Disney or educational holiday

[sailyboat]

WWYD
Let me explain before the Disney naysayers arrive...
I went to Disney world as a dc and love it and have always wanted to return. But it's so expensive now it's unreal.
BUT I still want to go and experience it with my dc. Dh on the other hand thinks I'm being silly and would rather go somewhere 'educational' that dc will learn things and also be less 'tacky'

Dc is 9 and I feel like they'd probably enjoy DW more than an educational holiday but I do understand dh as if we put that money elsewhere we're looking at Galapagos or further afield elsewhere in the world and dh thinks this is so much better. I clearly fall under his version of tacky and still want to go to WDW...

Everglades Natl. Park is really amazing. It is however about a 4 hour drive from Orlando. But talk about an enjoyable, immersive educational experience!

The Gulf Coast/Sarasota beaches are gorgeous and most are not crowded tourist destinations.

Whatever you do, make sure you go somewhere where you can see the gators in their natural habitat. They're fascinating and sure to impress any 9 year old!

Is it a 'holiday if a lifetime' where you can only choose one expensive holiday? Could you not do Disney one year and save up for the Galapagos in a few years?

Definitely Disney! He is a lovely age to enjoy it. Go on different holidays when he gets older!

Disney all the way. Throw in a visit to the Everglades and go to the NASA launch centre. There's plenty going on as all with the Spacex stuff. Nobody can claim it's not educational and inspirational.

Someone mentioned the lizards at Galapagos... They've got lizards in Florida. Huge chameleons just walking about where we were down towards the Keys. Freaked me out but the kids were fascinated.

I’d rather gouge my own eyeballs out than go to Disney - but horses for courses. We’ve done a couple of amazing expensive holidays with the DC and they’ve loved them. They haven’t been “educational” (although one too in the Grand Canyon if that counts!) but they’re holidays the DC still talk about 10 years on. I don’t feel they’ve missed out having not experienced Disney 😂.

Have you been to Disney? I thought the same as you but we recently took the kids and I surprised myself by loving it!! 🙈

When I was a kid, we did a week in Orlando, including a NASA trip, which was educational and a week on the gulf coast.
I bloody loved it and was hugely grateful 😍

I can imagine very little if less like to do than visit DW, and Galapagos sounds amazing. To me. But...

I went on holiday when I was 9. I'm told I loved it, but I remember one altar in a church, hurting my feet in inappropriate footwear one day, buying a variety of treats, outdoor urinals for men, and the train toilets were weird. And the beach was hot. That's it for two weeks. And I know my parents will have taken us somewhere interesting and educational every day, but I don't remember it now. Do something they'll actually care about!

I'm very much with your DH. I hate the idea of Disney and want to give my kids cultural or educational experiences on holiday. But I also sympathise with having a DH who wants a different type of holiday, mine never wants to go abroad and I pine for sun and far away travel. He is at least enthusiastic about UK trips so I make the most of that and I'm trying to get the kids to see as much as the UK as possible while they are younger and then will go back to abroad travelling when they are teenagers. If it were me, I'd be more likely to agree to Disney if it was just part of a wider trip, not the main trip. Some of the ideas mentioned in the wider area sound great, and a Disney cruise would be better than a park too.

@Newuser82 I agree I think you have to have been to understand the desire to go to Disney because it's not 'just a theme park' I didn't even like DLP and won't be going again but WDW is different and I've had friends that have been recently and say the same thing.
We have been on other long haul holidays but not spent as much on one holiday yet. I feel like we can still take dc to all these places one day but they're still young enough to enjoy Disney world with us rn which won't be the case in a few years.

Same here, I didn’t even want to go the first time we visited, it was a trip for my DD. I am in love with Florida now.

Disney in Florida.
Only went once, stayed in a motel type place, but I remember every magical bit of it from a primary school aged child.

Yes I was going to suggest Tokyo Disney for part of a Japan based holiday.

Disney isnt great- universal is though

Disneyland Paris on a budget this year, educational/more exotic holiday next year. Or as others have mentioned you can fit in other elements to a holiday to france, USA, Japan or whatever. I was a bit sceptical about going to Disneyland (only Paris)but we have been back loads of times now and I love it

Sorry missed that you don't like dlp. It seems like you really want wdw, can afford another amazing trip in a few years, and 9 is the perfect age for Disney so I would say go for it if you can find a way to make it palatable to your dh. Check with your child though if it's agreed on as they might not even want to go to Disney!

@Newuser82 it would be a bloody expensive mistake if we went and hated it 😂.

The queues, the crowds, the spreadsheets to organise fun, the noise. The whole idea brings me out in hives. DC can go independently now they’re older but show no desire to do so 😄.

Mine are older now but we swerved Disney at that age and instead did Costa Rica and it was incredible.

Also loved the Canyons/Vegas, Mexico, Italy and Scotland (we’re in the US so Scotland is a trip for us).

We met UK family in Orlando last year so they could do the parks and they had a pretty expensive crappy time.

@sailyboat I agree! Get them to Disney! 😂

@HedwigIsMyDemon yes , it's certainly not cheap is it!

Could you involve your DD in the decision? Both of you lay out your ideas and ask if she has a 3rd suggestion/dream holiday, then talk it through and plan it together.

FWIW WDW isn't my idea of a fantastic holiday, and it would be my 8yos idea of hell. Sh likes rides but is autistic and hates crowds and loud noises. She could cope with a day, but 'coping' exhausts her and she wouldn't manage a whole trip (happily) fighting her way through crowds/queuing. She would definitely be up for a trip to Japan if given the option, and would tolerate a day at Disney as part of that (because 6yo comfortable-in-crowds adrenaline junky DD2 would definitely want to visit a theme park as part of her perfect holiday). I suspect if given a completely free choice of where to go, it would be Iceland for DD1.

Disney without a doubt. I'm all for educational trips, but Disney is something they will always remember

I'm with you. My 2 hated theme parks but loved going on a self drive camping safari in Zimbabwe (ages 6 and 9), Thailand with temples, kayaking through mangrove swamps & snorkeling (ages 5 and 8), road trip through Egypt with museums, temples and snorkeling (ages 8 and 12), road trip through Morocco (ages 12 and 14).