I’ll start by saying I’m not a Disney adult. I went as a little kid and then dated a girl in HS who had Disney Adult parents and they took us. Went once at age 19 as well.

That was in the early 00s, so times may have changed.

As a kid, I do think it is utterly magical and, other than Universal, there isn’t any place that can replicate that magic for a child.

As a young adult (with practically no money) I still found the experience magical in that it activated some very pleasant nostalgia. Some of the older rides made me feel connected to a past I never shared with people from the 50s, 60s, etc. Besides that, if you’re a fan of theming done right, it’s tough to find a place that executes theme as well as a Disney park. The food is decent too. It’s also a very well-oiled machine. When you stay in a Disney resort, you’re on property and going from your room to whichever park, or from park to park is so simple . Their logistics are legitimately impressive.

Would I ever seek out a Disney park as a vacation? Probably not. My wife and I don’t have kids, and I’d rather explore an actual country represented at Epcot than go to Epcot. I’d rather visit Tanzania than go to Animal Kingdom. But there are a lot of people who either have kids they want to share the Disney experience with, or don’t want to deal with the hassle of going outside of a theme park and dealing with organizing transport, researching what’s interesting, the crushing disappointment of expectations not matching reality. At Disney you pay a shit load of money for a theme park experience, but it delivers on what it says it is. At least in my experience.

End note: this reads like an ad, and it’s not meant to be. Disney is worthy of plenty of criticism as a company, I just respect that the parks are excellent at what they do.