Going to Disney 'kid free'

[Kristian]

I've never posted in this section, but thought I would just get some insight on a subject that came up over the last week.

I briefly mentioned to my dh that I would like to take a trip sometime during the holiday season for just the two of us. We have never been on an "adult only" out of town trip. The farthest that we've been without our dd since she's been born ( she's 4) was when my parents took her camping for the weekend and we stayed home. Our anniversary is in November and my dh loves Christmas, so I mentioned maybe taking a 3 or 4 night trip to Disney and he is on board with it. We'd be leaving our dd with my parents who are more than willing to keep her. I mentioned taking an anniversary trip to my mother, who thought that it was a great idea, until I mentioned that we had thought of going to Disney. She thinks that it's terrible that we'd go to Disney without our dd. We are going for a week in September as a family, or I probably wouldn't consider doing it myself, but I just don't see why it's a big deal

Obviously I get the saying, 'different strokes for different folks', but my mother acted as if it would be cruel to go to Disney and not take dd...even if we are going in September. I dropped the subject and I'm still considering the trip, but I'm just wondering what the deal is? I think that Disney is for everyone, young and old, no matter the age. Leaving dd at home isn't the issue with my mother, it's the destination and apparently any mentioning of a vacation spot within 5 miles of anything 'kid friendly' is forbidden in her book

 

[com_op_2000]

Disney is not just for kids!
DW and I have been every year since '93 during the first two weeks of Dec.
It is DW's birthday trip, plus our chance each year to get away from the holiday shopping, partys, etc and enjoy them for ourselves at our vacation destination. DW and I have taken DCLs for our 15th, 20th, & 25th anniversaries.

 

[Dsnyfireman]

We have two kids ds6 , dd3 . We have taken both to disney and had great trips, that said my dw and I still say our trip in 2009 with just the two of us was one of the best we ever did. Nothing will beat the look on my kids faces as they saw disney for thier first time ( we took ds in 2012 and left dd home then both went this year) but adult time in wdw is AWSOME ! We spent a lot of nights at DTD and epcot. Very relaxing and came home refreshed for a change. Maybe telling her that you are doing some of the adult activities at disney like some of the chef tables or wine tasting might let her know its not just a kids place. So many people don't get the whole disney for adults thing! Show her the part on the disney DVD about adult vacations that might help. Good luck.

 

[Kristian]

We have two kids ds6 , dd3 . We have taken both to disney and had great trips, that said my dw and I still say our trip in 2009 with just the two of us was one of the best we ever did. Nothing will beat the look on my kids faces as they saw disney for thier first time ( we took ds in 2012 and left dd home then both went this year) but adult time in wdw is AWSOME ! We spent a lot of nights at DTD and epcot. Very relaxing and came home refreshed for a change. Maybe telling her that you are doing some of the adult activities at disney like some of the chef tables or wine tasting might let her know its not just a kids place. So many people don't get the whole disney for adults thing! Show her the part on the disney DVD about adult vacations that might help. Good luck.

Honestly, you've gave great advice, but I really don't think that there is any changing my mother's perspective of how she views Disney. She agrees that adult time is important and she thinks that it's great that we are planning a getaway, but my mentioning Disney or anything remotely related to something 'kid friendly', she just thinks that were wasting our time. It's a good thing that I think differently

We love Disney with our dd without a doubt, but there are so many things that we would like to do that we really can't do with kids while on our trip. She does well with sit down dinners and we do them, but we don't do any signature restaurants with her. We decided to save the signatures for adult only trips. My dh mentioned that we could just tell her that we are going someplace else, but I'm not comfortable with that considering that were leaving dd at home and I also think that practically lying about something so small is silly. I just thought that I'd see what others had to say and see if other's have encountered this situation as well. It's fine if my mom doesn't agree with our destination choice. Everyone has an opinion, but really in the end it has no impact on the dynamic of the situation. I just don't enjoy hearing about how we need to pick a destination that is more for 'adults' and how 'cruel' it is to go to the number one kids place on earth and not take dd Don't get me wrong, my mother is wonderful and she's a wonderful grandmother, but we don't see eye to eye as far as traveling goes. We visited Disney a few times when I was a kid and we lived in Florida for a short time too so she has her take on Disney and let's just say that were like oil and water when it comes to going to the see the Mouse. She hates it and never wants to go back and I would willingly be a stowaway in someone's suitcase if they were heading to the world I just think that it's her partake on Disney in general that has a little to do with how she feels about us going to Disney for our anniversary/adult trip, but she'd never admit it

 

[Disneyaddictz]

My husband and I are planning our first trip to disney alone for our anniversary. If you have ever seen something at disney and thought to yourself "that sure would be fun just the hubby and I" then you answered your own question! Who cares what others think, my friends and family don't understand either and I quit trying to make them! I am so excited for a few days of disney fun with the hubby! Romantic dinners, whatever rides we want, water park, carriage rides, dtd at 12am or just sunbathing! It's all about us for a few days! Enjoy!!

 

[Kristian]

My husband and I are planning our first trip to disney alone for our anniversary. If you have ever seen something at disney and thought to yourself "that sure would be fun just the hubby and I" then you answered your own question! Who cares what others think, my friends and family don't understand either and I quit trying to make them! I am so excited for a few days of disney fun with the hubby! Romantic dinners, whatever rides we want, water park, carriage rides, dtd at 12am or just sunbathing! It's all about us for a few days! Enjoy!!

You are so right!!! I'm not doubting taking an adult only trip to Disney simply because she doesn't agree with where we are considering going and I never for a minute even considered changing my mind when she started ranting about the issue, just thought I'd get some perspective lol. She graciously offered to watch dd if we decided to take a trip and I am so grateful and appreciative of it, but let's be honest, where we go changes nothing and dd will have a great time at home regardless. My mom will probably be the one whining about us going to Disney instead of dd

 

[amomma23]

DH and I are doing our first kid-free trip in November, too! My first time to WDW were with DH when we were in college.

A few weeks ago I got an email from run Disney about the Wine and Dine 1/2 marathon weekend. The discounts for rooms and tickets are pretty good. We decided on a whim to sign up for the 5k and go.

Our kids will be 11, 7, and 4. We've never gone away without them, either. I hope your Mom comes around and you go for it. Maybe we'll see you there.

 

[DakotaRose]

When I told my mom that I was going solo to Disney, she cried...twice, because she felt so bad for me. I sure didn't see that coming! Point is that people will think what they will, until they choose to think otherwise. You and your husband's enthusiasm for the trip might open her eyes to your view. If not, try not to let it bug you.
Edit: My mom is much less apt to criticize my husband's ideas. Would it help if your DH pulled her aside and explained that it was his idea for a special getaway?

 

[Kristian]

When I told my mom that I was going solo to Disney, she cried...twice, because she felt so bad for me. I sure didn't see that coming! Point is that people will think what they will, until they choose to think otherwise. You and your husband's enthusiasm for the trip might open her eyes to your view. If not, try not to let it bug you.
Edit: My mom is much less apt to criticize my husband's ideas. Would it help if your DH pulled her aside and explained that it was his idea for a special getaway?

You know, it seems that my mom responds to my dh in a more "accepting" manner when it comes to talking about plans/ideas, so that is an idea. She isn't a "Debbie Downer" about most things but she just isn't a fan our adult only Disney plans. You are right though about people thinking what they want until they simply choose not to and I guess that in the end dear old mom will just have to get over it I am not trying to be blunt at all but I never dreamed that she would have such an issue with something like this. I guess it just bugs me because she and I are close and I just don't want her thinking that us going to Disney without dd is terrible but I just don't agree.

 

[sabcook]

My husband and I spent our homeymoon there and went again for our third anniversary. Since then we have been back three times with the kids DS-9 and DD-6 but are anxiously awaiting our 15th anniversary trip in November - without kids. No doubt- we get some raised eyebrows when we tell people we are going without the kids but we don't really let it bother us. We both love it there and have lots of fond memories of being there together and are looking forward to a trip that can be more "grown-up" oriented and we don't end up sitting in the room by 8pm because the kids are exhausted need sleep. I say have a great time and don't worry about about your mom - I am sure it isn't the first thing you've done that she didn't agree with

 

[goofy4tink]

I went to WDW for the first time ever back in '99. My mother went as well since she really wanted to see my dd's first look at the castle. Dh decided this wasn't anything he wanted to do, so he stayed home. Dd turned 6 on that trip and my mom had just had successful breast cancer surgery..so it was special. Well we had a great time.
My dh and I decided to go back about 18 months later. We traveled with good friends of our that we had met in childbirth class. Our girls were obviously the same age...it was an 'okay' trip. The other family just travels differently than we do. Live and learn. So, dh says he wants to go back again, just the three of us.
We make plans to go to the Polynesian. Now, my mother is all over me, telling me that I have brain-washed my dh and my dd. That they don't really 'want' to go to WDW but are going just to shut me up.That it's my fun place and they don't really care about it.
Now, of course, that was wrong. There is no way I would go someplace they didn't like. Kind of defeats the whole purpose of vacationing. But, she kept at it, even after we returned home. It was on that trip that we decided to buy DVC. We didn't tell my mother since we wanted to surprise her with a big family trip the next summer...stay at BWV and have fun together. And she kept up her line of chatter about it being me that forced everyone to go to WDW. Well....we never got to tell her about DVC. She passed away very unexpectedly.
Now? I go to WDW every Dec on my own. My now 19 y/o loves to go still and gets very annoyed when I go without her. My dh and I are going to VB for four days and then driving to WDW for another 3 days for him, 5 for me, in early Sept.
Does my dh love WDW as much as I do? Nope. He says he can go every other year. But, he encourages me to go solo. I have friends that I can hang with that go at the same time of year.

It is sooo nice to travel as adults. You get to do what you want, when you want to. You can eat at nicer restaurants and not worry about what the kids will eat. It's just fun!!!
So, ignore your mom. She may be jealous!!! But I"m sure she'll have a ball at home spoiling your dd. Just ignore her...go have fun.

 

[AquaDame]

I am sorry that she is making you feel bad about going without your DD. My parents thought the same way when I was a kid - I was left behind once because I was 'too young' but then they saw all the tiny kids there and had to do a redo with me because they felt bad! They never went without us again but now that we are grown they go when they want by themselves and I haven't heard of anyone giving them a hard time about it.

I agree if you tell them about all the things you will do that are adult themed (spa time, fancy dinners) as well as the things you are NOT going to do (character meals/lines) maybe she'll have an easier time?

I have never gone with kids, and have been a lot so I don't think I will ever understand the mentality that you MUST take kids/its not an adult trip!