I have never been to Disney World before. I admit it! So many people I know have been there multiple times, but I have never been. Well, I hadn't been—until recently. In early May, as a celebration of the summer, I went to Disney World with my friend for the very first time. As far as I could tell, Disney was just a really expensive amusement park where you can trick kids into thinking their favorite movie characters are real. I kind of had a cynical view of it. I wanted to evaluate how my view may have changed since coming back from that trip. Since I don't want to be a Negative Nancy and just spit out things I didn't like (to be honest, there were things about Disney that I didn't care for), I thought I'd list a few things that I really liked and appreciated (of which there were quite a few).
By the way, I'm not saying I hate Disney or Disney World. I like the movies and songs as much as the next person—Disney World has just never really been my thing. I thought I should add that disclaimer before anyone gets upset thinking that I'm a Disney hater. I'm not. I just don't want to spend a whole bunch of money at an amusement park.
So let's get to the positives! Here are three things I learned at Disney World that made me enjoy it more than I thought I would:
1. Everyone there is really nice.
You'll occasionally find a grumpy person at Disney, but, for the most part, the employees there want to give you a great vacation. They want to help out and make sure that their guests are happy. You can tell when someone is faking niceness just because their bosses are right around the corner, but I didn't get that impression at Disney. Obviously, if a customer is being mean or asking dumb questions, the employee won't be as excited to serve them, but the workers there genuinely love Disney and want to work there. They want to make people happy for a living. I really appreciated that.
2. Disney World is very organized.
There are long lines and lots of complicated things going on at Disney. That is the first lesson you have to learn whenever you plan on going. As soon as you begin the planning process, you've got to pay attention to the details and make sure everything is in order. Luckily, Disney seems to have a fairly organized system. It can still get kind of complicated, but they know that they're busy and popular, and they make sure they can handle the influx of people. Even if you have to wait in line while something is fixed, it is usually fixed pretty quickly. And like I said in my first point, the employees really want to help.
3. There's something there for everyone.
Although I really enjoyed Magic Kingdom (the most Disney of all the parks, in my opinion), I also really loved Epcot and Animal Kingdom. I'm a huge fan of trying different foods from different countries, and I really love animals. I liked meeting characters and riding a few rides, but I'm not a huge rollercoaster fan, and I don't like to feel rushed. Disney World had something even for a very picky, skeptical visitor like me. No matter what you like, Disney World will have something for you to enjoy and appreciate.
Overall, I really enjoyed my first visit to Disney World. There were some good things about it that I really appreciated, and it felt like more than just a cash grab to me. It felt like a place where they want people to be happy and enjoy themselves. They want people to live out their dream of meeting their favorite characters. It felt much more genuine than I thought it would. Sure, they have a lot of merchandise, and it takes a lot of money to even get there—but I think that Disney World is a pretty cool place to be. I'd like to go again someday.
