Parents that don’t get it – “I want my kids to remember it ..”

[2Pirates2Princesses]

For our family, going to Disney World isn’t about whether or not our children will "remember" the trips; but it is about the experience in the *here and now* that Disney World gives our *entire family* . Life is too short and childhood is just too fleeting IMO.
Yes there are other fun (and less expensive) places to vacation, but WDW is truly a great family vacation destination and it gives each member of our family an experience we don't get anywhere else.
I understand and respect the many reasons why some people choose to wait though, especially if it is a "once in a lifetime" trip; but if you have children that are a wide range of ages there just isn't a perfect age to take a family trip to WDW. I have to say though that there is something really special about experiencing WDW with little ones, especially when they are at the ages when they are really into Disney entertainment and are just in awe and marvel at everything. On our family's first WDW trip my kids were ages 2, 4, 9, and 9 (twins). Looking back, I really wish we could have taken our two oldest children when they were 3 or 4 years old.

 

[charmed59]

We took our kids to Disney, both California and Florida, and to Hawaii, and to Europe, and on cruises. Disney is a nice, fun vacation, but it did not inspire awe in my children, at any age. Not like a castle in a hilltop village, or a turtle on a black sand beach, or the ice from the blue glacier crashing into the sound. Not like building their first snowman, or their first sandcastle. Not like the view they earned from climbs to a mountain peak, or bell tower.

Disney can be very fun, and very relaxing, but so can just about anyplace else. I found when the kids were too small to walk long distances, a vacation where they could just stay where they were and play worked out well. Playing in the sand, splashing in the water, not being stuck in a stroller, worked out well for them.

As I said, we did get them to Disney, but they didn't really want to go back as much as they wanted other vacations.

 

[msquoted]

We are taking our very first Disney family vacation August 2014. At the time of the trip our boys will be 10, 7, and 5 years old. We have done lots of little trips with the kids- we live in Central, IL and do several trips to St. Louis and Chicago throughout the year visiting the zoos, science museums, etc. We have also taken a longish trip to Wisconsin Dells. We decided to wait on Disney for many reasons. 1.) Money. I am a SAHM and on one income we were focused on living within our means and paying off school/medical debts. While it is important to "create memories" with our kids - we were able to find way more affordable (many times *free*) ways to day that. 2.) We wanted to wait for the kids to be old enough were it would be easiest for everyone to enjoy themselves. I didn't want my oldest son to have to wait while we fed/changed/soothed a tire/cranky/hungry younger brother. Now that everyone is potty trained and able to easily communicate their needs- I am really looking forward for the longer trip! 3.) Time- like I said, we live in Central, IL. so going to Disney is a big time commitment for us. Earlier in our marriage, my husband had to save his vacation days for taking leave around the births of our children or if I was sick and he needed to stay home. Now we can finally utilize more of his days for a long vacation.
We are hoping that this summer's trip starts a tradition of a Disney Family Vacation at least every-other summer (with he and I taking an AMTRAK vacation on the summers we don't go- we took our first cross-country train trip last summer for our 10yr. anniversary and are hooked!)

 

[belle825]

We took our son when he was 2.5. We went on a super strict budget ($1800) and ate a lot of meals in our room. It was the time of his little life, we let him completely dictate our schedule and we had a wonderful trip! As a mom, I will never forget his face when he saw the castle or met Mickey, even if he won't remember it except through pictures. He's now 4 and has talked about our Disney trip every single day since we went, so it definitely was a huge thing in his life. We are going back again in August and will have our will-be-1-year-old daughter with us too. We have done some other vacations as well, but I am a believer in the "letting them meet the characters in their imagination" magic while they are still little bitty.

 

[Lolsmum]

We took a couple of day trips to Disneyland when we were visiting family in the area when the kids were tiny, but honestly holding out until they were 5 and 6 1/2 to do our trip to Disneyworld was so worth it. They were young enough to still believe the characters were real, etc. but old enough that they have their own memories of the trip.

As it turns out, we will probably go a lot more often that I thought at the time due to family moving nearby.

 

[Heluvsme]

We have been going to Disney since our honeymoon nearly 22 years ago, and prior to that I had been to DL (I'm from California) a lot with my parents. Once our firstborn came along, nearly 17 years ago, we started taking her! Would she remember all of it? No. For us, it wasn't about what could and could not be remembered, it was about who we became when we there. My DH and I drop all of the stresses away, we are suddenly less serious, less stressed, less worried... and while we are in DW we are more FUN, more present (I'm embarrassed to admit that but it's true), and everything is centered around our family time. Could we do that someplace else? Sure, and we have. But Disney turns us all back into a time and place where we were more care-free.

When our 2nd born came along, nearly 14 years ago, it was clear early on he had some developmental delays and disabilities. Disney took on a whole new meaning. Our son spoke his first words, at age 4 1/2, while in line for Peter Pan. Disney inspired in him a sense of curiosity and fantasy. It was a magical place and it played to all his senses. For us, and I know this isn't true for everyone, but for us it was a place we all looked forward to going to... and as our son got a little older, Disney became his source for inspiration. He started "researching" the hotels there, he watched YouTube videos, he LOVED the whole planning process as much as I did and I couldn't be prouder. He is now a teenager, talking more than us actually, still struggling with some issues and always will, but he has planned nearly everyday of our upcoming trip.

Yep, they won't remember. We heard that a lot, and didn't really care what anyone's opinion was. For us, our family, it's the right choice. Will it evolve and change? Probably. But it will always be special to us, for many reasons!

 

[MarineVet]

I haven't read all the pages, but I can respond with my own reason to the OP. It all came down to resources. Money, time, and the two coming together. We didn't have the kind of money it would take to go to Disney World when the kids were very young. We figured Disney might be that once in a lifetime trip, and we did want the kids to remember it. Our son was 11 and our daughter 6 when we visited for three days in 1997. We had a wonderful time, and my daughter does remember some things, so the timing was right for us.

We didn't return until 2010, although we had talked about it numerous times. I chose it as the place I wanted to turn 50, and by then our son was gone into the Navy and our daughter was 19. We have been back about twice a year since then. Yes, its still expensive to us, and without the miltiary discounts on tickets and rooms, I would not be able to come more than a few times per decade.

I am thankful and grateful I have the ability to save and juggle bills and manage to take these trips. But I have never lost sight of the fact that a Disney trip is still just an out of reach dream for many many people. Just as I look at some of my coworkers and wonder how they can justify spending $60,000 on a car (its a set of wheels for goodness sake!) there are other familes that would look at me and wonder how I justify spending all that money at Disney especially when I have other bills to pay. For some families I know, they will never get to the World, even if they pulled out every budget trick in the book.

 

[MarineVet]

We are taking our very first Disney family vacation August 2014. At the time of the trip our boys will be 10, 7, and 5 years old. We have done lots of little trips with the kids- we live in Central, IL and do several trips to St. Louis and Chicago throughout the year visiting the zoos, science museums, etc. We have also taken longish trip to Wisconsin Dells. We decided to wait on Disney for many reasons. 1.) Money. I am a SAHM and on one income we were focused on living within our means and paying off school/medical debts. While it is important to "create memories" with our kids - we were able to find way more affordable (many times *free*) ways to day that. 2.) We wanted to wait for the kids to be old enough were it would be easiest for everyone to enjoy themselves. I didn't want my oldest old son to have to wait while we fed/changed/soothed a tire/cranky/hungry younger brother. Now that everyone is potty trained and able to easily communicate their needs- I am really looking forward for the longer trip! 3.) Time- like I said, we live in Central, IL. so going to Disney is a big time commitment for us. Earlier in our marriage, my husband had to save his vacation days for taking leave around the births of our children or if I was sick and he needed to stay home. Now we can finally utilize more of his days for a long vacation.
We are hoping that this summer's trip starts a tradition of a Disney Family Vacation at least every-other summer (with he and I taking an AMTRAK vacation on the summers we don't go- we took our first cross-country train trip last summer for our 10yr. anniversary and are hooked!)

Hi msquoted, I am originally from the Decatur area. I totally get what you mean about travel from that part of the state - everything is pretty far away for entertainment. After that brutal winter, I know you are really looking forward to the Florida trip. Enjoy!

 

[Zeebs]

Why? because the world is bigger than the World Showcase and offers up many different, equally as fantastic, trips.

I love Disney, kids have been a few time, however we are fortunate enough to be able to afford an overseas trip most years. If it was a situation of a once in a lifetime trip we would wait until they could ride all the rides.

I want my children to be well travelled, I want them to see how other cultures live.

That said, travelling is such a personal thing, just because I wouldn't do doesn't mean my way is right.

You do your trips how you want to, I will do mine the way I want to. I don't think I am scaring my children by having them miss out on "the greatest experience of their life".If you ask my son what was "greatest experience" he will tell you the day he went to Cambridge (the town 40 mins down the road) had sushi and lost his first tooth lol.

Kirsten

 

[Ava]

I know many many adults who never went to Disney as children, and just aren't into that type of vacation, so they don't take their kids there either. (Or they wait until the kids are old enough to have heard about it from their friends and start begging to go, lol.)

My mom grew up loving Disney films, and went to WDW for the first time a year or so after it opened. I went a few times as a child and a few times as an adult, and am now taking my own kids. We're Disney people. That said, though, its not a trip I could afford to do every year, nor would I want to go that often. Once every 3 or 4 years is probably enough for us.

It's funny to me though that people wait until kids are older to take them to WDW, since I think WDW is an easy place to take little ones. I want to take my kids to see the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, etc but that's the type of trip I want to wait until they're older and will appreciate it more.

(I will also add a caveat to this, that we live 20 minutes from the beach. So going to the beach is not a week-long vacation for us like it is for a lot of people.)

 

[MIGrandma]

I don't think there is a "right" or "wrong" answer to this. You take your family to Disney when YOU are ready and YOU want to go.

DH and I didn't take our kids when they were little and they were not scarred by it. We took them on other vacations, and did a lot of camping which we all enjoyed as a family (and still do).

Our son was a teenager before he went to WDW for the first time, with the Youth for Christ group from our area (my husband went also, as a chapperone as we were both involved in the group). He also got to go a second time before he graduated high school. Our daughter had no desire to go with a group, and she was 34 the first time she went...which was with me, for a week at Port Orleans, last September.

We are all now planning a WDW trip for next January, at DD's request. It will be DD and her DH and their two kids (DD 6 and DS 9), DH and myself, and her DH's parents as well so 8 of us. The kids are so excited, and we won't have to be lugging a stroller around, or diaper bag, bottles, etc. and the kids will be old enough to walk, ride the rides, and feed themselves.

Personally I would not want to take an infant or child under 4 to Disney, but that's just me.

 

[AshleeH]

We get asked a lot why we keep going back - after all, the kids probably won't remember much. I always answer: But I will. I'm a parent and every thought and action revolves around my kids in some way, shape or form. Is it really selfish of me to want some memories for me?

My boys were 7 and 4 on their first trip and the only reason we waited was for financial reasons. We were young when we married, young when we had kids, and we simply could not afford to go when they were toddlers.

Now that we're in a better financial situation, we went to Disneyland this last summer. It was a trip four years in the making. We didn't know we would have a newborn. We didn't know she would be premature and spend a month in the NICU. We weighed the pros and cons of a cross-country trip when she was four months old and the deciding factor came down to something so simple: If we had waited for our youngest to be old enough to enjoy it, that might be fair to her, but how would that be fair to our older kids? They had been looking forward to this trip for two years, they had been involved in the planning, they had talked about California nonstop.

Why should they be punished for things that were not in our control, but were now manageable? Why should they have to wait for an experience that they would enjoy, just because they have a sibling who won't remember the experience? Short answer: They shouldn't.

We went, they had an amazing trip, we had a wonderful experience, and the baby won't remember a thing. But that's okay - after a trying and scary time in the hospital, words cannot describe what it was like to see my sweet baby get her first glimpse of Winnie the Pooh... and smile. That picture and memory, to me, is worth more money than the national debt.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I have often wondered why parents are in such denial for taking their kids to Disney.

Oh, that's simple. I don't want to have to deal with the hassle involved in taking a stroller, a child still in diapers, a diaper bag, change of clothes, etc., to the most crowded vacation destination in the western hemisphere.

Because a two year old would be as happy on a sandy beach as he or she would be at WDW, only with a smaller price tag and less people.

And since he/she isn't going to remember it anyway, why bother with all of that?

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Oh, that's simple. I don't want to have to deal with the hassle involved in taking a stroller, a child still in diapers, a diaper bag, change of clothes, etc., to the most crowded vacation destination in the western hemisphere.

Because a two year old would be as happy on a sandy beach as he or she would be at WDW, only with a smaller price tag and less people.

And since he/she isn't going to remember it anyway, why bother with all of that?

Exactly, that's the same age they're happy playing with the box as they are with the toy at Christmas

 

[Ava]

What I REALLY would love to do is a Disney Cruise, so I can have some childless vacation time while they are at the kids club , but DH is really opposed to cruises, so I have more work to do to convince him it'll be a great vaca!!

I want to do a Disney Cruise so badly (I've never been on any type of cruise) but I definitely want to wait on that until both girls are old enough to go to the kids club. 4 more years! Haha.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

We live on the East Coast now but have family in Southern California. I took my DD and DS to Disneyland when they were 2 and 4 and again when they were 4 and 6. Both times we combined the trip with visiting family. The way I figured it, that bought us some time before we had to spend the big bucks taking them to WDW.

My plan was to take them to WDW in 2006 or 2007 when they were 7/8 and 9/10. Life got in the way. We had to fly out to Colorado for a week for a family wedding. That became our BIG vacation. Shortly after that the economy began it's long slow slide downhill. DH is a 100% commissioned sales rep so all unnecessary stuff (like major travel) got cut from the budget for a couple of years. We just couldn't swing it, no matter how badly I wanted to go. Finally in 2010, my DD's softball team made Southeast Regionals in Altamonte Springs, FL. When I realized the tournament was only about 30 minutes from WDW I planned for us to stay an extra week. I remember that drive from Virginia to Florida. When we crossed into Georgia I just squealed - eeeeeee! I was so excited to be taking my family to WDW! Finally! I don't think DH realized until just then how badly I'd wanted to go.

I am still bummed that I missed that trip with my kids in 2006/2007. DD would have been the perfect age for BBB. They didn't even have BBB in Disneyland on our previous trips. We have gone to WDW 2 more times and DL once since the 2010 trip. I sorta of felt like I was making up for that "lost" trip in 06/07, had to squeeze a few more trips in while they were still into it. DS16 now says he's done with "themeparking" until he has his own kids. DD14 will go to WDW again with her high school softball team for Spring Break 2015. She is really looking forward to doing WDW with her friends. DH says he will be my WDW companion from now on. Yay!

 

[happymommy]

I can only speak for me, but my ex husband would not allow us to spend that kind of money and stated he hated theme parks and would not go. I took my daughter 1 time to DL. That is the only remembrance I have. The ex only did things he wanted to do, which was camping. And that was when he wanted to go. So we did not vacation much at all.

I can see why he's your ex!

My DH doesn't enjoy Disney quite as much as the kids and I do (now that we've been so many times), so for us, many trips are just me and the kids (plus I am a SAHM and DH has a very busy work schedule running a large company of his own). First trip alone with the kids was when they were 4 and 6, and it was a blast and so easy to do without another adult (kids have gone since they were 2 and 3).

I understand many people don't want to spend money on vacations, and Disney can be expensive for some. I try to get deals to limit how much we spend, but still you have to add in airfare and such. We drove 12 hours once, but that had nothing to do with money; it was right after 9/11 and we didn't feel like flying as a family that year and had just gotten a new minivan with a dvd player.

Some folks don't seem to enjoy a vacation at Disney. We do, so it is fun for us. It gets harder to make the time now that my kids are older, so I am so glad for all the trips we've done when they were young!

I have in-laws that went once, and they didn't take any of our advice (they went over Memorial Day weekend and stayed in an off site house, and said they waited in long lines, duh, and of course had to outlet shop also even though we have the same malls here at home). They never went back, and just didn't get it. Had they stayed on site at a Disney resort and chosen a different time to go, and taken our advice about when to get to the parks, they may have had a totally better time. Waiting in line for an hour to get Mickey's autograph isn't fun!

 

[jenirvt]

I have often wondered why parents are in such denial for taking their kids to Disney. Did they have a bad trip when they were young or maybe they didn’t to go at all? I have talked with parents both as a Guest and as a Cast Member, but it seems more times than not I am left shaking my head at “I want my child to remember their visit?” Isn't that what a camera is for? or photopass?

I went on my first trip to DW when I was 4 and have absolutely ZERO memory of it beyond photos. Maybe it's just me, but memories of my vacations with my family are what I enjoy. When a child is too young to really participate in and enjoy a vacation, then you could also ask a similar question to what you are asking: is it fair to take them?

I usually ask where do you all go for family vacation? I get all kinds of answers… the lake, the beach, skiing, camping, the cape, ……. They go on trips but not Disney.. Why?

Our kids are 3y and 8y and they have been on multiple vacations - to the coast, to the beaches, to water parks, to lakes, to mountains - we enjoy traveling. Disney is not the ONLY destination in the world to us. We are taking our kids there for the first time this year, but I also feel like it's important to expose them to other things: National parks, beautiful sights, etc.

…. it is fair to have your kid miss out on one of the greatest experiences in life?

Disney is very expensive and not all families can afford it. Not all kids grow up with commercialized stuff like Disney in their lives. It is not everyone's ideal vacation spot. It is also hot and crowded with long waits which is not every kid's dream vacation. Some kids are also afraid of mascots or other mascot-type characters. These boards are a small subset of the population who are very enthusiastic about Disney - not everyone feels the same way. I do not plan on this being our last trip to WDW, but I also want my kids to experience the beauty of a white sand beach with crashing ocean waves, or the splendor of the Grand Canyon, or the exhilaration of skiing down a snow-covered mountain. Plus, a lot of what "vacation" means to me is relaxing and spending time as a family, not necessarily scheduling rides and meals and fighting crowds to tour around a theme park. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited for WDW, but I'm also excited to then go lay on the beach for a week afterward and play in the sand! But to each their own!

 

[MsMamaBear]

I don't know, but a friend asked why I was taking my 2yr old. She took her 1yr old and said she wants to wait until he is older to go again. Good for you, so y'all get to go but I need to rethink it?

Maybe it is taking them once in a lifetime. I was never a big Disney person(I prefer cruising.) and said I'd NEVER go, but here I am going in 2 months! It seems to work well with being a single mom with staying on property and being able to get everywhere without having to drive and navigate everywhere.

 

[msmama]

I don't think we'd last a day at a beach vacation (we live 20 minutes from a beach so it's not like we'd never go) so for me, when someone says they're going to the beach for a week all I can think about is WHY? Seriously, we would kill each other or be bored out of our minds!

I guess people think the same when I say we are going back to Disney.

My son doesn't remember going to WDW for the first time, but I will never forget him meeting Mickey, or slobbering all over Piglet (oops) or any of those other firsts. Vacations are for the whole family and that includes me. I feel like Disney can be so many different vacations to so many people that it works.