If you came of age visiting Disney World in the '80s and '90s, the parks still hold a special place — but a few modern habits have started to wear thin. AllEars recently rounded up the Disney World trends that Gen X guests say they're officially done with, and the list will likely resonate with anyone who remembers when the parks felt a little less performative.
Drinking Around the World at EPCOT has undergone a noticeable transformation. What was once a low-key adult tradition — slowly sampling a drink or a bite in each World Showcase pavilion — has evolved into something closer to a competitive sport, with groups racing from country to country with cocktails aloft, more focused on the content than the culture. The article does tip its hat to one group that found a better approach: a bachelorette party splitting a single cocktail per pavilion, keeping things festive without losing the experience (or their next morning).
The stroller situation earns its own category. Today's theme park strollers have grown into what the piece describes as "full-scale mobile command centers" — wide frames, canopies, and cargo capacity that can bring foot traffic in Fantasyland to a standstill when parked mid-path. The frustration isn't directed at families with young children, but at the sheer scale and placement of some setups.
The broader thread running through the piece is a sense that parts of the Disney World experience have shifted away from immersion and toward performance — with the parks increasingly serving as a backdrop rather than a destination in their own right. For a generation that grew up treating a Disney trip as something genuinely transportive, that's a meaningful change.
This story originally appeared on AllEars.net.
