to never want to take my dc to Center Parcs, Disneyland or Camp Bestival?

[bibbitybobbityhat]

Will they think I was a tight fisted old meanie that I never took them to these places when they are older?

I sometimes worry about this.

Disney, Legoland, Glastonbury, Northern Lights

Surely all fun as an adult, half the fun when you have children in tow but I still will.

I took the DC to Disneyland Paris for the day by Eurostar, got a cheap hotel by Gare d Norde and had a fun morning out. We were safely home by 7pm.

OP: YANBU. But do take them on bike rides,canoeing etc in the real world; do take them to Alton Towers or similar when they are big enough for the rides.

I don't really know what Camp Bestival is and can't be bothered to find out.

I totally disagree

Go to Camp Bestival with your kids, it is child centric, there is plenty for adults too but it is a totally different experience to going to Glasto etc. We did have 2 21 yos with us last year and they really enjoyed it too. There were plenty of groups of friends there without children too.

Go to Glasto etc on without kids (unless you don't mind missing everything)
They are not aimed at the same audience!

Will probably take my dc to Disneyland Paris at some point, also to see Paris as well.

Centerparcs seems overpriced to me. My BIL says it was like an open prison!

What is Camp Bestival? Is it a music festival for kids or something??

it is VERY mc though
No yobbos
no people stuffing burgers and yelling out names that are not really names

hmm well they wont resent you or anything. why would they? honestly i never went on ANY holidays with my mumm and dad apart from a trip to tenerife when i was 11 . and i havent been on a hot holiday since!

but... we do take the dc to low key small festivals that are family friendly and Camp Bestival is absolutely BRILLIANT! weall had such a good time and it was small enough not to get too worried- in face we lost ds2 for 2 hours (without noticing i am ashamed to say!!! ) and he was in the lost kids tent where he had taken himself (aged 5!) having a whale of a time! but take your own food cos that the bit that costy us a bloody fortune!
been to CP once myself for a hen weekend and it was lovely and would love to take the dc and dh but its soooo expensive.
would rather cut off my head than go to disneyland
[snob emoticon]

Disney in Florida is fab (just come back from 2 weeks with DD 4 before christmas) BUT you have to be prepared to put the legwork in and plan, join in and enjoy it.

Epecially brilliant for disabled/SN children like DD. I'll never forget the magic.

Centreparcs, been 3 times. V overpriced imo. Much nicer lodge sites through hoseasons.

Had never heard of bestival.

dixie glad you had a fab time my dd has SN and had a brilliant time as well.

I wont be going to Camp Bestival.

I go camping with a group of friends in the summer, so thats ok. We do the under canvas thing and toasted marshmallows so no deprivation for the dc there .

Centerparcs: the cost bothers me, but then I've seen SOH's post and the ones about the Netherlands so I might investigate. I might.

Disneyland Paris is the one that really irks me, and I've never even been there! I saw a post on Mumsnet along the lines of "Why does every holiday at D Paris cost £1000?" and I sort of mentally wrote it off after that.

No idea what Camp Bestival but YANBU at all re the other two - my idea of hell. And I would have hated them as a child as well. My kids would love them though but I'll cope.

Lots of kids want to go to disneyland. Some people - if they can afford it - do it for their kids.

I don't know why adults moan about it so much and are so uppity about it. It's not really aimed at adults, is it.

I agree with pag up to the point she says disney paris is a big load of shite. It is not shite to kids.

Say no to Bestival please. I started going to festivals when the audience was expected to throw bottles of warm piss at the bands .
DP & I went to a family friendly festival last year at Escot ,leaving the dcs with my parents. There was still a lot of piss, but mainly in washable nappies. If we ever go again to something like that we shall be taking flyers to pass out.

'I don't know you but your child is clearly tired/exhausted after too much noise, crowds, strange food and not enough sleep in your fancy tipi which you did n't realise was so heavy till you found you had to walk half a mile from the carpark and next year your just going to pay £200 for a little red & black wagon like Jocasta's got which you can then arrange with slightly matted sheepskins and tribal throws from the ethic shop in Clapham for little Ralph & Mabel to sleep in whilst you sit on a bit of grass at the back listening to distorted eighties bands that can only reform during the summer hols because most of them are now teachers'
LET YOUR CHILDREN GO TO SLEEP

Pick a day, go and see a puppet show, have lunch in a cafe and then go home.

I wouldn't go to bestival

Someone I know's dh had an affair there

I wouldn't go to CParcs
Not my cuppa tea tbh
There's a v funny description of "gladeworld" in Deaf Sentence by David Lodge which would make me eat my own earwax before going to CParcs

But I loved disney as a kid and will take mine when they the right age.

Pointy - I do know that my dc will think that Disneyland Paris is quite the opposite of shite. They would love it. It is for the kids and some adults who are happy to go with the flow or who really do like Disney.

But its a lot of money to spend on a family holiday that only the dc in my family will enjoy!

Infact, that is entirely my point - I don't buy my dc expensive clothes or a treat every time we go out or even all the out of school activities we could feasibly afford. These "family holiday" options I have mentioned I could possibly do for my dc but I really dont want to so that means our family holidays are chosen by me and dh.

In this day and age I feel slightly guilty about that. And then cross with myself for being such a bloody ponce. I guess its the power of advertising ... sigh ...

I don't think it is just the power of advertising. It is also just a plain fun old place to be for young 'uns.

Part of what makes a good holiday is how much the dds enjoy it and as they get older, we consider their opinion a lot more. They loved disney, but then so did we.

As they enter and approach teens, we are veering away from isolated cottages and heading towards camp sites with pools and palces to hang out. We just make sure there's something we'll enjoy too.

We are open to anything if it's called a holiday.

at pointy...
I know what you mean.
I just think that Disney Paris is more adult focussed/money making/cynical than the other one I have been to in Florida.
I am not niave - I know they are both there to generate dosh - but Disney Paris seems to be about how many hotels and over priced cafes and shops can we fit in.....ohh , hang on, we ought to have some rides/amusements.

But then I know they were aiming at weekend/ short stay rather than big two week jaunts.
( and DS2 would kill to do either....)

The reason I have really enjoyed Disney is because my kids have really enjoyed Disney, and a good holiday for me is one where all of the children, regardless of their age, are having a great time, and that's a tough thing to pull off as they get older. I had plenty of opportunities for my kind of fun before kids, and will have again, in the blink of an eye, when they've gone. You can enjoy Disney through your children, and unbelievably so, actually. It can be hell on occasion too, but then again so can skiing, and camping in the rain, and I don't hear too many middle-class objections to that! Anyway it is expensive and I wouldn't encourage anyone to spend money they don't have, and I really don't think it's a moral obligation to take them. But I do think there is an awful lot of snobbery about it. If you don't fancy it that's fine, but I agree with the person who said she's fed up of hearing so much haughty crowing about how hideous and tiresome and downmarket it all is. I think the same about bingo and ITV and tattoos, and smoking, and ooh, so many things, but I just quietly get on with not indulging in them....

My children have had several friends over the years who are only allowed to partake in anything that is in some way educationally enriching or health and fitness enhancing, or morally/ecologically smug, and their parents never tire of finding ways to disguise these things as 'fun'. They have been some of the least relaxed, least socially confident and least happy children I have known.

Bobdog LOVE your post BTW - spot on. I'm really not quite sure what is being proved to whom, by dragging some poor four year old in fairy wings round a dark, damp field full of yummy mummies on Ecstasy. It's funny how baby sitters/sleepovers at Grannies' are usually highly sought after for most adult partying, and yet a small child seem to be the de riguer accessory of choice at festivals........ Just because they had a juggler at lunchtime doesn't make it ok!

I agree with Pag I would rather watch paint dry than go back to disneyland Paris. It was tedious. Disneyworld in Florida was amazing and you can go for a week for not mouch more money than a weekend in Paris. It is relaxing and fun for everyone. The kids were relaxed and happy and therefore so were we.

I agree with Pag I would rather watch paint dry than go back to disneyland Paris. It was tedious. Disneyworld in Florida was amazing and you can go for a week for not mouch more money than a weekend in Paris. It is relaxing and fun for everyone. The kids were relaxed and happy and therefore so were we.

And the thing about Florida is there is so much more to it than just Disney. The Sealife Centre is something even the most hardened sophisticate cannot help but be captivated by.

I think there is a world of difference between each of the three places mentioned. Disney World/Land can be fun if you go for a day and then go home (or at least retreat to a different place where theme parks are a distant memory). Center Parcs I can agree sound bloody awful. My sister went on a day pass to visit friends who do it once a year and she said it was like boot camp "Right, I'm doing aquarobics til 10, Daddy is mountainbiking til 10.30, you are in combative swimming and then judo" When I go on holiday I want a break from hectic schedules, isn't that the point? I am with you on festivals, too. I would love to go to one, but would never want to take the kids in much the same way I wouldn't drag them to a gig at Brixton Academy.
I think the OP's main point is that why does a holiday have to be child-centric anyway? We all deserve some time off. Fair enough, treat them to some fun but why do we focus totally on making our DCs happy? Is our happiness or relaxation not important at all?

Well I would agree, GOHW, except that how relaxing is a holiday where your children are bored? Not at all relaxing, I can tell you! If you cannot compromise on what will make everyone happy then you may as well save your money and stay home. Don't know how old your DCs are, but mine are now 17, 14 and ten, so trust me, I know!

I'm with GOHW - I want a holiday for them AND me (hence my aversion to DLP - that was NOT a holiday for me - but at least I didn't pay)....I think it is possible to do both.