Was Your Spouse A Non-Believer?

[mjmoon]

DH hates WDW. He went the first time when the oldest was 5 (he'll be 25 in July) and has never been back. I'm the Disney nut in my family and took the kids (4) on multiple trips and left him home. It worked well for all of us! He hates theme parks, rides, heat, lines, etc. His idea of a vacation is a cruise, an all inclusive resort or camping/fishing/kayaking (which I don't go on).

Have you considered staying at Fort Wilderness? It sounds right up your DH's ally. He can stay at camp and do the whole camping, fishing, boating thing (or lay by the pool, ride horses or even shoot bow and arrows) and you can visit the parks. At the end of the day y'all can enjoy each others company under the stars or sit on the beach and watch the fireworks.

I can see having separate "you" time (lots of men go on hunting/fishing trips without the wife) but you can incorporate something you both enjoy at Disney.

 

[MrsJ Henry]

The first time my husband went with me (I had been several times before but he had never been) he kept saying he had no idea what it would be like. He kept saying he thought it was going to be like six flags.
I think it is hard to imagine if you haven't been there and haven't heard too much about WDW. (ok I know that seems crazy to us but there are those people out there)
Now.... he still thinks I'm a little crazy with how much I plan but he says it always works out best when I do so he enjoys going.... and it is his FAVORITE vacation now!!!!!!!!!

 

[WantToGoNow]

My dh doesn't really like going to Disney but he doesn't put up much of a fuss either (except for the cost). His first trip was in his early 30's - he went with me (dating), my cousin and her dh (who were in the process of divorce), my dd13 and my cousin's 3 children (ages 9-14). I figured if he made it through that trip, then he was in for the long run. Our 10th anniversary is this July.

We have been back every 2-3 years since that first trip. He wants no part of the planning and just says whatever we choose. He did have a little input this time - said he wanted the dining plan again - we had it for the 1st time last trip.

 

[amynorth]

My dh is excited about it but he says "only to see the kids smile". I just hope he will change his mind when he gets there and says man thanks for all your hard work honey

 

[alexandria674]

I had to plan Disneyland last year, it was fun but kind of stressful because it was in the summer and I had a lot going on, the boyfriend was no help in this case. When I planned, I discovered I am an obsessive planner...and proud of it! So this year the boyfriend and I were talking about what to do for a vacation,I brought up Disneyworld and ignored the eye rolls. Well, I thought that the boyfriend didn't care about Disneyland so a week ago, I said "Lets not go to D.L. let's go somewhere else" he put up such a tiff to go! It was like teasing a preschooler so now I KNOW he likes Disney...but he wants to act cool and pretend he doesn't.

 

[james'mommy]

I had begging for Disney for years when DH got so fed up he said to do whatever I wanted. I had the trip booked within 10 minutes. We ended leaving Disney with DVC.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

I've been planning my trip for a week now, and my husband wants little involvement. He wants to spend most of his time relaxing by the pool, and says he hates amusement parks. Can WDW really be summed up as such? Who spends a year planning to go to Six Flaggs? Even my mom says to me, "Do you have to pay even if you don't get on the rides?" Huh? Are they seriously in the dark, or am I just overly excited?

I posted this same type of thread before my last trip. My husband DID NOT want to go. He went to DL as a child with and had a horrible experience. He did not want to go and had every excuse not to. Wait until the house is paid off wait until DS is about 12 (he was 3 when it was planned and 4 when we went). He did not want to hear about the planning or the rides. He though planning dining and making ressies was the dumbest thing he had ever heard of. He wanted no part of it. He would also spend MORE money during the planning phase every time I said we or I don't need this because I am saving for the trip. He was such a downer that he almost cancelled at the last minute. He didn't even pack until 10pm the day before our flight (that left at 5am). So you get the picture he not only didn't want to go...it seemed he tried to sbotage my efforts to get us there.

Our first night...he loved the cabins but the girl that checked us then was working her first night at FW. She didn't even tell us how to get to our cabin. I knew DH was fuming. We decided to check out DTD at spend a few hours there. He wasn't impressed. Then it took 2 hours for us to get back to FW (the bus driver kept forgetting to stop at FW). DH was so upset I thought he was going to spend the trip in the cabin after telling me this was a huge mistake.

The next day we went to MK. Everything went smoothly. He even laughed and smiled. Then Epcot was pretty good. AK went ok and then he just loved Whispering Canyon for dinner. On the 4th day, while on the bus to then MGM, he looked at me and said "this isn't so bad, maybe we should do this again...start planning when we get home". For my quiet DH this is equal to a regular guy breaking out in song and dancing like Kevin Bacon in Footloose. He has even recorded all of the WDW shows. Reads Deb's webpage and looks up WDW on Google Earth. HE also helped plan the meals and mentions something about the trip almost everyday....he is a changed man.

Even though it was a terrible time during the planning (I even shed a few tears). And the beginning was pretty rocky something magical happened to him during the trip. When I posted this before my last trip many people sprinkled some pixie dust on my trip. Here is some for yours

 

[Pixieflip]

My dad was our non-believer. Hates amusement parks, hates crowds, hates lines. Not only did we take him and did Disney totally enthrall him, but they go back every year without us and the kids!!

Hey, just enjoy your planning, let Disney work its magic when you get there and see what happens. Just have fun with it!

 

[kkmcan]

My dh was ok with the DL first trip- well, my parent took us and paid for it. But 2 years later I wanted us to go as a family. He didn't get it. He said we were just there. But I convinced him. Several trips and a Disney cruise later he doesn't mind going again and again as long as we get to go some other places too- Vegas, camping, etc. He now wants to know- ok, what have we got planned for the next trip.

Im working on next weeks DL trip and Decembers cruise/wdw trip!

 

[Darcy03231]

Wow! You take seperate vacations? I guess not everyone is a Disney fan but he could go and just hang at the hotel or pool or go fishing etc! There is so much more to do at Disney and Central Florida than just the parks.... Oh well, his loss!!!!

Over the years we've done some separate vacations. I actually vacation more than he does because I have a lot more vacation time. We almost always do a week together somewhere alone (cruise, all inclusive resort, etc.) that we both like. We do a family vacation every year where we all go (cruise, all inclusive resort, rent a beach house, etc). Then I take the kids and go somewhere. Not necessarily every year, but at least every other. He takes a long weekend (he only gets 2 weeks paid a year but can take time off without pay) and takes them camping (which I won't go on). It works well for us and the kids like it because the got a vacation with Mom, a vacation with Dad and a family vacation.

 

[Darcy03231]

Have you considered staying at Fort Wilderness? It sounds right up your DH's ally. He can stay at camp and do the whole camping, fishing, boating thing (or lay by the pool, ride horses or even shoot bow and arrows) and you can visit the parks. At the end of the day y'all can enjoy each others company under the stars or sit on the beach and watch the fireworks.

I can see having separate "you" time (lots of men go on hunting/fishing trips without the wife) but you can incorporate something you both enjoy at Disney.

I suggested this once but he was adamant he wasn't going again. Personally, I think he liked staying home alone while I took off with all the kids (we have 4). To him it was a vacation even though he went to work every day! My personal feeling was that if he didn't want to go I wasn't going to force him and have him be miserable. I'd know he wasn't having a good time (even if he put on a good face for the kids) and then I wouldn't have the best time because I'd be worried about him not having a good time. KWIM?

 

[mjmoon]

Darcy-

It sounds like y'all had a terrific arrangement! I have to say I'm very impressed by your taking 4 kids alone on vacation. How do you keep them in line?

 

[Darcy03231]

Darcy-

It sounds like y'all had a terrific arrangement! I have to say I'm very impressed by your taking 4 kids alone on vacation. How do you keep them in line?

It's really wasn't bad. There's 10 years between the oldest and youngest so it wasn't like I was traveling with 4 little ones. They're now 14, 16, 20 (almost 21) and 24 (almost 25). The oldest two are pretty much out of the house. DS #1 is just finishing grad school and DD #1 is in school in North Carolina and lives there full time. The two youngest are still at home and in high school. The first time I took them all to WDW they were 4, 6, 10 & 14. The two older ones were always really good about helping out with the younger ones too. DH and I are also firm believers in discipline and doing what you say you're going to do. It only took once of leaving the parks and going back to the hotel to sit in the room for the rest of the day and going to bed early to convince them it was not a vacation from behavior. Any other vacation we took if they started to act up all I had to say was "remember when we spent the day in the hotel room". Its amazing how quickly the attitude changed!

While we've had some crazy times I certainly wouldn't have changed anything. Time goes by so fast. Its really hard to believe in a few more years we'll have an empty nest. I really don't know what I'm going to do then.

 

[EllaDisney]

When I told my fiance at the time that I wanted to get married in WDW, he thought I was crazy. We did indeed get married there and he realized how awesome it is! He can't wait to go back!

 

[HeatherSue]

I've been planning my trip for a week now, and my husband wants little involvement. He wants to spend most of his time relaxing by the pool, and says he hates amusement parks. Can WDW really be summed up as such? Who spends a year planning to go to Six Flaggs? Even my mom says to me, "Do you have to pay even if you don't get on the rides?" Huh? Are they seriously in the dark, or am I just overly excited?

Sadly, there are Disney-haters in this world. I am married to one of them (as seen in the name of my TR). I hope yours will come around once he gets there. But, there are those who can not be converted. In which case, you must occasionaly leave them at home!

 

[tink2]

Our first trip was with my family when dd was 6 months old. My whole side of the family was going except us- we couldn't afford it. Well, dh's mother called and said for us to plan to go and she'd pay part of it. Well, we were clueless- it was last minute and our trip was the week of Thanksgiving- my poor brother (the planner of the family then- I've since taken over!)- managed to get us added to all the ADRs. Anyway, dh did NOT want to do character meals or watch parades or any of that stuff- said he just wanted to ride and have fun. Well, it took a total of two seconds for him to get in the spirit! I've never seen him have that much fun as he did that first morning. He had been when he was 12- but his parents' idea of a family vacation was to tell him to go to MK while they rested at the Contemporary! He was clueless! He yelled like a little kid on Dumbo! Then, the first character meal with his dd and he was hooked on that too! Since then (1999), we've been 5 times and are going again in Nov. Now, he does say that we've been there and done that (now that the kids are about to be 10 and 8- and our last trip we told the kids that it would be a very long time before we went back (dh has a newer job that cut his salary in 1/2). But when my dear brother offered to pay for our whole family to go again in Nov (he wants a big family trip before my niece graduates hs)- dh was jumping for joy!
Plan, have realistic expectations, and have fun! I'd be willing to guess that your husband will get into it all... only one way to find out!

 

[smkiya]

So I go to the mailbox the other day and there was a book called Drive I-95 there, dh says, "So I know where to stop when we drive down." Then he says, "Look!! I found really cheap park hopper tickets, should I order them" I was only going to do base tickets, but he said "No, what if I want to do more than one park?" HUH?!?! They were actually more expensive than the ones I found, so I told hime to hold off... But I think he's coming around, I think Disney is beginning to affect him. Our trip isn't until October so maybe by then he'll be a dis-addict like me. (wishful thinking, I know)

Thanks for all the replies, you guys are great!

 

[TxTink :)]

The first time my husband went with me (I had been several times before but he had never been) he kept saying he had no idea what it would be like. He kept saying he thought it was going to be like six flags.
I think it is hard to imagine if you haven't been there and haven't heard too much about WDW. (ok I know that seems crazy to us but there are those people out there)
Now.... he still thinks I'm a little crazy with how much I plan but he says it always works out best when I do so he enjoys going.... and it is his FAVORITE vacation now!!!!!!!!!

That's exactly me the first time DH took me- I was excited, but I was expecting a theme park- the Castle took my breath away and had me crying the 1st time I walked down Main Street--- Disney-lover now!!!
My DH's boss never understood our love for Disney because he had never been. He went about 3 years ago for the 1st time & now he goes about every 6 months- it's hilarious.

 

[smkiya]

We invited my sil and her kids to come along, and when I told her about purchasing the tickets, she asked, "Do you have to pay that even if you don't get on the rides?" I think if she comes, she and dh will be very surprised... Me too for that matter. Even though I'm doing quite a bit of research and planning, I haven't been since I was 9 years old in 1985. I'm sure it's changed a bit since then.

 

[tweedlemom]

My DH is an early rising, EMH rope drop commando just like me. We are equally obsessed. A perfect match...