Disney World

Since we can't go to any of the Disney parks, what is everyone's favorite virtual Disneyland/World experience?

I have a few park videos bookmarked to carry me through:

Watching Disney Food Blog gives my wife her Disney fix. AJ is a fantastic narrator.

jrralls wrote:

Since we can't go to any of the Disney parks, what is everyone's favorite virtual Disneyland/World experience?

Virtual Magic Kingdom as a whole was my favorite growing up. That was my introduction to MMO's and to the idea of playing a role. It also is entirely to blame for teaching me how to move past hunting and pecking and typing.

My favorite memory of the real thing is a split between when I was 16 and taking my parents on the Tower of Terror, and when I was 25 and me and a group of friends bribed our scardy cat friend to go with us on Tower of Terror. This woman screams on the Peoplemover if anyone so much as touches her in Space Mountain. I'll put it this way, it took the promise of three Welsh Dragons from the Rose and Crowne to convince her to do it, and it was by far the funniest thing I've ever experienced in the parks, ever. She also got the biggest hugs from everyone for doing it after, and those Welsh Dragons.

Families WDW trip officially postponed from May to July (or later).

UpToIsomorphism wrote:

Families WDW trip officially postponed from May to July (or later).

Best of luck. We have a Children with Diabetes conference there every July (3000+ people). Though it's still scheduled, I'm really questioning whether it's a good idea for us to go to that.

Hell, I'm wondering if our trip scheduled for the beginning of November will still be a go.

Yeah, I think our trip may get pushed back at least one more time. I am hoping that the little guy will hit another growth spurt and get to ride Soarin'.

LouZiffer wrote:
UpToIsomorphism wrote:

Families WDW trip officially postponed from May to July (or later).

Best of luck. We have a Children with Diabetes conference there every July (3000+ people). Though it's still scheduled, I'm really questioning whether it's a good idea for us to go to that.

Over the weekend, this changed. The conference is now going entirely virtual, and will be free. Boxes including conference shirts, lanyards, wrist bands, and swag from the exhibit hall (companies like Novo Nordisk, Dexcom, Abbott, MedTronic, etc. are big sponsors and hand out stuff) for each person will be shipped. Focus groups, support, education, and state-of-the-art care sessions will be hosted virtually along with purely social stuff like a themed "dance".

If you know of someone with a family that's impacted by Type 1 Diabetes, they should seriously consider attending: https://childrenwithdiabetes.com/con...

I know it's optimistic but the wife and I are trying to plan out a 10th anniversary trip for next year.

Anyone here done Disney cruises?

I was looking into them a lot before the pandemic happened. I had settled on Disney based on reports of top-tier cleanliness, customer service, guest friendliness, and ports (SInce Disney owns the places you stop). It would have just been 2 adults, so I made sure to check that there were adult only sections of the ship, and there was. But, I never went through with booking it, because y'know....

manta173 wrote:

I know it's optimistic but the wife and I are trying to plan out a 10th anniversary trip for next year.

Anyone here done Disney cruises?

Premature congratulations!

manta173 wrote:

I know it's optimistic but the wife and I are trying to plan out a 10th anniversary trip for next year.

Anyone here done Disney cruises?

Before we to the Disney part, have you gone on a cruise before?

I only ask because I have a couple times, and I've come to the conclusion that they're a very specific form of vacation that is very easy to hate. And to love, too, don't get me wrong, they're great for lots of folk.

For me, at every waking moment, I was painfully aware that the entire edifice of a floating city only existed to suck dollars out of my wallet. It's incessant. And along with that, it felt like an onslaught of excess - here have some ice cream, have some pizza, you probably need a cocktail, oh it's dinner time, come eat the nth meal of the day. Oh, a shore day! Do you want to give us an obscene amount of money for a lackluster outing we've organized? Or a really obscene amount for a good outing (last cruise I went on, we had the option of taking a helicopter ride over an Alaskan glacier. Pricetag was three times what we paid for the entire vacation.)

All of that led to what felt like a vacation that I was at best a passive observer, and at worst, a wallet with a mouth.

On top of all that, both cruises I've gone on we've both gotten noravirus-y symptoms. I would be running the other way from a big floating petri dish given the year we've just had.

skeletonframes wrote:

I was looking into them a lot before the pandemic happened. I had settled on Disney based on reports of top-tier cleanliness, customer service, guest friendliness, and ports (SInce Disney owns the places you stop). It would have just been 2 adults, so I made sure to check that there were adult only sections of the ship, and there was. But, I never went through with booking it, because y'know....

We've done one to Alaska and loved it. I'm sure the Caribbean would be as good if not better... But I'm more interested in the Mediterranean one. We loved to travel internationally before kids... and want to do it again.

We've done Japan and Australia... were thinking either Mediterranean or more Japan. My wife just feels more comfortable with something organized on first trips. I can find a guide for Japan, but a guide for 'the Mediterranean' is probably kind of unlikely... hence the cruise. Was just wondering if someone else had tried it. I found relatively few if any 'unsponsored' reviews of cruises...

Fedaykin98 wrote:
manta173 wrote:

I know it's optimistic but the wife and I are trying to plan out a 10th anniversary trip for next year.

Anyone here done Disney cruises?

Premature congratulations!

Thanks!

My wife and I did a cruise for our honeymoon, and the cruise itself was only okay. I am up to trying one again, but it'll probably be one where there's a group event happening - there are multiple boardgame-themed cruises that I'm aware of, including one with BGG and one with The Dice Tower. That sounds awesome to me.

There's also a heavy metal cruise I'd love to try, but my wife wouldn't.

Jonman wrote:
manta173 wrote:

I know it's optimistic but the wife and I are trying to plan out a 10th anniversary trip for next year.

Anyone here done Disney cruises?

Before we to the Disney part, have you gone on a cruise before?

I only ask because I have a couple times, and I've come to the conclusion that they're a very specific form of vacation that is very easy to hate. And to love, too, don't get me wrong, they're great for lots of folk.

For me, at every waking moment, I was painfully aware that the entire edifice of a floating city only existed to suck dollars out of my wallet. It's incessant. And along with that, it felt like an onslaught of excess - here have some ice cream, have some pizza, you probably need a cocktail, oh it's dinner time, come eat the nth meal of the day. Oh, a shore day! Do you want to give us an obscene amount of money for a lackluster outing we've organized? Or a really obscene amount for a good outing (last cruise I went on, we had the option of taking a helicopter ride over an Alaskan glacier. Pricetag was three times what we paid for the entire vacation.)

All of that led to what felt like a vacation that I was at best a passive observer, and at worst, a wallet with a mouth.

On top of all that, both cruises I've gone on we've both gotten noravirus-y symptoms. I would be running the other way from a big floating petri dish given the year we've just had.

I've seen these complaints before... to be honest, on shore excursions are a mixed bag depending on the cruise line. Typically its good to do the research and maybe book some through the cruise, but also some or most separately with locals. The money suck was all at the initial payment on the Disney cruise for me... I assume mileage varies on that though. The extra bottle of wine or odd souvenir was all I had to deal with.

The main benefit would be the ease of planning, and the safety/ comfort level relatively guaranteed. I could plan my trip on my own... but I don't know the pitfalls for hotels in Greece or if this part of Italy is the one with all the pickpockets... etc. I know Disney can't keep my wallet safe, but I trust them to not put me on a guided tour where I walk alone through a sketchy alley because it's the easiest route I see on my google maps.

Jonman is right if you book a cruise and don't do your homework ahead of time. We avoided most of the excess in Alaska and the Caribbean. My wife is basically a super traveler and does this all ahead of time. She reviews all of what was on board, looked at our destinations, booked items or found hikes not through the ship. If not spending money is your goal or not getting taken by the cruise then yeah you can do it pretty well but it will be work.

Hobear wrote:

Jonman is right if you book a cruise and don't do your homework ahead of time. We avoided most of the excess in Alaska and the Caribbean. My wife is basically a super traveler and does this all ahead of time. She reviews all of what was on board, looked at our destinations, booked items or found hikes not through the ship. If not spending money is your goal or not getting taken by the cruise then yeah you can do it pretty well but it will be work.

I assume most of the Mediterranean excursions will be non-Disney... but that's cause the wife and I like to travel and look for the best things we can do. Cost is always a concern... but we are talking about a cruise... so it is clearly not number 1.

We did a cruise for our wedding. It was a little non-standard in that it was Boston > Bermuda. The boat sailed down, parked at the dock for three days, and then sailed back. That meant we were a lot less pressed for time onshore, and we could go to restaurants for dinner and such.

Cruises are definitely good if your idea of a nice vacation is to have everything done for you so you can kind of turn your brain off. The caveat is that you also have to be okay with being in close proximity to a small city's worth of people all the time. Our boat had pools, but we never went in them because they were mostly mobbed. Same for just sitting in lounge chairs on the upper decks. Fortunately, we had a room with a balcony.

I'd say going just the two of you is probably the ideal way to do it. Maximize the "do whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it" element. Also, it's surprisingly easy to smuggle booze onto the boat, and there's a whole cottage industry around figuring ways to do it. Having a handle or two of liquor really cuts down on the temptation to hit the bar, though we found that drink prices were basically in line with Boston drink prices.

Chaz wrote:

Cruises are definitely good if your idea of a nice vacation is to have everything done for you so you can kind of turn your brain off. The caveat is that you also have to be okay with being in close proximity to a small city's worth of people all the time.

One major reason we were hesitant to do a cruise before is the social aspect of it. We vacation mostly to relax. We like to be social only when we feel it. We've been on vacations where you meet another couple at the hotel bar or whatnot and they want to make plans with you or run out to the pool or hot tub whenever you're out there. Haha. Being stuck on a boat for 7 days in a situation like that sounds like hell.

Chaz wrote:

Having a handle or two of liquor really cuts down on the temptation to hit the bar, though we found that drink prices were basically in line with Boston drink prices.

...bringing this back to Disney, we were surprised to discover that food and drink at Disney World was not much more expensive than going out in Downtown Detroit. Everything we read and watched, and everyone we spoke to, said to be prepared to pay an arm and a leg. We were pleasantly surprised when neither of us spent even half of what we had planned to. Of course, we don't have kids, so that saves us roughly 1 bajilliondy dollars per stay.

manta173 wrote:

I know it's optimistic but the wife and I are trying to plan out a 10th anniversary trip for next year.

Anyone here done Disney cruises?

I've gone on two Disney cruises, one to the Caribbean and one to Alaska (do I understood right that you also did the Alaska Disney cruise? Or was the Alaska cruise on another line?). I and my family thoroughly enjoyed both trips. On the plus side, the experience was seamless and worry-free. The excursions were not mind-blowing experiences, but delivered what they advertised at a cost that was not cheap but was about what I would have expected for the "we'll take care of everything" conditions. The down side for me was, if anything, the relentless Disneyness of it. And I say that as someone who is a big Disney fan. It can start to wear thin after four or five days. At the same time, my spouse is not a Disney fan and she had a good time as well. And then there's the general cruise condition of "If it's Tuesday, this must be Belgium." But that's the trade off for deciding to go with an experience where you leave the planning to someone else. I can't speak to what it would be like to go as an adult couple. A big part of our enjoyment was that both trips were a three-generation family experience. Having said all that, if I were going to the Mediterranean for the first time and wanted to take the hassle out of planning it I would definitely do Disney again.

easy sunday wrote:
manta173 wrote:

I know it's optimistic but the wife and I are trying to plan out a 10th anniversary trip for next year.

Anyone here done Disney cruises?

I've gone on two Disney cruises, one to the Caribbean and one to Alaska (do I understood right that you also did the Alaska Disney cruise? Or was the Alaska cruise on another line?). I and my family thoroughly enjoyed both trips. On the plus side, the experience was seamless and worry-free. The excursions were not mind-blowing experiences, but delivered what they advertised at a cost that was not cheap but was about what I would have expected for the "we'll take care of everything" conditions. The down side for me was, if anything, the relentless Disneyness of it. And I say that as someone who is a big Disney fan. It can start to wear thin after four or five days. At the same time, my spouse is not a Disney fan and she had a good time as well. And then there's the general cruise condition of "If it's Tuesday, this must be Belgium." But that's the trade off for deciding to go with an experience where you leave the planning to someone else. I can't speak to what it would be like to go as an adult couple. A big part of our enjoyment was that both trips were a three-generation family experience. Having said all that, if I were going to the Mediterranean for the first time and wanted to take the hassle out of planning it I would definitely do Disney again.

Yeah the Alaska cruise was Disney. It was just my wife and I and her parents.

I just think planning a trip myself means fewer stops and maybe less relaxing as hotel hopping can get tiring especially when we want to go out and see things...

skeletonframes wrote:

One major reason we were hesitant to do a cruise before is the social aspect of it. We vacation mostly to relax. We like to be social only when we feel it. We've been on vacations where you meet another couple at the hotel bar or whatnot and they want to make plans with you or run out to the pool or hot tub whenever you're out there. Haha. Being stuck on a boat for 7 days in a situation like that sounds like hell.

Haven't had this problem before when my wife and I have gone on cruises. You can be as social as you want to or not. We're typically not. We might converse a bit with people from time-to-time but mostly people seem to keep to themselves if you're not going out of your way to friend them up.

Seem the social areas are the smaller bars scattered around and the main dining room where you're having dinner with multiple people at the same table. We don't do the main dining room and will just do restaurants or the buffet. Never had anyone ask for commitments for doing anything with them.

We'll actually spend a lot of time in our room out on the balcony. After a day or two It sometimes gets to be too much. So its nice to retreat to a private spot and sit out on the balcony watching the waves, playing card games, or even just falling asleep. If you have a stern facing balcony that is just the best. The view is awesome and I have no problem spending a lot time out there.

We did do a Disney cruise for our wedding (did the Disney Wedding package thing) but that was 18 years ago so not sure how it is these days. We had a lot of fun on the ship. But it certainly was a blessing that those ships have adult only areas. Those were nice as they were not crowded at all and a good place to wind down.

All this being said I can't even think of when I would attempt to go on a cruise again with COVID.

manta173 wrote:

Yeah the Alaska cruise was Disney. It was just my wife and I and her parents.

I just think planning a trip myself means fewer stops and maybe less relaxing as hotel hopping can get tiring especially when we want to go out and see things...

That's the really groovy thing about cruises, i.e., it's the hotel that goes with you! It feels so great to get to a place and just step off the boat, see what you want to see in "New town" without having to deal with any of the logistics of navigating a rental car into new town, getting moved in to new hotel, etc. You're just straight into enjoying whatever there is to enjoy about the place. I remember on the Alaska trip especially feeling like I saw, for instance, Skagway, learned its history, experienced its charms, and was back on the boat right about the time when I felt like I had gotten everything out of it that I wanted to get out of it. And just in time to go have another nice meal in the dining room and reminisce with everyone else about what a fun time they had.

I'm not seeing a lot of No's in here... which gives me confidence.

I agree the COVID thing is a bit scary, but the wife and I have both been vaccinated and assume rates of vaccination will just go up over time. Ideally things will be safe enough to not be a big issue in more than a year.

One thing I haven't tried, but want to, is a group trip organized by a travel agency. There are lots of group trips through various alumni-oriented people like The Traveling Aggies (in my case). I don't necessarily want to cruise, but I don't feel like my wife and I are good enough travel planners to get the most out of places on our own. We have traveled solo, and done fine, but I think having someone else plan and having a tour guide would be better. I also think I'd enjoy the social side of a group tour.

manta173 wrote:

I'm not seeing a lot of No's in here... which gives me confidence.

I agree the COVID thing is a bit scary, but the wife and I have both been vaccinated and assume rates of vaccination will just go up over time. Ideally things will be safe enough to not be a big issue in more than a year.

I mean, I’ve never done it, but you couldn’t pay me enough money to get on a cruise ship, and that was before the pandemic.

Crawley wrote:

We'll actually spend a lot of time in our room out on the balcony. After a day or two It sometimes gets to be too much. So its nice to retreat to a private spot and sit out on the balcony watching the waves, playing card games, or even just falling asleep. If you have a stern facing balcony that is just the best. The view is awesome and I have no problem spending a lot time out there.

Now, this sounds right up our alley. Thanks for the input. I will have my vaccination finished at the end of this month and my girlfriend is in Wave 2 of Necessary Workers, so she should get her shots next month. That said, I will feel okay traveling to open-air destinations in the near future, but I'm sure a cruise will still be a few years off for us.

skeletonframes wrote:
Crawley wrote:

We'll actually spend a lot of time in our room out on the balcony. After a day or two It sometimes gets to be too much. So its nice to retreat to a private spot and sit out on the balcony watching the waves, playing card games, or even just falling asleep. If you have a stern facing balcony that is just the best. The view is awesome and I have no problem spending a lot time out there.

Now, this sounds right up our alley. Thanks for the input. I will have my vaccination finished at the end of this month and my girlfriend is in Wave 2 of Necessary Workers, so she should get her shots next month. That said, I will feel okay traveling to open-air destinations in the near future, but I'm sure a cruise will still be a few years off for us.

Chiming in with agreement. As someone else who was concerned about the social situation, the only cruise (so far) I've taken with my wife and kids was amazing. Hardly saw the kids except for meals, and got to spend a huge amount of time as a couple for the first time in... not sure how long. We ducked in and out of shows occasionally and participated in a big sing-along. Otherwise it was trying interesting food, reading books, playing games, people-watching, and generally enjoying each other's company in a relaxing setting where everything was taken care of.

We had another planned for December 2020...