Has anyone ever complained about your kids at the parks?

[drew64]

Never.

honestly, have seldom been "bothered" by kids behavior at DW. Usually, it is obnoxious adults getting on my nerves, especially those who complain about kids at DW!

 

[minniebride]

You would be amazed how many people understand and how far a simple apology can go. We have never had anyone be rude to us because of his behavior.

I completely agree!!! An apology really does go a long way. I'll tell ya, I've been kicked by kids at WDW, hit with pirate swords and princess wands, those darn bubbles sprayed in my face, chains swung at me-never on purpose, but all by kids who are either overstimulated or just not being watched by their parents. When a parent apologizes to me & immediately manages the situation, I'm literally over it in just a few seconds & will usually respond with a smile and an "It's OK". It's when the parent either completely ignores it or snaps at me that it's WDW & I should expect "kids to be kids" that gets me angry.

Tantrums and such at the parks don't bother me in the least-they are really not my business. Tantrums that involve kicking me in the midst of it or bad behavior that causes direct harm to me or my property (even if it's light harm like a push or that darn bubble soap on my camera) is what pisses me off IF the parents don't take responsibility and apologize.

that happened in public because it is tolerated at home. how very sad.

That's quite a generalization. The child could have had special needs as well.

After all WDW is all about the kids, the rest of us are just really big kids

Actually, WDW is all about FAMILIES, not just the kids. Adult-only families are also entitled to just as much of an enjoyable vacation and simple respect from others as families with kids.

 

[Teeks]

that happened in public because it is tolerated at home. how very sad.

Nope, not true. How very sad that someone can make such an assumption.

 

[themouseforme]

That's really unfair. Kids can act completely different, or not know how to react at all, when they're overcome with the stimulation, heat, etc.. of Disney World.

hmmmmm excuses

in the cultural environment in which i was raised, slapping or kicking a parent was UNHEARD OF. like i said, my "bum bum" would have been "numb numb". (i'm trying so hard not to use that expression. that would be crass.)

i have to smile. the poster who gave this example is probably sitting back going

gotta love these boards!

 

[boyob13]

hmmmmm excuses

in the cultural environment in which i was raised, slapping or kicking a parent was UNHEARD OF. like i said, my "bum bum" would have been "numb numb". (i'm trying so hard not to use that expression. that would be crass.)

i have to smile. the poster who gave this example is probably sitting back going

gotta love these boards!

Are you around young children frequently? Because they act up more than you think. Young kids have tantrums because they usually don't know how to control their feelings well. It's moreover the kids fault than it is the parents. (Not saying that rudely or anything, trying to make a point about not being bad parents ) (Not attacking anybody either, and I realize some people won't even read this. )

 

[mom2OandE]

Truthfully we haven't had too many issues. Honestly for us we have found that if they are really starting to melt down it means we need a break. So we eaither head to the hotel for some downtime or to the baby care center for a quiet break.

I will also say I have a son with Autism and yes he does melt down and no no one has ever said anything to us.

 

[Suellen]

I can't obviously say anything to those parents at the park that day nor the kids. But I can tell you my kids are not allowed to kick and hit at home and they for DARN sure will not be allowed to do it in public. They know it isn't right and know not to do it.

I'm not saying they are perfect... but hitting, kicking, pinching, biting and spitting are the biggest no-no's going at my house. Any one of those offenses will get you sent to bed and I don't CARE what time it is.

I would think for the most part behavior you see at WDW is not the first time that behavior has ever happened.

We finally figure out if my DD blood sugar drops too low she will melt down ~ so I make sure she eats regular snacks while we are touring.

 

[Planogirl]

nope. my daughter was 6 at wdw and 8 at disneyland. no problem whatsoever. sorry, OP. she was happy, cheerful and cooperative because she was enjoying herself. and because proper behavior was the norm at home. she was old enough to understand the concept of standing in line and waiting her turn for something fun. toddlers are too young for long lines. that's one reason i waited until she was older, cute pictures or otherwise. that way, you don't have to blow bubbles on people.

Mine was well-behaved at that age too. His one WDW tantrum was at the age of 2 and he went every year from the age of one. That's not too bad IMO particularly since the one tantrum puzzled me at the time.

 

[Tink Mick Koda Miles]

Let me preface this by saying that I neither have nor want children (this in no way invalidates anyones choice to have any) so my bf and I definetly notice when children are misbehaving. We notice even more when parents are ignoring it. I'm sorry, but just because you are on your vacay doesn't mean you get to take a vacation from parenting Please don't tell yourself that most people have kids, most people sympathise, most people don't mind, or whatever if your kid melts down. The polite thing to do is to remove them from any enclosed area (if you are in a line, leave the line, if you are in a theatre, leave the theatre, if you are in a restaurant, leave the restaurant) to calm your little one down and deal with them.
Also please, please, please discipline them the same way you would at home! To not do that lets them know you are a push over on vacation and they can do as they please with no consequences. Just because it may inconvenence you doesn't mean you should skip it. If you usually do a time out - do it! It gives your child much needed structure and lets them know that you expect good behavior, even at a theme park. We can't tell you how many times we were annoyed by people letting their kids run wild at the expense of others. The one family that stood out to us the most as the best parents ever were the ones that actually gave their kids a time out for their tantrum at having to leave Dinoland. The kids were wailing and slapping and kicking at their dad and they sat them down and made them sit for a time out. It worked and the kids left sniffling and parents seemed calm. Kudos to them!

Can't agree with you there.. I have a 2yr old who is just learning to talk and express his feelings.. he throws plenty of fits to see what reaction he will get out of people or because he is upset that we cant understand him. Thats what two yr olds do.. the worst this to do is give them attention when all they want is a reaction so if my son is whining for no reason then I'm going to ignore him for a little and see if that works rather then giving him what he wants. Sorry if u run into us in the park! I used to say things like you said before I had a kid.. easy to say what not to do or to do when you don't have a little monster. With all this said.. I would NEVER let my son get away with doing something mean, nasty or anything to anyone but sometimes small tantrums or fits need to be ignored for a few.

 

[Sammie]

I think it is very nice to apologize for them. I know I appreciate it.

But I am sorry I can't agree with the all kids misbehave comments. We as a group have taken kids from 2 years to 25 and no ours did not misbehave.

Maybe it was because we kept them on their at home schedule and did not worry about "doing it all" at Disney World. They napped, ate and slept at their usual times. We did not over tire them or over heat them. We did not buy swords until we were ready to leave the park. Does anyone seriously think buying a child a sword for hours in a crowd is a good idea.

I just think some, get so involved in trying to do so much, they forget to take the breaks, to take naps, to eat at normal times.

Kids that eat at home every day at 5pm are going to be miserable eating at 9pm when they are normally in bed.

We knew to do other wise would result in miserable, tried, cranky kids which is not fun for them, not fun for us and certainly not fun for others around them.

We were proactice instead of reactive.

 

[pookersmom]

Oh, I dunno -- I heard and saw some pretty evil stuff that I didn't usually see at home from my son the first time we took him, at the age of 5. It was over 100 degrees out, he wasn't used to so much walking, etc. etc. So he had some truly crabby moments and he wasn't afraid to express them. Not any knock down drag out tantrums, but he was awfully rude and snippy and whiny -- three things I cannot stand. So I had to reign him in quite a few times. And I distinctly recall being complimented on my mad parenting skillz by an older gentleman in the popcorn line one afternoon. He was impressed that I was actually disciplining the child.

 

[livndisney]

My child is an angel in the parks, I am the one who meltsdown

Ok I said it LOL

Seriously, if your normally angelic child just out of the blue starts to misbehave and injure the person in front of them by climbing up the rail in TSM. Apologize and don't let the little darling do it again. And don't encourage them to climb up again so you can take a pic. When they fall the second time they are going to hit cement and not the woman in front of them.


I guess you could say I did cause another melt down. I will admit I was in the wrong I was pushing my child in stroller in a straight line toward the entrance. A "lady" quickly tried to change direction and walked into my stroller and hit my child. The "lady" proceeded to call me every name in the book (in front of my young child). I wished her a "magical" day.

 

[luvthemouse71]

Little ones are going to melt down. It happens, and I think most parents try to do their best to diffuse the situation.

Heck, I've seen quite a few adult meltdowns at WDW...my favorite was the redneck couple swearing and swinging at each other in front of IASW.

When did we all get so sensitive? In the past few days, I've seen threads about how people are traumatized by bubbles. Or traumatized by drinkers at Epcot. Really? Are people that sheltered at home that some kid blowing bubbles or having a tantrum is going to send them into full blown panic attack? Seeing someone who's tipsy is going to send you or your kids down the path of vice and ruin?

There are things that annoy me, sure. But if they bothered me that much, I'd just stay home. I look at some of the more colorful things that happen as prime people watching opportunity.

 

[livndisney]

Little ones are going to melt down. It happens, and I think most parents try to do their best to diffuse the situation.

Heck, I've seen quite a few adult meltdowns at WDW...my favorite was the redneck couple swearing and swinging at each other in front of IASW.

When did we all get so sensitive? In the past few days, I've seen threads about how people are traumatized by bubbles. Or traumatized by drinkers at Epcot. Really? Are people that sheltered at home that some kid blowing bubbles or having a tantrum is going to send them into full blown panic attack? Seeing someone who's tipsy is going to send you or your kids down the path of vice and ruin?

There are things that annoy me, sure. But if they bothered me that much, I'd just stay home. I look at some of the more colorful things that happen as prime people watching opportunity.

But thanks to the DIS, I learned that Children with bubbles is bad, but children sitting at/in the Bar is acceptable. (Who knew? LOL)

 

[Suellen]

but children sitting at/in the Bar is acceptable. (Who knew? LOL)

I missed this somehow!

 

[themouseforme]

... children sitting at/in the Bar is acceptable.

not. bad form. old school values.

okay. that was my last post to this thread. i'm going to resist temptation and not respond any more.

 

[fla4fun]

As someone who does not have children, I still understand that they get hot and tired and cranky just like I do . I can usually tell if a child is getting upset because they are tired, or they aren't feeling well, and I just look the other way. I can also usually tell if they're throwing a tantrum to get attention. In those cases, I look to see how the parent is handling the situation. If it looks like they are at least attempting to contain the tantrum, then I have no problems. To be honest, the ones I really hate are the parents who get right up in their kids faces and yell at them about how they spent x amount of money to come to WDW so they better just shut up and have fun ! I can't tell you how many times I've seen that happen .

My parents raised us with the fact that if we misbehaved for no reason, we would leave whereever we were - a store, a park, or even WDW. We knew they meant it, because they followed through. I don't recall them ever having to correct our behavior at WDW, although I can remember Mom leaving a full cart of groceries at the store and taking us home one day (I don't remember what we did though . . . .). While I agree that "kids will be kids" it's how the adults handle it that matters.

It's like my first flight to the UK. There was a little girl, maybe 18 months, who was fine on the ground, but about halfway through take off she let out a scream and then cried at the top of her lungs for a good hour or more. You could tell the child was in agony over something, I'm assuming her ears, and the mom was trying to soothe her. A lot of people would have come to a forum like this and posted a scathing report about the child who wouldn't stop screaming. But in this case, you could tell there was something major going on, and you really felt sorry for both the child and the mother. Sure, it was annoying - but the point is, it wasn't deliberate.

On the other hand, there was the toddler, maybe 4 years old, at the Concourse Steakhouse who got under the table and was head-butting the table and screaming at the top of his lungs. The parents sat there saying in a sing-song kind of voice "stop that right now Johnny", "if you don't stop that, we'll have to go back to the room", "don't do that Johnny", and they just kept saying those things over and over for the entire duration of their meal. At no point did they actually do anything about the fact that their child was creating a major disturbance in the restaurant. They didn't leave the restaurant even for a small "time out" to show they meant business. In that case, there were a lot of us, including other families with children, who were more than a little annoyed.

 

[bluejasmine]

I guess I have been lucky my kids are almost 17 and 14 and going since they were 2 & 5 but they never once acted up! I don't know why but I never ever had any problems with either of them in public. Even when I know they were over tired, as I type this I realize how fortunate I have been

 

[mousireid]

My son is an amazing child with Autism. His 'differences' are not always obvious if we are just passing by and although we have been very lucky because he so LOVES DW we are very much aware of his sensory, emotional and social issues and have tried very hard to accommodate them on vacation. It has taken years to have a thick enough skin and be able to advocate well enough for my son - I DO apologize for any 'akward' moments another may face but I am usually concentrating on my child and his immediate needs. I have had to remove him from certain areas or hold him as best I can until he can be helped to calm down. It happens so quickly sometimes and comes from almost 'out of the blue' that it can be mind-boggling to anyone who has never experienced this. I promise we are doing all we can with Applied Behavioral Therapy, Occupational Therapy, IEP, supplements and in my son's case anti-seizure medication as well as daily planning and extreme vacation planning. Please remember there are many children who have invisible disabilities and although we have positive reinforcement and consequences for his actions it is a busy road indeed. We are there to enjoy our vacation and will certainly 'parent' our children, I promise - if something offends you that my children do, please make me aware of it and I WILL make sure to take care of it as it is my responsibility as the parent of my child - we've had the 'he needs an a-whuppin' moments and I know that will not CURE his Autism, believe me it HURTS when people point us out and make snide comments and I am the first to pass on any info I can about Autism. Thank you for being a friend to someone with Autism.

 

[Schmeck]

We just got back from a hot, humid WDW vacation - and the kids were much better behaved than the adults we saw there! Had to cover my niece's ears at World Showcase, as some ignorant man was ranting a blue streak at the top of his lungs to his friends. Wish I could have thrown him in the lagoon to cool off his temper, but he was bigger than me...

My DD16 spent a lot of her vacation time handing out silly bands to kids who needed a little distraction to get out of an escalating situation. She got at least a dozen kids to stop crying, many thank yous from the parents, and even asked one little princess for her autograph! My heart just swelled up and nearly burst with pride as I watched her spread some magic. She has her heart set on working for Disney now. She's looking into the college program, and I think she'd make a great CM!

The key to a more carefree vacation is to go at the child's pace, no matter the age. I know the desire to do it all, but that just makes for overtired, overstimulated kids, and then "disaster strikes"! We've always done WDW from the kids' viewpoint - if they are having fun, so are we!