Comments on Diary of a Modern Matriarch: It's not you, Disney. It's us

The crazy thing is that everything Charlotte enjoy...

2009-10-30T17:16:17.208-04:00

The crazy thing is that everything Charlotte enjoyed, Alexis was batshit scared to do. Like, she totally lost her mind scared when she got within 10 feet of any characters. The rest of it, though, she absolutely loved. You just never know what to expect.

And that is exactly why I would never take my kids...

2009-10-27T16:12:04.831-04:00

And that is exactly why I would never take my kids (the same age as your kids) to Disney while they are so young. Whenever someone I know mentions going to Disney with kids under 5 I have to put my 2 cents in about how I will wait until my youngest is at LEAST 5. My husband and I would rather save ourselves a trip from hell.

Oh boy, do I know what you went through! My husba...

2009-10-26T22:45:29.859-04:00

Oh boy, do I know what you went through! My husband and I took our two oldest when they were three and one and I was three months pregnant to Disney World for the first time. Six months of planning and saving and it was a nightmare!

Five years later, we went back with our eight, six, and four year olds. It was a dream. All of them enjoyed it so much.

It's good that you can view this trip with a sense of humor.

Oh, I'm so sorry you didn't have the totally fun t...

2009-10-26T22:36:54.051-04:00

Oh, I'm so sorry you didn't have the totally fun trip you were hoping for. We go to Disney every year so I think that the kids are just "conditioned" to enjoy it and be good but we've had the unhappy experience at other places many times. I think at one time or another, every parent has tried to do something for their kids that they didn't appreciate or had the response they were hoping for.
Don't give up though, next time will be better :)
She will look back on the trip and remember how fun it was, even though it may have not been for the adults..lol. I give you a lot of credit for not breaking down. If it were me, I may have found a quiet corner and cried my eyes out..lol. Just remember though, you gave your children an awesome experience, that at least Charlotte will remember and that is wonderful!

Dude. You have SO. MUCH. AMMUNITION. for the futu...

2009-10-26T18:10:02.421-04:00

Dude. You have SO. MUCH. AMMUNITION. for the future. You can hold this over her head FOREVER! Guilt trips to last a lifetime.

this post rocked. i get how you feel, trust me. i ...

2009-10-26T14:05:18.995-04:00

this post rocked.
i get how you feel, trust me.
i get doing this ONCE A YEAR how you feel.
luckily, i lived closer to disneyland and ended up buying annual passes so that the HORRIFIC experiences with my daughter, could be evened out by the sometime okay experiences.

I'm so sorry :( I was so hoping you had the magic ...

2009-10-26T10:23:09.050-04:00

I'm so sorry :(
I was so hoping you had the magic we did.
But, I bet she'll be telling everyone about how much she loved it!!!
Think positively, though.
I think our kids are the exact opposite. That's how Matt behaves at home and is an angel at Disney. That's why I want to live there!!!

So sorry it wasn't what you'd planned and hoped fo...

2009-10-26T10:07:10.328-04:00

So sorry it wasn't what you'd planned and hoped for. I believe this is why I won't be planning a Disney trip for at least another 2 years.

I understand. I so understand. We experienced lo...

2009-10-26T10:07:06.613-04:00

I understand. I so understand. We experienced lots of that in PA this summer. I spent most of the week being sad at the kids' behavior because I wanted it to be special to them and instead they gave me crap all week. Best part of that week was hanging with you and Robyn. :) Oh and coming home. :)

I really want to take my kids to Disney before Meg is too old for all the stuff the twins love right now. But I can't afford it and I know how they will act and I'll just be pissed all week.

I'm sorry your trip was so much less than you anti...

2009-10-26T09:46:34.018-04:00

I'm sorry your trip was so much less than you anticipated. We managed to make it through, but only barely. My SIL is a wonderful woman, and I thank her dearly for buying my hopper pass and the house so all I had to buy was our airfare - but she had agendas and schedules. Her oldest is 7 and her second is 3. My children are younger - Mila is 2, and Malachi is 11 months. And my babies are MOMMA'S kids. It's not like I can leave them with just anyone to get on a ride myself...Though thankfully my mom and dad went too, and they adore Memaw and Papa. I eventually told my SIL to give me Genny, and I would take the three little kids and go to the shows - which they all LOVED. Funny thing is, Gia, the 7 yo, decided to join the "baby party". After I stood up for my kids and myself, the trip was much more fun and relaxed - but those first two days were harried and filled with at least one meltdown from each child. Oddly enough, you know which park was the favorite of all the kids? Epcot! It has to be because we were relaxed and did not rush ANYWHERE. On Friday, despite having another day left on our hopper passes, we chose to stay at the house and swim.

Unfortunately, the Friday did NOT refresh the kids enough for the plane trip home, and I too struggled with cranky, overstimulated babies all the way home. Only I was the only adult, and I had to console both kids. Yeah. REALLY glad to be home!! It was disappointing to me, because my first trip to Disneyland was when I was 2 - and I remember it. I had hoped for memories like that for my own daughter. Ah well. We'll try again later - MUCH later.

Dude, that SUCKS. My heart is broken for you. I ha...

2009-10-26T09:45:32.685-04:00

Dude, that SUCKS. My heart is broken for you. I hate that it went this way - I was SO excited to hear all about Charlotte's love of it all!

You've got an awesome perspective on it, though - and this is great bribery material for when she's older.

xoxo

You know it is funny... the first trip with Matthe...

2009-10-26T09:21:19.554-04:00

You know it is funny... the first trip with Matthew was like this. I guess I forgot about that. I was pregnant and exhausted so maybe that is why.

Anyway, our first whirl wind trip (we went for three days - WAY too short for WDW visit) was before the baby was born and the first day was horrible. The 2nd day ironically like you was to Animal Kingdom and that a much better experience but he was scared of everything and not very happy expect oddly in the hotel lobby??? and still not sleeping really well and I guess it was just a tiresome trip.

And the plane ride home was difficult because we chose to leave in the evening rather the morning like we normally would travel and OMG I just wanted to be home before we even boarded the plane to fly back to Indy.

Apparently I did not learn my lesson because we did out 1st WDW trip during the early part of 2008 (March maybe) but we went back...

We did our 2nd visit in Feb 2009 when the baby was born and about 6 months old (What the hell was I thinking, right?!) I think we had different expecations of Matthew and our energy levels, etc and it turned out to be lovely.

He was full year older and LOVED everything. SO maybe it is that 3 year old age range that is not a good thing when it comes to WDW? Because Matthew at 3 was horrible, but Matthew at 4 was wicked awesome.

I am sorry the trip was a bummer. It looks like there were some good moments - like you the first time I was kind of upset because we spent so much money and he kind of hated it, hid his face, did not want anything to do with anything WDW.

My 9yo would have flipped at the scary Disney, wtf...

2009-10-26T09:12:29.626-04:00

My 9yo would have flipped at the scary Disney, wtf?? She is still traumatized over the Stitch ride that should never be in that place.

We enjoyed the 2 days we spent at Disney. But not the lovefest others have with it. We spent a good portion of our time, one or the other sitting with Olivia while she was too afraid for one ride or the other. It was frustrating.

I'm glad we didn't go when they were smaller. We may go again, but not anytime soon.

I'm so sorry your trip wasn't what you were hoping...

2009-10-26T08:52:15.708-04:00

I'm so sorry your trip wasn't what you were hoping it would be. I'm sure I would feel the exact same way. It looks like she did have some fun, and I hope you managed to have some fun too. Children are interesting creatures, you never know what is going to delight them and what will scare them.

Oh, this brings back SO MANY memories! We did the...

2009-10-26T08:45:32.880-04:00

Oh, this brings back SO MANY memories! We did the exact same things with Josie - not Disney, but a hundred other things that SURELY she was old enough for and would enjoy, and we were so excited and thrilled for her and then it was the worst day EVER.

I think it might be a first child syndrome. I see a lot of other parents doing it, too, and I think that's what results in many of the screaming children you see at places. It didn't help that she was so ahead in speech and comprehension, since she seemed like an older child, and we allowed that to dupe us into forgetting that her emotional self was still 2 and 3.

I'm sorry you spent so much money and had such a terrible trip. I know it's heartbreaking, and I'm so sad for you! The time will come when it won't be that way, but it's a lot later than it seems that it would be.

The good news is, you'll never make this kind of mistake again, so you got it all over with in one huge swoop, and by the time Charlotte is old enough to cope with it, Sawyer will probably be ready, too, because he'll have been exposed to more older-child things and because, frankly, he's a boy.v

You know, the whole week-before-Halloween thing ne...

2009-10-26T07:47:39.332-04:00

You know, the whole week-before-Halloween thing never occurred to me. It makes sense in a way, I guess, but also if you're trying to market yourselves to the toddler demographic (because, let's be honest, Disneyworld isn't for eight year olds anymore) maybe being scary isn't great planning.

Sorry your trip was so difficult, but it seems like she had at least some fun.

wow. you had quite the time, no?

2009-10-25T22:59:54.246-04:00

wow. you had quite the time, no?

Aww, so sorry it was rough. Good to have a reminde...

2009-10-25T21:57:13.097-04:00

Aww, so sorry it was rough. Good to have a reminder that a magical family moment can happen with a walk down the street, though!

Good to have you back :-)

Well. You're being an adult about it. I'm not su...

2009-10-25T21:36:33.730-04:00

Well. You're being an adult about it. I'm not sure that I would be. I'd be sitting there a little angry about the shoes I didn't buy so I could go on vaca. Maybe round 2 in 7 years we'll join you.