Is this soooo selfish??

[utahbelle]

My secret dream is to go to Disneyland with my husband ONLY! No kids!
I daydream about it and all of the stuff we would do (and get to do) leasurely at our own time and pace. I am sure many of you have done this before but my husband thought it sounded selfish. My kids would throw a fit (11,9,7) they ARE old enough to understand, but my husband thinks kids belong at Disneyland with us. I don't know if I will ever be able to talk him into it, but I can daydream right?
If you did go without the kids....what was it like? Tell me everything! I want to live vicariously through you!

Thanks!

 

[bumbershoot]

This doesn't involve your husband, but have you checked out the Ladies Only trip thread? Late April, a bunch of nutty women, no kids (or husbands) allowed...


Anyway, at those ages if you have a trustworthy kid-watcher, I don't think it's overly selfish to want to go alone. And it means you'd have to make it up to them with another trip, which means two trips for you.

But it sounds like maybe your hubby doesn't see DL as an adult-only place.

If you do, then we're back to the Ladies Only trip.

 

[MommyWithDreams]

You're definitely not crazy, I've thought about it too. My sister and her DH went for a day before a cruise without their kids and she says it was one of her best trips. Just think of all you could do............
Sounds great, but so does one with my son. But then again, is there any DL trip that wouldn't be great?

 

[CamColt]

While not Disneyland, I have been to WDW (quite a few times) and on a 3 night DCL cruise without my kids. I feel parents deserve a vacation, and if you have a good babysitter, why not? Where you go is up to you and not the kids. My kids like when I go because they know they will get some good gifts when I get home. Its usually not more than 4 nights and my kids do go quite often themselves, so its not like they are deprived.

I say go for it!

 

[greewe]

My husband and I have gone a couple of times when we were attending conferences. But my kids were high school age and we had to promise a summer trip also!! We really enjoyed ourselfs and we were able to go at a nice slow pace! We also saw some things around the area that the kids would never have wanted to do. Like antique shopping!

 

[bumbershoot]

We really enjoyed ourselfs and we were able to go at a nice slow pace!

LOL...if I went alone, one of the points would be to go FAST! My 3 year old really slows me down.

 

[Lilypaige]

I know Disney is great for just adults, but I would feel horrible going to DL without my kids. I understanding needing a vacation, but if I needed a break I would go somewhere else that wasn't so appealing to my girls. Plus they will only be wanting to go on vacation with us for so long and we will have tons of time to travel without the kids when they are out of the house. Just my 2 cents.

 

[pixiewings71]

Ok, I love taking my girls on vacation with me but sometimes it's nice to have big kid time too. We've taken our girls to DL 5 times in the past 6 months.....with many more trips to come until our AP's expire in July.....and then we are already talking about renewing them. Anyway, as you can see from my ticker we have a big kids only trip planned for the end of January. My girls are 8 and 11 and they are a bit sad but they also understand why we are going...and yes, we are currently in the midst of planning a guilt trip...LOL Literally, we feel guilty so we are trying to take them for the weekend of the 4th-6th...LOL As a surprise, they don't know yet.

So yes, it will be fun and yes, I will miss them and feel guilty as all heck but it will still be fun! LOL

 

[Disneyenthusiast]

My husand and I finally had an adult trip, after all of the kids were on their own. We had a great time! That said, I would share Disneyland with the kids and pick another destination for an adult getaway while they are young. Once you got there, I'm betting that leaving the kids behind would not make for happy feelings...especially if you and your husband don't really agree on this issue.

 

[Tink208]

I don't think it is totally selfish, but I do know my kids would probably squawk a bit if we went to Disneyland for a whole trip by ourselves; not to mention that my husband is not quite the Disney fanatic that I am, and frankly, if it were entirely up to him, he would be happy to not ever go to Disneyland again. scared

What we have done that works out to be kind of the best of both worlds and have gone with another family, or two. That way, there can be some "divide and conquer" times when some parents will take all the kids to do stuff while other parents get to have some "adult time" to do what they want.

 

[MagicalMomAZ]

Well.....my mom waited 18 yrs for that day. She had to wait, but she finally did it, & does it every year now. I've been out of the house for 13 yrs, my sis for only 5 yrs.....so for 8 yrs they had to wait for my sister to turn 18! LOL

Personally, I would feel guilty. DH said we should go to Yellowstone alone too...I felt guilty. So far the only place we leave the kids behind is Vegas bc it's the only place we don't feel comfortable bringing them!

I completely understand where you're coming from & I've felt the same but I don't think I could drag DH to DL w/o the kids as an excuse to go...for HIM. Not me. Maybe I'll go w/o all of them someday!!

 

[audrabolster]

Maybe a little? It's kind of sucky to do something that I know kids would die to get to do and then not take them. I'm sure you'd have so many photos and stories that would just end up rubbing them the wrong way when you came back.

What if you went to Disney and brought a nanny for some free time?

 

[ctamama]

We ran into some friends of ours at DL recently who were doing EXACTLY that!! They were having a great time. They said it was a totally different experience (they have 8 children--I sincerely think it was a well-deserved break!!)

After running into them, my DH couldn't get it out of his mind--and kept saying, "We have to do that!"--I think he was just worn out from chasing our 2 year old around!

Yep!! I would totally do it!

 

[Beth76]

My DH and I are taking a 3 night cruise out of LA with friends. We're staying after an extra night and going to DL. Part of the reason is to get a feel for the parks before taking the kids. We've never been to either Disney park. I don't think it's selfish, but I certainly won't tell my kids where I've been.

 

[enyaj40]

i don't think it's selfish

 

[lilpixie]

I think it's your trip -- so do you *you* really want to do! Honestly, as a stay at home mom of 3 girls -- they get *lots* of attention and plenty of DL trips -- but it is usually me who is doing the planning of trips and attending to all of their needs, etc while we're on vacation. I think it is OK for moms to get a break every once in a while and do what makes them happy! I hope you have a magical time and don't feel guilty!!

p.s. I posted about this when we were deciding between New York and a DL trip for our 10th anniversary (we had already taken our kids to DL that year). We ended up going to NY, but I think the DL trip would have been great, too. And if the kids would have gotten upset, too bad LOL -- kids get sooooo much. Adults need alone time and fun time, too!

 

[VWCat]

do it. my man and I went twice this last year and had a blast. but we don't have kids. mom and dad deserve fun too! and time without the kids will bring different fun and I agree with the makeup trip,mommy and daddy time first and then you will know the park more and be able to manuever better with the kids when you come back

 

[OurMsBrooks]

Go ahead and go! DH and I have been to WDW alone, and it has been an absolutely fantastic experience. In fact, we'll be going again alone in July (conference trip), and I don't feel the slightest bit of guilt. The kids will have been to Disneyland and a 7-day cruise only a month before. They are hardly deprived, and I don't see anything wrong with a couple enjoying some time for just the two of them.

My mother always said it's important to put your husband/wife first. Your kids are going to grow up and leave, and the two of you need to have that lasting friendship and connection, because you'll still be together after the kids go. (Mom and Dad are still the model of togetherness, at 43 years and counting.)

Go and have fun!!

 

[disneyfanatic4]

I do not think it is selfish at all. We took our kids the last couple of years, this summer included, and I had the chance to go with a friend from work in September. I jumped at this chance thinking it would be a blast. Unforunately for me, I was very disappointed. That was more because the person I went with was more interested in shopping at gift stores than actually going on the rides....... Anyway, I felt guilty leaving the kids at home but I promised them I would get them something special and they were okay with it. I do think if I would have went with my husband it would have been a much better trip. If you have the chance, go, go, go ...... and have a great time

 

[kikiq]

We took our first trip to WDW without our dds this last summer. Usually my dh wouldn't go to WDW or DLR without the girls. We enjoyed ourselves so much at WDW, we ended up buying DVC. Yes, we waited until they were older, but now they go without us<G>

Disneyland without kids...You get to stroll through Main Street. Have a leisurely dinner with both of you enjoying your dinner at the Blue Bayou, StoryTellers or Napa Rose. Ride Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Indy together...and then ride Pirates in the last seat by yourselves<G>...just ask the CM...sometimes they say OK. Stand hugging each other watching the fireworks. Go on the weekends and swing dance. Pick and choose the nightly entertainment you want to watch and hold hands. We live 30 min from DL and honestly most of our weekly date nights are at DL.

You may not convince your dh yet, but maybe someday.