Crying and Mildew and Dust, Oh MY!!

[melomouse]

Hello All!
A couple of observations from our recent 9-night trip to WDW, after reading some of the lengthier threads on mold and babies and willful children...
I live in NY. I realize that for me, WDW prices do not seem super-exorbitant food/admission wise by comparision, and also that things are cleaner, better kept and restrooms actually are (relatively) clean. Many perspectives come from many parts of the country on this board, and I have finally (DUH) realized that my demographics impact greatly on my impressions of WDW.
This is what I noticed this time on our first visit back after 2 1/2 years -
For the first time - an unusable, disgusting potty, thick dust and mildew in the vents and walls of the restroom by PotC, an absence of CM's in the restrooms, tho there were some. I realized that it was a shock to see these things only because I was at WDW!!!! That's part of the reason why some people love WDW - because it was heretofore a place where we might have been "shielded" from such mundane facts...
Maybe cuz of reading the DIS, maybe because I have an Asperger's child who is at an obnoxious adolescent age, but not anymore in "meltdown" mode, I heard babies and kids crying in every 3D show I was at - Muppets, Tough to be a Bug, Philharmagic. I chalked it up to tired kids and fears of darkness and Mom & Dad's need to see the show.No problem - it IS WDW - a theme park for families. Easy come, easy go.
Restaurants - crowded and noisy - - lots of folks taking longer to eat because of the "dessert included" dining plan. WDW food, in case anyone hasn't noticed, is pretty much consistent throughout, til you get to the World Showcase restaurants.Your burger is the burger and the chicken strips are the chicken strips.The buffets are the buffets - where you prefer is a matter of personal preference and convenience.
Lots of sad and tired whining princesses. I feel for the ones in the strollers with their hair pulled back in tiaras when humidity is 100% and temps are 90.But they look so pretty! Peter Pan at 10 PM at MNSSHP was not the most desirable spot for anyone under 5.
So these are all the negatives. The magic is still there - Wishes and Hallowishes and Spectro still make me cry. Not a rude CM in the bunch - overwhelmed, stressed, yes...but they are all still hanging in there. I am a grateful mousketeer when I get to be in WDW at all. Sometimes I think we all need to worry a little less, plan less compulsively and live in the magic.
(Donning suit, firing up the popcorn - JMHO, guys)
melomouse

 

[jann1033]

Hello All!
, is pretty much consistent throughout, til you get to the World Showcase restaurants.Your burger is the burger and the chicken strips are the chicken strips.The buffets are the buffets - where you prefer is a matter of personal preference and convenience.
(Donning suit, firing up the popcorn - JMHO, guys)
melomouse

lol, i have often thought of this since i seem to recall there is a central food service and just wondered how they could have the "best" pastry at A when they are mostly ( with the exception of a couple items usually or more or less frosting ect) the same as at B...placebo effect?? just funny but everbody( including me) does it

as far as the princesses go that's all for the mama and grandmamas any way ( just kidding sort of but i am as bad as the next here too as my kids never dressed up but I sure am eyeing a costume for grandbaby we can't help it if they look so cute..wouldn't make her wear it all day though as they look scratchy)

 

[Ava83]

My little princess refused to walk into the MK without her princess dress on, I felt horrible for the child, but I kept asking are you hot? and she said No. I am not sure of the mind of a 3 year old sometimes.

I felt so cruel letting her wear it but it made her so happy. So we did. I wanted her in shorts.

At least we did not have a tiara on.

And the 3-d shows, we told Ava they were magic and she never cried once, (she did other times) just took off her glasses during its tough to be a bug. I did hear crying though.

 

[Horizons16]

lol, i have often thought of this since i seem to recall there is a central food service and just wondered how they could have the "best" pastry at A when they are mostly ( with the exception of a couple items usually or more or less frosting ect) the same as at B...placebo effect?? just funny but everbody( including me) does it

Maybe its the memory of the times you ate at a pastry shop. Things like this was the shop my future wife and I ate at the morning I asked her to be my wife.
Something like that you know?

 

[Momof4girls]

I heard babies and kids crying in every 3D show I was at - Muppets, Tough to be a Bug, Philharmagic. I chalked it up to tired kids and fears of darkness and Mom & Dad's need to see the show.

Sometimes it isn't the fact that the Mom and Dad "need" to see the show. Sometimes the kids want to see it, but get overwhelmed once inside - besides, it's deafeningly loud in those shows regardless of crowd noise.

Maybe you've outgrown Disney.

 

[DizBelle]

Sometimes it isn't the fact that the Mom and Dad "need" to see the show. Sometimes the kids want to see it, but get overwhelmed once inside - besides, it's deafeningly loud in those shows regardless of crowd noise.

Maybe you've outgrown Disney.

What does hearing kids cry have to do with outgrowing Disney?

 

[Momof4girls]

Well, it's a family theme park - and if you don't want to be inconvenienced by children crying, maybe that individual is past the age of enjoying such a place.

It isn't that I think it's only for kids - believe me - but adults who come with their teens can't expect the park to "grow up" so to speak, just because their kids have, kwim?

The beautiful thing about Disney is that it's always Disney - you know what to expect when you go. Kids get sad, overwhelmed, tired - it happens. As a parent you have to be sympathetic to the fact that these things happen in the most inopportune times/situations. For example, standing in line to see Peter Pan - the want to do it, and will be thrilled once they're up there, but waiting is a VERY difficult thing to do for any of us. It doesn't mean that our kids didn't want to go see a show, or an attraction, or a character, and we're forcing them to do it to satisfy our whims. It just means that it sucks to wait in a line and they're getting anxious.

And, when my daughter has an updo in a tiara, it's because SHE wanted it there - it's a lot more comfortable than having her hair all hanging down against her neck in the humidity anyway.

 

[bigmac5]

I saw 1 and 2 year olds in a couple 3-D shows. They were crying before the show even started. They were only there because Mom and Dad wanted to be there.

Please if you have little ones crying like that please leave so that others can enjoy it.

 

[Momof4girls]

Sometimes it's not that easy - or there are siblings who want to see it - and, like I said, it's so darned loud in there that you can always hear what is going on on the screen - even if a baby cries.

If you don't want to hear babies crying, go to Haunted Mansion or Tower of Terror or something else where kids aren't allowed. That's all I'm saying.

 

[disneymama73]

Momof4girls, ITA! Kids are not just in shows and on rides because the parents want to be there. Like you said, there are siblings involved, sometimes they don't freak out until you're there, etc. If you don't want to hear any kids crying, WDW is probably not the best vacation choice. I don't think I've ever been there (before or after having children) that there weren't kids crying. It's just life.

 

[bigmac5]

I didn't mean to get you upset. I totatly understand the situation with siblings. The people I was refering to were the ones with a very little child (no siblings) and they made that child sit through the show. Where's the magic in that?

 

[melomouse]

"Maybe you've outgrown Disney."

That really sounds kind of mean-spirited, momof4girls. Not sure what hot buttons I pushed for you in my OP, but I wasn't talking about YOUR kid. All of our kids get tired and whiny It was actually during the quiet times of the 3D shows that I heard the kids crying - LOL - that's why I COULD hear them - just was worried for tiny kids, and saw parents afterwards yelling at spouses for not helping the kid calm down.

And as a parent - DD is 9 now - she desperately wanted to do Peter Pan late at MNSSHP - because she is mature enough,I was willing to help her thru the wait - not as long as it looked. But there were 2,3 and 4 y/olds sleeping on parents shoulders as others cried. It's hard for me to see what the value is there or whose needs are being met. Many times, when the other sibling(s)want to go and the youngest has had it, one parent goes on the ride. I guess it's me trying to anticipate how much energy any kid has keft in their little WDW-weary body. I threatened to take out DD's "batteries" one night LOL- other nights during our trip she was crashing early. I have to go with the flow and know my kid.

Tiaras? I HAD a little girl just so I could dress her up as a princess!LOL!!!!She gave it up by the time she was three, but once in a long while plays dress up with her old Princess costumes.Such is life!!

Too old for Disney?? I think I said in the OP that the magic was always there. Let's try to be supportive and encouraging, wherever we are in life, ok???

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

melomouse, thanks for your observations from your recent trip. I am like an addict looking for fix whne it comes to hearing recent reports and observations. Not sure what all the fuss is about your comment on tiny princesses who seem hot in their get-ups. I didn't take what you said in an accusatory manner (but then again I've never dressed up my daughter for a WDW trip).

On a related note, one thing I am liking a lot about WDW is how the manner in which my family experiences it changes as we change. When the kids were preschoolers we hardly ever got to ride stuff like Splash Mt, Space Mt, ToT, etc ad nauseum. Now that they are a bit older (8 and 5) we do practically everything in the parks. Used to be we were the ones with the fussy younguns (on occasion) but now notice that some other families are going thru the same thing. I just kind of shrug my shoulders and don't pay attention to parents/kids who are having a hard time on any given attraction. I guess it's all a part of the rite of passage .

 

[AnaheimGirl]

I'd like to add one comment about the crying kids in 3D shows. Many people don't read the DIS or go to Disney often. Many parents likely haven't seen Philharmagic or Tough to be a Bug or Muppets before, and innocently bring their kids into the show, not realizing that there will be scary parts. I mean, this is WDW, right? Attractions are geared towards families, right? Who would know that so many attractions (without height requirements) would be so scary for little kids?

 

[bigmac5]

My DS11 absolutely hated the 3D shows. Honey I shrunk the Audience was his first one. The second one was Bugs and he didn't know it until we had to pick up the glasses. He was so mad at us that he wouldn't sit with us(we were in the centre-he sat on the very end of a different row with no glasses) after that DH sat outside with him while I went in with the other two. If he was younger-he would have been one of the crying children.

 

[disneymom2one]

Well, it's a family theme park - and if you don't want to be inconvenienced by children crying, maybe that individual is past the age of enjoying such a place.

(snipped)

***********************
I completely disagree. We have one child (ten) who is long past the baby stage. But when she was little we never thought of subjecting her crying to others. Just because _you_ have young children doesn't mean the rest of the world should adjust. Disney is for _all_ families and a little consideration of others would go a long way.

 

[kilee]

Thank you for sharing your observations. Everyone remember that the OP just stated things they saw and/or ran into during their trip. They weren't attacking any poster here on the DIS.

 

[Melora]

I would never keep my crying child in a show. Even if the sibling wanted to see it. We would come back at some other time or find another way for the other child to see it.

Last time I was in Philharmagic there was a foreign family behind me and they talked (loudly) the whole time.. I mean the ENTIRE show. At first I thought maybe they were translating to each other but there was really no need and they kept leaning over and passing a whining kid (who didnt want to be there) back and forth. I didnt say anything but it really spoiled that viewing for me. If I was one of the people who was on a tight time schedule and didnt have time to come back I would have missed the whole enjoyment of the show.

 

[Tarheel Tink]

I really feel sorry for anyone giving their honest observations and then are jumped on so rudely. Apparently, all children crying is a wonderful and natural thing that absolutely no parent is ever at fault with and that all of us should smile indulgently at- always and in every situation.
I appreciate the notes and observations from your recent trip.

 

[AnaheimGirl]

Actually, the OP did more than just make observations, when she chalked crying kids up to "Mom & Dad's need to see the show". That sounded pretty judgemental to me, as a mom whose child has unexpectedly cried on some seemingly innocuous attractions that she wanted to experience. While I know it wasn't "me" being discussed, it's still a bothersome stereotype.

And by posting this:

(Donning suit, firing up the popcorn - JMHO, guys)

the OP herself admitted that her comments included opinions that might offend others.