Regrets taking too many Disney trips

[QueenIsabella]

Tcufrog--100% agree with you. We chose our Europe tour, specifically because it was designed with families in mind. So, we went to the Louvre, but also an alpaca farm. In Paris, the parents did a chocolate tasting while the kids designed their own chocolate bars. The tour guide also threw in a few surprises, like games with cheap prizes, gelato stops, etc. You get the idea. When we did our after-hours Vatican tour, there were kids as young as 5 on another tour that joined us. I have to wonder how much they really enjoyed the humongous Vatican Museum, or appreciated the Sistine Chapel. It was a ton of walking and cultural immersion--most 5yos would rather be at the hotel pool. Now, the Sistine Chapel was a highlight for my DS12, but he's artistic, so I knew he'd love it. His other favorite thing? Staying up late to watch the Eiffel Tower twinkle at night.

 

[MommaBerd]

We do not travel to WDW every year and we have (and will continue to) incorporate other destinations. But, there IS something special about a Disney Park (or cruise) vacation. I see my boys, who are fast becoming young men, relax, be silly, dance, laugh, etc. When we went to China this year, it was an AMAZING experience. There was so much to soak in, learn, experience, but I would not necessarily call it relaxing. And maybe that is the key. Traveling to other places IS more about learning and experiencing; traveling to Disney Parks is about relaxing and having fun. So, for us it comes down to what kind of trip do we want to have? An educational/experiential/cultural trip or a relaxing, fun, entertaining trip?

 

[loves to dive]

Nope, don't regret it at all but Disney wasn't the only place we vacationed. We went every other year until my son was grown, now I go at least twice a year and my son goes at least once a year. In the years we didn't go to Disney, we would explore places within a 8 or 9 hour driving distance from home. After my son was grown, we got certified at scuba divers and eventually so did he. We have been all over the Carribean and south Pacific diving and have taken him to a number of places as well. I lived in the middle east when I was a teenager and was lucky enough to visit GB, Switzerland and Rome while over there. There is no way I can book a plane, lodging and eat anywhere overseas for even close to what we spend at WDW. Would I like to travel to more overseas places? Sure, but my honey hates to travel and is not very happy outside of the US so that's not happening unless I go by myself or am lucky and my son gets a job overseas somewhere I can visit him. We are in the process of buying a RV so we will travel more here in the States and I might even get honey to go to WDW but no, I don't regret it a bit.

 

[YesterDark]

My kids are young (5, 3, 6mo) and the two older ones have 2 trips under their belt already. I can see another 4-6 years of Disney at least because of the youngest. The wife and I talk about other vacations, but I can't think of other things to do in this age bracket. Once they're teenagers, Europe seems great, and it's on my list.

We do weekend trips to museums and other stuff when we can.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Disney wherever is fun yet I’m happy being exposed to other experiences as well. Once our first and probably last annual passes expire we will have gotten our money’s worth and it’ll be time to move on to something new.

 

[MomOTwins]

As a kid, I never got to go to Disney World or any other kid-centric location. It was mostly educational trips in European or US cities with art museums, architecture and monuments. All I remember for the vacations was being tired from walking around a big city all day with jet lag, and bored. As a tween and teen it was much more enjoyable. There’s a right time for everything.

 

[deuceswild10]

As a kid, I never got to go to Disney World or any other kid-centric location. It was mostly educational trips in European or US cities with art museums, architecture and monuments. All I remember for the vacations was being tired from walking around a big city all day with jet lag, and bored. As a tween and teen it was much more enjoyable. There’s a right time for everything.

Same. I didn't really do Disney as a kid and a lot of our vacations were adult centered. I think I would've enjoyed kid centered trips occasionally.

 

[Sha259]

I haven't gotten to the point of regret as I have only been to Disney twice and a third time when we go with my son next year when he is almost 3. However, I can completely relate in wanting my son to have been traveled, and not just to the same places!

My husband and I want to travel all over the world and now that we have a child, we plan to incorporate him into our travels so that he can gain a sense of the world at large, not just America or one particular city. He is 20 months and has already been to Ireland, North Carolina, Bermuda, and the Caribbean. We are going to Disney in the Spring and the NE US and Canada in the fall.

We have plans to travel to China before he starts kindergarten and will likely do Asia, Europe and then the UK and France extensively once he is a bit older (between 10-16).

All this to say, the world is big with lots of awesome places, so why limit myself to one of them? I love Disney, as I love Vegas, which is why both are locations we have visited multiple times. But if I only visit there, how will I know if there is another place I might love equally as much?

Andplusalso, for what some people pay in a Disney trip, I could get a patio put on my house AND take my family of 3 on a 10 night adventure to China via Groupon. So yeah, I live variety when I spend my money.

 

[Sha259]

My dh and our two kids DS7 and DS11 are currently touring England and Scotland and are having a blast. I’ve been to England 3 times before but the others haven’t been. The key has been to plan a trip with enough variety to appeal to everyone. My attitude has been that you won’t like every place but you will like most places.

We’ve also been flexible and have listened to our kids. For example, in Dundee our stopover hotel had an inflatable obstacle course on the water across the street. Even though we wanted to get back on the road first thing in the morning we made time for our kids to do it. Instead of driving straight through for 4 hours we stopped at a beach so the kids could play and see the ocean. Yes I’d love to visit more castles and shop more and my dh would like to tour some whiskey distilleries but we’ve made some amazing memories that are worth it.

I will say though that I’m not sure that DS7 could have handled the trip any younger. I’ve seen multiple toddlers and preschoolers in full meltdown mode at castles and other tourist stops. A lot of England and Scotland are the opposite of handicapped accessible which means that a lot of places you’d want to visit aren’t stroller friendly. Imagine being faced with a big flight of old stone steps when your child is having a tantrum and refusing to walk or be carried in a safe manner. My kids have been much more accommodating but we’ve slowed down the pace and stopped often for ice cream at the ice cream stands that seem to be everywhere.

This is exactly how we hope to do it! Once my son is older, head back to Europe and try Asia, incorporating things that would be interesting for all of us! In the mean time, while he is little, we will continue to do more kid centric trips, or trips where we pace ourselves to his schedule. So I see us visiting Disney at least 2-3 more times in his childhood. Likely when he is 6, 9, and 12. After that, we will go upon request, as we live in PA and have tons of amusement parks local if that continues to interest him!

 

[TwinkleKS]

So far we don't regret it. Right now we do Disney at Christmas and another destination in the summer. WDW at Christmas has become a tradition. I could see in a few years maybe changing it up, but we are happy with it right now.

While the kids are a little younger we have been doing Caribbean & Central American countries in the summer. In a year or two I plan on introducing Europe / Asia, etc. in the summer. I think they are finally at the age I can put all three of them in a row in the airplane and tell them to sleep, watch their iPads, and read a book ... but don't wake me up until we land

 

[tcufrog]

I think the key is to think like your child when planning your vacation. What does your kid like and enjoy? My kids love Harry Potter so we are going on the Harry Potter backstage tour near London. Our younger son loves animals so we are visiting a couple of petting farms. Our older son is fascinated by ancient Egypt so we splurged on hiring a archaeologist who digs in Egypt to show us around the British Museum.

I think though that kids need to learn though that they aren’t the center of the universe so we are visiting a few places that mom and dad want to go to such as a whiskey store so my dh could taste and purchase Scottish whiskey. My kids also sometimes have to put up with my shopping.

Life is about compromise though so we’re trying to find activities that have something for everyone. The castles we visit have something for the kids such as a giant trebuchet or a falconry show. The tour of London we take will be on a double decker bus since DS7 really wants to ride one.

My final peace of advice is to listen to your kids. My kids told us yesterday they are tired of visiting castles so we’re not visiting any more of them. We also look for signs of boredom and adjust accordingly. We make sure that we don’t do the same sort of thing everyday and build in some downtime and kid time for things like running and playing on playgrounds. We also try to book apartments and homes instead of hotels. My kids would rather eat yogurt or cereal for breakfast in their pjs instead of going to a hotel restaurant every morning.

I think kids can enjoy cultural trips if you make them fun. We did a tour last summer of the Boston area. It was chock full of history but found ways to make it a trip that the kids would love.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I think the key is to think like your child when planning your vacation. What does your kid like and enjoy? My kids love Harry Potter so we are going on the Harry Potter backstage tour near London. Our younger son loves animals so we are visiting a couple of petting farms. Our older son is fascinated by ancient Egypt so we splurged on hiring a archaeologist who digs in Egypt to show us around the British Museum.

I think though that kids need to learn though that they aren’t the center of the universe so we are visiting a few places that mom and dad want to go to such as a whiskey store so my dh could taste and purchase Scottish whiskey. My kids also sometimes have to put up with my shopping.

Life is about compromise though so we’re trying to find activities that have something for everyone. The castles we visit have something for the kids such as a giant trebuchet or a falconry show. The tour of London we take will be on a double decker bus since DS7 really wants to ride one.

My final peace of advice is to listen to your kids. My kids told us yesterday they are tired of visiting castles so we’re not visiting any more of them. We also look for signs of boredom and adjust accordingly. We make sure that we don’t do the same sort of thing everyday and build in some downtime and kid time for things like running and playing on playgrounds. We also try to book apartments and homes instead of hotels. My kids would rather eat yogurt or cereal for breakfast in their pjs instead of going to a hotel restaurant every morning.

I think kids can enjoy cultural trips if you make them fun. We did a tour last summer of the Boston area. It was chock full of history but found ways to make it a trip that the kids would love.

The last paragraph says it all in a nutshell from my POV. Know your family members’ interests and the rest is easy to expand on.

 

[BLAZEY]

No, but for us Disney is a international trip and costs equal to or more than a trip overseas. My daughter is 9 and went to England, Scotland, Isle of Man, France and Spain at age 5 before she started kindergarten.Lots of fun kid friendly things to do in Europe. DD was really into trains so lots of train travel. Island of Man we stayed at a farmhouse and the owner had a Granddaughter her age and the girls got to play. We did some castles, she watched the changing of the Guard, layed at the Princess Diana Memorial Playground . She met and had an audience with "Mary Queen of Scots" at Edinburgh Castle. Got to dance with her at court too! Lots of the tourist places have kid oriented tour plans if you ask for them.
She has also done shorter trips to the interior of BC, Vancouver BC, and to Portland OR. I have also taken her to Gananogue, Kingston and Ottawa Ontario. Hopefully in the next few years we will head to Japan or Australia. This march, Nana wants to take DD and her cousins to DL and we are now planning that trip.
We love Disney but there is so much more of the world to see than your own back yard. I think you gain a greater understanding and awareness of other places and cultures when you travel to see and interact with them first hand.

 

[Shanti]

Like many of you, we spent years going to Disney every year, usually for a week or so. We stayed offsite in our early years, moved to moderate later on and mostly deluxe or Swan in recent years. Most of these years we also spent a low cost week in Maine that was very relaxing. DD, now all grown and married, loved these trips and many of these included grandparents, all of whom she adored.

Now that we are empty nesters, we are traveling abroad and the fact hasn't escaped us that some of our past Disney trips cost as much as our trips to London and Paris. Our DD would have loved to have seen these places but we always assumed Europe was out of reach. We also got into a Disney rut and didn't take her other places in the U.S. until she was in high school. In retrospect, we should have gone to Disney less and explored other places while DD was growing up.

Here's my question. Does anyone else regret taking too many Disney trips and wish they had gone other places with their kids?

For us, Disney cruises were the springboard to get us out of the WDW bubble. The cruises took us to the Bahamas & Caribbean for the first time, then to Alaska, and next summer, to Europe. We'll be cruising the Mediterranean, but I've added on pre-days at Disneyland Paris, and post-days in real Paris. If it weren't for the familiar Disney cruise to center our trip on, I know we wouldn't be doing a European vacation- it would seem too daunting for me to plan and execute.

I think having a familiar destination in a faraway place makes travel easier, particularly for those of us with minimal international travel experience. I'm already considering another trip to Europe for the following year, again including but not limited to a Disney cruise. Or perhaps a trip to Asia, that will include time at the Disneyland in Japan or Hong Kong.

It's hard to believe that my son is already 13, so our summers left to automatically travel together are limited...

 

[DisneyOma]

No, I don't regret any time spent at Disney. OP, if being with family was that great and important, did you invite them to go with you? Then you could have had Disney and family time as well. If you've already explained why they couldn't go, then ignore - I skimmed responses.

We traveled abroad as well, but if families can't afford both, then alternating is fine, if you want to. But Disney is a special vacation in itself, and shouldn't be considered less than traveling abroad. We've done London, Norway, Canada, driven across the USA. Nice vacations, but Disney is as well.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

To me, it's about what interests you and your family. Before our twins were born, we had a timeshare at Atlantis in the Bahamas and we loved it. We'd love to go back, but it's just too expensive. It would cost us more money to spend 6 days there than 17 days at WDW, so we haven't gone back. Beyond that, there aren't a lot of other places we really want to take them. DW and I don't have a ton of interest in going to Europe, I don't think the kids would either. No interest in "educational" or "cultural" vacations like Williamsburg VA, or Boston MA. We'd be bored to tears with a pure beach vacation...we'd need a place with tons of things to do. DW and I would love to go to Vegas, but the kids would be bored, so that's out for now. I will never step foot on a cruise ship, not going to happen.

DW and I had this exact conversation a few weeks ago. She likes WDW, but does have a desire to do other things. I do too, and we debated the options. As I said, Bahamas are just too expensive. Vegas would be costly and the kids may get bored. Even beaches with lots to do are expensive, like Myrtle Beach SC. So for us, WDW area is just the best bang for our buck. We're heading back next summer, but aren't doing the theme parks. We'll spend 2 weeks there doing the water parks, day trips to Daytona Beach and Tampa, Disney Springs, etc...

I traveled extensively when I was young. I have no desire to do it again. My husband is content to stay in country.

If my son wants to travel, he should have plenty of time to do it. We DID do those educational trips when he was younger. We lived just north of DC, so he has been all over that area.

We enjoy the fact that Disney has so much to do and so many options.

 

[k5xs]

DW and I grew up in military families, and we created a military family of our own as well. We've traveled and traveled overseas, and still do somewhat.

For us, the many trips to WDW with the kiddos (and our multiple-times yearly trips now as empty nesters) aren't so much about exploring new horizons as they are immersing ourselves in memories and more memories and even more memories.

Main Street, Epcot, Spaceship Earth, the Contemporary, and a bzillion other things are immensely enjoyable not because they are new and different, but because they are familiar and because they get even more familiar with every visit.

No regrets whatever.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

We took our first Disney trip when my son was 2 and stayed at a Deluxe. He is now 8 and we have scaled way back at Disney, staying value resorts and for less days. Although we did take our first Disneyland trip this March. I am consciously scaling back at Disney because I want to take him different places. We have our first trip to Iceland coming up soon!

We went when our kids were 9 & 7 - fantastic trip - they say that is their favorite trip over Disney. We recently went to Costa Rica for less than we would have spent on a shorter Disney trip. Nothing wrong with some Disney, but nothing wrong with mixing it up either.

 

[buzznina]

Short story We have been going to WDW regularly as it's our favorite vacation destination. A few years back I was lucky to be sent to DL for a conference, so DW and I decided to enjoy DL and then take 9 days to drive up the coast of California. Saw a lot of interesting places and DW and I thought they will be amazed when we went up to see the giant redwoods. At first yes, but then when we would be driving and would say "look at that" we got, "ugh, are we still in the forest" I can definitely say that our DDs would be totally bored in Europe etc. after just a few days and even faster if they spoke a foreign language. We will be doing a trip to DC, because on one trip we stopped there for the night and they said they would like to go back

 

[DISNEYSQUIRRELS]

We love our Disney trips & have no regrets about our trips.
Disney was always perfect for us. We like to be BUSY on vacation. I can’t stand being away somewhere, waking up & saying “what do you want to do today?” & have 4+ sets of eyes staring back at me & “um, idk”. At Disney, we all know what we’re doing & we do it very well together.
In addition to me & my kids, our trips almost always include my mom (only living grandparent), extended family & friends... different variations on different trips.
We have taken other trips & plan to do so in the future. Those trips are fun too & we will keep mixing them in (Europe next summer, fingers crossed), Disney will always be our “go to” vacation.
Even next month, we are going to Universal for a week & taking a day trip to the MK just to make sure it’s still there, haha!