I participate in numerous forums and the question of where to go on vacation comes up frequently. I often suggest Disney World and it usually goes ignored. It left me wondering what it is people are looking for in a vacation.
There is no question that people should go where they want on vacation because they work hard all year to save for it and vacations do not come very often. A vacation should be relaxing, fun, enjoyable, and memorable. I have been on very few vacations that didn t involve camping at Sebago Lake State Park in Maine. In fact, the only place I have vacationed outside of New England is Disney World. And, to be honest, I really can t think of any other place I would want to go now that I have been there.
My wife and I went to Disney World for our honeymoon. I was against it when she first mentioned it, thinking we needed to go to Hawaii, Cancun, Aruba, or something more conventional . But, we went to Disney and I couldn t be happier. We stayed at the Grand Floridian Hotel, which is their best hotel. This trip offered everything I mentioned in the previous paragraph and I think people, like me, that dismiss the thought if Disney as a vacation destination really need to rethink their decision.
A trip to Disney will never be boring and it will always be fun, enjoyable, and memorable. You may not think of Disney as relaxing however. After all, you are on your feet all day, walking through the parks in intense heat, most of the year, and standing in lines waiting to get on rides. But, my wife and I both said we could have stayed at the hotel for the week and had just as good of a time. The service anywhere at Disney is superior to any other company I have dealt with. The hotel had a white sandy beach, nice pools, hot tubs, spas, excellent restaurants, and beautiful landscaping to just take a relaxing walk around.
Disney also offers night life like you may find on a cruise or at a Cancun or Aruba. Located in downtown Orlando is Downtown Disney. They have numerous dance clubs, comedy clubs, and the party is brought to the street as each club wheels out their portable bar and serves drinks on the street. At the end of the street is an open stage where they often have live concerts. In addition to this nightlife Disney is known for their entertainment throughout the parks. They put on shows that are amazing. We saw a show that was outside at night. I believe it was called Illuminations. This was a show made up of characters as well as movie clips. The best part was the movie clips were shown on sheets of water spraying up from the lake/pond the show was in.
I have talked so far about what my wife and I like in a vacation but the fact remains, there are many different types of people and thankfully there are unlimited places to vacation. Just in our country alone we have many attractions. You can pick any region of this country and find something worth seeing on a vacation. We have so many different sites that should be seen by all before they die, such as the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, Empire State Building, Washington, DC, and the list goes on.
As much as I enjoyed my trip to Disney I could also see myself in Montana doing some fly fishing. The scenery in that movie, A River Runs Through It was breathtaking. I have also watched many shows on Discovery HD and seeing what else is out there really makes you appreciate how lucky we are to be alive and enjoy the scenes nature has created.
Regardless of what you look for in a vacation there is something out there to fill that need. Our travel industry was hurt by September 11th and I still do not think it has recovered fully from that day almost 5 years ago now. But, you should not deprive yourself of seeing some of the places in the world you really want to see just because of a potential terrorist attack. Get out there and enjoy it.