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

Agree with PP that its jealousy.

I dont understand why people feel the need to say "well it wouldnt be MY idea of a good holiday!" So fcking what?- you havent booked it for them have you? Unless someone is holding a gun to their heads forcing them to book a Disney holiday I dont know why people get so wound up about it.

There are multiple holiday choices my friends/colleagues have booked that I personally dont fancy but I dont get angry about it or insist on telling them I wouldnt go because whats does this achieve apart from being nasty? I simply tell them I hope they have a lovely time.

Ignore the haters and enjoy your holiday, theyre only pushing their own blood pressure up for no reason whatsoever!

YANBU. And why does something have to be remembered to have value? Why can’t something be of value for the joy and happiness it brings in the moment? If we took the line of “they’re not going to remember it” why take any small child on any day out at all? And anyway YOU’LL remember it, they’ll have photos which will probably bring them a lot of joy to look at later in life, knowing what fun you all had whether they directly remember it or not.

For what it’s worth, I remember a theme park I visited age 3 in detail. Some children remember a lot more than adults think.

There were loads of small children on the

They will have a great time! We recently took our 4 year old to Disneyland Paris, he loved it! What are you meant to do, lock them up and don't take them anywhere until they will remember it?

We've been multiple times from when DC were babies through to adults.
Imo under 5 is the absolute best time for them to percieve it as 'magic' as up to the age if 3/4 they believed the characters and experiences were real. There is no other destination with so many entertainment experiences aimed at toddlers either, so you're giving them a better age appropriate holiday than many alternatives.
When they're older it's fun in a different way. More ride orientated, so just a well executed theme park experience really; but with many of the rides actually failing to meet their standards in terms of thrills, as they're pretty tame.

Agree with this too- by this rationale, no point taking kids under 5 anywhere at all or doing anything nice for them because "they wont remember". May as well just stay locked indoors for 5 years and never celebrate anything or do anything at all for your young kids!

No, it's very strange that people can't spend their own money on the holidays they want.

Personally a Disney theme park sounds like the first circle of hell, but it's a highly professional set up and I can't imagine that there won't be lots of things there for younger children to enjoy.

We took DS to a Thomas the Tank engine day at the South Devon railway when he was 4. He has only the haziest memories of it now but he had the absolute time of his life!

ps, a friend of mine had a holiday job at one of the big American Disney parks back in the 80s, had a thoroughly miserable time. Once he was bad-mouthing Mickey and was told by his manager, 'Hey, don't fuck with the mouse!'

I can't be going with all that 'making memories' nonsense. So what if they don't remember it, they'll have a fabulous time. Should families only ever go on holiday once the children are teenagers??

I wouldn't comment to you but I would think it's a waste as it's such an expensive trip and to enjoy it fully it needs long full on days which bay not be great with young kids suffering in heat and time changes.

And I'd give that opinion if asked before you booked it. Afterwards I'd just say "lovely, enjoy!"

Sorry I hit post by accident!

There were loads of small children on the flight and in the parks when we went. And holidays aren't just about the children. But they will love it. You'll get some amazing photos of them with the characters and they can go on the majority of the rides, I think some people have never been.

As for the queues you get fast passes on the app and some of the queues aren't so big so if you use them strategically then you don't have too much waiting around.

Have a lovely trip OP.

They won’t be ‘suffering’ 😒

I don't see why you should only bring children places if they remember it, having fun in the moment should be enough.

I think Disney elicits strong reactions in people in general, either you are a disney person or you aren't. Dhs sister goes to the one in Paris every few years with the kids, it is the only holiday they go on. Personally, I am not a Disney person, I wouldn't go if someone else paid for my holiday there. I keep my mouth shut as is polite though when other people yammer on about it.

They are young yes, but if you can afford it and don't care whether they remember it or not then it's up to you! People are just jealous. And nosey bastards.

Some people get very agitated about other peoples holiday choices for all sorts of reasons (weather / long haul / type of resort / cost etc) but ultimately it’s because it’s not their idea of fun or they can’t make it work themselves and so they come at you. I have no issue with people saying what I like for a holiday is there idea of a nightmare (after all it works both ways - I think of other peoples trips and think nope I wouldn’t want that) but some people take it further and it gets personal. Which is ridiculous, because at the end of the day OP its YOUR money YOUR time YOUR family and YOUR choice. Who gives a crap what other people think?

As someone who is a self confessed Disney dork (and wait for it, I’ve even been to Disneyworld on a solo trip - I’ll get and have been slated for that) I think you’ll have a blast. I went at 4 years old the first time to Florida. Me and my family have done Disneyland Paris more times than I can count, and now we’ve got my niece and nephew it’s so magical again. Puts that extra sparkle on it. Both of them went as babies.

It will be fab. The looks on your children’s faces - the characters are so good at interacting with children and adults alike and the American cast members are so friendly.

I recommend early arrival at parks (before it opens) and you’ll easily be able to cover several rides without waiting long at all. Pool breaks in the middle of the day. Hire biggies or buy them cheap over here because they will get tired and they’re good for them to sit in waiting for parades etc. I learnt to queue from a young age, plenty of children stand in those lines and I’m sure yours will be absolutely fine too.

Even if they don’t necessarily remember it all, it’s a magical place. It’s true escapism. Anyone getting that heated over someone else’s holiday choice is jealous. Good for you! Go and have fun and memories that will last a lifetime.

Took 2year old Dd to Disneyland when I was pregnant with Ds. She remembers oddments like being interested in the bins and doing the Disney breakfast with the characters and leading the parade round the dining room each day with her tambourine mainly because our 2 week stay turned into a 6 week stay (6 weeks of having breakfast with Chip n Dale and Pluto and Mickey and Minnie and the waiting staff commenting each morning “You’re still here”
Dh got ill on day 3 and was in intensive care for weeks.

Was it a class snobbery thing, and your colleagues thought the same money could buy a very different kind of experience? To me, Disney World occupies the same mental space as Butlins and Centreparcs and all-inclusive package resorts. Are your colleagues more world traveller types? Bit weird it got so vehement though 🤷‍♀️

My eldest was 3 months the first time she went to florida. We had an amazing time and I have lovely memories of that visit.
Enjoy and don’t let other peoples opinions bother you.

I personally wouldn't. But also wouldn't make it known to you. I hate it when people think they've a right to an opinion on other people's holidays. I've actually only ever had this for disney holidays too. When going to Paris I've had so many negative opinions as it's not the real one 🙄

They won't. In fact I'd pack their cardis. Air con is everywhere and it's fierce.

See to me disney is a world away from butlins and Benidorm. I do like centre parcs though, mainly the EU ones and my Turkey hols is an all inclusive deal and that didn’t get such a strong reaction. Some were going to Mallorca and the canaries (I’m a snob with the canaries) other epypt around sharm (which is akin to Benidorm for me) others nz and a cruise it was a real mixed bag… mine the only theme park though

I hate this type of reaction from people. We are regular WDW travellers. We stay on site in the hotels, have the best time and we’ve gone as a couple, in a family group with parents and siblings and most recently with our eldest DD who was just under 3 years old. When someone said “but why? She won’t remember it” my reply is the same

WE remember it! My husband and I have hundreds of pictures and videos, we have the best memories of her meeting her favourite characters, pictures of her dressed up, watching fireworks, trying different foods and going on dozens of rides. Because despite what people say and it’s always people who haven’t been who think they know best, the parks are set up with lots of rides and activities for very young children.

No our daughter won’t remember that trip but if that was a prerequisite we’d never take her to any experiences when she was young.

Also you can go more then once, people forget this, yes it’s expensive but my money is no one else’s concern, ok Mr X from work can only afford to go once so he’s going to wait until the kids are older, but older children miss out on experiences only younger ones can do so it’s swings and roundabouts. Also I went in a group of 20 ranging in ages from 3 to 65 including a few teenagers, in that group two of the kids tall enough “to do everything” didn’t want to go on coasters that my 3 year old was happy to go on, so it’s not all about height and them being able to, my daughter was free for park entry and did more then the 6 and 13 year old.

you do not need to do full days either, that’s another one people like to say. We go in the morning for rope drop, head back to the hotel for lunch time or to the water park for down time, get ready and head out for the evening to one of the restaurants for dinner then one of the shows. Then we have water park only days, hotel days, half and half days. And we change plans to suit people on the day even with the new booking system. We’ve rarely done full days and when we did we were on our own in our 20s running round having the best time. as soon as it involved grandparents and kids we changed the day to make it more relaxed. And heat/humidity is time of year dependant. We go September/October/December/April in general and have no issues, the months where it’s really humid is not something we’d like so we avoid them.

A holiday is what you make it. I wish people would just smile and say have a nice time!

@Charlotteandwilbur

its really not terribly difficult to comprehend that for some families Disney is a once in a lifetime trip. Now that doesn’t mean they feed the ducks only, of course they still have holidays elsewhere. It’s not a crime therefore to want your kids to remember the trip that’s a once in a lifetime for you as a family. Goodness why are people so thick on mumsnet? Actually frighteningly so.

Oh stuff that, Disney paris is Disney in its own way. I hate the comparison with florida and people moaning it’s not the same, of course it’s not, it’s paris but everyone was super friendly and accommodating to us, my kids had a great time in both. We’ll go again when frozen land is open

I feel the same about the soft play at McDonald's

@Stravaig

I think it’s a class thing. It’s in the same camp as Butlins and centreparcs and obviously some well travelled families will look down on Disneyland.