Not our finest moment as a family..whats yours lol

[WsPrincess]

I think it is first trip planning problems or expectations maybe. Mine was our 2nd full day. We had done WS on arrival night and AK day 1 and it was good, I thought. Day 2 was MK and I was convinced DD was in for the time of her life. Little did I know that between my decision to take her on the ride in Norway and DH's decision about It's Tough to Be a Bug, she flat out refused to ride anything that involved entering a building. After a morning of "I am scared and I don't want to" along with more times on the speedway and carousel than I can count, I lost it. I was crying in the middle of fantasyland because my 3.5 year old was too scared to go on It's a Small World. I felt like the trip was ruined and I had failed by scaring her. It took DH pointing out how happy she was just seeing everything and ride those 2 rides for it to be OK. We spent 3 more days without her riding anything but we had a magical trip.

On a happy note, on our last day I was trying so hard to get her on Small World. We were talking outside the ride when a wonderful CM came up to talk to her. He told her all about the ride and what she would see and hear and she was excited! I thought we had a breakthrough. He then asked her if she would like to ride with him and not wait in line and my DD answered "No, that's OK, you ride and I will just watch from here". I am so hoping this trip involves more rides and preferably ones that do not go around in a circle.

 

[pigletto]

You know what. I am so happy to see this post because I was starting to think mine was the only family that didn't act "magical" the whole trip

We generally do pretty good. But there are two things that are very very important. The mid day break is essential. We go when it's HOT and by one o'clock we are tired, sweaty and miserable if we don't take time to regroup. We always do now.. but that became the rule after one afternoon in Hollywood Studios where nobody was speaking to eachother by the time we decided to leave

And two.. as the trip planner I have to manage my expectations. I spend so much time planning these trips I can get into "Everything will be perfect!" mode and get so disappointed when someone is cranky. I plan for the best now and if someone isn't feeling it we regroup and start over.

We were soooo tired and decided to go to the new Universal mini golf course. Everybody was so cranky that I stormed back to the room in tears. How embarrassing
I think we were on the fourth hole when I finally said "You know what.. I'm out. Be as cranky as you want but I'm DONE."

They came back an hour later laughing and having a great time and apologized. Not proud of my tantrum but they happen and sometimes theres nothing we can do about it. In hindsight mini golf was a bad idea and we should have gone to bed early. You live and learn.

 

[Jennasis]

After two days of haranguing by my younger sister and the rest of the family dragging their feet I had a full on hysterical meltdown at USO in the Irish Pub they have. Burst into tears, shouted at all of them to leave me the blank alone and ran outside and cried for about 5 minutes on the curb next to some poor kid who probably thought I was insane.

 

[Tink0513]

On our first trip to Disney, we made the rookie mistake of not giving the kids enough of a break. Well somewhere around Morocco and way past lunchtime, pretty much everyone had a meltdown. Kids fighting and crying, dad saying "is this what I spent 5 thousand dollars on" and me saying "omg what did we do" Luckily, we came upon the Tangier Cafe where we sat down, had lunch and regrouped. From that point on we learned to pace ourselves. We still refer to it as not our finest moment as a family We can laugh about it now lol What was your moment?

Ahhh the Epcot meltdown!!!! Sounds all too familar!

Our Epcot day, the little ones napped in the stroller and we thought this would be enough of a rest for them. Every other day we removed ourselves from the park, went back to the hotel for a nap, and went back to the park at night. They never fell asleep in the stroller any other day so we thought we would be ok. Boy were we wrong. We found our spot for Illuminations when one of the kids had the meltdown of the century! I couldn't even tell you what it was about. He made himself puke he was crying so hard. We decided it was time to go.

 

[Cap'nJack'sMum]

The first day of all our trips is usually a fiasco due to early flights, lack of sleep, etc. So bad that this year we are talking about making t-shirts for myself and DDs that say "It's not vacation til somebody's crying" and one for DH that says "It's not vacation til I make somebody cry".

I'm sorry, it's not funny, but this made me laugh so hard! These shirts would be perfect for our family, too. For some reason DH has one meltdown/trip. Usually caused by fatigue, hunger, and heat. We've learned that Daddy needs the mid-day break back to the room to take a nap. Maybe you should market those shirts, I bet you could sell a ton!

 

[litlpixie]

Im lovin these posts! Families are still families no matter where you put them Ive been involved in spouse arguments over ADR's, lost my sh&% over overly-whiney 8yr olds, heck I even snapped at a poor teenage boy at the resort bustop because I tripped over his freakishly big feet and all due to me being hot and tired! We try not to relive THOSE memories....just the good ones

 

[ars0525]

It happened on Monday, October 13, 2008 at HS. Perhaps around noon?

It was record setting heat weather. We had done a quick weekend trip to Disney which turned into doing all 4 parks in 3 days after having not been in years. We were going commando style & starting at RD thru staying for EMH.

My mom & I had just come off the Backlot Tour. We were trying to do as much in HS as we could before our flight back home. I remember her taking a call from my dad (about the umpteenth one) about the flight or something petty...and she flipped out. I mean TOTAL APE SH--T BANANNA CRAZY YELLING lost it! I slinked away to sit on a curb from a safe distance. To make it worse, there was some character greet nearby so kids were lined up & in her rant/pacing she kept getting closer to them (the handlers kept shooting her looks) so I was waiting for the Disney PoPo to come haul her off.

After she hangs up, she comes stomping up to me (still ranting yelling) that she is hot, my father is an idiot & she is over this. I said "let's eat" & immediately escorted her to some CS area where I got her a frozen drink & some food. After about 10 minutes I asked if she was better & then we laughed about it. She claims to not even recall all what happened exactly during her "moment". We then went & rode some more rides before leaving to catch the ME.

We still laugh about this & I now know in each park where I can purchase frozen lemonades for when Mom starts to feel overheated.

 

[Phatoomch]

Its summer vacation, I've had a lovely lie in and have been sat here drinking coffee and reading this thread.

Thank you all for your honesty - I have had a good chuckle this morning

 

[Pikester]

The person in our family that usually has a meltdown is me. I have a thing about dirty faces. My DS11 for some reason I don't know seems unable to clean is face after he eats. Drives me nuts! So DH takes DS11 off to have some one on one time as DS does not like many of the thrill rides so DH has been doing them all with DS14. When they come back they both have dirty faces from eating Mickey Bars. OMG I wanted to blow a gasket! DH would NOT clean the chocolate off his face( I was able to get DS11 to wash his a little later). I was so POd! The more I asked him to the more he refused. I was so angry with him that I actually cried a little bit and gave him the "I don't care anymore what we do" speal whenever he asked me what we wanted to do next. Still gets my blood boiling just thinking about it.

 

[t_catt11]

The situation: early February 2010. We are about 2/3 of the way into a ten day trip, and are at Animal Kingdom. Our family - myself, DW, DD14, DS12, DS2, DS 4 months - board the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch.

DD has been truly trying all trip long - sullen, bad attitude, snappy, etc. We are tired.

As you may know, the train boarding/deboarding for Rafiki's can be pretty stressful. CMs here seem to hurry you quite a bit, etc.

We get off the train at RPW and realize that our DSLR camera ($1500 worth of equipment, PLUS all of our vacation photos) is missing. DD was in charge of the camera bag. She is sullen, unhelpful. CM are unhelpful, will not allow us to check our train car for the camera bag (and are rather rude about it).

We try to figure out what to do, DD drags her feet, continues to be unhelpful, and I. lose. it. Tear into her, give her the royal chewing out for the attitude, the lack of responsibility, and am quite ugly about it. I board the train back while the rest of the family stays at RPW.

No camera on either train. No love at lost and found. I am sick about it, decide to retrace our steps just in case.

I walk back to Island Mercantile... and the camera is there. Yay for lost camera... but worse is the fact that the lost camera is MY FAULT. I now remember taking the camera from DD to take a photo of the baby in a hat, and not giving the camera back.

Did she need an attitude adjustment? Sure, but I went way overboard AND blamed her for something that was not her fault.

 

[Tltorrez]

I can definitely relate to this. I am the designated family day planner, and it is a BIG responsibility. I've discovered that if I do not 'take the lead', the alternative is far worse....the family is dazed and confused; leading to time wasting arguments over attractions, and food, etc. In the process of trying to create the perfect vacation for your family, you can get burned.

I am pretty fortunate in that respect. I'm an uber-planner for all vacations and it generally drives DH nuts. But he knows that his vacations go more smoothly because of it. He does realize that Disney takes even more planning, but on our first big trip he had a serious Aha moment. This was back when Fantasmic wasn't running every day. So the plan was to do Epcot and then leave, head over to Fantasmic, stand in line for 90 minutes and then go back to Epcot. That way we weren't in DHS on the Fantasmic day. He didn't totally get it but he didn't grumble too much. We ended up with amazing seats - wheelchair seating directly behind the VIP Chilean miners. And, of course, the show was awesome. Then we walked out of the theater and ran right into the line waiting for the next show. The line that was so long, all of them might not even get in. I never had a complaint about the plan after that.

And oddly enough, now he's way more involved too. He even knows a lot of the acronyms, though I'm not sure he'd admit it.

 

[brookmey]

We had our family moment at Epcot. What is it about that park that brings out the best in families?

It was our first full day at WDW, having arrived the day before. We drove from TX, so not only did we lose an hour because of the time zone change, but it was also spring break, so we had Daylight Savings, too, making us lose 2 hours. We were all tired, but DH was exhausted, but would NOT admit it. When he gets really tired he becomes a major smart *** and very sarcastic. By late afternoon I had had enough of his attitude and sarcasm. We had taken breaks, took a very long lunch in The Land, so I didn't understand why he was still acting this way. The kids were 5 and 3 and they were acting better than him!

We were near China and I can't even remember now what he said, but it was something that was the last straw for me. I turned around and told him to quit his "smart***ness." DH immediately started laughing at my made-up word, which infuriated me even more. I stomped off and went into the Circle Vision 360 movie, which I have never liked, just to get away from him. When I came out of the movie, there and he and the kids were, laughing and messing around waiting for me. I wanted to go push him in the lake.

 

[AshleeH]

Ours isn't as funny as some of these, but our worst moment: October 13, 2010 .

We were at MK on a Wishes night (MNSSHP other nights, so Wishes nights are packed!) and we made the mistake of leaving with the crowd! We finally fight our way free and go over to sit near Guest Services, waiting for the crowd to thin out. For two hours.

No fights or meltdowns - our kids played with each other and DH and I stared longingly at the Contemporary for hours, wishing that was our hotel. Fast forward one year: we stayed in the Contemporary and are in love with that walkway when the park closes! We also learned from our mistake: not to "hurry up to wait".

The funniest one I've seen (because no children were involved) was last year. We went to Frontierland from Tomorrowland, there was a couple near the Hub who were having a screaming fight. We were going at a slow pace since it wasn't horribly crowded and we got fastpasses and decided to backtrack to Tomorrowland for a while. When we got back in that area, those people were still fighting! It was like live theater for any who were watching . I've seen my share of meltdowns at Disney, but that has to be the most drawn-out fight (in one location) that I've ever seen!

 

[Cals dad]

Our finest moment came the first day we were a family. We were on our honeymoon, enjoying a rainy day at Epcot. We were already tired from the wedding the day before. We had forgotten where we parked the car at, and as you all know, the parking lot in Epcot is very large. With the rain, and tired feet, my wife's emotions just got the better of her. She sat right down in one of the rows crying, and started yelling at me to find the car. She would not move until I found the car, and had to go drive it to the row she was sitting in.

We look back on it now, and makes jokes about it. We always make sure we mark our car's location in Car Matey so that know one has to sit and cry in the aisle with rain pouring down on them.

 

[jcvalenti]

Fun Topic !

Our family's "finest moment" came at DHS, during Star Wars Weekends 2010. We usually get to parks at open and take a break around noon, but on this trip, we decided to stick around for the parade and lined up about 45 minutes early, staking out a great spot so I could photograph it. It was scorching hot, and both my 4 year old and 10 year old were feeling it, whining and complaining about everything.

Two minutes before the parade starts, as the cast member closes down the path, a group of 4 British tourists (obvious from the accents) shoves right in front of my 4 year olds stroller, completely blocking his view, having to push the rope forward so they could "fit". I ask them to move and the woman, apparently drunk, starts screaming that the cast member told them they had to stand there. Her husband, a burly guy who looked like a soccer hooligan, looked embarassed, but did nothing to control his wife, who continued to scream as if this was all my problem.

When it became clear they wouldn't voluntarily move, I reached over a grabbed toy lightsaber from a vendor, and smashed the woman over her head in an effort to knock some sense into her. Her husband rears back and takes a swing at me, which I duck to avoid. He hits the man next to me, an off duty cop, square in the face. The cop, filled with rage and overpriced beer, tackles the hooligan into a crowd of rowdy frat boys. Pretty soon fists are flying, stands are getting knocked over, and uttter chaos reigns. Just then, the parade rounds the corner, and the 501st, seeing chaos, rears into action, jumping into the fray to restrain people. Long story short, 14 arrests, 2 years of ongoing litigation, and I have scars on my fist from the front teeth of the hooligan when I knocked them out of his skull.






hehe - just wondered who read these long posts. All of this really happened except the preceeding paragraph; I just ended up yelling at the woman until her husband, a very nice guy, ushered her to the back of the four deep crowd with an apologetic nod of his head.

 

[jenfromjersey]

Fun Topic !

Our family's "finest moment" came at DHS, during Star Wars Weekends 2010. We usually get to parks at open and take a break around noon, but on this trip, we decided to stick around for the parade and lined up about 45 minutes early, staking out a great spot so I could photograph it. It was scorching hot, and both my 4 year old and 10 year old were feeling it, whining and complaining about everything.

Two minutes before the parade starts, as the cast member closes down the path, a group of 4 British tourists (obvious from the accents) shoves right in front of my 4 year olds stroller, completely blocking his view, having to push the rope forward so they could "fit". I ask them to move and the woman, apparently drunk, starts screaming that the cast member told them they had to stand there. Her husband, a burly guy who looked like a soccer hooligan, looked embarassed, but did nothing to control his wife, who continued to scream as if this was all my problem.

When it became clear they wouldn't voluntarily move, I reached over a grabbed toy lightsaber from a vendor, and smashed the woman over her head in an effort to knock some sense into her. Her husband rears back and takes a swing at me, which I duck to avoid. He hits the man next to me, an off duty cop, square in the face. The cop, filled with rage and overpriced beer, tackles the hooligan into a crowd of rowdy frat boys. Pretty soon fists are flying, stands are getting knocked over, and uttter chaos reigns. Just then, the parade rounds the corner, and the 501st, seeing chaos, rears into action, jumping into the fray to restrain people. Long story short, 14 arrests, 2 years of ongoing litigation, and I have scars on my fist from the front teeth of the hooligan when I knocked them out of his skull.






hehe - just wondered who read these long posts. All of this really happened except the preceeding paragraph; I just ended up yelling at the woman until her husband, a very nice guy, ushered her to the back of the four deep crowd with an apologetic nod of his head.

 

[DisneyHardin]

I love reading these stories - it makes me feel better about my big meltdown. A couple summer ago we were at AK and first thing of the morning we got in line for the Safari because the sign said it was 30 min wait. Well, that wait turned out to be 1 hour and 30 minutes. It was super hot, my FIL complained the entire time we were in line about the wait and also how the lines were laid out. After we finally did the safari, no one would make a decision about what to do next and only wanted me to make all the decisions. After all the complaining about the Safari line, I wasn't about to make a deicsion about what to do next. It was about 1000 degrees out, I was aggrevated and started to cry. So, DH made the decision we were just leaving. So, our AK day consisted of riding the safari and leaving to go back to the hotel.

 

[GMU MOM]

I'm glad I found this thread. I always thought we are the only family who has meltdowns in public. It's amazing how some of you can remember exact dates of these moments.
The one incident that comes to mind is on our trip last August when we were trying to decide what to have for lunch at Epcot's Sunshine Seasons. DS10 is such a picky eater and he was giving us such a hard time picking out what he wants. He had done that for almost every single meal. Finally, DH just had it and walked out of the food area. I didn't anyone to notice so I just tried to stay composed, got our food including something for DH and sat down. Just a short while later DH returned and all was ok.
But now DS is warned before any trip is even booked that he cannot be so picky on vacations.

 

[Kandiwilde]

Another Epcot meltdown here. It happened a couple of years ago on the first day of our vacation. We had flown from the UK the day before and were all jetlagged having gained 5 hours and being awake since 3am trying to adjust to the time difference plus it was August in Florida meaning it was really hot.

My brother and sister start arguing about a minor thing which quickly escalated into a full blown screaming match. At this point my mum had wandered off to look at a merch stall and was chatting to the CM. My dad, noticing my mum was missing, asked my sister where she was (she obviously didn't know due to the current screaming match with my brother) and was then accused by my dad for losing my mum. She retaliated that mum was a grown woman and didn't need to be watched and was free to wander off. This angered my dad (he has a quick temper) and then they started arguing as well. All this happened right infront of the queue for Spaceship Earth so all the guests could see what was going on

As for me, i was stood as far away as I could get hoping people didn't associated me with the angry family. Luckily my mum came back and managed to calm people down with the promise of ice cream.

 

[jenjie]

We went to WDW with my parents, who generously paid for the trip. Too much of dh and my dad together at one time can be too much of a good thing. My dad thinks he's being helpful but always "knows a better way to do that" or "could have gotten it cheaper/better/bigger" etc. By this point in the trip dh was done biting his tongue. He can get hotheaded too. He was feeling undermined by my dad and had had enough.

So as we are leaving MK at the end of a long day, ds, who was 4 at the time, found a plastic bag and was playing with it. At one point he put it on his head. My dad, being totally in the right, took it away from him. Dh grabbed it and handed it back to ds! My mom and I rolled our eyes at both of them and walked away. It was a quiet ride back to the condo.