What you're missing is that you are seeing moments in time. Seconds, a minute, or the relatively tiny amount of time it took to get off that boat. You're not seeing the whole hour, day, or trip.
It's this little blip in time of a bad moment or a tantrum, and you're turning it into the ENTIRE trip.
We were just at DL for 7 days. We went far more commando-style than we had planned, we just couldn't seem to help ourselves. No one wanted to leave the parks to go sleep, or really, even swim. So no one insisted except for two days (and those two days I went right back to DL while DH and DS slept).
Did DH and I argue? Yep, a few times. We do at home, too. Sometimes the communication is like telepathy, and other times it just doesn't work at all. Did DS have some bad moments? Oh yes. Definitely. But was it the WHOLE trip? Nope. Probably one hour's worth for the whole trip, OK, maybe two hour's total. Out of 7 days!
But we recognized that for someone nearby, they were going to think "OMG that family is awful, just listen to what is happening!" But that's not MY problem, it's theirs, isn't it?
The three of us (with my brother and his wife) went to DL for one day when DS was just over 1, and again when he was just over 2. Were those days perfect? No. Were those days WONDERFUL? Yes. When he was 1, he was in diapers, cloth diapers even! I got to bring enough for the day, and haul out the dirty ones. Was that less than spectacular? yes. Did it detract from the overall wonderfulness of the day? NO. When he was 2, he was almost done with dipes so we had to bring his cloth training pants. It was still great.
We don't know what he remembers from his first trip. And after the second trip, we didn't think he thought about it. But a few months after we got back, he had a language explosion and started talking all about the trip! It was so cool. I don't let him near my computer where the pictures are stored, I don't have them printed, and we didn't really talk about it, so all of those memories were in his head, waiting for his words to catch up with his brain. Obviously this third trip was incredible. He's only 3! But he remembers.
I am the oldest of 5. I know very well that the ages of 9 and 11 aren't pure joy, either. I bet there were some moments in your own family that weren't sweetness and light. When I was 9 I was convinced I was the heaviest person on the planet, and was already obsessed with my weight. So I wouldn't have eaten much. When I was 11, I thought I was the ugliest person on the planet. So none of the pictures of me would have had me smiling, especially b/c I was in full-band braces at the time. I remember my 11th birthday...we did exactly what I wanted, I wore what I wanted, we ate what I wanted...but I still had a major tizzy fit at one point of the day, and my family got to deal with that... Just b/c someone is older doesn't mean a trip with them will be perfect! With my brothers, at that age, they would have been smelly, sweaty, and obsessed with either looking cool, what their voices were doing, or some other thing...the youngest would have been checking out the girls, and separating himself from the parental units...
As for that woman on the boat...my first thought was "it was probably his idea to take the boat, and she probably advised against it".
It's all blips in a day, blips in a week, blips out of the year...they'll happen at home, they'll happen at a Disney park...me, I'll take the parks...
Especially today. Today is rotten. I finally got DS to sleep (he still naps) and had to go eat half a pint of ice cream, which I NEVER do anymore. If anyone had been listening outside our apartment door they would have been horrified, but they also would have missed all the quiet cute moments, AND they would have missed all the rotten but silent things DS was doing to get me to be Quite That Loud...augh, wish I had more ice cream, but I finished it. Can I please fly to
Disneyland again? If he's going to be like this, we might as well be there!
My family and I just returned from 9 days in the World. My kids are 9 and 11.
That being said, for the majority of our vacation we were inundated with crying babies and over-stimulated toddlers throwing tantrums and crying. Parents were sniping at each other, just terribly nasty!
My husband and I both agreed that waiting til the kids were older was the right choice.
What is the attraction to taking your kids there when they are so small? I'm not trying to sound nasty, but it seemed to me that the majority just were not enjoying it at ALL. The parents looked exhausted and as I said before, taking it out on each other.
Case in point. We were on the boat at DTD waiting to come back to our resort. The captain told us that a lightening storm was in the area and we'd all have to disembark and use alternate transportation. No problem for us. But the family ahead of us turned it into a disaster. It was a mom, dad, a three year old and an infant with a double stroller.
The mother started arguing with the father because we had to get off the boat. The poor guy didn't stand a chance. She sniped at him the whole way back to World of Disney where we took another turn. I mean, it's not his fault a storm was coming. She *could* have stayed on the boat in the lightening while sitting on her metal seat. lol
This was common place. People just nasty to each other. It was very hot and that makes tempers run short, but geez. This is supposed to be a vacation. And no one is enjoying it.
Is it worth the money for a few photo ops? The kids won't remember it. And the most expensive souvenier is going to be the marriage counselling you'll need afterwards.
I felt so badly for so many parents. Can someone tell me what I'm missing here?
. So, don't feel badly for us, we all have a fantastic time when we're there!
