I went with another family whose kid allegedly did not like princesses. Well she was waving and yelling along with the rest of them while watching the parade through Magic Kingdom. The place kind of transforms you and that is part of the fun of it. Plus Animal Kingdom is awesome!!

Anonymous wrote:I loved, and still love, Disney theme parks, and rather dislike the movies, and hate all the paraphernalia. My children feel the same way. It's the immersion into other worlds and the sense of adventure that kids mostly respond to.

This! Now that my kids are 6 and 9 we don't spend a lot of time with the characters. We'll snap a quick photo if we come upon a random one with no line. I'm almost 37 and I still love Disney! In fact, I think on our next trip we are going to spring for Annual Passes and try to go 3x in 12 months. I'm so excited.

I took my almost 11 yr old who never went through a princess phase at all and had very little exposure to Disney. It only took her about an hour to get into the happiness and fun of it all. But she has zero fear or anxiousness. Maybe your kid would find some rides scary? I don't know.

I have 5 yo twins. Since my parents live in Orlando, they have been been to Disney at ages 2.5, 3.5 and 4.5. The first two visits they had not seen any of the Disney movies, had no idea who any of the characters (except the Winnie the Pooh characters) were and they still loved it. It was still magical for them and the learned about the characters as we told them about them. "That's Peter Pan. He can fly." and so on.

With lodging are the tickets included? If not I'd say no it's expensive for what it is.

If not for the free lodging I'd say no. Although I don't see the hype in Disney so still maybe no.

OP here. Thanks, everyone! Good to hear your thoughts. Looks like it's time to plan the trip

I hated princesses, loved small world and bear jamboree and the astronomy show at the campground with the chipmunks and treasure island and we went to church at the Polynesian, and the rides. Princesses are a small part of it.

My child is not a Disney character kid and loves Disney for the roller coasters. The cruise is not fully worth it as it focuses on characters but the theme park is what you want to make it be.

I went to Disney/Universal at age 8 and thought it was the *perfect* time to go. As a kid who never really bought into the magic of make-believe or princesses, I was old enough to appreciate the theme park aspect (rides, atmosphere, treats) as totally awesome.

A ride is a ride so I think she would enjoy them just the same. Agree with a previous poster that Animal Kingdom and Epcot would be great for her. My girls loved animal kingdom, the safari, white water river ride, Bug's life show, Lion King show, etc. There's also Typhoon Lagoon

I loved, and still love, Disney theme parks, and rather dislike the movies, and hate all the paraphernalia. My children feel the same way. It's the immersion into other worlds and the sense of adventure that kids mostly respond to.

She'd probably still like animal kingdom and epcot, at least. I might do a 3-day with one day at each of these, one at magic kingdom, and the other days to hang out by the pool, go to a water park, etc.

My dd was 100% anti-princess and loved Disney. It's not all about the characters but the place itself. With free lodging, I'd go.

Maybe a silly question, but would you bother to go to Disneyworld if your DC wasn't into the princess or character thing and didn't watch movies b/c they made her anxious? I'm wondering how much she'll actually get out of being at Disney or if a generic theme park would suffice. Yes, I know Disney does it up big time, but in her world so does Dutch Wonderland!

What makes the decision tougher is that we have access to a week of free lodging on property so that makes it tempting. She's been asking to go, but it's mostly b/c lots of her friends have gone. WWYD?