Just Back...My Thoughts

[DisneyFive]

Awesome report. Thanks for sharing!

...and congrats on your 20 years!!!

So what does the general vibe feel like without the kids? What things did you do differently?

Dan

 

[purpledisneyprncess]

That's wonderful to hear you had a great trip! I was just telling my DH today that we should visit the Poly when we are over at the GF for the afternoon tea. I would like to check out some of those nicer hotels.

 

[Brian_WDW74]

Per the Looking for the Live Report and Just Back Threads? sticky thread, I've moved this thread to the Trip Reports board.

 

[catherines_mama]

One thing I did notice was the amount of kids between the ages of 7-10 in strollers. It wasn't like the family had a younger child and maybe this kid was just taking a short ride. We kept seeing this over and over. (actually hundreds of times over 4 days) These kids were always playing on a cellphone oblivious to everything around them. I know there are some issues out there that may require this sort of thing, but these kids were crammed into "toddler" strollers. If we had only seen it once or twice I would have written it off as anything from a bad blister to some other medical problem....but we witnessed this an insane number of times.

I noticed this also on a weekend trip we did in Feb. It is beyond bazar. Like you said, there might be situations (emotional, developmental) that call for this, but it that magnitude, I can't imagine that is the case for all.

All of our meals were excellent (even H&V where the chef actually came to our table to make sure we were enjoying our meal). The breakfast buffet at Trails End was wonderful. Disney has some wonderful CMs working there! We also ate at The Wave, Liberty Tree Tavern, ESPN, and Kona. We tried to get into Ohana the entire time we were there (this was a quickly planned trip and all ADRs were gone by the time we decided to go). We also had a few quick service meals and we have no complaints there.

This is great to hear. We love Ohana and eat there almost every trip. This June we are being adventurous and eating at Kona. I'm a bit nervous but I'm glad to hear such great things about it.

 

[StephMS]

Our "kids" are all grown now. I actually have a stepdaughter who is 27, my stepson would be 24 ( he passed 6 yrs ago), and DH and I have 1 son who is 20. We do have 2 granddaughters that we have taken to Disney twice in the last few years.

So while the vibe of the trip was different, it's not like DH and I haven't gotten used to doing things by ourselves the last few years.

I do highly recommend an "adults only" trip, though. We slept in every morning, ate when we wanted, and only rode a few rides. We mostly enjoyed our hotel, people watched, and spent time just enjoying the "details" of Disney.

It was easier to engage with others as well since I wasn't preoccupied with my own family's needs. It was nice not to have to worry about everyone eating what they wanted, meeting characters, and riding what they wanted.

It was so nice to just concentrate on myself and DH.

 

[CampbellScot]

I think people need to be very careful of making judgments. You don't really have any idea why a child may be in a stroller and really I'm not sure why this is such a huge deal to people. If your kids can trek through Disney at age 3 and not be bothered..awesome.Your child is blessed with health and an able body. Not all children are blessed in that way. My niece has a heart defect. When we go to Disney she rides in a Disney stroller. She tires easily and riding in a stroller allows her to conserve her energy. She is 8 years old. She is a lovely little girl who is extremely articulate and intelligent. People see her hop up when we park the stroller and get in line for a ride. No one can see the scars on her chest or know what it feels like to be in her body. As she is such a sharp little girl she sees people rolling their eyes at her and making snarky comments. She would gladly run through the parks all day if she was able to do so. But she can't. So she doesn't complain. She does not understand why other's do.

Try to at least be kind in your judgement and maybe give parents and kids the benefit of the doubt.

 

[StephMS]

Sorry folks. I truly did not intend to be judgemental with the stroller issue. I have a sister currently battling liver cancer and several other family members with debilitating diseases. While they may look fine to every one else, they could not possibly walk the parks. I'm sorry to say that I personally understand just how hard it is to manage a "normal" life when dealing with these awful, awful situations.

I would NEVER make a snarky comment about a child. We saw some of the sweetest, most beautiful children who were obviously seriously ill and it just made me want to cry. I hate the injustice of that!!!

Believe me, I understand there are issues where someone over 4 yrs. old would need "transportation". I just think if I had a 10 yr. old son with those sorts of problems, I would have something other than a toddler-sized stroller for him. I cannot emphasize how often we saw this. If all of those kids truly needed to be pushed around then we have a medical crisis of epic proportions out there.

Like I mentioned earlier, my stepson passed 6 yrs. ago. It's not like I'm oblivious to the fact that we all have scars and conditions not visible to everyone else. Honestly, it was watching the parents struggle to push these children in too small a conveyance that caused me to notice it. I didn't understand why they chose a stroller instead of something larger.

Sorry.

 

[WDWFAN2020]

A surprise stay at the POLY .. that's awesome!

 

[laurenvic1312959]

When I was 6 I was pushed around in a stroller I was too big for, I've seen pictures of me all scrunched up in it haha. But the reason for that was that I had severe eczema at the time and the heat meant that my legs were so bad that I couldn't walk properly. My parents hadn't foreseen that happening so there only option was a stroller. I think that many families can be caught off guard with what physical demands visiting the theme parks means for there child so the strollers end up being used even if they are too small as they are easily accessible

Glad you had such a great trip