I was at Sebring this year, and we were staying directly across the street from Universal. Even walked over there for dinner one night. So, race is over, we've got a free day, what do we do?
We went to the Kennedy Space Center. 
Didn't regret it one bit, seeing a Saturn V and a real moon lander blows away anything Disney could cook up.
Do your tickets get you into Animal Kingdom?
What about their MGM movie studio?
One of our MSCC members is a driver in their stunt car show
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTXDpeKKeUo
Love Disney World. Been going since I was 3. Love it. Can't wait to go again.... and I have no kids. I don't know what so many people's problems with it are. My guess is they just hate life and can find nothing good in every day life.
In reply to Bobzilla:
I was told once that since I don't follow any sort of stick and ball sports I must be anti fun. Not in the least, ask anyone stupid enough to hang around me. I dislike having my fun predigested, wrapped in a glitzy package and then pushed at me with the other hand out for an enormous amount of money. That's what Disney does.
Having said that, if my kid had wanted to go I would have not only gone but would have done the 'grin and bear it' thing, mugged for the camera etc. so that she would have good memories.
Bobzilla wrote: Love Disney World. Been going since I was 3. Love it. Can't wait to go again.... and I have no kids. I don't know what so many people's problems with it are. My guess is they just hate life and can find nothing good in every day life.
I hate amusement parks all of them.
Bobzilla wrote: My guess is they just hate life and can find nothing good in every day life.
See, now, that seems like a good reason to actually like Disney. It's like a fake world for people who are afraid to enjoy the real one. Afraid to skydive? Watch a video where a camera man does it for you! Afraid of foreigners but want to travel? We have a whole theme park filled with stereotypes of what you already think about cultures from around the world! Wish the creatures from movies were real? Wish no more - we have tons of college students who are willing to risk heat exhaustion and dress up to amuse the young as well as easily amused adults for the dangled carrot of a career as a middle-manangement here at Disney!
Kennedy Space Center FTMFW!
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote:berkeley that. My kids have a good time making a couple fridge boxes into a nerf war fort. You can please them with anything new. Disney should be trying to make Daddy the happiest motherberkeleyer who ever laid eyes on a Magic Castle or spent too much money learning the American Dream is not a Disney product. How hard would it for them to have a few kiosks where Snow White or Minnie is giving rub and tugs? Hell, by day three it could be that lobster character for all most of us would care.mtn wrote: Is your kid having a good time?^^ this This is all that should matter.
I knew you were going to come in here and E36 M3 on somebodies post. I just happened to be the lucky one.
You know I'm glad your kids are creative enough to make something out of nothing. Some kids are creatively challenged.
As for Disney, they try pretty hard to please everyone and keep it family friendly. Not everyone is going to love it, period.
My point is that it's obvious the OP agreed to go to Disneyworld so he should make the best of it and not drag everyone else down and make what is probably one of the most fun things his kid will do in their childhood memorable.
If you want to be wasted and get a rub and tug by a girl in costume, you can save yourself the hassle and run to the nearest city's red light district. 
Curmudgeon wrote: In reply to Bobzilla: I was told once that since I don't follow any sort of stick and ball sports I must be anti fun. Not in the least, ask anyone stupid enough to hang around me. I dislike having my fun predigested, wrapped in a glitzy package and then pushed at me with the other hand out for an enormous amount of money. That's what Disney does. Having said that, if my kid had wanted to go I would have not only gone but would have done the 'grin and bear it' thing, mugged for the camera etc. so that she would have good memories.
If y'all spent half as much time looking at the detail and the work behind what they do as you did hating it, you'd see some amazing stuff. What seperates Disney from the rest is the attention to detail.
for example.... we were at MGM the summer the Tower of Terror opened. If you've been there, the lobby looks like it's been deserted for decades. All those little details into everything they do is what I still find entertaining. That and the rides are rarely ever the same. i've been on that particular ride close to 20 times over the years.... and it's never the same.
Keith Tanner wrote: We went to the Kennedy Space Center.
This is also true. That Saturn V is one big mother.
imirk wrote:Keith Tanner wrote: We went to the Kennedy Space Center.This is also true. That Saturn V is one big mother.
We have one (and a replica here in Huntsville). The replica is standing upright outside and you can see it for miles.
When I visited my folks this weekend, they were talking about the vacation they're taking soon, and we talked about some of the past ones.
Apparently, my dad was kind of miserable about going to Disney at first, but ended up giving it a chance since neither he or my mom had been there, and they ended up having a blast. I remember it fondly, but doubt I'd ever go back on my own, there's just too many other things to see.
OTOH, SWMBO has never been, and occasionally expresses an interest when we see it on TV. I wonder how cheaply Disney can be done on a GRM budget...
Curmudgeon wrote: In reply to Bobzilla: I was told once that since I don't follow any sort of stick and ball sports I must be anti fun. Not in the least, ask anyone stupid enough to hang around me. I dislike having my fun predigested, wrapped in a glitzy package and then pushed at me with the other hand out for an enormous amount of money. That's what Disney does. Having said that, if my kid had wanted to go I would have not only gone but would have done the 'grin and bear it' thing, mugged for the camera etc. so that she would have good memories.
And in doing do... propagating the pre-digested fun, wrapped in a glitzy package and then pushed onto your kids so they hand out an enormous amount of money someday?
Yeah. I had to do that too. berkeleying Rat has one badass marketing team.
I find that I don't necessarily hate places, sometimes I dislike the people it attracts. My child is not perfect, but man it drives me nuts seeing misbehaved kids with inattentive parents. In general, as I get older, I really don't care for large amounts of folks together in one place. People on vacation tend to not be as self aware or aware of their surroundings. I sort of feel like I need to be at a heightened awareness at those times to "protect" my wife and son. I plan on going there next year, the first time as an adult.
Stealthtercel wrote: My memory of Disney that seems to sum the whole place up (when I'm in the wrong mood, anyway) is the sight of a harried-looking guy plus wife plus multiple kids plus old lady in wheelchair, and the guy is saying, "Wait a minute, hold on, everybody: a bird just s**t on Grandma!"
Is that what you really saw or just the image you put in your head? My recent experience is you'll find a ton of images where Dad has his son/daughter on his shoulders as the child is laughing/looking around in awe/smiling. Or the family is on a ride together and everyone is having a great time, especially the parents because they know how excited their kids are.
Is Disney work for the parents? Sure, sometimes. Is it "pre-digested fun" and "tourist trap-ish" sometimes? You bet ya. But my 8 year old doesn't care. My 5 year olds don't care. They don't know what all that means. They only know they're on a really cool Star Wars ride, or are face to face with Cinderella inside of her castle. That's something they won't get anywhere else.
I agree my kids can have fun with an empty fridge box. But they don't ask me every other week when the next time they can have an empty box is....
Disney is the ultimate in tourist type destinations (call it a tourist trap if you're on the negative side of this debate). If you're preconceived notion is it's horrible, you'll hate it no matter what. If you accept it for what it is, you'll love it.
sachilles wrote: I find that I don't necessarily hate places, sometimes I dislike the people it attracts.... ....In general, as I get older, I really don't care for large amounts of folks together in one place. People on vacation tend to not be as self aware or aware of their surroundings.
Dude, you hit the nail on the head on how I feel about places like this. I loved them as a kid and would bring my kids there if I had any. But for berk sake, I can't STAND being around the completely oblivious, inconsiderate, general public in crowded places. And now with cell phones every where I can only imagine it driving me even more nuts. This rant is making me want to move further away from the city again.
/rant
Klayfish wrote: If you accept it for what it is, you'll love it.
I guess it's that I see it for what it is but don't necessarily agree with it. GPS said it best: the Rat has a helluva marketing team.
I personally like my fun unscripted and somewhat on the edge; racing/riding dirt bikes, racing LeMons, whitewater rafting, etc. Or, as Keith mentioned, something like the Kennedy Space Center where I can hope to actually learn something. One of my goals is to spend a weekend or two in the Smithsonian. My kid has even mentioned the Smithsonian; she really enjoyed the day we spent in the Museum of Natural History in NYC.
I don't much care for the idea of feeding money into the maw of an enormous corporation like Disney which spends an enormous amount of time with merchandise tie ins to movies, one feeds from the other. I'd rather put that same dollar toward the things I mentioned.
Bobzilla mentioned the behind the scenes stuff, from a purely engineering standpoint yeah I'd like to see it. I understand the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' exhibit is particularly complex and detailed. The rest of it, meh.
We took our 2 year old to Disney World back in March. First thing we did was agree that we were comfortable taking the money for tickets and lighting it on fire. We also realized that we would only be there for half the day. Once lunch time rolled around, it was back to the hotel for a nap, no excuses. We then planned out our plan of attack. We went in the main gate of the Magic Kingdom and worked the plan. We picked out attractions that were appropriate for his age, and none that would have involved waiting in long lines. We rode nothing and had a blast. My son loved it. Our biggest mistake was visiting Sea World the next day. What a hell hole compared to any Disney property.
I promised myself years ago I'd never be one of those parents shoving their kids through a theme park trying to get "his money's worth" out of the trip.
We are already planning our next trip for when our 4 month old is getting close to being two. Next time we are staying on Disney property. Sure it will cause my VISA spontaneously combustion, but it will be worth it to take the monorail back to our rooms during the middle of the day for naps.
if you hate this place be sure to stay off the "It's a Small World" Boat ride.................
I never went to Disney when I was a kid instead my parents and I traveled a lot. By the time I was 18 I had been to England 8 times. I had also gone to Australia and lived in Denmark for 2 months plus visiting a huge number of places around the US. I am glad I got to do those things instead of Disney.
In reply to Curmudgeon:
When you do the Air & Space - leave yourself about the whole damn day to wander around in the Apollo exhibit. The kids loved the flight simulator too. We spent 3 days between A&S and Natural History and just generally wandering the whole area from the Capitol to the Washington Monument. Do bring some comfortable shoes.
I don't mind the Disney experience, but good GOD I hate Orlando/Kissimmee with the burning passion of 1000 suns.
I can agree with everyone so far. I was just venting about already shelling out north of $2500, then getting hammered for another $30 5x7 picture in a colorful folder at breakfast. It is no fun for a parent, period.
The mouse (rat) will get all of your money and some you do not have yet.
The whole place is built on the concept that there are two kinds of money/spending.
One is everyday spending where you analyze the price of things and seek cheaper prices.
The other is vacation spending where you tend to "reward yourself" with taking the easy way of spending.
93EXCivic wrote: I never went to Disney when I was a kid instead my parents and I traveled a lot. By the time I was 18 I had been to England 8 times. I had also gone to Australia and lived in Denmark for 2 months plus visiting a huge number of places around the US. I am glad I got to do those things instead of Disney.
I would GLADLY trade my 3 Disneyworld/Disneyland vacations from my childhood to have more countries under my belt.
I'd be anxious to here about everything once you've had a beer. Sort of what the best GRM way of doing disney is.
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