Should I go on my own?

[leicesterbob]

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I have booked a holiday with my 12 year old daughter to Orlando in a couple of weeks time from Oct 14 to 28 but my ex wife is now cutting up dirty and refusing to let her come. I am dealing with that and am doing my best to ensure she does come BUT if the worst comes to the worst should I go on my own??

The plane tickets from the UK are non refundable and her child ticket cannot be changed to an adult so I either go on my own or lose all the money. I have already paid (non refundable!!) for the hotel (offsite in LBV) so do not really want to fly to Orlando and then stay by the beach which is what some have suggested.

I have been to Orlando several times so know what it's all about but don't know if I fancy being on my own there.

SO should I go, and if so any suggestions for places to go nearby out of the parks?

 

[ClareH37]

TBH if it's a case of having already paid and not getting your money back then I'd definitely go

Perhaps have a think about doing some 'different' things like a backstage tour, that restaurant you've always wanted to go to but no-one else has.

 

[BellTinkR]

First off, hugs to you for what is no doubt a disappointing situation for both you and your child. I hope that for the sake of your child, your ex will change her mind.

Second, yes, by all means you should go anyway. You will still have a positive experience, overall. If you don't go, in a couple of weeks you'll be kicking yourself for the waste of all that non-refundable money.

 

[acm563]

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I have booked a holiday with my 12 year old daughter to Orlando in a couple of weeks time from Oct 14 to 28 but my ex wife is now cutting up dirty and refusing to let her come. I am dealing with that and am doing my best to ensure she does come BUT if the worst comes to the worst should I go on my own??

The plane tickets from the UK are non refundable and her child ticket cannot be changed to an adult so I either go on my own or lose all the money. I have already paid (non refundable!!) for the hotel (offsite in LBV) so do not really want to fly to Orlando and then stay by the beach which is what some have suggested.

I have been to Orlando several times so know what it's all about but don't know if I fancy being on my own there.

SO should I go, and if so any suggestions for places to go nearby out of the parks?

Its sad that you are not being able to bring your daughter and as others have said maybe the ex will change her mind.

HOWEVER, if she doesnt I would go ahead and go solo. I had this happen to me in March this year as I had made arrangements to go with a friend and they backed out at the last minute and I went solo for the first time and I had a great time and plan to do one solo trip every year. Look thru the disboards as there are many of us (myself included) who will be at the world during that time so meet up for a drink or to share a ride with other disers and that will help you if you get to feeling a little melancholy. Just keep in mind that there are so many things you can do solo that you cant do when you are catreering to the needs of others. You can stop to take pictures, eat where you want and what you want, have cheesecake for breakfast instead of something healthy, ride the ToT 10 times in a row if thats your thing, spend all day wandering around the world showcase, go to bed late or sleep in late....in other words make this YOUR time to do for YOU...To be YOU, instead of being Dad, husband etc.... So I say, go and have a fantastic time!!!! If you go with the attitude that you are going to have lots of fun then you will have lots of fun, if you go with the attitude u r going to be miserable then u will be miserable....
So GO and ENJOY!!!!

 

[PrincessBetsy]

I'm sorry that you might not be able to bring your daughter with you, but hopefully your ex-wife will change her mind. I would definitely go to WDW if you paid for everything and it is non-refundable, especially if you have been there before and know your way around. Even though you will be alone, you can still have a magnificent time. I would also think about doing one of the backstage tours.

 

[Wild4Walt]

I feel for you, trying to do something fun and having an adult mess it up.

I would go anyways under the circumstances. I would try to plan a few extra 'adult' activities like tours and seminars. Something you might be interested in, but your daughter may have wanted to take a pass on.

If you never have been to Islands of Adventure, I'd recommend that also. What a cool place!

 

[suzycute]

What a shame that you might not be able to take your daughter. Hope that she is able to come with you after all.

However, don't give up on a solo WDW trip! I went solo from the UK and had a great time. OK - it's not the same as you can't talk about what you're doing with a companion, but I loved being able to do what I wanted when I wanted. WDW is a great place to take a solo trip!

 

[Bill Brown]

I have booked a holiday with my 12 year old daughter to...

I truly hope your ex changes her mind and lets her daughter enjoy WDW with her dad. I hope your ex comes to her senses and puts the welfare and happiness of her daughter over whatever personal grudge is interfering with her ability to demonstrate reasonable judgment. Normally my advice would be, worse comes to worse, go and enjoy a solo WDW vacation. However, in this situation I think it would be best for your relationship with your daughter NOT to go to WDW without her. If your ex denies your daughter such a wonderful opportunity, I think you would seriously hurt your daughter's trust and confidence in her dad by going without her. Your relationship with your daughter trumps money lost arranging for the trip. Do not go to WDW without your daughter. Sorry.

 

[MEK]

If you have to go anyplace solo, WDW is the place to do it. Look at it as an adventure. I went solo last January and I really enjoyed it, Try to book a behind the scenes tour, if you can. The KTTK tour was great! Have a great trip. Hope it works out that your daughter can go with you!

 

[bound2travel]

I would talk with your daughter and see how she feels. Of course she would feel disappointed in not being able to go, but I would want her to be "ok" with you going without her. I say that because I don't know the whole situation or anything about your relationship with your daughter. I just wouldn't want her to feel slighted or forgotten or hurt if you do go without her. The best thing, of course, would be for the ex to let her go.

Now, if she is cool with it - then "come on over". I love doing Disney solo as I have "nearly" total control in what I want to do. Do some of the things the others have mentioned. There are several posts listing when people will be there during the same time frame (I am one of them).

I hope my advice is taken well and the best of luck to you.

Kristi

btw- I was in London in March with a tour but my favorite time was when I went off by myself

 

[wdw1972]

However, in this situation I think it would be best for your relationship with your daughter NOT to go to WDW without her. If your ex denies your daughter such a wonderful opportunity, I think you would seriously hurt your daughter's trust and confidence in her dad by going without her. Your relationship with your daughter trumps money lost arranging for the trip. Do not go to WDW without your daughter. Sorry.

Are you kidding??? The problem here is with the girl's MOTHER - not the original poster. To suggest that the guy should skip the entire trip is not reasonable at all. Besides, the dad has a life separate from the daughter - no parent should NOT take a trip because their kid might be disappointed to not be going.

I have no idea what the situation is or why the mom is refusing to let the daughter go, but suggesting dad stay home too because of that just makes no sense to me. That's like saying if your kid has to get a painful shot then you should jab yourself with a needle too. One thing has nothing to do with the other.

Hopefully there will be more father/daughter trips....worst case scenario it might not be until the girl is an adult & no longer under the mom's control though.

 

[MOREMICKEYFORME]

I say go!
If mom changes her mind at the last minute and decides to let DD go- then good for the both of you. But you cannot let DEW ruin this trip. If you cancel now- she will feel like she won and she can run your life.
Have fun and get many souvies!!!

 

[Bill Brown]

Are you kidding??? The problem here is with the girl's MOTHER - not the original poster...

Based on the info provided by the original poster, I agree the mother is the problem. However, it sounds like the original poster planned this as a father and daughter trip to WDW. For the father to up and go on the father and daughter trip without his daughter would seem unbelievably cold-hearted and selfish.

 

[rebecca06261]

I agree with Bill on this one. Even if the OP has a conversation with his daughter, if she's anything like I was, she'll say "of course it's okay with me daddy!" But inside, she'd be so badly hurt that he'd still go without her. I'm assuming that the OP orginally planned this trip as a father/daughter get away??

 

[Bill Brown]

I have booked a holiday with my 12 year old daughter...

Just curious to hear about the latest news. Hopefully, it's good news that you and your daughter will be heading for WDW as originally planned.

 

[Jamie77]

I truly hope your ex changes her mind and lets her daughter enjoy WDW with her dad. I hope your ex comes to her senses and puts the welfare and happiness of her daughter over whatever personal grudge is interfering with her ability to demonstrate reasonable judgment. Normally my advice would be, worse comes to worse, go and enjoy a solo WDW vacation. However, in this situation I think it would be best for your relationship with your daughter NOT to go to WDW without her. If your ex denies your daughter such a wonderful opportunity, I think you would seriously hurt your daughter's trust and confidence in her dad by going without her. Your relationship with your daughter trumps money lost arranging for the trip. Do not go to WDW without your daughter. Sorry.

Sadly, I think the ex-wife has thought about it this way. Whether he goes solo or not, she'll ruin his trip for him. She may feel that by her ex taking his daughter with him to WDW, the child will choose her dad over her mother. This is just the ex-wife's way of hurting him because if he goes without the daughter, the daughter will resent him and if he doesn't go at all, the ex will have the satisfaction of knowing she messed up his chances of going. Either way, she thinks she wins. Very manipulative.