I have never been. Grew up in the Midwest and went to cedar point instead. We did sped an afternoon at Disney land in CA when I was too young to remember much. I don't remember ever wanting to go to Disney world, I want into princesses or Mickey. But now I can't wait to take my kid! My ILs love it and go several times a year (they live an easy drive) and always have stories of fun things they did.

You don't need to decide right now that you will never go. Wait a couple years and if it seems like your kids would love it, you can go then. I agree with PP about happy kids = better vacation for everyone. My DS loooves Mickey and I am so excited to see his face light up when he meets him.

Anonymous wrote:You are cheating your kids if you never go to Disney.

out of what, cotton candy and a bunch of long lines for 3 minute rides? Barf.

I grew up on the East Coast and never went to Disney, and we have no plans to do it with our current 6yo DD either. Our family vacations are a week at Bethany with our extended family, and we do not have any extra $$ or vacation time for anything other than that.

Of course you can be done, but I take offense at the suggestion that you're "wasting" money if you go to Disney. Agree with pps that it's easier to do this now with kids ages 3 and 5 -- they wouldn't get that much out of Disney now anyway. But when they're 6 and 8 or 7 and 9 they would probably find it much more thrilling, which in turn will make it enjoyable to you.

Someone once explained to me that there's no such thing as a vacation with small children -- there are only "trips." And as much as you think you'd prefer to go to the Caribbean and Europe or whatever, the truth is your kids would probably have more fun at Disney during those "sweet spot" years. And if they're having fun, you're having more fun.

You can always cycle back to the Caribbean/Yellowstone/Europe cycle when they are teens.

You are cheating your kids if you never go to Disney.

Yes. It's possible to totally skip a Disney vacation. Not every child has to do everything that is talked about at school, and personally I think that it's inappropriate to keep school-aged kids out of school for a week to go on vacation (per the post about kids missing a week of school in January). If your kids ask, address it then. Otherwise, continue planning the vacations you ARE planning.

DD is 4 and we've pretty much avoided the whole princess and Disney thing so far. She knows the names of some of the Disney characters like Cinderella and Mickey Mouse, but not others like Ariel or Sleeping Beauty, and I'm fairly certain she doesn't know any of the storylines.

I have no desire to expose her to it by taking her but my parents have already said they want to pay for a trip for the whole family to go together when we are ready. I loved it as a child, but also grew up watching the Mickey Mouse Club.

Of course they will survive, and probably even thrive, without a vacation to Disney. But I am as jaded and snobby as the best of them, have traveled and lived overseas, and I really enjoyed Disneyworld. We went 3 times when the kids were younger - although all 3 were just for a few days and attached to other activities (one was actually a work trip so hotel tickets and a couple of airfares were paid for). I personally would plan on going sometime, but don't make it a 10 day thing. You can go for a long weekend and get plenty of Disney experience so it doesn't need to take away from your other vacation.

I would avoid it just on principle. DC, now 14 has never gone and never will while under our roof.

Anonymous wrote:My kids only went because the grandparents love Disneyworld (they have gone on their own without kids) and it was something they really wanted to do, so they took the kids, and DH and I stayed home.
Otherwise, we would not have taken them, and I don't think the kids would have felt particularly deprived.
Some households have lots of Disney toys, frequently watch the Disney Channel, etc. For those families, the kids are probably a lot more exposed to the idea of a Disney vacation, and therefore would probably be more likely to want it.

Disney vacations are talked about at school. Your kids see other kids miss a week of school in January (without much hoopla) because, oh, they're going to Disney. It has very little to do with the Disney Channel and the Lightening McQueen toy his grandmother got him for Xmas.

Anonymous wrote:I grew up on the east coast and never went to Disney during my childhood, so, yes, it can be done.

Different generation. I never went either but it used to be completely out of reach for most middle class people.

My kids only went because the grandparents love Disneyworld (they have gone on their own without kids) and it was something they really wanted to do, so they took the kids, and DH and I stayed home.
Otherwise, we would not have taken them, and I don't think the kids would have felt particularly deprived.
Some households have lots of Disney toys, frequently watch the Disney Channel, etc. For those families, the kids are probably a lot more exposed to the idea of a Disney vacation, and therefore would probably be more likely to want it.

I grew up on the east coast and never went to Disney during my childhood, so, yes, it can be done.

Up until this year I would've said yes. But now I have a 10 year old who is wondering why we've never been. When I explain that we've visited other fun places, he agrees and then asks if Disney is next. I think he is truly interested to know what it's all about and if he's been missing out. SO, DH and I are thinking it through and probably going to book it soon.

I have a 3 yr old and a 5.5 yr old. We can really only afford one vacation a year. DH and I have been doing lots of beaches in the caribbean, yellow stone this year and maybe Europe next year. We don't really want to waste our vacation time and money on Disney. The kids have never asked us FWIW. And they have lots of fun on the vacations we take them. We have done a weekend trip to Hershey which they liked. So what say you, can we make it through childhood without ever going to Disney?