Do you think you force your kids to like Disney?

[MaleficentandGoons]

When is it a family vacation and when is you forcing them to go? I just read a thread about a child not being excited about going to Disney and I wonder how many people take their kids opinions into consideration when it comes to the family vacation. Is it selfish to go to Disney 8 times in 8 years just because you want to go?
I don't want to sound like the you are going to Disney again person but why not go somewhere else so as to not wear out the Disney.

(Disclaimer) I would go to Disney ever year but my husband would get bored and I think deep down I would to after the 3rd trip.

 

[Minnie J]

Thank goodness my kids are diverse and like everything but if they didnt like Disney I would switch it up for them every year. Go to Disney one year and maybe if I could see if they wanna go Universal studios or Seaworld!! Theres lots to do in Orlando besides Disney

 

[Ksquared]

I think many kids enjoy places their parents enjoy. I love Disney, it's one of my fav. places. I went there as a kid with my parents. Now I go with my children and they both love it (ages 6 & 7). They both ask when are we going back.

Does that mean its the only place we've been? No. We've been other places but it's been or major vacation for the past few years. There are other places I'd like to go and I want my kids to experience different things....so after our Dec. x=mas surprise trip, we may take a break for 2 or 3 years then go back. But if they ask prior to when I plan to return, we just might have to plan a trip.

I know someone who goes to Aruba every year and that's what their kids love because they go all the time...same thing with people who go to the shore every summer. It's all what you are used to. Does that mean those parents force their kids? Not at all....

 

[MPwifey]

Yes, yes I would. However, my DD has just turned 3 and loves everything Disney. She has also been to almost every aquarium in all the states we live in, Seaworld, Universal, water parks. We try and experience everything that we possibly can at every duty station we have been to. DH and I LOVE Disney, but we could never spend more than 2 or 3 days there at a time. As the PP has said, most of the time the kids will love doing those vacations because it is what they are used to, and their family are so excited.

 

[sweetpeakaris]

My kids & I love Disney, but I do feel like we force DH to like Disney.

 

[Suellen]

I guess I don't know because my girls both love it. They love to ride the rides, they love eating out at fancy places, they love lounging by the pool, they love the different hotels.

I guess if they expressed a boredom or lack of enthusiasm we would do something different.

Most likely next year our vacations will be a bit different anyway.

We are thinking Vero Beach Vacation Club, maybe Hilton Head.... just some different stuff.

 

[indimom]

I do think I would take my kids opinions to heart if they really didn't want to go to a particular vacation destination. We take "family" vacations for a reason, so we can all have fun together. It wouldn't be much fun if one of us was miserable.
We have only done Disney twice, everywhere else we've gone has been one-time only, so they haven't had a chance to get bored. We've talked about other vacation destinations (national parks out west, beach resorts, virginia historic sites, etc) and they seem interested in all of them.
I doubt I'll have too many issues with this because our family vacation is one of the FEW fun things our kids get. We don't do a lot of extras, so at this point, they just appreciate the "change of pace" a vacation affords - no matter where it is (just like dad and I).

 

[polkadotsuitcase]

We don't go nearly as often as I would like! But so far, my guys are on board with the Disney fun. We camp often, so we go a lot of other places, too -- maybe that's a helping factor?

Some kids are just reluctant to get on board at the planning stage, but are happy to be wherever their family is when they're actually on vacation!

 

[Schmeck]

We don't force the kids to go - DD19 has had enough of WDW, and wants to go explore Europe. DD16 still loves WDW, and we are going with hubby (who goes every other trip or so now) and we are taking our god-daughter too.

My mom wanted to take us at Christmas time, but DD19 refused to go, hubby couldn't go at that time, and then my mom said she wouldn't go unless we all went . Well, since DD19 never wants to go back, looks like that won't happen. Plus, flights were crazy expensive!

Anyways, I won't make anyone like Disney, or force them to go with us. I can always find someone to go with!

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

I have several kids, and their opinions on Disney vary from like it well enough to love it. DH is in the tolerates it camp. We travel a lot, though, so for us Disney isn't the all encompassing obsession. I do think that kids thrive with variety, and that all travel teaches something. We gather everyone together a couple of times a year for big vacation talks. We are pretty open with the budget, the oldest kids know they are welcome to come but they are adults (23, 20 and 18) and have their own lives. Sometimes they will fly out and join us for part of the vacation. (When we went out west for a month.)

I do believe that some people take the Disney family vacation thing into obsession. I have a friend who' husband already hates the place, but she talked him into DVC. The kids already seemed burned out. And they are 7 years old. BBB is old stuff, they have had the dresses made for the meals, etc. There isn't anything bigger and better because they have had it all so soon.

I think there is a balance between parents doing what they want all of the time, and realizing that the younger people have opinions. As adults, we win out. Kids grow up, and then they get to pick, lol. Family vacations for us are about family more than they are about places. We can be camping in the Rockies, walking down Main Street, or on a cruise in the Virgin Isles, but it is really about enjoying time off, and time together.

 

[basketlacey]

My kids love it. We have been 3 times (youngest dd only twice because she wasn't around yet for the first trip!). Our most recent trip was September of 09 and they are begging to go back. Before that, it had been four years. We are surprising them with a trip this November which will be the first time it has just been the five of us. Then, the extended family wants to go next fall so we will probably go too. That will make 3 trips in 3 years. If they didn't want to go, we wouldn't.

They were looking through one of our planning books last night and I was shocked that dd11 was asking if we could do Ohana and Chef Mickey breakfasts. I asked her if she wanted the character meals and she said YES. Again, I was shocked! I have one booked (Crystal Palace which we haven't done before) but I might need to book another.

 

[pilotwife_02]

I'm not sure what I'd do if the kids didn't like Disney

Thankfully all it took was one trip to get them hooked at ages 2 and 3. They ask me every day when we are going again (they don't know about our next trip yet) so I know I'm not "forcing" it on them.

To be honest, when I was a kid we never had a say in where our vacation was going to be. It was where my parents wanted/could afford to go. If I sensed my kids were getting bored with Disney I'd probably take a year off and try something different, but I'm not sure how much control I'd give them in deciding where we go.

 

[NewmanFamily6]

WDW is my favorite place and for now my children really enjoy going. If they get to the point where they do not want to go then they do not have to go. We have taken them on one DCL cruise and are going on another to different places next year. I think it is important for the children to see other places as well. I had never been outside the US before I was married. I like the idea that my children will have experienced the world a little

 

[burnurcomputer]

My kids are only 12, 10, 2, and 5 months soooo, I don't have as much to say with older kids who have gotten "over" the Magic. BUT a family vacation at a place that is family friendly, has plenty of options for entertainment, and is a place that we will go all of our lives is more hten enough for me We are still going to do our European grand tour when my oldest graduates so its not like we are going to exclude ohter options for travel in life. We have a EOY timeshare at nice family resort so we will do disney then and fill in with ohters the other years. My kids have big happy hearts and have great imagination in them, so I don't really see them getting "over" the Disney experience. If they get bored of us later, they can always bring a friend to spend time with

 

[Tbasko]

Our family loves Disney. Both my 19 and 14 yr olds love to go. We are going to WDW for the Christmas holidays for the first time. We've been to DL at the holidays and they truly enjoy it. We go every year to a Disney Park, we mix it up. When we were stationed in Japan, we visited Tokyo Disney several times. My son wants to go to Disney in Paris for his 21st birthday. It's all fun for our family.

 

[jodifla]

I grew up 90 minutes from Disney; I've literally gone countless times. And we've had DVC since before DS was born. He's been about 10 times to Disney, and he's only 8. He asks to go back at least once a week.

We also go other places every year as well. This year we'll have gone to Cape Cod, Nashville and Minneapolis.

 

[MaleficentandGoons]

(Disclaimer) I'm not trying to tell people how to spend their money or what to do with their families.

I read a lot more of t he boards than I comment. I find it interesting that people will empty bank accounts or save for a year to go on the same vacation again. Why not save and take your kids to England or China or Paris. There are Disney's there too. It's like an obsession! We love traveling to the point that we have our own ideas for the next few years. I know there is tons to do in Disney and there are so many different age appropriate things but if you have a kid that wants to go say Europe why not go?

 

[btwitkin]

We are not in that boat yet. We took our son, 5 at the time, to WDW for his 1st trip last year. We got off the plane when we got home and got to our car. The second we got in the car he was crying that he wanted to go back. We just told him this past week that we are going in November and it is all he has been talking about for the last few days. (In retrospect, maybe we shouldn't have told him so soon )

BUT, to answer your question, I don't think we would ever force Disney on him, though wife and I love WDW more than any other vacation....by far.

If the day comes when he is not excited or doesn't want to go, then we won't go. It is a family vacation, and we would want everyone in the family to have a great time and want to be there. It doesn't mean we allow him to dictate to us where we go and what we do, it just means we take his feelings into consideration.

Hopefully that day will never come. Like I said, we are going in 3 months, but are already talking about next year.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

When we take a family vacation we always make sure we plan something that each of us would like during the trip. Disney is no different and because of that the kids always seem to enjoy our vacations. They do love Disney and ask to go back, but they've enjoyed other places, too.

Like MPwifey we've lived alot of places and we always try to experience what's around us. I don't think we would try to go to WDW as often as we do if the kids didn't like it, that would be miserable for them and us. Besides, I really like to see new things and there are way too many places our family hasn't seen to confine us to one destination.

 

[nov02mom]

Right now my 7 year old LOVES all things Disney! I have been informed that he wants to do Disneyland next year instead of WDW- which is 100% ok with me. We do Disney (aka fun trip) for Fall Break, and a more educational focused trip (Washington, NYC etc...) for Spring break. I guess when he's tired of Disney we'll quit going, or I'll go with some Mommy friends who still love it!!