What do you do if you are a Disney person, but your DH/DW are not?

[lisagirl88]

I would LOVE to start planning our next Disney vacation, but DH is definitely not on board. He likes Disney, but would rather vacation somewhere else(the beach). I love the beach, but I have really come to love Disney and would love to take another family vacation there in a few years(When our toddlers out grow diapers and naps and can hang longer in the parks with their brothers). How do you convince your significant other to go back to WDW if they are not a "Disney lover like you????

 

[gtpoohbear]

Not sure if it would work for you, but I have a friend who takes her kids to Disney every year and leaves DH at home, because he would be miserable. While they miss having him there, it would be far worse for him to be there and bringing everyone else down.

Or, see if he would be more interested in doing other stuff while you are at the parks - golf, fishing, hanging out at the resort / pool, etc.

Or maybe you could do a split trip - a few days at Disney then a few days at the beach. There are a lot of good beaches in Florida afterall...

Hope you come up with something!

 

[LaurenT]

DH likes Disney, but only in small doses. If it were completely up to him, he'd go once every 5 years.
So, he comes with us sometimes, and sometimes we go just DD and me, or we go with another mom or two and their kids.
We're going without DH on Sat, in August we'll all go together to the coast of Maine for a week.

 

[lisagirl88]

Good suggestions!!! I know I couldn't manage our 4 kids by myself so he would have to be involved, but a split trip would work or just taking my two oldest kids(though how would I explain that to the little kids, LOL!!!) I would not be getting a best mom medal for that!

 

[jjas]

DH is the same way, so now that our kids are older we definately go without him and we are all happier. The key is turning your kids into Disney lovers even when they are older - just got back from a trip for DD19s spring break from college. Not only can you take trips with just them, but they can help talk DH into going again too

 

[pattirj67]

DH didn't want to do Disney again so I decided I wanted to take my 3DD's myself. The problem was they all like different things and were too young to be left alone while I was with another on a ride. My answer was to take them one at a time! It was amazing! Three trips for me, one on one time with my girls which is so hard to get and each was so different since they like different things!
Very special memories!

 

[Eoywin]

It's been nearly 5 years since I was last in WDW - it will be 6 by the time we go back.

My DH could take or leave Disney World, but he knows how much I love it. So we have pretty much agreed that we will go every other year. That way I'll get my Disney fix and we'll be able to go to other places as well.

He has even agreed to look into DVC - he must love me a lot

 

[MisWal]

Dh is NOT a Disney lover, so we go without him! We also do other vacations that include him, but Disney is just the kids and myself.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Take the kids yourself since you want to go back with the kids.

I go solo because my husband and kids don't enjoy Disney as much as I do and that means I can go when it's a bit less crowded.

 

[catne]

how about a few days at Disney World, and a few days at the beach? You don't have to "do everything" at Disney...maybe pick two parks, and just do those 2 parks, with a resort day in-between for R & R. Then head over to either the Gulf (under 2 hours from Orlando) or the Atlantic (just over an hour from Orlando) We have a condo in Tampa area...friends and relatives have flown into Orlando airport, visited Disney or Universal, then drove in rental car to Tampa to visit the beach...their return flight tickets they flew out of Tampa so they didn't have to drive back to Orlando. No problem getting the rental car at Orlando airport and returning it at Tampa airport. In a major tourist state like Florida this is common procedure for sure.

You'll get your Disney-fix and hubby will get his beach fix. Win-win.

If all else fails, divorce him. Obviously deep-seated issues if he's not a Disney fan. rotfl2:JUST KIDDING!)

 

[Pine View]

My DH has never gone with me. I went with the two oldest daughters and their kids once. Than I went with each of the DD, their DH's and Kids. This time I am taking the two youngest grandsons. The one isn't in school and the other does year round and has a non-traditonal break. I'm not sure how I will fare with a 6 and almost 3 year old. But, I got to take them so I can go

I like the one on one. That is what I had planned on doing but, felt quilty and asked the K-gardner.

 

[NLD]

Here's another vote for leave 'em at home!

Last trip was without dh. Fully expect next trip to be without him, too.

 

[Colleen27]

My DH only comes on about half our trips, which works great since he's about half the Disney fan I am! He's got less time available for traveling than the kids and I do, and while he does enjoy Disney he likes to mix it up with other destinations. So our big family trips are to Disney roughly every other year and I take some or all of the kids on smaller WDW trips in between.

 

[srutko1226]

Go without him....when my teen aged kids complained too much, the next trip , I went without them. They were shocked that we went without them. Last April my husband and I went alone(grown children with their own children) and he said next time go without me. So my 31 yr old son and I are going this month and Dad is watching all our animals. He was shocked that we were going without him.

Be careful what you wish for!! LOL

 

[kaligal]

Divorce.

Not everyone want to go to WDWevery year. Not really fair to make them.

However, if your DH goes on hunting trips, it is very easy to say, "if you're doing that, I'm doing this."

Another great thing is to compare it to sporting events. All the money spent on attending sporting events and playing them (especially golf!), added to money spent on stupid Direct TV channels so you can watch every stupid game played...it adds up!

Throw in the time spent watching pre-shows and post-game wrap-ups...and then the news...and all the time spent listening to people discussing sporting events and players (who cares if Ted Williams was better than Joe Doofus)...

It makes for a very good case.

Don't lift your head out of The Baseball Encyclopedia to tell me I have an obsession, Mr. Sporting Event fan!!!

 

[JennyWren]

DH has learned to deal with it to a point. I've discovered that he does Disney better without the kids. We went as a family in 2007 and 2009 and it was stressful. DH and I went last year without the kids for a long weekend and he did better, but it's still not his thing. This year we compromised--DH and I are going on a Disney cruise (I get a Disney fix and he gets the sea and the sand), then I'm going to WDW the following summer with just the kids.

 

[k3chantal]

My husband is not Disney crazy like I am but for some reason, off to Disney we often go. I should ask him for you, why and when he made the decision that it was okay.

I know that buying our DVC membership helped a lot. His happiness purchasing it was the ability to trade your points with RCI and go to different places. But we have only done that once (to Kauai,Hawaii; great trip). The rest of the time we have used our points with Disney. The better quality resorts and amenities I think also really helped him want to do the Disney thing especially when he realized that the resorts were a destination in themselves. I do think going on a Disney cruise reestablished or began an even higher interest for him. He got the best of both worlds; Disney and off shore non Disney port excursions.

At some point, probably when our boys were 5 and 8, I think he also realized that Disney vacations were the best for the family because they always worked. It wasn't an effort to have fun. We were not worried about the kids being in the right place. If it was a given that we were going to spend money on a vacation, we might want to guarantee that it would be a success.

But definitely there has been a transition. Early pictures of our Disney vacations show that my darling husband nose deep in his cell phone (way before they actually became interesting) and now he is fully with us and smiling.

So, good luck. Hopefully, your husband will get some pixie dust sprinkled on him and it will all work out.

 

[yankeepenny]

well, my DH would rather be at a root canal than disney. so, i go without him.
that way , we both get a vacation!

he will never get it, nor does he want to try. I thought about drowning him in pixie dust, but it wont work.

just a thought, OP- but do you have a teenage babysitter that would go and
"help" you? the sitter could get her own free time as well, and enjoy, and you would have a helping hand with the kids.

or an aunt or someone who would like to go?

my younger sibling got a free week in jamaica once. had to babysit periodically during the week, and got some free time and a fun trip.

 

[kuhltiffany]

I've been by myself with the kids, or gone with my parents. DH is much happier if he doesn't have to go every year

 

[iamadisneynut]

Sometimes we all go as a family and sometimes I go with the kids without him! I told DH I want to go just the two of us no kids, and he just doesn't understand why we would do that, but I told him it will happen because he loves me!

So I agree, go without him, bring along a grandparent or favourite aunt or uncle if you need help with the kids!