Explain This Magic Bubble..

Well I think you hit it right on the head for us too! We never go out of the bubble either. I like the fact that we can park the car and not get back in it until we leave. We feel safe at WDW so really don't need to explore other areas. We have such a great time, why go somewhere outside the bubble? I enjoy my bubble! Lol

Our primary reason is financial.

Disney World ain't cheap, but it costs less to spend all our vacation days inside the magic bubble. Every park day after the first five only costs an additional $10, so five days in the World and two at Universal costs over $100 more per person than seven days at Disney parks. This year we have annual passes, but the same principle applies - the more days we spend at WDW, the more value we get from our APs, whereas Universal would require another $300 total outlay for a couple of days (estimating that cost). Also, by staying in the bubble, we can use Disney transportation and skip the cost of renting a car.

Sometimes we do want to head up the road and see something else - on those trips, we don't stay at a Disney resort.

Why break the spell? Every time I leave to go to Uni, I can't wait to get back "home".

I second all of the reasons already given. For us, the Disney Bubble, is a whole thing, truly a world apart. We've been no where else that feels like that. The last time we left the Bubble to see another attraction (Wizarding World of Harry Potter), we had a great time in that small bubble, but a Universal as a whole . . . We didn't care for. It doesn't have the charm or magic - it isn't an escape. When we finished with HP, we left to get lunch at Downtown Disney, and as we stepped back into the Bubble, we both commented about the change we felt in the very air. . .

It is the transportation, it is the financial package, it is the deep ties to the memories of childhood, it is the chance to live in a separate world, to be. . . New. Every Time!

We've been venturing out of the bubble from time to time...cautiously. The buses kind of stress me out, so car rental has become part of our vacation. A very good friend of ours is currently enrolled at Full Sail University, so some of our vacation time this year has involved visiting him, thus necessitating the car rental. Since we have it anyway, we've ventured to the grocery store and the outlets. As far as theme park entertainment, DH has expressed an interest in Universal and I haven't been to Sea World in ages and would love to go back, but when we eventually do that, it will be a separate trip. Like CCP said, I just can't justify buying a second set of park tickets with such a high base price for the first day and I'm certainly not sacrificing my AP days!!

As far as arguments for being in the bubble, for me it's the quality and the attention to detail. Even on the rare occasion when we have had an issue, it has not only been corrected, but we have been compensated handsomely for the inconvenience that we experienced. I feel like Disney values me as a guest and truly cares whether or not I have a good experience. I feel appreciated as a customer and I, in turn, appreciate all of the little touches that cast members add to make my experience more magical.

Agreed that money is a big factor. I mean, if you have to venture outside the bubble to Uni, Sea World, Legoland or whatever, it'll cost a lot of money for transportation there and back. It isn't cheap by any stretch. A rental car costs a lot of money and you'll have to pay the tolls and parking if need be. Taxis are also expensive, as well. Depending on where you stay, a one-way trip to Universal, for instance, can range from 40-50 US dollars, that's 80-100 bucks round trip and that's not including tip! And if money isn't the biggest concern, time is. You could go by public transportation with the Lynx buses as an example which may save a lot of money on paper, but you could very well lose a lot of time.

If I'm staying at Disney resort, that means I'm all set staying in the bubble and there's no need to venture outside because of money and convenience. But of course, I think it all depends on how many days you think you need for whatever non-Disney activity you have planned. For Universal as an example, you'll definitely need more than one full day to experience both parks. I think most should take the Disneyland approach and by that, I mean, schedule at least 4-5 days there to truly experience Uni. But a one day trip to Legoland or Sea World may only require a taxi cab reservation from the hotel.

As for me, I do have interest in visiting Uni personally and that's about it in terms of non-Disney activities I'm interesting in doing in Florida. It has nothing to do with Disney's actions or lack thereof. It's been years since I last went back in 2004 where a lot of changes have been made since. Being a huge Harry Potter fan who has read all the books and seen all the movies, I am intrigued of going there and seeing what they created. Of course, I have to wait a few more years given my financial situation and the large craze of Diagon Alley at the moment but I have some serious thoughts of doing a Universal-Disney two legged trip down the road. Or just do a separate Universal trip and nothing else if need be.

My reason is quite simple: there's no need to leave the bubble. I'm happy and content in that bubble and have everything I need (and more). I can never get enough Disney

Hear, hear!

Thank you, Watchmaker! Several months ago, King Fergus asked how to tell people about the magic - those who don't get it.

http://www.wdwforgrownups.com/forum/wdwis-it-most-magical-place-earth

It is hard to tell people about the Disney Thing we all feel, why it is enough, more than enough for so many of us. Some only see a theme park. (Or 4) I that sounds funny, but that is not what Disney World is to me - is not what makes it Magic.

Ditto!

We have some members of our family who recently went to WDW for the first time now granted they did leave the Disney bubble but we had talked and talked about it until we were blue in the face about it and they did take it in but you could see they couldn't understand why we went year after year, now when they returned they came up to visit and they simply said "when we walked through those tunstiles for the first time we just "got it" and they can't explain why they just did! and even though they stayed in a villa and visited universal and seaworld and the shopping malls etc they have started planning a 2016 trip without the children and grandchildren so they can see all the things they wanted to spend time doing this year (it was kinda difficult this time seen as there was 6 children between 6weeks and 15 years old!)

From my personal experience we missed universal last year and only left "the bubble" for a days shopping at the outlets (because its soooooooo much cheaper than england and the more I save there the more i have to spend at Disney next time!) and this year because of the new HP world we are visiting universal for 2 days and a days shopping but even before I've seen it I've decided I'm not going next year because I cant bear to be without Disney for 3 days!!!!

so from my POV - Disney build a cheap outlet with Addidas, Nike and Ugg and I will never leave!!!!!!!

The real reason we don't live the bubble is financial. The cost of hitting up another park, plus renting a car etc. is too much. BUT, I don't feel all that bad about it because I love the Disney bubble. So much to do, so much to see. If done well, it really is the perfect combination of relaxing and adventure!

Had to take the senior cat to vet yesterday and since my sister-in-law is my vet we had to chat. She asked how retirement is going, (start next week) and asked if we have trips planned. We told her about trip in Sept and she just shook her head and said, "You know there are other places in the world?" Yes, there are and we sometimes go there, but about every two years we "do" Disney in the bubble and for me it is magic. No cooking, cleaning, worrying (did all that in the planning), and we relax while we run around having fun. I WANT to be in the bubble of magic. I dont' want to see the unidoors downstairs because while I know they are there, I want the magic for that time.

Real life is the rest of the time.

How's the cat doing?

LOL After two different vets testing him for all kinds of things to see why he is small, why he has gas (not joking here- smells like sewer gas somedays), why is he always hungry when there is a food 24/7...the tests all come back the same. He's just an old idiot.

I love the bubble I really do but and I hate to be one of those people but universal will keep me going back as long as they have Harry potter and they keep building things at the rate they are. I hate to rant but disney haven't been able to build a car park in the time it took universal to build Harry potter, minions, Simpsons and transformers plus the new hotel at universal looks very cool. I'm a disney guy through and through but it's started to become an Orlando sixes bubble now

Am in total agreement with you mr H.

Now i have an issue with these sentiments and will try and keep this in a grown up manner (mods if you feel i am overstepping feel free to delete )

Your reasoning for not visiting UNI in your post is (to me) kind of like someone who says ... Went to disney and queue'd for three hours to ride soaring.When we got on the screen was dirty and bad quality,That's 3 hours of my life i won't get back...
I completely understand people have different vacation ideals.Some love just Disney some love just Uni.But i fall in the "inbetween" catagory.I love Disney world and it's higher standards in some respects but i also love Universal and it's willingness to Expand and stay fresh.I also love SW for its more relaxed atmosphere.
I understand that this is WDW for grown ups and will always be mainly about the Mouse but feel that the other parks deserve a look in (especially for visitors from across the pond like ourselves).To simply do them once and done would be to do them a disservice.There is loads on offer at the other Florida attractions and not to go would be to miss out on some world class attractions (HP land imho is the best themed area of any park in the sunshine state).There is a lot that both companies do that would be nice if they were also done at the other places.For example the dress code att WDW is a lot stricter than at Uni and boy doesn't it show for the better at the world.But, Uni are a lot quicker at bringing new stuff to the parks.
Please don't take this as a Disney Bashing post because to be honest if WDW wasn't there i probably wouldn't visit Florida.
For me to make Disney a "one stop shop" they need to get a wriggle on with the development of Avatar land Star Wars land and Radiator Springs.Once all these are complete then maybe i won't have time in my two weeks to fit in Uni.
Until then it remains a very magical place for me but not the be all and end all of my holiday.

P.S. (edit) i am sure WDW v Uni has been discussed to death already on here and didn't wish to start another topic

No worries Mrferret, I don't think you over stepped anything. Thats your opinion and your likes and there are a lot of people that fall into that same category as you on here. I say to each his or her own. I myself, although I am a fan of the Harry Potter movies, I have no desire to go see the park. It does not pull me there the way Disney World does. My time & money are both spent in the bubble.

Now, if I had the vacation time the you folks from the UK have over here, I might change that thinking, having more time on vacation.

I think a lot of people would the same exact thing mrferret pointed out...but they would say it in a more negative tone. WDW will always be my favorite vacation spot no matter what. I could go on and on how the bubble affects emotionally and psychologically in a positive way. But people do make some valid points about the flaws of WDW. One example is that Epcot and Hollywood Studios haven't added a ride in quite some time and both could use a few more. Not to compete with Universal per say but rather, to add more experiences and provide families with more memories to cherish. Though I would argue the only reason those two parks should add new rides is to help cut down the wait times for Toy Story Mania and Soarin'!

The huge investment towards MyMagic and Fastpass+ was not a smart investment given how there are many stories of the Magic Bands malfunctioning constantly, My Disney Experience being notoriously slow and people losing their Fastpass+ reservations to name a few. I thought New Fantasyland was fine but from what I've read, not everyone is on board with that. Avatar Land and Disney Springs, I'm on the fence for both. I'm not dreading it but I'm not overly excited about it either. And they constantly raising prices so that makes me wonder: Am I, or anyone else for lack of a better word, not valued and wanted as a customer? I'm not aggravated and frustrated like some people are but I am genuinely concerned that they only see the dollar bills and not customer satisfaction and input. Why are they settling for complacency when I fear they are settling for nothing?

Universal obviously has done so much in the past five years with their Harry Potter expansion and new rides for Despicable Me and Transformers. But I think why so many Disney fans call out and criticize the Universal fans is that they accuse them of "jumping on the Universal bandwagon" and being a "traitor", assume they never actually went to Universal and are praising Universal for the sole purpose of insulting Disney's actions or lack thereof and furthermore say that Universal was nothing before Harry Potter came along, which is entirely debatable. Since I haven't been back to Universal for quite some time, I can't comment on how good or bad the parks are. I need to make that judgment for myself. Some people have very high standards and they have the mindset that everything needs to be perfect because businesses not only have to make money, but they have to continuously provide the best service and products so that fans who enjoy their services continue to use them while at the same time, the business simultaneously must try to appeal to new prospective customers. All it takes is one bad experience to turn people away because there's no sense of trust, as if they were saying, "You gave me a bad experience once. Why should I have to reason to believe the second time will be better?"

Bottom line is for me, I believe you should be allowed to do as you please in life as long as you're not breaking any laws or moral, civic conduct, hurting yourself at your own expense or hurting other people at their own expense either physically or emotionally. Having said that, if people enjoy WDW or Uni or whatever Florida attraction may be, that's fine. I only ask is that you're not rude and inconsiderate towards others who think differently than you do. It's their vacation and planning, not yours. Live and let live....without being a prick or a criminal!