A little sad my 9 yr old twins don't want to go to Disney

[ucfknight]

At this point I would disown the 9 year olds. They sound like a lost cause.
Focus all your attention on the 4 year old. Sounds like there is still hope there.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

My kids love Disney but they do not want to go every year. They know there's a big world out there and they want to explore it. They are very excited for our DR trip in August. They have been asking to go to PR also. And they would most definitely pick Hawaii over WDW any day. Hawaii is on my bucket list and apparently on their list too.

 

[mom2rtk]

At this point I would disown the 9 year olds. They sound like a lost cause.
Focus all your attention on the 4 year old. Sounds like there is still hope there.

Definitely the only answer!

 

[AngiTN]

My daughter has never loved Disney. She is 23- no hope for her. LOL

Guess they frown on divorcing kids, don't they

My son is 36 and still loves going as much as he did at 3. Now if he didn't when he was young, tough luck kid, I'm the mom and you are not so suck it up until you are old enough to pay for it. Seriously, I'm not sure I'd go that far but I don't think I ever asked him where he wanted to go on vacation and I can't recall a place we ever went that he ended up being a brat about it. I know we were never asked where we wanted to go when we were kids, I can't tell you how many camping trips I went to as a kid and wasn't overly thrilled to be there.

I have used the line "kids are too young to vote" since DD (who is 34 this year) was a kid. But, there is a fine line when they get to 9 and you are talking about a trip that costs lots of money. The last thing you want is to drag them along and have them being a royal PITA because that just ruins things for everyone.

 

[AngiTN]

At this point I would disown the 9 year olds. They sound like a lost cause.
Focus all your attention on the 4 year old. Sounds like there is still hope there.

Sound advice.

 

[rwdavis2]

At around 10 and 13 our girls liked Universal just as much. Which is fine. My wife and I like it too. The best attractions at Universal, IMHO, are much better than Disney's best. For the time being. So we skipped WDW for about 8 years and now go about every 4 years or so.

So, try taking the kids to Universal for a change.

 

[djc9699]

My oldest son was one and done as far as Disney. I made him go one more time before he graduated and threw in a lot of variety. My middle son has been 5 times and likes Disney but it is undecided now if he wants to go back (he just graduated this year). My daughter who is almost 14 is a bigger nut for Disney than I am (if that's possible). We are going at Christmas this year and I told her it will be wall to wall people and she said "I don't care, we'll be in Disney, we can just walk around." Any time I suggest something else she says "I would rather go to Disney." So that is where we go. We have been other places - we just have to plan those around Disney.

 

[Shanti]

My 12 year-old son still loves it.

 

[bumbershoot]

And the year after that, she just didn't go with us at all. I'm not sad one bit. In our family, no tears are shed for the money we won't be spending on someone who doesn't want to be there.

And you're a family that has resources and the ability to not take a child somewhere. We have no one in our lives trustworthy enough, or with the interest, to watch our kid while we go off on a vacation. I hope you know how truly lucky you are that the fates smiled down upon you so you can do that.

So in our little family we all get a say in where we go, because there's really no other alternative.

 

[NuJoy]

()

 

[DrunkJam]

We live at the beach and we do go to many other places, but my children (4 and 11) are both SUPER excited for WDW, characters, rides, food and all!
Yes there are other places they want to go, but, not, right now, in preference to constant, them focussed, fun!

 

[Nancyg56]

When my youngest daughter turned 12, she began to feel too embarrassed to ride what she called the "kiddie rides", Pooh, Enchanted Tales With Belle, etc. The next year, she asked to stay in the room the days we went to Epcot. And the year after that, she just didn't go with us at all. I'm not sad one bit. In our family, no tears are shed for the money we won't be spending on someone who doesn't want to be there. Husband and I always loved Disney more than our girls anyway and now we have the BEST time doing all the thing that we enjoy there.

Is Disney the only vacation destination you have and she gets left out, or is it one among several? There is no way I would deny my kids a vacation because they did not like the one I chose for my own enjoyment. If DH and I went alone and took them elsewhere I would be okay but to leave one out completely? Nope

I think part of the issue is that around that age (9/10) kids start to worry about what classmates and friends will think of them going to Disney. Many still think it's just for little kids.

My DGD went through that. IF asked she was truthful that she wanted to go other places as well, and was not interested in Disney. Turns out she had been getting teased by a classmate and felt funny, but that was not her only reason. She really wanted to see explore other places. Her parents love Disney but they also wanted to take her to see things she expressed interest in. I am really glad they encouraged her to voice her thoughts. She and I make sure we travel to NYC together and she is really excited to go to Aruba.

And you're a family that has resources and the ability to not take a child somewhere. We have no one in our lives trustworthy enough, or with the interest, to watch our kid while we go off on a vacation. I hope you know how truly lucky you are that the fates smiled down upon you so you can do that.

So in our little family we all get a say in where we go, because there's really no other alternative.

I think that allowing everyone a say is awesome. How else can children learn that their opinion counts if they cannot discuss it with the family? My DGD was always encouraged to take part in vacation planning and she would do research to make her case if she thought she needed to know more. In our family, as in yours, the discussion was the alternative because we had limited resources and therefore it was important that we all enjoyed our vacation.

 

[NuJoy]

()

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

Hmmmmm, that's a tough one. I'm not sure if I'd trust a 9 year old to know what they'll want to do a year from now. But then I can't imagine telling my mom at age 9 that I'd prefer to go to Hawaii or on a cruise. That likely wouldn't have gone over too well.

Right??? I'm picturing myself making this demand as a kid or a teen as my dad planned our latest road trip to Gatlinburg. It's not going well for imaginary me....at ALL.

 

[Bullseye]

OP I don't know how big a DVC purchase you were planning, but staying in Villa's instead of hotel rooms breathed new life into WDW vacations for us. There's a lot more room, full kitchens, laundry, multiple bathrooms (2br). I realize that's no incentive for a 9yr old, but if they stayed at one they'd see it's like a home away from home. Plus there's some pretty cool perks at DVC resorts as well. Also mixing in some US/IOA days is another way to incent them.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I would be sad, too. The other day I suggested we take a break from Mardi Gras next year to hit Disney for a few days and my 6 year old thought I was insane. I didn't know whether to be proud or depressed lol!

Seriously though, I don't know how I would handle that except to say, "you can stay with your grandparents and dad and I will see you later!"

 

[vanjust14]

My 18 year old son gave up on Disney after 12 <sigh>. He doesn't like to go on vacation much, but I can still get him to go to Universal, so we try to do that every other time. I still ask him to come to Disney and get a very adamant NO every time. I'm hoping he will change his mind but it hasn't happened yet in 6 years!

 

[bryanb]

Yeah, who knows. They could be just going through a phase. I agree that they might not even know what they want one year from now.

I didn't even get to go to WDW as a child, but I do remember a time in middle school when Disney wasn't "cool" among my friends. Everyone wanted to brag about going to Six Flags and watching rated R movies. Luckily, it was a short period of time and Disney became cool again.

 

[Darcy03231]

We were fortunate enough to go yearly (and sometimes 2-3x a year) when our children were young (they're now all adults). At one point they all got "Disney-ed out." I was bit sad, but we moved on to other vacations which interested the whole family (DH went on the first trip and never went back). I found that taking a break was a good thing. When I went back with my mom (none of the kids or DH was interested in going) everything felt "new" again. Since then Disney hasn't been a yearly trip. Our last one was in 2013. DH and I are going for a couple of days in August at the end of our cruise as he wants to see Pandora (and I'm hoping to get him back again if he enjoys it).

 

[china mom]

Battling this now. DD, age 12 is a Disney Superfan like me. DS, 14 doesn't want to do anything in the world other than play online games with his friends. DH said that he won't consider leaving him home alone AT ALL and if for some reason we did, he would have a horrible time because all he would do is worry (He skipped the Avatar AP preview because he didn't want to leave DS alone overnight while being a plane flight away.

If we force DS to go, he will make everyone miserable. He knows all of the buttons to push with his father and then DH will make the rest of use miserable.

We have thought out just about every solution and nothing will make everybody happy. Cancelling the trip is not fair to the rest of us. Leaving one parent home isn't fair. DS is just going to have to suck it up and if he and DH feed off each other, I'm sending both of them home.