets the kids off Nintendo for a week.

P.S. Kudo's to Wanda, couldn't have said it better or funnier!

Erlesgaard has given me a good chuckle. He has clearly had his mind bent to the exact degree he is lamenting, only in a directly oppositional position!!! You can't be influenced unless you choose to let something influence you. I giggle at this the same way I get a giggle out of hearing a "doormat" complain about being walked on!

Wow.....the extent of selfishness in our society has reached an all-time high.....Here you guys are, arguing and getting hot-headed over where people like to vacation.....do you even stop to realize for one second that hundreds of millions of people in this world would kill to be able to go on ONE nice vacation in their lifetime. Not to mention all of the SERIOUS issues that are facing our country....I hardly think that Disney fans being in a cult qualifies as "serious." Why don't you all take the time that you would post a rebuttal on this thread and think about all the thousands of people who died on September 11th and the fact that they will never be able to vacation again....it will put it all in perspective for you.....

Wow.....the extent of selfishness in our society has reached an all-time high.....Here you guys are, arguing and getting hot-headed over where people like to vacation.....do you even stop to realize for one second that hundreds of millions of people in this world would kill to be able to go on ONE nice vacation in their lifetime. Not to mention all of the SERIOUS issues that are facing our country....I hardly think that Disney fans being in a cult qualifies as "serious." Why don't you all take the time that you would post a rebuttal on this thread and think about all the thousands of people who died on September 11th and the fact that they will never be able to vacation again....it will put it all in perspective for you.....

I happen to like WDW very much; but I go there precisely to escape the real world for a few days. Also, we love Epcot, but we stick to the Futureworld side. When I want to do world travel, I want reality, so I visit the real thing.<BR>When I want to do fantasy, I do WDW.<BR><BR>I will say one thing; if you could not find good food at WDW, you were not looking hard at all. Food is always one of the highlights of our trips. Most of the best restaurants in Central Florida are located in Disney hotels.

I'm not the world's biggest fan of Disney. But I'll say this much for them. It's the one place where I feel comfortable smoking a little weed. It's a small world indeed. And getting smaller with every toke.

Amazed - your post is meaningless. Who are you to preach to anyone here on this forum? I'm quite sure that all of the people posting here have thought about the people who died on 9/11 and have thought about the millions of less fortunate people in the world. It would be quite impossible to think about those things all of the time, however. Posting here about vacations and "thinking" about those less fortunate are not mutually exclusive.

I'm 50 years old and have been to WDW 7 times and Disneyland in California once. I love it. It's nice, clean, interesting, and fun. I have also been to Europe 5 times, Turkey, Mexico, Hawaii, Alaska, central America, the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania. I've eaten in some of the best restaurants in the world and found the California Grill on top of the Contemporary Hotel at WDW to be a fantastic restaurant. Also the Flying Fish at the Boardwalk and Citricos in the Grand Floridian were excellent, the Brown Derby at MGM was delicious, the French restaurant in Epcot , the Japanese restaurant in Epcot and the Chinese restaurant in Epcot, not to mention the Shepherd's Pie in the British Pub in Epcot were all very good. <BR><BR>Disney offers a good prooduct that many people obviously love. As always when you have a good product that millions of people endorse it generates jealousy and anger in some people. ( Just look at Microsoft or McDonald's ) The response of these people is almost always elitist though. It's not enough that they don't like it, they have to attack it, with an enthusiasm that far exceeds any wrong these companies have committed. <BR><BR>Why? <BR><BR>Primarily because they project their own inadequacies onto the company that is wildly successful, thus, the angry, over intellectualized arguments you read on sites like this about what...Walt Disney World of all things. <BR><BR>I say if you like it, enjoy it and if you don't like...too bad.

Well said Mickey!

Yeah, Mick, that was quite good.

Good job Mickey...we agree.

Some of you people are unbelievable. Surely one can have an unfavorable opinion about Disney without being consumed with jealousy, personal inadequacies and (perhaps the worst insufficiency of all in today's world) the inability to recognize and celebrate the success of an obviously brilliant and superior product. I grew up in the 70's, before VCRs and at a time when the Disney machine was a bit down, and thus was easily able to avoid them through the critical years of childhood, and I have pretty much been able to continue to do the same straight through the rest of my life, but I am so oblivious as not to be aware that for a lot of reasons (owning TV and news outlets, among others) they have a very large influence on attitudes people have in this society, one of the most unfortunate of which is the almost unchallenged attitude that anything is justifiable and worthy of admiration if it generates a big enough profit. Also all the evidence regarding their corporate practices, the town of Celebration that they run, the organization of their cruises and parks, etc, indicates that more even than other mega-businesses they have pretty much zero tolerance for human individuality, criticism, the faintest hint of non-conformity, discourse and exchanges between people beyond the most superficial level, spontaneity, most of what adults through the majority of human history have considered to be fun...needless to say the list could go on for a while. I'm glad you're so happy in it; happiness is probably the most misunderstood and overrated quality to pursue in life anyway (especially if Disney is somehow believed to be involved in providing it). Few people carry it off well.

X Trapnel <BR><BR>For a guy who says, "I grew up in the 70's, before VCRs and at a time when the Disney machine was a bit down, and thus was easily able to avoid them through the critical years of childhood, and I have pretty much been able to continue to do the same straight through the rest of my life", you sure have alot to say about an organisation that you easily avoided and obviously don't have any contact with. <BR><BR>You go on to say, "unchallenged attitude that anything is justifiable and worthy of admiration if it generates a big enough profit".<BR><BR>Who has this attitude other than you? <BR><BR>You're projecting here and over generalizing and over dramatizing. Large successful companies don't get away with murder because thay are large successful companies. They have to follow rules and regulations like everyone else and if they don't they get called on the carpet. <BR><BR>Your response is part of that elitist mental masturbation group that young arrogant people, with little experience in reality, make all the time. You guys sound like a broken record. <BR><BR>Go jerk off somewhere else cause that's all your phony response is....mental masturbation. You want so desperately to look like you know something or have some value system when in reality it's just pompous elan.

Go Mildred. <BR><BR>These people who try so hard to sound smart are just embarrasing. This guy X Trapnel says," happiness is probably the most misunderstood and overrated quality to pursue in life anyway".<BR><BR>Is this a frustrated and pitiful writer or what? Geez, I thought the histrionics were bad in my high school drama class but this guy brings it to a new level.

ttt

Topping for Ron

You're projecting here and over generalizing and over dramatizing. Large successful companies don't get away with murder because thay are large successful companies. They have to follow rules and regulations like everyone else and if they don't they get called on the carpet.

Don't follow the rules, here's what happens...<BR><BR>"House Democrats Wednesday announced they will soon introduce several bills in response to the financial collapse of Enron"<BR><BR><BR>"A verdict has been reached in the Arthur Andersen LLP criminal trial." <BR><BR>

Actually, Osama would have done us all a favor if he had sent those planes to crash into Disney World, Epcot, Disneyland and Michael Eisner's home. Osama bin Laden would have provided a service to Western Civilization.