Anyone have kids who prefer the resort to the parks?

luv2sleep

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Aug 15, 2011
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My son is 6. We are at DL and when we arrived I told him that we'd have to check into the hotel first before going to the parks. He replied, "I love the hotel!" I knew that but didn't realize how much. We go to the parks for maybe 3 hours tops and he's done. He wants to go to the hotel to rest, swim, etc. Afterwards he never asks to go back to the parks. He has gets overwhelmed easily by noise, crowds, etc. so I understand. All during our stay he keeps talking about how much he loves our vacation. So funny that his favorite part has nothing to do with the parks. That's ok because I love the hotels too! We are at the Grand Californian. So glad I purchased DVC so we can have nice resort experiences.
 
Our DGS would spend all day at the splash pads at AKV, SSR, or BLT if we let him. He would not even stop to eat/drink anything if we did not make him do so.
 
Story of my life. I have two sons with Autism and the older one is like that. He is all about the hotels, swimming, waterslides, the room, etc. He could be happy for a week just at the Resort. We do go to the parks, but it's for a few specific rides only, and then "back to the hotel."
 
My DS9 came up with a mission name for this very item... Mission GTR - Go To Room! We've been going to Disney since he was three and he's never been thrilled with the parks. Too crowded, too hot, too something! I always tell him most kids would be begging their parents to get out the door. Maybe not! :)
 

My son also has autism and is all about the resort. We own AKV and VWL. He could just hang at AKV and never leave.
 
Well, maybe not "more" but they (we) all love our resort time just as much as going to the parks.
 
This last trip, ours kept asking could they go back and play in the community center at AKL. I guess it worked out well we hit bad weather and they got almost two days of nothing but the community center as that was about all they wanted to do. Like they can't watch movies and color sheets at home!
 
This last trip, ours kept asking could they go back and play in the community center at AKL. I guess it worked out well we hit bad weather and they got almost two days of nothing but the community center as that was about all they wanted to do. Like they can't watch movies and color sheets at home!

True but for my son it's about soothing familiarity and downtime away from all if the stimulation. I think kids just need that sometimes.
 
My DS7 has autism. A few hours in the parks is plenty for us. He loves waterslides & we spend a lot of time @ resort pools. He also loves community hall @ BWV where he can play & paint. He loves to paint. He did not like Kidani community hall nearly as much. It was smaller & painting was much more limited. BWV you could paint anytime but at Kidani it was only during scheduled activity. Also, Kidani space seemed much smaller.
 
It's not just the kids. *I* could stay at AKL and never leave.

IKWYM. I remember telling a CM at AKV that I felt guilty leaving the resort to go to the parks, but the animals not being out in the AM made it not so bad. However, come early afternoon, when they're out again, I've always been in a hurry to get back to AKV!

When DS was little and we were at Ft Wilderness Trailer Homes (the mid-80s), he'd tolerate the parks for a few hours, then it was "Can I go back to my 'village' and watch TV now?" He loved that the resort got the Disney channel-at home we didn't. DH kept kidding that for what we'd paid for the vacation, we could have stayed home and gotten Cable!
 
We make a point of doing something other than the parks as the resorts have so much to do besides the pool. Of our 7 day vacation we only spend 3 days at the theme parks. We do resort day, DTD day, water park day, etc... The kids and us love it, and we are actually relaxing on our vacation, not rushing around.
 
Same thing with my DS7. We go to WDW every year and he doesn't like the parks. He has sensory issues, especially with loud noise. The pool is his favorite. I would like to check out community hall this time. We have never been there. I wish I knew what will be planned at OKW later this month. I would like to plan ahead to see what activities DS would like.
 
Maybe DD2 will get there at some point, but she's not there yet. On our last trip, as soon as she woke up in the morning or from her afternoon nap, she would go straight to her stroller and climb in! Girl was used to having MK a short walk away. Teacups! Dumbo! Winnie the Pooh!
 













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