To think F off it’s my business if I take my kids to…

[Disneydisneydisneydisney]

Walt Disney world florida.

kids will be both under 5, booked our first family to WDW florida and I’m incredibly excited as can’t wait to go and we got a great deal price wise BUT the reaction is not what I’ve been expecting.

in the travel agent on booking, older woman overheard and felt the need to say it’s absolutely silly taking children that young… I was taken aback

then at work chatting about upcoming holidays met with such reactions as ‘fucking idiots’ and selfish and more money than sense . My boss actually had to sort of intervene because the conversation felt quite heated and aggressive… since when did this become a thing? Why are people so against taking young children to Disney?

totally fine if it’s not your scene but it’s mine and kids under 3 are free so you don’t pay, mine have been to euro Disney twice and loved it . I don’t get this attitude

When are you going?

We've just come back from a 3 week trip there over Easter and it was incredible, although very busy by the end of it.
I second the dibb website, it's great for advice and tips.
A few things that really helped us was

Rope drop the parks, so get there before they open, if your staying onsite you can get in 30mins before offsite guests, the bad news is the queues start building about 1hr before the early opening, so if early opening is 8.30am, to rope drop you need to be at the park for about 7.30am. Usually by about 10.30/11 the queues are anywhere between 1-3 hours, so those early couple of hours you can usually do about 5-6 rides with little to no queue.

It was so hot, even though it was only 34 most days humidity was around 90% most days so by lunchtime it was so hot and uncomfortable to walk around in, you can combat this by taking fans/water cooling sprays with you, if you buy in the parks they cost $22 each!
Some people had umbrellas which were a good idea and also cooling towels that you can wet under the water fountains and put round your necks.

Don't try and do it all, we did early mornings and after went back to the hotel for a swim in the afternoon, we tended to have early nights and the youngest would've struggled with late nights and early mornings. The one day we had a lie in was a waste for us as by the time we got to the parks the shortest queue was 140 minutes.

Food and drink is really expensive but the Disney hotels have a fridge so we got an Uber to Walmart and stocked up on breakfast items, bottled drinks, milk cheese etc.. we took food sandwiches crisps etc.. into the parks and saved an absolute fortune.

The only real negative I would say is the heat, everyone is affected by it and young kids seemed to really struggle with it we saw lots of tears and tantrums, we even joked that Disney is responsible for a huge amount of divorces! But with planning you can deal with most of those issues. Just do your research.

Have a great time, your kids will love it!

If that's your idea of selling it the sceptics, well you've done a very bad job! Sounds horrendous. You did THREE WEEKS of queueing and sweating and being fleeced?

We’ve got dining credit and gift cards too :)

I first went to WDW when I was 4 and I still have some vague but happy memories of that first visit. We just got back from a trip taking my 3 year old for the first time. Will she remember any of it? Probably not. Did she have an amazing time? Yes, she loved it.. although much to my husband's dismay she has now started humming It's A Small World most days.

Honestly, just ignore the others. Yes, you may get more 'value' out of a trip if they are older.. but who knows what is around the corner. And who's to say you cannot go again another time? Baffled why people would get so het up about how other people choose to spend their money..

@theleafandnotthetree haha no, I've just mentioned the things that others including us struggled with because they are the only negatives, it's better to be prepared than not.
I don't need to list all the good things because A. I'm not trying to sell it to anyone, especially op as she has already booked and B. I would literally be here all day talking about the amazing things we experienced.

Fantastic.
Can I recommend Blaze Pizza at Disney Springs delicious pizza at reasonable price. Worth getting a Landrys card too for priority seating at t tex/rainforest cafe/yak & yeti and they credit 25 dollars on your birthday.
At a Disney resort you can buy length of stay refill mugs for coffee/fizzy pop.
Guessing you are at a value resort. We found the breakfast platters easily shareable by two, around 10 dollars. If children like certain cereal I know people take that and just buy milk.
I also do packed lunches some days as I prefer it, there’s places you can eat.

Op says her husband is DAS pass eligible so she won’t be queuing in same way. The disability pass basically lets you book a slot so if wait is 60 mins you come back
in 60 mins to a different entrance, in the meantime you can do something else.
It has been hotter than usual. Depending when Op going temps may be ok, we favour late October when temps are like a nice summer day here.

Never been and I have no opinion on anyone else going. If anything I would think it would be amazing.

I think the anger and judgement comes from people feeling somehow inferior or thinking that you think you are somehow superior. They protesteth too much. Like they are justifying their own choices or limitations. People are funny.

Ask yourself why you care what they think. If someone raged on our choice of Whitby I would just observe with interest.

Have an incredible time. Forget the naysayers. Not their monkeys, not their circus.

FFS! What totally bizarre behaviour. why do people all feel at liberty to give their unsolicited opinions about things that don’t concern them. Whatever happened to “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all”

To the random woman who inserted herself into your life … my response to folks who do that is to ask “Are you lonely?” Generally you’ll get a confused “no”. And your follow-up question is then “Well then why are you talking to me?”

To the folks at your work, I would put it back on them but in a way that highlights how extremely odd their behaviour is. I’d have asked “Are you all ok? You’re having a very strong reaction to my holiday plans. I’m really not sure why this is affecting you all so much but I’ll keep my holiday plans to myself in future to avoid upsetting you all.”

And in response to anyone focusing on whether or not your kids will remember it … who cares?!

Is that really the purpose of giving your children different experiences at that age? Because why bother at all? They won’t remember any of it.

Just wait to tell them about Santa and don’t spend money on Christmas presents until they’re old enough that they’ll be able to remember each Christmas Day.

Don’t bother taking them to the park or have birthday parties. No point, they won’t remember.

Or just maybe … be like you and realise it’s about the here and now. The wonder and joy they’ll get from the experience. From being young enough to believe the characters are real and not people dressed up. Like the wonder of Christmas morning, all of that will leave feelings that will shape their experience of their childhood. They may not remember details of the holiday but this experience will add to others and they’ll remember being happy and having experiences that were all about them. They’ll remember how happy and engaged their parents were in seeing them enjoy themselves.

And you’ll get to watch their joy and wonder. To see your children so excited and happy. And you’ll remember it.

If you’ve got the money to do it then it sounds more than worth it to me. Have a brilliant time x

We used to have a household income of around 38k a year and we would in general most years spend £4-5k on our summer holiday. 2 adults one child. Apart from when we went to Florida and we’d spend around 10 but have no other holidays that year. 4k doesn’t get you that much for a holiday in half term and for a decent place. We didn’t used to go into debt, we never lived beyond our means. It’s not excessive it’s just wanting to have a decent break away

we’re going November! Daily average of around 27 I’ve read :)

We are at a value resort! This is fantastic advice thank you! Save our dining credit for evening meals

I’m screenshoting your message! Such good tips, thank you!

You’ll see Christmas Decorations too.
The weather at that time of year is beautiful pleasant temps, blue skies and little rain. It’s a big plus for taking younger children - you aren’t stuck with the school hols!
We took DD when she was almost 2 and almost 4 in early December, then moved to October half term as she luckily got 2 weeks off at primary school.

I’d also recommend touring plans.com. It has a rating for how busy each park is each day. I’ve always found it reliable.

I'd guess jealous. Very strange they were so aggressive! For us, that would be a trip we'd have to save up for, for a while so we are planning to take DC when older. But you go and enjoy, ignore everyone else!

Your reaction is weird @Boomboom22 i can get why someone wouldn’t want to go to Disney or theme parks or any particular destination as it’s personal taste. I’m not sure how it is tactless to respond, when asked, that I’ve got a holiday to WDW booked? That’s a weird statement to make. It is responding to a question

ive not said this is a usual holiday, this is a special holiday that will involve some saving. Prior to last year, the last time I left the UK was 2017. It’s probably cost us what 2 and a bit hols would, not quite a holiday of a life time but a big holiday. It’s a special holiday. £400 per day for 4 people including entertainment, travel and accommodation. Lots of people save for holidays. We aren’t in debt, we manage our spending accordingly

id love to know what holidays people are going on for £500/£1000 per year, some inspiration for other get aways.

November will be much more bearable and also no major holiday so your queues will not be anywhere near what we experienced.
Second the refillable Disney mug we paid $22 and considering each drink is about $5 made our money back in the first night!! You can only use them in the Disney hotels though not the parks but take some water bottles and use the water fountains to refill, also all the quick serve restaurants gives you free iced water if you just ask. We took some mini bottles of squash in with us to mix it up a bit.
All rides you can take a bag on with you so get a comfy rucksack it's much easier than using a strap type bag especially if you have bottles of drink in there!
What hotel are you staying in?

We’re at Pop! Wanted AoA but they didn’t have the dining credit on the standard rooms, which is a shame! The skyliner looks handy.
we were thinking, a supermarket trips for some lunch, breakfast and snack items and some Tupperware and a cool bag. We’ll definitely be bringing our water bottles and a Robinsons squeezy squash.

we’re not morning people lol, so I think breakfast will be on the go, cereal in the room and up and out and some fruit and pastries in hand

Exactly and that’s another bonus of going now, we’re agile, plus the youngest is free!

id still probably take them out for a few days when they’re older though

You can visit the other resorts if you get chance. Time difference works in your favour especially first few days you’ll be up early.
We take a small soft cool bag. You’ll have a buggy so easy to take lunch and snacks.
Big yes to free water tip - Starbucks do the best big cups of free iced water.

Why would people be jealous of Walt Disney world? It's my idea of hell.

I love rollercoasters and I'm a big thrill seeker, but it's so expensive and too crowded.

Give me Alton towers anyday than Disney.

They will love it just not remember it, we took my youngest at 7 and he doesn't remember anything now 7 years later.

Going back next month though, he's excited cos he said it's like it's his first time all over again!

I've just asked my two (now late teens) what they remember about our first "big" holiday which was to visit family in California. Ds1 who was 7 at the time remembers v little but ds2 who was 5 remembers loads- although not necessarily the bits you'd expect.