College funds vs Disney World? - Page 2

[Drummer's Wife]

Originally Posted by Smokering

What about a few days at Disneyland and save the rest?

Now bear in mind I've never been to either DW or DL, but we're planning to go to DL next year after I developed one of my Aspie interests, and I've been obsessively reading forums dedicated to Disney. From those I've gleaned a few facts:

-Disneyland can be a lot less stressful than Disneyworld, because there's much less walking/bussing - it's way more compact, the attractions are much closer together, and you don't have to drag kids across parking lots the size of small countries

-Disneyland has a kind of magic DW doesn't - it's the original, it has a kind of history and mythos to it (which, yes, they do play up for money, but still), and a lot of people find it really special. There are rides that have been there since 1955, and people can go on the same ride their grandparents went on. That's kind of cool. A lot of DL fans say that DW has a much more cynical, commercial vibe, and doesn't feel like a "labour of love" as much as a big business.

-Disneyland and DCA together actually have more rides/attractions than DW, I believe. They're much more closely-packed, but there are heaps of things to do. And a lot of fans really prefer the DL versions of some rides - specifically Pirates, It's a Small World, and a few others I can't remember.

-Admittedly this is from a Disney board, where people are obsessed, but the overwhelming consensus is that Disneyland is not REMOTELY like going to any other ride-based park like Six Flags. There's way more to the experience than the rides.

-Disneyland would likely be far cheaper than DW. Mostly because of the compactness issue - you spend so much less time travelling from park to park, or even walking from attraction to attraction, that could can get a LOT more done. So for a really leisurely, enjoy-every-single-attraction, don't-worry-too-much-about-fast-passes-and-efficiency trip, four or five days? Whereas people say you need, like, two weeks to really explore DW. And if you're not familiar with CA you could explore LA and San Diego for a few extra days, too.

If I would have read the thread before replying, I would have just . These are all the reasons why we prefer Disneyland to Disneyworld. Though, I would say WDW is worth going maybe once in a lifetime. But I wouldn't go back near as often as I'd go to California.

[fairejour]

Originally Posted by Lisa1970

Sounds like a silly question doesn't it?

Basically, we saved up for Disney World vacation. My children have never asked to go to Disney World. They do not even seem to know it would be any different from the local 6 Flags. Now that it is time to book the trip, I can't help but not want to go. You see, everyone who goes comes back and tells me how miserable they are to not be there anymore. I don't get the idea of spending thousands of dollars to have a week of fun and then the next year of misery. Then my thoughts are maybe I should just take the money and split it up between the kids college funds. That might be more fun and last longer. Then just get 6 flags season passes. What do you think? Maybe even chose a less expensive vacation or something.

Am I being silly and we should just go?

It is different for every family but for us 6 flags is NOTHING compared to Disney My daughter's favorite memories come from Disney but she is very into princesses and the movies and all. I was so happy at one point during our vacation there that I actually cried tears of joy

[cjam]

My kids are 4 and 5 and they's been to Disney World twice. The memories are priceless and we plan to go back over and over again. They are only young once and it's so magical when they are young.

[ollyoxenfree]

Originally Posted by Lisa1970

My husband wants to go there. The kids say they will go whereever we take them, but have never asked for Disney. It is strictly DHs idea and that is it. He went there all the time growing up. I have been there one time, with my inlaws. They invited us out there when they were renting a place so we could stay there. We went, it was miserable. We got to go on 1 ride a day, that was it. My inlaws would get super angry if we tried to separate from them, but they had little interest in rides. They often wanted to sit and eat and only wanted to spend a couple hours at the park each day. One day, we went on two rides. One day we have a character breakfast. One day, dh and I went off alone with our children, but went to Epcot as that was the place we had not been. One day, I took care of all the children while DH went off with the other adults. We saw plays at MGM.

You know, I so don't want to go, I think I will just say no. I am more interested in this eco-trip someone mentioned here. I think I will go google eco-trip.

We typically take vacations to interesting places that some might call "authentic" - historic sites, capitol cities, national parks, geographic wonders (the desert, the ocean, the Rocky Mountains etc.) as opposed to "hyped". They've been great experiences.

We also spent a week at Disney World when the kids were younger and we had a blast. I honestly can't think of a vacation spot where the staff were so invested in making sure the kids were having a great time. It's clean and great thought has gone into providing for the customer's comfort. I am very happy we had a family vacation there. If there weren't so many other wonderful places to visit, we'd go back.

We have great memories of that trip. If you have had a bad experience, particularly one associated with difficult family dynamics, it's understandable why you don't want to visit with your children. I don't think anyone MUST visit Disney.

OTOH, if this is a special wish of your husband's, how does he feel about giving it up? Does he harbour a dream of taking his children to Disney and sharing all the wonderful joy he felt as a child when he visited? I had a dream about replicating a road trip my family took when I was a child to the Rocky Mountains and beyond to the Pacific Ocean. We did it a few years ago, and it was an amazing experience to revisit places with my own children. One of those "bucket list" kind of things. Before you make a final decision, you may want to talk about it with him a little more and make sure this isn't going to be a secret disappointment that he'll feel forever.

[Lisa1970]

Originally Posted by ollyoxenfree

We typically take vacations to interesting places that some might call "authentic" - historic sites, capitol cities, national parks, geographic wonders (the desert, the ocean, the Rocky Mountains etc.) as opposed to "hyped". They've been great experiences.

We also spent a week at Disney World when the kids were younger and we had a blast. I honestly can't think of a vacation spot where the staff were so invested in making sure the kids were having a great time. It's clean and great thought has gone into providing for the customer's comfort. I am very happy we had a family vacation there. If there weren't so many other wonderful places to visit, we'd go back.

We have great memories of that trip. If you have had a bad experience, particularly one associated with difficult family dynamics, it's understandable why you don't want to visit with your children. I don't think anyone MUST visit Disney.

OTOH, if this is a special wish of your husband's, how does he feel about giving it up? Does he harbour a dream of taking his children to Disney and sharing all the wonderful joy he felt as a child when he visited? I had a dream about replicating a road trip my family took when I was a child to the Rocky Mountains and beyond to the Pacific Ocean. We did it a few years ago, and it was an amazing experience to revisit places with my own children. One of those "bucket list" kind of things. Before you make a final decision, you may want to talk about it with him a little more and make sure this isn't going to be a secret disappointment that he'll feel forever.

I had a dream sort of like that. I wanted to go back to the Black Hills and do all the things I did with my grandparents the summer I stayed there with them.

[Britishmum]

I always feel blessed that my kids actively don't want to ever go to Disney anything. They love far more simple and natural things in life - beaches, forests, mountains, lakes.............

Personally, I'd spend part of the money on a vacation at the beach or in the mountains, bank the rest, and feel grateful that your kids haven't asked to go.

But then, I hate hype, commercialism and Disney type stuff. Give me the natural world any day. I wouldn't even spend any $s of Six Flags, preferring to spend it on day trips to the beach or nature reserves.

[AllisonR]

I vote other also. Family vacations are memorable and valuable in so many ways. If Disney isn't the "thing" for your family, find something that would be. A trip to NYC if your kids are older. Go to Central America. Go on a cruise... Whatever is going to be rich and enjoyable for your family.

We recently came back from a trip to California. My kids were only 3 and 5, but we went 1 day to Disney. I was not dying to go, DH was definitely not dying to go, DS and DD wanted to, based on pictures, but are not old enough to be desirous of it. We had much more fun at the science museum and a large playground, and the rest of our trip to Phoenix and the Grand Canyon. But we still spent one day there. Why? Because we won't be back to California (or to Florida either) for probably 10 years or more. And if we hadn't gone, we always would have thought we should have. And 10-15 years from now my DS and DD would be saying "we went to California but never got to Disney!" So we did. So my second suggestion, if you do go to Orlando, is to do Disney for one day, and then enjoy the rest of your vacation doing other things.

[AllisonR]

Originally Posted by ollyoxenfree

OTOH, if this is a special wish of your husband's, how does he feel about giving it up? Does he harbour a dream of taking his children to Disney and sharing all the wonderful joy he felt as a child when he visited? I had a dream about replicating a road trip my family took when I was a child to the Rocky Mountains and beyond to the Pacific Ocean. We did it a few years ago, and it was an amazing experience to revisit places with my own children. One of those "bucket list" kind of things. Before you make a final decision, you may want to talk about it with him a little more and make sure this isn't going to be a secret disappointment that he'll feel forever.

This is an excellent point. OP, you have been once, and granted, it was a less than stellar experience. But that does not mean another visit will be the same. You never know. And if this is a dream of your DHs, it would be sad to take this opportunity away from him.

I have friends who escaped war and torture and 25 years later finally got the chance to go back to their home country and see family and friends and old places. The husband was dying to visit all these years, the wife did not care. They went. He came back saying he no longer cared, he was glad he went, but if he never did it again, so what. His wife, who was so neutral beforehand, was overjoyed with the whole visit - enjoying family she had missed so much, eating food, seeing the places she had not seen since childhood.... She has since been back twice. Point is, you never know how you will react a second time, and life might surprise you.

[ChetMC]

We Went When I Didn't Want To

We've taken kids to Disneyland twice. I did not want to go, but I felt compelled to plan the trips anyway.

I'd been to Disney World twice as a childless adult. I liked it, but twice was enough for me. There were other trips I would have picked instead since I'd already been, but I felt that DH and our kids should go too. Our kids hadn't even asked, but we were close and had the chance to do the trips easily. I don't know, I just felt that kids should go to Disney.

Anyway, I'm really, really glad that we went. The kids loved the trips so much. DH and I really liked it too. It was a lot more fun with kids.

Disney is super easy with little kids, and with the right timing, planning and restraint, it can be pretty cheap. Definitely cheaper than London or NYC! Tickets to shows, and admission to attractions add up fast for a family in a big city.

It's not an accident that you don't hear many "I went to Disney and I'll never go back" stories. For all of the Disney licensed junk at the mall, I don't find the actual parks that bad. I was especially impressed by the entertainment and the staff.

[limabean]

Originally Posted by Britishmum

I always feel blessed that my kids actively don't want to ever go to Disney anything. They love far more simple and natural things in life - beaches, forests, mountains, lakes.............

Personally, I'd spend part of the money on a vacation at the beach or in the mountains, bank the rest, and feel grateful that your kids haven't asked to go.

But then, I hate hype, commercialism and Disney type stuff. Give me the natural world any day. I wouldn't even spend any $s of Six Flags, preferring to spend it on day trips to the beach or nature reserves.

Most of our family vacations are to nature as well, so I hear what you're saying, but I wanted to chime in to say that people don't really have to choose either/or. We live about 20 minutes away from Disneyland, so we have annual passes and go at least once a month. But we also camp, hike, go to the beach, go for nature walks, go fishing, etc. all the time -- we just got back from a long weekend in Yosemite!

And we don't buy any food or souvenirs while we're at Disneyland, so once we spend the lump sum on the passes it feels like a "free" day of fun! (I also love having the passes because then if it's horrifically crowded or starts to rain, we can just leave without feeling like we wasted a zillion dollars on the entrance fee and have to stay until midnight no matter what -- I think that's what sucks the fun out of it for some tourists, and can totally sympathize with that part of it.)

[gbailey]

Originally Posted by ChetMC

We've taken kids to Disneyland twice. I did not want to go, but I felt compelled to plan the trips anyway.

I'd been to Disney World twice as a childless adult. I liked it, but twice was enough for me. There were other trips I would have picked instead since I'd already been, but I felt that DH and our kids should go too. Our kids hadn't even asked, but we were close and had the chance to do the trips easily. I don't know, I just felt that kids should go to Disney.

Anyway, I'm really, really glad that we went. The kids loved the trips so much. DH and I really liked it too. It was a lot more fun with kids.

Disney is super easy with little kids, and with the right timing, planning and restraint, it can be pretty cheap. Definitely cheaper than London or NYC! Tickets to shows, and admission to attractions add up fast for a family in a big city.

It's not an accident that you don't hear many "I went to Disney and I'll never go back" stories. For all of the Disney licensed junk at the mall, I don't find the actual parks that bad. I was especially impressed by the entertainment and the staff.

Great point. We went this year the week after Labor Day and not only was it super inexpensive the parks were empty.

[mattemma04]

I would pass on it and spend on something else.There is the vacation fund and the college fund.I would not us one to cover the other. Not many get to go on vacations.Do it if you can,but do things you like with the money. My kids would love a cruise,that Atlantis place,and lego land.No mention ever of disney.A trip to a local theme park,and a few days up at the great lakes(kelly's island usually) is good enough for the kids. Do something.No need to spend all of the funds at one time for just one vacation place.

[montlake]

If you saved for a vacation, then I think you should still do it. But not Disney if you don't want to go there. Find somewhere else, or do like a family cruise or something. I think vacations together are important and since you specifically saved funds for it, you should make use of them. Of course I am coming from the perspective of someone whoese parents took a vacation every year, alone and dumped their kids with the neighbors. We were never allowed to go with them on vacation. So I have vacation issues to begin with.

[phathui5]

If you can cram enough in their college finds that they won't be graduating with debt, that would be a huge blessing to them.

[SubliminalDarkness]

OP, how old are your kids?

[Teensy]

OP - Your original post made me think of my mother and how we used to tease her about vacations. I've been laughing about it all week, so I'd thought I'd come back and post.

We used to tease my mother that her idea of a vacation was something so miserable that by the time the week was over, you were looking forward to going back home. For example, the week we spent paddling canoes - the first two days entirely AGAINST THE WIND - across lakes of the boundary waters of Minnesota, carrying the canoes over land, camping out each night, drinking lake water, etc. You get the picture. Or the horseback riding/camping trip we took - where we (Southern city kids) rode in freezing rain and sleet for a week. Good times!

But, for as miserable as parts of those trips were - they were also a good bonding experience and definitely gave us our own family lore to talk about over Thanksgivings to come.

***

Personally, family vacations are very important to our family. It is a time to be together, experiencing something out of our ordinary life and make memories (the good and the bad).

I think you and your DP should discuss what you want from a vacation:
* a relaxing, worry free time to enjoy yourselves?
* a chance to see new sights or experience new activities?
* a fun time for your children to delight in what they find entertaining?
* something all together different?

Our family has taken a variety of trips from visiting cities (NYC and Chicago) to RVing in National Parks (Washington state and Utah/Arizona), from the beach (well, we live 20 minutes from the beach) to the mountains in fall and the mountains for snow skiing. We've also taken some one kid/one parent trips. I love that my 5 year old DD can hail a taxi better than me, and I love that my east coast kids have seen the Grand Canyon and touched sea stars in tidal pools on the Pacific Coast.

We've also been to Walt Disney World several times. And I loved our WDW trips. And my kids loved our WDW trips. They've been asking when we are going back. We had fun seeing all the little details that make the parks so special and enjoying all the parades and rides and shows. And the cool towels folded by Mousekeeping in the hotels.

Your experience, on the other hand, sounds beyond dreadful. With only that experience, no wonder Disney left a sour taste in your mouth.

If you do decide to give Disney another try, I urge you to 1) do some serious planning before you go (I love Disboards.com for advice) and 2) go in the off-season. Don't go in the summer or over school breaks. Head there in October or May, or another not-crazy-busy time of year. Make reservations as far in advance as you can for the places your family would enjoy (my DD loved breakfast in the castle). Research beforehand so you know how to enjoy the magic of Disney (if your DC love fairies, then plan on being at the Toontown Fair rope drop to meet Tinkerbelle!), then once you get there, relax and enjoy the magic of the world!

Have fun planning whatever trip you decide to take! Even if you decide to invest for college and have a staycation.

[delphine]

I haven't read all of the replies, but this is my take on it.

We greatly value family vacations. In fact, we make it a priority to take at least one a year. I think they are important for many reasons. It's a great opportunity for us to spend time together outside of the regular day to day routine. It's a way for my kids to experience people and places that they would not normally get to.

Having said that, my kids have never expressed an interest in Disney and we've never been there. We have done things like the Grand Canyon, San Francisco, Zion and Bryce in Utah, Wisconsin Dells (HIGHLY recommend this!!!), Washington DC, Panama City Beach, etc. Some years, we have stayed in Kentucky, but done a week at a state park or something less expensive.

So, I guess all that is to say that, if Disney is not your thing or not something your kids are into right now, maybe a trip somewhere else would be more enjoyable for your family. And, you could probably do something a little less expensive than Disney, still have a great time, and still have some money left over to add to the college fund.

Laura

[delphine]

Originally Posted by Teensy

OP - Your original post made me think of my mother and how we used to tease her about vacations. I've been laughing about it all week, so I'd thought I'd come back and post.

We used to tease my mother that her idea of a vacation was something so miserable that by the time the week was over, you were looking forward to going back home. For example, the week we spent paddling canoes - the first two days entirely AGAINST THE WIND - across lakes of the boundary waters of Minnesota, carrying the canoes over land, camping out each night, drinking lake water, etc. You get the picture. Or the horseback riding/camping trip we took - where we (Southern city kids) rode in freezing rain and sleet for a week. Good times!

But, for as miserable as parts of those trips were - they were also a good bonding experience and definitely gave us our own family lore to talk about over Thanksgivings to come.

***

Personally, family vacations are very important to our family. It is a time to be together, experiencing something out of our ordinary life and make memories (the good and the bad).

I think you and your DP should discuss what you want from a vacation:
* a relaxing, worry free time to enjoy yourselves?
* a chance to see new sights or experience new activities?
* a fun time for your children to delight in what they find entertaining?
* something all together different?

Our family has taken a variety of trips from visiting cities (NYC and Chicago) to RVing in National Parks (Washington state and Utah/Arizona), from the beach (well, we live 20 minutes from the beach) to the mountains in fall and the mountains for snow skiing. We've also taken some one kid/one parent trips. I love that my 5 year old DD can hail a taxi better than me, and I love that my east coast kids have seen the Grand Canyon and touched sea stars in tidal pools on the Pacific Coast.

OK, I could have just saved my entire post and said to this post.