Does going to Disney too much numb your kids?

[Fannie_Marie]

when my dd was 4 yrs. old we had AP's to Disneyland and I took her there so much that one day as we were walking into the park she said "I don't want to go to Disneyland again!" LOL That's when I realized that she didn't like it quite as much as I did! I didn't renew our AP's and from then on, she's 9 now, we just go once a year and she hasn't uttered those blasphemous words again!

 

[JodyTG]

I took my daughter to WDW for the first time when she was 4 y/o. We've been every year after that and she is now 13. The magic hasn't faded for her at all. It's just changed a bit. She's no longer into the characters...but loves the rides. We now do the water parks more since she loves that.

Even though she tries to be "cool" about it (she's a teenager after all) the little kid that's hidden deep inside of her comes out at WDW. But, then again, the little kid in me comes out too...and FWIW, I've ALWAYS been in love with Mickey Mouse and this is something my husband has learned to accept.

 

[Deesknee]

re: less magical
DH & I have asked ourselves the same thing recently.

My oldest kids are 14. They have been 7 or 8 times since the age of 3. We are going twice this year.
DD was upset about missing her last day of school to go to WDW, but as it gets closer she is getting more excited.
We try to make it magical. Granted it does come as easily as it used to. At one time we would mention going to disney & the pixie dust would be flying around the house. Now sometime we have to put the fans on & throw the pixie dust into it. (ex. let them help plan it, or try something new)
They go thru stages of excitement. The next trip they are starting to get excited about. They can't wait to see their baby sister experience new things.

re: not experiencing the rest of the country.

We live in a historical state. We've seen/experienced a great deal of it already. Many of the people that question (I'm not saying the OP, but others), if we are missing out on the rest of the country, have not even experienced the history in their own back yards.
That being said, we plan on using our dvc exchange program to visit other areas of the country.

 

[disneychrista]

We go to Disneyland at least once a year for the past 5 or so year.And we went four times between 4/03 - 4/04. IMO, it does spoil some of the magic going too often. If not for already planned trip in 2006 with my best friend we would not be going again after the 50th for a couple years (except magic music days with my Daughter). As much as I love Disneyland after awhile the magic does get lost

 

[MickeyMonstersMom]

For us, it's not about going to WDW often, but having the influence of other theme parks erode the magic a little. My children went to WDW for the first time in 2002 for what was intended to be a "twice in a lifetime trip" (once for each child's 8th birthday). Shortly after that, though, family members moved to Florida and now we end up in FL twice a year. Our relatives take the kids to Universal because it's cheaper, and the kids have come to consider Orlando just a theme park city - while that first trip to WDW was truly magical, the kids now talk about WDW and Universal as the same kind of entity - though I totally disagree. It was nice to take them for a quick 3-day stay last summer that focused more on the resort than the parks, and to hear the kids talk about the difference in atmosphere at WDW as opposed to US. I hope that they will appreciate the magical nature of WDW as they gain more maturity. In the meantime, I get to go solo and soak it all up myself!!

 

[crisi]

We see plenty of magic at WDW, but purposely limit our trips for many reasons....

We want our children to have "reasonable" expectations about the vacations they can expect as adults (when they have to pay for them themselves). I've watched several aquaintences spend themselves into bankruptcy as adults believing they were "entitled" to the things their parents were able to give them....vacations have often been a big part of that spending. Now, we certainly go more often and stay nicer than they will be able to as young adults -- but we do moderate it.

We want our children to experience other things. So we've cruised (with Disney), are taking them camping this summer, go to the lake with them. Disney is a really cool place, but there are other magical places in the world.

I know how appealing Disney is with young kids, but its still a lot of work with young kids. Honestly, I don't mind vacation weeks spent at home with my kids or at Grandma's. I don't feel a compelling need to "go" someplace every year. We didn't travel at all until my youngest was 2 1/2.

WDW does change a lot from trip to trip with kids - and I don't want to "jade" them too quickly. There are so many attractions my kids haven't seen yet - and despite them being six and seven next trip, they still think "Tower of Terror" will be "too scary." Which is fine. By limiting trips, we see a lot each trip, revisit favorites, see a few new things - but haven't managed to spend so much time on Goofy's Barnstormer that its tame and I have kindergarters looking for "bigger thrills." Maybe I'll manage to carry this off for a few more trips - it wouldn't bother me if they were pre-teens before Tower of Terror held appeal as something they wanted to do (it now holds a morbid facination for them both, but not as something they want to try).

 

[r5moores]

My boys are 16, 14 and 11. We have been going since my oldest was 4...middle was two and I was preggers with my now 11 year old. This will be our 8th trip in 11 years. This being our third summer in a row. We spaced the first two trips two years apart. They looooooove going to disney. I thought as they got older the excitement would wear off but it hasnt. They cant wait to go. They get just as excited now as they did when they were younger. The experience changes over the years because as they get older they find different things more exciting. We dont do fantasy land much now but they love Disney Quest. I asked them a week ago if they'd like to go again this summer or do something different....well something different went right out the window....DISNEY HERE WE COME !! Which I have to say I'm so excited about. I get just as excited about planning this trip as I did for the first one. I think me and hubby will still be going to disney long after the boys have moved out.
What can I say me and hubby are disney freaks and it seems we've brought three more "freaks" into the world.

 

[MrsPete]

We see plenty of magic at WDW, but purposely limit our trips for many reasons....

We want our children to have "reasonable" expectations about the vacations they can expect as adults (when they have to pay for them themselves). I've watched several aquaintences spend themselves into bankruptcy as adults believing they were "entitled" to the things their parents were able to give them....vacations have often been a big part of that spending. Now, we certainly go more often and stay nicer than they will be able to as young adults -- but we do moderate it.

We want our children to experience other things. So we've cruised (with Disney), are taking them camping this summer, go to the lake with them. Disney is a really cool place, but there are other magical places in the world.

I agree completely. There are so many places in the world that we want to share with our children -- they won't be children long enough to hit them all. If we did Disney trips every year, that would decrease the other things we can do.

I also agree that it's important to teach children to enjoy themselves in a variety of circumstances. I'm glad to say that my children have a blast when we go tent camping at a state park. They also love to stay in fancy hotels. They love to stay with family. And, yes, they love Disney. They'll grow up appreciating a vacation whether it's a bare-bones budget trip or a lavish luxury vacation.

 

[Disneyonmymind]

I agree completely. There are so many places in the world that we want to share with our children -- they won't be children long enough to hit them all. If we did Disney trips every year, that would decrease the other things we can do.

I also agree that it's important to teach children to enjoy themselves in a variety of circumstances. I'm glad to say that my children have a blast when we go tent camping at a state park. They also love to stay in fancy hotels. They love to stay with family. And, yes, they love Disney. They'll grow up appreciating a vacation whether it's a bare-bones budget trip or a lavish luxury vacation.

I also agree with this theory. I have a good friend who has her three teenagers so spoiled and pampered that they only enjoy the "best" hotels or accomodations. Neither of the parents grew up like this, by the way.

I think it does a disservice to the kids to raise them with such expectations. My kids can sleep in a tent, on the floor, without a pillow, on a sofa-bed, etc. Her kids need plush beds, fresh-laundered linens, and their own $100 down pillows. It's everything - manicures, expensive clothes and handbags, cars. I think they have a touch of affluenza. Oh well, at least they are nice, pleasant kids. I just hope none of those girls fall in love with a poor man. If so, they are headed for a big fall.

Jackie

 

[MickeyMonstersMom]

We see plenty of magic at WDW, but purposely limit our trips for many reasons....

We want our children to have "reasonable" expectations about the vacations they can expect as adults (when they have to pay for them themselves)...

We want our children to experience other things. So we've cruised (with Disney), are taking them camping this summer, go to the lake with them. Disney is a really cool place, but there are other magical places in the world.

...Honestly, I don't mind vacation weeks spent at home with my kids or at Grandma's. I don't feel a compelling need to "go" someplace every year. We didn't travel at all until my youngest was 2 1/2.

... There are so many attractions my kids haven't seen yet ... By limiting trips, we see a lot each trip, revisit favorites, see a few new things... Maybe I'll manage to carry this off for a few more trips ...

We don't stay in expensive resorts simply because we can't afford to! I've made a tremendous effort to explain our daily and vacation budgets to the kids so everyone can be realistic in their expectations. The kids know that souvenir money comes out of their own pockets, and that money spent on a nice dinner will mean scrimping on something else.

We spend most of our school vacations at home - I usually need that week to catch up and prepare for the next month or two!! The real reason why we go to Florida often is to visit relatives - but try to work in some Disney time while we're so close to the magic. Our first ever trip was commando, but our most recent was a very relaxed shorter stay with exploration of only one park. The kids liked the pace and were able to anticipate revisiting other parks in the future - and they will be "fresher" for having waited a bit before seeing them again.

If we didn't have family there, we would be doing other things. As it is, I've also taken my children to Niagara Falls, Boston/Gloucester, and several local places (Erie Canal, Cooperstown, Adirondacks, etc). We plan to drive down this summer and hit a few battlefields and such along the way (hey - US History Teacher here). My dream is to take us all across the US one summer, trading off a vacation or two at WDW to do it.

 

[Mommyof2]

I came across this thread, and had to share a story my co-worker just told me on Thurs. She has two kids, DS is 9 and DD will be 4 on Wed. Since she has started working with us in Nov 2003, she has taken the kids to disney 5 times. In Dec. 2003 for a week for MVMCP, May 2004 for 4 nights over Memorial Day Weekend, Aug 2004 for 7 nights in disney, 4 nights on the disney cruise, than back to disney for 3 more nights. Went again in Dec 2004 for a week for MVMCP, and they just left Fri night for an 8 night trip for DD's 4th birthday. She actually told me on Thurs that her son asked if for summer vacation this year they go on a cruise thats not disney, or maybe to new hampshire or anything but disney. His mother was horrified and said she will keep doing disney 3-4 times a year until her youngest says she doesn't want to go anymore. I find this a bit unfair to her son. I think there is nothing wrong with going to disney as much as you want, but my point in this story is that SOME kids, not all, do tire of it and this poor kid is only 9 yrs old and is already begging his mom to go someehere else.

Christine

 

[billelissa]

I haven't read all of the posts, but I do agree that what's right for us may not be right for everyone. We have gone to WDW 4 times in 5 years and we would go more often if we could. My girls are 6 and 4 now and want to know when they can go again. Are they spoiled? ABSOLUTELY! However, they do appreciate it when we go and we will continue to go as often as we can as long as they appreciate it and want to go also. Since we have been going so often, we have opted to drive down from NJ rather than fly to save money in lieu of saving time. Now you know our girls appreciate going to WDW if they do not complain at all about the long drive! The last time we drove down (this past Feb.) we only played 4 dvd's the whole trip. The other times we just listened to the CD changer. 45 hours in a mini-van and less than 8 hours watching the video monitor....not bad. It made my drive down there a lot easier since I got to listen to music most of the way. Now is Disney the END-ALL of vacations? Absolutley not. There are so many other places to go see but for right now WDW is the place for us. As long as the girls appreciate and want to go, we'll be heading South!

 

[rt2dz]

So many people keep talking about how it makes unreasonable expectations (finacially) by taking their kids to Disney frequently. Come on!

We all choose where to spend our money. Travel to us is important. In order to take vacations, and more than one yearly, we cut back elsewhere. We buy a vehicle we like, and keep it for years--I know people who get new cars every 2-3 years. I wait for the tires & other essential parts to fall off. I don't buy new & brand name outfits every week. Or spend $150 per haircut and get mani/pedi every week. I won't spring for DSL. I don't have every movie channel option. We do our own yard work. While we have credit cards, if we can't pay it off at the end of the month, it's not used. Our kids see us tithe at church, give to charity, & put money into savings & retirement--we have NOT hidden money issues from them. So taking big vacations (to get back on point), is hardly teaching them irresponsibility. It is teaching them how to pick and choose on what and how to spend money. And that is the skill they need.

 

[crisi]

rt2dz, this is what we are trying to say....

A travel vacation is not a necessity any more than a $150 haircut or the movie channel. Food is. Medical insurance should be. A roof over your head. I don't want my kids to establish habits they will be unable to afford as adults. I know from experience that it can be really difficult to give up "but I always get a color at the salon" or "we always go skiing in March" or "I always buy this riduculously expensive brand of coffee - its all I drink." Those things are fine if you can afford them. But I don't care to get my kids "hooked" on things they won't be able to afford.

My friend's family took yearly vacations to WDW and lived a moderate lifestyle. When he became an adult, he wanted to continue the habit - unfortunately, even with moderate expenses, the vacation he thought he was entitled to was out of his reach - he simply didn't make enough money starting out. But, because he felt "deprived" if he didn't go - he was always in WDW the second week in Feburary!, he would go even though he couldn't afford it, every year digging himself deeper in debt. Its a habit like that I don't want to establish - expensive family traditions my kids feel "entitled" to maintain. And it doesn't make any difference if those habits are vacations or manicures or new cars - I don't want my kids to get "affluenza." Recovery from affluenza on a teachers salary is hard when Mommy and Daddy don't buy your clothes with designer labels anymore. Its easier to get affluenza when your parents are very well off, but I've seen bankruptcy cases from people whose parents had moderate incomes.

And it isn't just kids - my uncle is going through a real hard time right now. When the stock market was hot and venture capital was flowing, he had no problems making seven figures a year. New cars, private clubs, private schools for the kids, European vacations, designer clothes. But the stock market crash made him - certainly not poor, but no longer wealthy. Its hard to go from being able to afford your whims to scrambling to meet your obligations. Philosophically, I just think its better to be moderate in indulging your whims - even when you can afford to. It makes not being able to indulge them so much easier when you can't afford to. Note, moderate - not that you should never take a vacation or own a new car.

 

[AmyBeth68]

I've wondered the same thing as you. Will my kids be so spoiled that they don't even realize the "magic" and good fortune that they have? We have brought them to WDW nearly every year since they were 2. And twice in the past 12 months (yes, they really are SPOILED) . After this we have a trip planned to DL and southern California for the fall. Sooooo...my DH and I decided we will probably take a year off of "disney" after our DL trip. Instead we may choose to visit Disney's Hilton Head Island in the fall of 2006, and include visits to Savannah, Charleston and Washington DC.

There are SOOO many places we want to see....and so little vacation time! We want to see Alaska, the southwest US, northern California, Europe!!! We tend to just say "let's do Disney" because of course it's wonderful fun and second nature for us. But we are really going to try to expand our horizons a bit more as the kids get older and can appreciate other places. But IMHO, there is no better, more kid friendly place than WDW. So it's just such an easy choice for those of us with young kids. And darn if it on EVERY trip something really special, really magical happens that makes us look at each other and say "can we really stay away from Disney?".

As for other options for travelling with young children, my recommendations are:

Cruises!!! They are wonderful...and a great way to see multiple destinations in one trip. However I do recommend them for children over the age of 3 because of age limits on the activities.

Skiing/Snowboarding. My kids have a blast when we do our mini ski trips to Vermont. They get so much fresh air...and it's great quality time. Of course...if you're not into the winter sports this is not an option LOL!

Laid back beach trips....we really enjoy our quiet beach vacations. We aren't running ourselves ragged...it's just lots of fresh air and lots of family time. With toddlers it does require more "work", as you need to watch them like a hawk. But we really love the beach and find it to be one of the best ways to spend family time. Renting a cottage, house or condo makes it very easy as you can cook your own meals and really relax!

Hershey Park!!! We love Hershey. Next to Disney it's our favorite park. Lots and lots of kiddie rides, tons of decent hotels and you can even extend your mini vacation to include a trip through Amish country.

 

[Tink&SquirtsMom]

Crisi,

I understand what you are trying to say but completely disagree. My dh grew is the son of a millionaire, about 30x over. He drove a Ferrari at age 16, flew first class, ate at the finest restaurants, etc, etc. Obviously he was accustomed to the finer things. You know he drives now... a Toyota Corolla. And not because he couldn't afford nicer but because he likes the gas mileage. And when he flies it is as economy as he can get. We are staying deluxe this trip, by my choice. He would be more then happy with value. he has never needed nor expected the fancy annual trips his family took him on. In contrast I grew up in a very middle class home with annual DL trips. Yes I am continuing the tradition with my kids now. I have also the means too. But when we were just starting out there were many years missed. Those missed years didn't tempt me to go into debt to afford my "entitled" vacation, they motivated me to save for one, to improve my income, etc. People who suffer from "affluenza" or sense of entitlement don't necessarily get that way from what their parents have provided (or not provided) for them, its their overall values system. I do understand staying away from excess (as I said in my OP dh and I are worried about that if we buy an AP) but I think there are other ways of getting this message across then restricting family vacations, which provide so many wonderful benefits to everyone in the family.

 

[Aidensmom]

So many people keep talking about how it makes unreasonable expectations (finacially) by taking their kids to Disney frequently. Come on!

We all choose where to spend our money. Travel to us is important. In order to take vacations, and more than one yearly, we cut back elsewhere. We buy a vehicle we like, and keep it for years--I know people who get new cars every 2-3 years. I wait for the tires & other essential parts to fall off. I don't buy new & brand name outfits every week. Or spend $150 per haircut and get mani/pedi every week. I won't spring for DSL. I don't have every movie channel option. We do our own yard work. While we have credit cards, if we can't pay it off at the end of the month, it's not used. Our kids see us tithe at church, give to charity, & put money into savings & retirement--we have NOT hidden money issues from them. So taking big vacations (to get back on point), is hardly teaching them irresponsibility. It is teaching them how to pick and choose on what and how to spend money. And that is the skill they need.

I feel the same. We are not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination. I cut my husbands hair, we rarely eat out, we buy used cars, and we do the majority of our shopping at the flea market, garage sales, and Goodwill. We only use our credit cards for emergencies of if we plan to pay for the expense at the end of the month. We do however visit some theme park at least once a month. Granted, we live in Florida so it is not as expensive for us - most are just day trips and if we do stay overnight, the most expensive we have ever paid is $74/night. Yes, my 3 year old does consider this the normal thing to do on weekends, but he already understands we sacrifice other things to do this, and knows that we can't always afford to stay somewhere or to go to a park other than the one we currently have an AP for. If we are in Walmart or something and he asks if we can have cookies, I ask him does he want that or does he want to get ice cream at Busch Gardens that weekend. He knows that spending money involves choices. I do not believe I am teaching him to expect anything when he gets older. I believe I am teaching him to use his money wisely for what is important to him.

 

[SqueakyMouse]

I grew up in Winter Park, so my family went to WDW all the time! I never grew tired of it. It always was and continues to be magical to me.