Disneyland/Orlando = Awful

[YellowTulips]

Just got back from 2 weeks in Orlando.

I know I am a miserable bugger but I HATED it.

Hot humid weather, stupidly high fees to enter the parks (legoland was especially shit).

Kids loved it, but I surely can't be the only person who disliked it ......

Queen so I'm a "bad" parent because I won't consider spending £6000 on a holiday my kids would live and I would hate then? . This is not " being a parent"...it's a family holiday not just a holiday for the kids. Which is why I was at a travel gent yesterday getting California priced up again, something for everyone.

But I would never be rude about people choosing Orlando, as we all enjoy different things. Someone asked what's so bad about it, well in my opinion theme parks for 2 weeks, even with "rest" days is not a holiday. Yes for a few days but that's it. It also works the other way round, to label people as "Disney haters" just because they don't want to go to Orlando is daft, you would never catch me and DH near Orlando (although the Keys look nice) but we are planning a Disney themed fancy dress party for his big birthday coming soon. You can like Disney but not theme parks, so no Disney snobbery from me !!!

Agent not gent!

I've been twice to Florida, once as a couple and once with dd. I love it there and I say that as someone who's ideal holiday usually involves a lot of hiking.

It isn't just the theme parks which are a lot of fun if done in moderation, it's the Everglades with raccoons and Alligators and snakes and the whole ecology, it's being able to watch manatee in the wild, Kennedy space centre, the Florida keys with beautiful white sand, amazing shells and pelicans, it's mangrove swamp with Spanish moss dripping from the trees. It's also the food, both junk food and fresh fish lobster, key lime pie.

It really is an amazing State. I wish I could afford to go again, but there is so much world out there and we can't afford to see it all.

I went to Orlando in August. I didn't mind the weather at all - it's Florida, of course it's going to be humid!

I thought it was all right but I certainly wouldn't have paid for myself (family holiday, mum paid!). Disney is pretty lacking in class just by its very nature. Not a holiday for people who are expecting high culture.

The snobbery is funny. I just cant get worked up enough about other peoples holiday choices to start calling them names and questioning their intelligence. Sorry. Way OTT.

The dc love it. We've been a fair few times now so don't go to just the theme parks. I don't mind the weather even if it rainstorms dry again half an hour later.

Lots to do and not all touristy rubbish.

We're back again on Friday can't wait.

We stay on I drive. Yes it's tacky but that's some of the appeal tbh.

Kids are at school now so we are limited to August and April. Friends have a house there so it's an easy holiday for us. I prefer it to Greece where we've just come back from. Although h hates it and doesn't come with us so just me and the dc.

We came here primarily for the theme parks; well this time primarily for the new Harry potter ride. So yes we were prepared to wait 2 hours for it. We expected longer. It was infact a little shorter than 2 hours in the end. None of the other rides at that park was anywhere near as long tbh though. Most were 10-20 minutes.

But just because we like a fortnight of theme parks every so often doesn't mean we don't like other stuff - though none of us are keen on a purely beach holiday and we would only do all inclusive for some winter sun.

We are lucky to have more than one holiday a year so this type of holiday is just one type this year and one location.

In dec/jan we had winter sun: all inc in canaries. Chilling by a pool and the sea etc

In feb we went to cornwall with friends. Lots of exploring and sight seeing and general fun

In April we went to belgium and France - lots of war memorial stuff, interesting and fascinating

This trip is theme parks and silly fun with some hot weather thrown in

October is a villa in Portugal with friends for some autumn sun, a bit of exploring, lots of fun, trying new foods etc

Should say I didn't dislike Greece per se. Just I'm not keen on sitting on a beach or lying by a pool. H does though and it drives me loopy I go stir crazy. Ido like Greek Islands when I get to explore and see a bit of the local culture not just the hotel/beach and tourist town.

Yes agree with some posters - there are some holidays that sound horrible to me, for example camping with 3 DCs in the UK sounds like my idea of hell, but I'd never say that to the person going. Ditto Haven holidays or our Finance Director who was proudly telling me about his Butlins trip.

I too find the Disney snobbery quite sad. I know friends that have gone to Paris with their DCs and wouldn't even entertain the idea of going to Disneyland for one blinkin day even though I know their DCs would have loved it.

As I have said several times before my DF is American and when i was young we went to Florida to visit my GPs but didn't go to Disney. I asked and I think my DF said we were going - then we didn't. I would have loved to go and I do remember it into adulthood. Agree there is no point in parents being martyrs but I enjoyed watching DS have a truly brilliant time at the parks in Florida ( although he had almost as good a time in Shropshire with his cousins).

thedali.org/

This place was well worth a visit.

I feel your pain. There is nothing in this world would ever get me into somewhere as awful as that, let alone get me to part with thousands of pounds tomdragmthe family halfway round the world to go to one. Really expensive, queues as far as the eye can see, hoarders of people, awful tacky 'entertainments'..... Just hellish.
My boys are too young at the money but the way I look at it, I'm paying for the holiday so we'll go where I want.
Off for 2 weeks in Bali soon to a villa with private pool, tennis courts, a seagoing boat, quarter of a mile of private beach and even a personal chef and household staff just for us!

Kids aren't coming, just myself DW and lots and lots of peace and quiet, literally cannot wait!

Go in February. It's cooler, less crowded, and generally the crowd is more pleasant.

You see maninawomansworld: I'd hate to go away without dd; each to here own and all that!

If you are looking for something children of all ages will love, that is very quaintly and enjoyably American, with nice summer weather (and it's even nice and snowy in winter) try Wisconsin Dells.

Or Door County, Wisconsin. Rent a car, enjoy beaches, ferry/ice breaker rides, biking, pony riding, fish boils, fresh cherries and cherry festivals, hayrides, walking in well-looked after state parks, see raccoons and possums and maybe some grass snakes, drive south to Milwaukee on your way back to O'Hare and enjoy a summer fest there or the lovely Milwaukee Zoo with its train that goes all through the huge parkland. A little further south (via Six Flags) and you have Chicago and all its many museums including the Museum of Science and Industry, and shopping out the wazoo.

And you probably won't spend 6K (gobsmacked at that)

Maninawomansworld, that sounds like my ideal holiday before I had children. Now we actually have them we like to share our holidays with them. I'm all for a bit of childcare on holiday (esp skiing etc) but wouldn't leave them behind and nor would DH. Different strokes.

Disney is fine for a few days at any time IMO especially if you plan it well. We have just toured the southeast, plenty of sightseeing, Southern charm, civil war history, some beach time for the kids and a bit of Orlando on the end. I wouldn't do it without the children but love to see how much they enjoy it.

Part of the enjoyment of my holiday is seeing joy on my kids faces. Unachievable if they are at home.

Each to their own.

I wouldn't want to go without my kids either- we go on holiday to spend time as a family- to us that's the most important part- wherever you go. We all have such busy lives that to spend a week or two just enjoying each other as a family is bliss.

No way on God's earth would I go away without my children for 2 weeks and dh feels exactly the same. Especially thousands of miles away! We had enough time to do that sort of holiday before we had them, and before too long they won't want to come away with us so we're savouring these years.

Hardly makes us martyrs to our children

I agree I hated it too, not a great lover of the 'magic of Disney' and thought Florida was awful. I went on sufferance with an agreement to having a week in New York on the way home. Kids enjoyed it. I know people who go every year

I have had weekends away without my DCs and know that if I went for longer I would spend the whole time thinking DS1 would like this, DD would have enjoyed this etc.

I would hate it.

I'm sure a lot of this Disney hate is down to snobbery or jealousy.

We went for 2 weeks last gear, and it was good. The parks were hot and humid, but we went to the water parks too and had a pool in the apart-hotel which we used daily. We went to Cape Canaveral for a day which was really interesting, and we didn't get to see everything there in the day. We spent a day canoeing down a river, seeing crocodiles, turtles, loads of birds and later had a swim in the same river further up (DD loved swinging in off a tree).

The parks are what they are, but not the only thing about Florida by any means. You just need to research it well before you go.

"I'm sure a lot of this Disney hate is down to snobbery or jealousy."

No it isn't.

I hated the place. Best things about it were the pool and bar at the Hard Rock Hotel, and the rides at Wet and Wild.

The food was dire, just dire - especially the "authentic" Italian restaurant at Portofino.

The rampant commercialism was painful to watch, with children as young as two and three being "guven" items at the parks and then their parents bring told to pay 30-odd dollars for them.

Seaworld I was never going to like, as I think it's cruel, but the whole "stand up for our brave troops" stuff before the dolphin show was too much to stomach.

Busch Gardens has some good rides - better than any of the other parks IMO. Although the Hulk ride is quite good. Harry Potter v overrated.

Honestly? I'd go to Alton Towers on a hot day instead. Much the same, but less commercialism, less feigned "magic", and thousands cheaper.

Why oh why go in August OP?

It is the worst month for heat/humidity/rain storms.

And it is the busiest month of the year. Parks are crowded. Beaches are corwded...

"I'm sure a lot of this Disney hate is down to snobbery or jealousy."

Definitely not. In fact, I was wondering the opposite, and if there's a bit of Emperor's New Clothes about it all.

Growing up in the 80s, Orlando was where all the richer kids at school went on holiday. They'd come back with fancy American sweets, and Mickey Mouse-shaped pencils. Hence my generation all thought it was THE place to go, and swore we'd go there as soon as we were old enough to afford it ourselves.

And then we grew up, got jobs and had kids ourselves. And wanted to take them to the place we' dreamed of going as a child.

Then, when you do go, and realise it's actually the same old Alton Towers/ Thorpe Park shite, only in a hotter climate, it's hard to admit it.

So people may then pretend it's the best place on earth and the holiday dreams are made of, and thus the whole cycle starts again.

It's difficult to spend 3k or whatever on a holiday and then admit that it's far more fun to go camping in the UK.

But FWIW, my week camping in Cornwall this year was a thousand times more fun than my week in Orlando a couple of years ago, and a fraction of the cost.