As many of you know I enjoy many of the Walt Disney products. So when my husband said we should take our boys to Walt Disney World (WDW), I was reasonably pleased.
We have done two trips previously to WDW. Once in 1997 and again in 2000. The first time we went at Christmas and had our Christmas Eve and Day there in the parks and surrounding areas. The second time we went in late January, which is part of the off season so it is a little less expense to stay at the resorts. Both times we stayed for more than 5 days.
Both times we took our daughter, Elizabeth, and deliberately scheduled a day where we were all spending a 1/2 day separate. Dian, Elizabeth and I all had a class/adventure or backstage tours. This was a great way for each of us to have a unique Disney experience that we could bring back and talk about with each other.
We were hoping to do the same with William and Richard. After scheduling the vacation I started looking for the same types of things Elizabeth had done. After all, when she was going, she was just a little too young to go on the rock-climbing class, but she loved the exploring that they did on one of the islands there on Disney property. So I was looking forward to what might be available for the boys....
There has been a change having to do with the ages for WDW and all the Walt Disney resorts. Previously ages 8 through 17 could be in the parks but didn't have to be within reasonable reach of their accompanying parent. This is no longer the case. Now children up to age 14 must be accompanied by an adult. What does this have to do with the classes I just mentioned? Both of my boys are under 13, so they couldn 't go to any of the classes without an accompanying adult, which would defeat the purpose of having separate time. We were so disappointed.
Further disappointment came in that we could not let them roam the park with appropriate electronic devices. It was so hard for me especially, since I remember being 7 the very first time I went to Disneyland in California and my soon-to-be step-sisters, at the time, being able to go off together and I had to stay with my father and soon-to-be step-mother. I wanted so bad to be able to roam with them and explore. I was so excited the next time when I was old enough to roam with them. To not have that available for my boys was, in many ways, hard for me to accept.
Add in how focused Disney has become on the Princesses, leaving my boys with little to do character-wise and it just felt like an up-scaled week-long excursion to just about any of the theme parks here in the States. There were no special experiences to share and so no real reason for us to return. Needless to say, we are not planning to return with the boys to WDW until they are both over 14....6 or more years from now. At which time they will both be in high school. :-(
We have done two trips previously to WDW. Once in 1997 and again in 2000. The first time we went at Christmas and had our Christmas Eve and Day there in the parks and surrounding areas. The second time we went in late January, which is part of the off season so it is a little less expense to stay at the resorts. Both times we stayed for more than 5 days.
Both times we took our daughter, Elizabeth, and deliberately scheduled a day where we were all spending a 1/2 day separate. Dian, Elizabeth and I all had a class/adventure or backstage tours. This was a great way for each of us to have a unique Disney experience that we could bring back and talk about with each other.
We were hoping to do the same with William and Richard. After scheduling the vacation I started looking for the same types of things Elizabeth had done. After all, when she was going, she was just a little too young to go on the rock-climbing class, but she loved the exploring that they did on one of the islands there on Disney property. So I was looking forward to what might be available for the boys....
There has been a change having to do with the ages for WDW and all the Walt Disney resorts. Previously ages 8 through 17 could be in the parks but didn't have to be within reasonable reach of their accompanying parent. This is no longer the case. Now children up to age 14 must be accompanied by an adult. What does this have to do with the classes I just mentioned? Both of my boys are under 13, so they couldn 't go to any of the classes without an accompanying adult, which would defeat the purpose of having separate time. We were so disappointed.
Further disappointment came in that we could not let them roam the park with appropriate electronic devices. It was so hard for me especially, since I remember being 7 the very first time I went to Disneyland in California and my soon-to-be step-sisters, at the time, being able to go off together and I had to stay with my father and soon-to-be step-mother. I wanted so bad to be able to roam with them and explore. I was so excited the next time when I was old enough to roam with them. To not have that available for my boys was, in many ways, hard for me to accept.
Add in how focused Disney has become on the Princesses, leaving my boys with little to do character-wise and it just felt like an up-scaled week-long excursion to just about any of the theme parks here in the States. There were no special experiences to share and so no real reason for us to return. Needless to say, we are not planning to return with the boys to WDW until they are both over 14....6 or more years from now. At which time they will both be in high school. :-(
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