Fussy children at WDW? Heaven forbid!

[pixieintraining]

Q: Iam spending my honeymoon at WDW and would like to know where I can take my wife for a quiet, romantic dinner, with no "overstimulated" cranky children......

A: JAMAICA! Sandals resorts are couples only!

(ummmm....can I post a possibly controversial topic here?) Too often lately I have heard and read questions and comments similar to this (not necessarily in this exact forum). It has become my pet peeve! On my last visit to WDW as we were leaving AK on a bus a very young little girl (maybe 3) had a complete meltdown. She screamed at the top of her lungs the entire ride to the Poly. Several of the other riders became horribly rude and voiced their dismay. The mother was in tears and trying anything to quiet her child. The worst of the firing squad was a woman (maybe in her 50's) who had no children with her. She was downright ugly to this poor young mom. When we reached the Poly and the family got off, the bus erupted in applause! UNBELIEVABLE! And frankly, disgusting!

Why would anybody who was sensitive to other peoples children go to a place like WDW? Would you go on a romantic date to a "G" rated movie? I doubt it!

Honeymooners ask these questions regularly...about privacy and quiet and romance. Never have I seen a response that says "go someplace else!", its the same over and over......

To the parents of these "overstimulated" children....

"1. DON'T take a tired, cranky or "overstimulated" child to a restaurant. Remember others have paid the same amount of money as you and would like to enjoy their meals without fussy children around!" I also read a comment that suggested WDW have an "adult hour" to be observed in all sit-down restaurants. HA!

OK....so you get rid of all the families with tired children at dinner. Im sure the higher powers at Disney would be thrilled with the revenues from that venture! But then again I guess they could just cut down the restaurant staff to one cook and one waitress and get rid of the characters all together. And hey it would probably only require one restaurant in the entire place to serve the masses that travel there without children.

"2. DON'T take tired, fussy or "overstimulated" children on the Disney transportation systems. If you are travelling with young children you should seriously consider renting a car! Remember others have paid the same amount, yadda, yadda, yadda!"

I travel with my children and last I checked I was the "majority". If tired, fussy children offend you.....you rent a car!

"3. Same comments have been applied to attraction lines, parade viewing and even resort pools!" And ALWAYS with this rediculous comment about someone paying the same amount as me. Hmmmmm......A couple travelling alone, no children vs. my family of five, 2 hotel rooms, 5 plane tickets, meals, snacks, souveneirs, park hoppers, souveniers, souveniers, and more souveniers (you know how kids are!)....I feel pretty confident that my donation to WDW was ASTRNOMICALLY higher. And IF they paid the same amount as me to go to a place made for children and families with children and still got upset about normal child behavior then they have noone to blame but themselves!

I honestly believe that ANYONE who loves Disney should be there. I cant imagine how romantic it would be to be married there in Cinderella fashion. I plan on visiting WDW even after my children are all grown up. But I will always know and accept that this is a place where children are abundant, even fussy, cranky, hyper and overstimulated ones (and I wouldnt want it any other way!).

Soooo, if you are sensitive to children, please dont go and be ugly! Hawaii is beautiful!

 

[MKCustodial]

I understand your point completely. If I'm going to WDW I can't expect to be away from children, even though Disney itself advertises on their videos about how you can have privacy away from children in their parks, resorts and cruises.
But you do have to admit that some parents just don't seem to have any control over their children. We've heard tons of stories and we all have witnessed CMs asking kids not to climb places, only to have the parents themselves putting them up again when the CM turns his or her back. So yeah, some people tend to blow up easily just at the sight of a child, but I sure think it's annoying to board a packed bus at 1 AM and have a kid running back and forth screaming at the top of his lungs because mommy and daddy are too busy napping to care to control him.

 

[BigNorm]

I'm a crying child magnent.

 

[Grumpy56]

I think the point is well taken, children are and should be an integeral part of WDW. That means the whole spectrum of childish behavior which at time is loud, annoying and out of control. It can also be charming, delightful and very amusing. (And that's all in the same 5 minutes!)
What saddens me is not so much when parents fail to "control" their children but when you see people (of all ages) become so "overstimulated" by the Disney experience that they become exhausted, cranky and just plain no fun to be around. I've seen adults throw "tantrums" at least as many times as children at WDW and lets face it the kids have a lot more excuse being, at least theoretically, less mature than the adults.
Those of us who have been multiple times can lose sight of what an overwhelming experience WDW can be, especially at first. The desire to do it all or get your money's worth can make you forget that rest and relaxation is important to, especially for little ones. So it's not surprising to see kids that are out of control. It's a wise and well disciplined parent who can say OK, Time out, under normal circumstances. Add the excitrement of WDW, the desire to do "just one more ride" and it's a pretty tough job to maintain any kind of normal routine for kids at WDW. Not surprisiing that you see kids that are "out of control" given what is being thrown at them. JMHO

 

[Sherm00]

When we were there in august, we saw some overstimulated kids, but really I haven't seen any that were there be too terrible. In the parks and resturants in the parks you tend to see more childreen then in other areas. What is so great about disney is that they have alot of areas where a couple can get away from the childreen for a romantic meal. Victoria nad alberts in the grand floridian comes to the top of my mind, Wolfgang pucks at downtown disney has a upper floor , I haven't notecd many kids at any of the resturants in world showcase (alfredos, etc).

 

[ddrongowski]

if what I say offends you reread it.

May the world bow down to those who payed their money.







Remember the world does not revolve around you and I. And yes people always say "I was never like that when I was young". Favorite line is from non parental people, "My child/children will never act like that." Have a child and get a wake up call.



Just a final thought GIGO "gargage in, gargage out", if you concentrate on the bad you will live in the bad, if you concentrate on the good, you will live in the good.

 

[WDWFREAK53]

Umm...is it me or were we all kids once?

See, my sister was like that when she was a child...and we actually go a lot of nasty comments (she threw temper tantrums like you wouldn't believe) and it wasn't my parents fault...

My mother was actually one of those that was brought to tear because of a comment that someone at WDW said...

Little did we know that my sister had a rare kidney disease (1 in 6 million people get it...and she was the first to develop it at her age)...She was in PAIN...not because she was a bratty kid...so, just remember that the next time you see out of control...something might be WRONG with the child.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

pixietraining

Firstly - Welcome to the boards
Secondly - what a subject to pick for your first post !!

Personally, I think that if people don't like / can't stand children who (lets face it) are just expressing an opinion - then perhaps they SHOULD holiday elsewhere.
WDW without kids just wouldn't be the same.

 

[bkw86]

In my opinion, the real children here at the adults who act like jerks whenever they encounter children having a meltdown. Without kids, DisneyWorld wouldn't exist.

 

[WDWFREAK53]

Originally posted by bkw86
In my opinion, the real children here at the adults who act like jerks whenever they encounter children having a meltdown. Without kids, DisneyWorld wouldn't exist.

I agree!

 

[Sansaarai]

Ah. Where is tnkrbel when you need her...........

It is rude to other people concerning your childs behavior when:

1. your child is throwing a tantrum because he/she does not want to eat at a certain place, ride a certain ride or do anything else because you are forcing them to.

2. your child is kicking, jumping, screaming, running near a person.

3. you cannot control you child.

Kids get tired. They get a little cranky. And we all have to deal with it.

Just as their parents paid their money to visit the parks, I did also.

 

[Horizons38]

Originally posted by pixieintraining


Soooo, if you are sensitive to children, please dont go and be ugly! Hawaii is beautiful!

Hello, i believe this has been talked about before but let me say this in defense of the "childless people everywhere" ! My hubby and I have no kids, we cant, it does not mean we do not love kids, or mean that kids annoy us, we always try to help and smile at people we see that have a hard time with their kids , we love Disney, would love to renew our vows there one day, and understand that everybody has the right to enjoy their vacation ! That being said i love Hawaii too !

 

[BRER STITCH]

KIDS HATE DISNEY WORLD!!!

Ummmm.....now that I've got your attention.....:lol:

My friends and I (all single) have always joked about how if you had never been to WDW before and walked into any park around 4 or 5 in the afternoon, you would return back to your planet and report to them that, based on your observations, children must HATE Disney World!

I have always suspected there is MUCH more going on here than it appears.............

I don't blame the kids at all - who I DO blame is parents who are paying such huge amounts of money to satisfy THEIR OWN desire to relive their youth, see a parade, go on Tower of Terror, etc....., that they feel the need to (sometimes literally) drag their youngsters around the park without a proper nap or diet.

I think they probably do this because they paid so much to get them all there and they dont want to "waste" their park hopper day at the Hotel pool, where the kids would be just as happy!

Seriously....the same phenomenon occurs when little kids are just as happy playing with the wrapping paper as they are with their Christmas presents - depsite all the money and time spent buying and wrapping!!!

Kids will be kids. But parents must be parents too!
If your kid is acting up, you need to be prepared to "bite the bullet" and take them back to the Hotel pool, go look at the cars in the parking lot, or just watch TV in the Hotel room. For them it will be just as much fun (and more relaxing than being dragged through the park against their will).

When they get ready for another round of park hopping, GO FOR IT! You, they, and everyone else around you will be much happier for it.


:sohappy: :snore: :sohappy: :snore: :sohappy:

 

[MobileBadBoy]

I don't mind kids, I love kids. I dislike parents who have no control over their kids. I was on the bus once (after walking all day) heading back to the resort. I was on one of the wall seats (that run the length of the bus) and this woman's kid was running around and kicking his legs. He turns around and kicks me square in the shin. His mom just looked at him, looked at me, and started looking back towards the front of the bus like nothing happened.

If I had done that, one of my parents would have snatched me up and told me to sit down and behave, the way they should do.

 

[dreamer]

If you need to be totally away from kids, don't go to WDW.

There are retreats. Generally the more money you have to pay to get into a place, the less children there will be. Also later hours = less kids.

Try the upscale restaurants like California Grill (we saw no kids there at 8pm on a weeknight), Victoria and Alberts, and Flying Fish will tend to have less kids. I suspect Grand floridian (V&A, citricos -- I don't like Narcoosees) has fewer kids than some of the other hotels, but don't know for sure. The best is ROOM SERVICE with champagne. Hopefully you'll have a balcony with a view.

I find that I like to see all the kids. It adds to the experience of being at Disney World. Kid watching there can be half the fun. But I definitely understand the need for escape.

:hammer:

 

[FourFourSeven]

Anyone who complains about kids at WDW is certifiably crazy. However, I have OFTEN been very upset at the PARENTS of kids. Some examples of unacceptable behavior I've seen in the past:

-A seven-year-old is crying while in line for Alien Encounter. "I don't want to go, I'm scared, Daddy!" Dad grabs the child by the wrist and says "Oh, you're such a chicken and a fraidy-baby. We're going on this!" The kid is screaming and in tears the entire time.

-A tired looking family near the end of the day. Exhausted child: "I'm tired! I want to go home!" Mother spanks child and says "We paid so much for this vacation, and you're ruining it for everyone."

-We're eating dinner at California Grill late at night. Children from one family keep running around our table, bumping our chairs, etc. Parents ignore them completely.

-We're watching the Main Street Electrical Parade. Our stroller is parked behind us, near a tree. Several adults and their kids climb ON our stroller to get up in the tree, leaving mudprints in our stroller.

The thing to remember, though, is that these are the extreme minority. If you watch most families at WDW, they're just having fun. It's that less-than-5% of people who screw it up. (And it's not just parents - I've seen other rude inconsiderate adults.) You just notice the inconsiderate people more because they are so unbelievable. Banning children from large parts of WDW is a silly suggestion, and unfair to the majority of people there with kids who are just having a good time. And WDW would never do it anyway, btw.

Now if they could only figure out a way to ban inconsiderate jerks...

 

[MobileBadBoy]

I guess that's why I go to Pleasure Island so much after spending all day in the parks. It's nice to go in Mannequins or the Rock and Roll Beach Club, kick back with a beer and relax. But I do that more to relax from the park crowds, than any particular person or age group.

 

[Main Street USA]

Originally posted by MobileBadBoy
I don't mind kids, I love kids. I dislike parents who have no control over their kids. I was on the bus once (after walking all day) heading back to the resort. I was on one of the wall seats (that run the length of the bus) and this woman's kid was running around and kicking his legs. He turns around and kicks me square in the shin. His mom just looked at him, looked at me, and started looking back towards the front of the bus like nothing happened.

If I had done that, one of my parents would have snatched me up and told me to sit down and behave, the way they should do.

I agree that this particular situation is ridiculous, and the parents are at fault. There is nothing wrong with being annoyed by this particular child.

However, you have expressed, as have many others above, that you can't stand parents who have no control over thier kids. I think the original post focused more on people complaining about children who are crying, screaming, etc. Those that think because a child is crying the parents have no control should try to stop a toddler from crying or screaming themselves. If a kid wants to scream and cry, a kid is going to scream and cry, and there isn't much anyone can do about it, including the parents, ESPECIALLY in a confined area like a bus. Those that even shoot a dirty look in the child's or parent's direction are pathetic. Tune it out and mind your own business.

If you are ANYWHERE where there are other people, then you have to remember just that, you are there with other people, and guess what, they are there with you too.



BTW, MobileBadBoy, this post was not a shot at you, I simply used your post because it mentioned the parent thing, and it was closest to the bottom.

 

[Main Street USA]

Originally posted by MobileBadBoy
I guess that's why I go to Pleasure Island so much after spending all day in the parks. It's nice to go in Mannequins or the Rock and Roll Beach Club, kick back with a beer and relax. But I do that more to relax from the park crowds, than any particular person or age group.

AMEN! PI after a long day at the parks is the way to go! Not too many things are better for unwinding than a nice cold one, and maybe some comedy or dancing.

 

[MobileBadBoy]

Originally posted by Main Street USA
BTW, MobileBadBoy, this post was not a shot at you, I simply used your post because it mentioned the parent thing, and it was closest to the bottom.

No problem.

I know I kind of drifted a bit. I was just getting the vibe that people were thinking just because kids are kids, they shouldn't be held accountable regardless of what they do. That may have just been me, but anyway.