How to convert the Non Believers...

There are many non-believers and although we can't convert them; some begin to understand when you can point out their 'little bit of heaven'. We have friends who spend every weekend in golf tournaments or fishing tournaments; ones that go to concerts all the time and still others that go to the beach every chance they get. When you point out to them that their vice is their 'little bit of heaven' and that we choose to spend our time and money at WDW and on Disney things,..well, some begin to understand.

As my mom put it one time, I have one child who would rather go to Disney, buy anything Disney, and watch anything Disney. I have another that spends his money on concert after concert. I have a third who would rather buy every new electronic gadget ever made. We all have our vices. Do you know your father-in-law's vice?

Luckily my parents were converted when I was young, they went determined not to like it but loved it. In 2010 we took my in laws and converted them too I have friends who don't get it, but tbh I don't care what they think as they have never been, nor are they ever likely to go. They went to DLP once and think that is near to what it will be like and thus don't feel the need.

Tbh I think if anyone were to question me over it I would simply say, we love it there, life would be dull if we all liked the same things. Not much they can say to that

Why convert them?? It will only make the parks more crowded than it already is.

Ah yes, we have several. Some more annoying and condescending than others. One particularly irritating individual comes to mind. Follow me here--she's my husband's brother's girlfriend's sister-in-law. (I know, right? Why do I even have to see this person ever? Well, she comes to Christmas brunch at my brother-in-law's house.) For simplicity, I'm going to call her Barbara. So on Christmas, Barbara's niece was telling her grandfather (Barbara's father-in-law) about her recent trip to Disney and Barbara interrupted with a tirade about Disney being insensitive to other cultures because Africa only has one outpost for the whole continent at EPCOT (apparently an entire land at Animal Kingdom and a resort with African cultural leanings and culinary offerings is not good enough for a THEME PARK). She ranted about some other ridiculous things, too, but I was very busy rolling my eyes at her and I don't remember what other drivel she was spewing.

I understand that some people don't get it, but if you're sitting in a room full of people that you know love something (MY mother-in-law was wearing Christmas mouse ears and DH's aunt was wearing a Mickey Mouse sweatshirt. I was going subtle with just my Mickey watch and Disney themed pandora bracelet, but others at the event had definitely asked us how OUR trip was, so it would have been pretty hard to miss that this was not a group of people that was interested in her anti-Disney babble.

I was really annoyed by this whole exchange, especially given the circumstances, but there wasn't really anything I could do about it unless I wanted to rock the boat and start a fight on Christmas, which I opted not to do. You can't change other people's opinions by just firing your opinion back at them. Just try to keep your cool and stay off the subject as much as possible.

We are taking friends with us next January, and Dave is a non believer.
Has only been there once, decades ago when his kids were young...
I've tried to appeal to his alcoholic side, his foodie side, his hot tub side...
but I'm still meeting resistance. I'm worried he is going to guilt
his wife out of the trip and they are going to cancel on us....

I think if I could just get them to the park, I could sprinkle
the magic dust and help them "see the way"..
but if I can't even get him in the bubble..

I don't know how I can get the vision thru...

I've tried sending a picture a day to start building excitement
and to show him that there are more than kids rides at Disney..
but he's not real big communicator anyway..so I'm afraid he's just
hitting the delete button ..

sigh....

I feel your pain King Fergus.

Angie, I feel your pain. I have one success story and one fail story...

We're taking my parents in April and I was worried about the same thing. I asked them to go with us for my birthday (because they can't miss my birthday, right? great leverage!). But the issue for them wasn't as much lack of desire to go. They would typically opt for a cruise, but even they admit that they've now been almost anywhere you can go on a boat. Mom was on board with doing something different, but dad needed some convincing. He was hit by a car when he was a teenager and he has arthritis in his knees and virtually no cartilage. but the idea of using a scooter or a wheelchair was absolutely horrifying to him. Still, they remember our last trip together fondly, so I tapped into that with a "10 reasons why we need you to go to Disney with us" email to dad. Then I started sending them (almost) daily emails with some sort of story or fun fact that we call the Daily Disney. They're actually really excited about going now!! Dad had knee surgery last month and he's working up to being able to walk 3 miles a day. He even keeps asking me for his "bracelet" by which he means his magic band. He doesn't quite speak the language yet...LOL! Mom even asked me the other day if they can still get "Daily Disney" emails when we get home.

On our May trip on the other hand, we were supposed to take Benn's aunt and his mom, but his mom bailed on us. To be perfectly honest, I'm kind of glad. She's a non-believer (despite donning the Christmas mouse ears) and she has a way of emitting uncomfortable fake enthusiasm to pretend that she enjoys things that she really doesn't, but it's so transparent that it comes across as "I want you to know that I'm pretending to be enthusiastic so you can feel guilty that I'm not REALLY having a good time." To be honest, I don't need that kind of pressure on vacation. If Dave is going to be a buzz kill, leave him behind! Take someone who will have fun and who you'll have fun with!!

I don't even bother for the most part because the reality is, there is only one person who can change your opinion and that's you and no one else really. Considering I'm the only Disney fanatic in my family, I never bring up the subject of Disney World as a family trip. Bottom line is, my parents feel they've been to Disney World enough times doing it for me and my siblings and there is no incentive to go back even though the parks have changed so much since their last visit. But I hear them. They're growing old and there are other places they want to see out there.

With friends, it's even tougher. I just don't have the ability to make friendships very easily because I have Aspergers. I never talk about Disney World with the friends that I have on Facebook. I'm pretty sure most of them, if not, a large portion of them are never considering going back to Disney World until they get married and have children of their own. I vividly remember on my HS senior trip, a classmate saying almost exactly the same thing. I'm probably one of the very few who actually went back during college. But anyway, I don't take offense if they visit other places. If it makes them happy, then it's all that matters. They'll enjoy it more if they want and are willing to visit whatever destination they have in mind.

There's something to be said about being raised on Disney. I think going to WDW or DL / CA-A as a kid really instills a connection that often carries on into adulthood. I was raised on the Anaheim parks, WDW, the films, etc. I've always loved it. My wife had almost 0 experience with Disney as a kid. She assumed Disney parks were "lame" until I got us both annual passes for Anaheim Disney Parks. She totally converted, and we even ended up honeymooning at WDW in 2012. We cannot wait to go back alone & with our kids.

Plenty of our friends think we are crazy for loving it like we do. We don't care It's not for everyone, and that's ok.

I've had a few aggressive non-believers, but most often I don't get too much crap from people, I guess because I'm plenty "weird" in other ways. LOL We're talking about a someone who works in theatre as a profession, is obsessed with the victorian upstairs/downstairs system, and collects toy pianos. So, Disney isn't much of a stretch.

A few times, I've had to explain that the feeling they might get from loving football, redecorating the house each year, going to ComicCon, loving fashion and being thrilled by expensive clothes ... That feeling for me, is Disney World.

My favorite thing is when this happens "

Them - We took the kids once. It was hot, packed, we hardly got on anything, and it cost a FORTUNE!!
Me - Then you're doing it wrong.

No one I know tries to talk me out of being a Disney fanatic, and I don't try to talk them into being one. It would be like a gambler trying to convince a non-gambler that Las Vegas is the best vacation destination in the world. Some people (poor pitiful souls that they are) just don't have the right frame of mind for the Disney parks.

Thanks everyone for your answers...Well today ( Sunday ) on our visit, not a word was said about Disney..I think Tinkerbell has dusted his head while he was sleeping last night..LOL..

Exactly my thought!

I don't bother trying to convince people anymore. Either they're interested or not. For those that are not interested and want to know why we go, I just say "cause we like to" and leave it at that.

For those that ARE half interested in finding out more about Disney World and why we like to go so often, well I can talk their ears off.

I think we all have the nonbelievers but when they look at me side ways or say 'you have got to be kidding' and always say yes and I do this so the child in me can come out and play (am 65 and I do go other places as well but Disney is my favorite place). So people who don't get it is because they have lost their inner child so I say stay home and help keep the crowds lower.

I don't even try to convert people anymore. I work with a women who goes on and on about why would I want to keep going back to Disney. I just smile and tell her to take her vacation and I will take mine. We have a new girl that just started and she is a huge Disney nut so I think we are slowly driving the non believer crazy with all our Disney talk!

One of my sisters is like me... she LOVES all things Disney. Whenever I have a "which should I choose?" type of question, she's the one I turn to.

She recently went to a conference in Orlando, and invited another sister to join her there. So they did it right, hitting all the top rides and attractions, all the favorite restaurants, the works, for a weekend.

My other sister simply could not see the appeal. She hated (brace yourself) Soarin!!! (Seriously, HOW can you hate Soarin???)

She doesn't begrudge us our love, she simply doesn't get it.

My brother and other sister don't reallly see the appeal either. They don't give us a hard time, they simply don't get it.

I just don't even talk about it with people who don't get it. It is pointless. Usually, they say, "How can you keep going back? Doesn't it get boring? Especially with no kids?" I ask them what they do for vacation and usually they do not even have a vacation or they go to the beach for a week. To me, that is so boring. We actually went last year after our Disney trip and I was bored by day 4.

Everyone has their likes and dislikes I guess. But, like others have said, why share? Less people in the park when I am there!

Spot on..

When I find out that friends are going, I offer to make suggestions and highly recommend reading the unofficial guide and of course checking out WDWFG and the Disney food blog.

For those that have gone in the past and not loved it my one question is how much planning/research did they do. Those that don't enjoy the answer is usually "none, we just went to a travel agent"

A few hours of pre planing can make a huge difference. Or for all of us here, it's more like a few hundred hours.

see for me Disney World isn't really about the rides, I have been raised on Disney from a very young age and when my Granddad past away when i was 4 watching disney productions really helped me through, I liked the VHS with Walt at the start because my Granddad looked so much like him it was a way to connect.

The Parks though to me represent a place that is always clean and spotless, a place without smokers breathing smoke in my face as i walk behind them, a place I can smile and say hello to everyone with out people thinking it's weird, somewhere where grown ups can get hugs all day, eat popcorn at 1am or just eat junk food all day, cover a hotdog in fixings, buy a balloon, dance in the street, wave at strangers and even cry in public. It really is a Magic place, and in the world we live in, with all the bad news and war in the world isn't it just wonderful to know? don't we need to know, in the back of our minds everyday that, that special place is there and it's just waiting for you to come home... I might not know much but I know that.

Beautifully said! I would have to agree 100%; it's the whole package that makes DW the magical place that it is.

I was talking at work the other day about my excitement for our upcoming trip, and my coworker just couldn't believe I like Disney... She actually called Mickey a pedophile!! Needless to say I was very offended, but I figure she's too far gone and delusional to try to convert anyway

By the way, excited to join the forum! I've been reading for a couple weeks now

Also, my DH isn't a huge fan... His idea of a vacation is spending tons of money to sit by a pool or beach for a week (obviously not my cup of tea) I just have to remind myself of our differences and compromise somewhat so he can have an enjoyable trip. Also, it's nice to know that he will be wanting to go back to the hotel and take a nap when DS does

Really interesting points of view from everyone..Cheers..