When Social Media Expectations Ruin Your Vacation

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On social media, I’m a member of many travel and vacation groups. I’m that nerd that loves to see vacation photos, regardless of who is traveling.

However, I’ve noticed a pattern in these groups. Inevitably, some folks come back from their trips disappointed because the trip didn’t live up to their expectations. Their expectations were too high based on other people’s reviews and hype on blogs and social media.

When Blogs and Social Media Create Unrealistic Expectations

Let’s face it: when something good happens (like an unexpected upgrade), we want to shout it from the mountain tops! I’m guilty of that myself, like when we visited Disney’s Aulani Resort for the first time and we got an ocean view room instead of the standard view room we paid for. I was esctatic!

The trouble is that people don’t share all the times they don’t get that unexpected upgrade or pixie dust. So, all we hear about online are the free upgrades and special treatment. Then, folks get those ideas in their heads that they will receive those things, too.

If you join a social media group about Disney Cruise Line, you’ll see folks who are ecstatic about their free room upgrades. People gush about their restaurant servers who did magic tricks for them every night. You’ll hear from folks who won the free spa treatment drawing and the on-board credit prize from the DVC informational meeting. In addition, you’ll see cruisers talk about being selected as the DCL “Family of the Day” that comes with a plethora of extra benefits.

Blogs also create unrealistic views of typical guest experiences. Some travel bloggers get a free night in exchange for a write-up. Others have elevated status due to all the travel on the blog’s dime, so upgrades and special treatment are more common with them than the average person.

I’m not saying this stuff isn’t real, because it does happen. But, the magic just doesn’t happen all the time, and some of the experiences are very rare. So, people go into the vacation expecting that at least one or more of those really cool things will happen. And the when the trip turns out to just have the normal stuff available to everyone, people are disappointed.

What to Do

You know that phrase “Expect the worst so you’re never disappointed”? Well, maybe we don’t need to expect the worst on every vacation, but we should at least not expect luck to be in our favor at every turn. I mentioned above our upgrade during our first trip to Aulani. We visited Aulani again, and I told the kids that we most likely would have a regular room with no ocean view, just like what we paid for. That’s what we got, and nobody was disappointed.

My advice is to look at social media and blog reviews with a grain of salt. Maybe the view isn’t always as perfect as those Instagram shots look. I feel that the photos on TripAdvisor are more realistic than photos of the same place on Instagram and on hotel websites.

Pay for the room you’ll be happy in if you don’t get an upgrade. And most of all, have a good attitude on your trip. If you don’t get special treatment, it’s all good because a day on vacation is better than a day at the office, right?

Have you ever been disappointed in a vacation because your expectations were too high or unrealistic? Is luck on your side when it comes to upgrades and special treatment on vacation, or do you feel like those things only happen to other people?

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Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.