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!

 

[gjpjtj]

Originally posted by DDPGambit
.......One time I was on the bus going back to my resort, and there was a little kid who was whining for a while. This was at like 10 at night, and everyone was tired. I noticed that the kid stared at me for a bit when she got on, aparently she was attracted to the MK park map I was holding. So after a while of the kid crying and stuff, I got up and handed her the map, and whatdya know...she got real quiet real fast. Her mother(who was trying to quiet her child the entire time) thanked me. It's things like that that will quiet a child. A brochure, or a paper cup with Mickey on it... stuff like that. Sad huh? Parents spend hundreds of dollars on the kid, and all she wants is a free park map!

I like that park map idea!! Gonna have to use that one!

 

[Yellow Shoes]

Parents spend hundreds of dollars on the kid, and all she wants is a free park map!

This is soooo true. Sometimes we forget how exciting the littlest things are to a child who is seeing/experiencing them for the first time.

My Dad's wife tells the story that one year her family went on a $$$ vacation (not WDW--can't remember where--really doesn't matter). That was the summer that she and her sister learned "step on a crack/break your mother's back" All they remembered about the vacation, and all they talked about was jumping over the cracks in the sidewalk.

How many times have you seen kids absolutely mesmerized by the twinkling sidewalk at Epcot (well...OK.... you've seen me "stuck" there too), or the jumping fountains at JIYI or Ariel's Grotto, the "big sandbox" at Dinoland, or climbing on the rocks at Tom Sawyer's Island.

Kids get overstimulated, and their only form of release is a tantrum. A wise parent recognizes the signs and gets the kid to a quiet place. The selfish parent drags the kid onto Alien Encounter.

 

[Melora]

I have 5 kids... 17, 15, 13, 7 and 2.

I know about kids believe me!! I have always had the good fortune (and hopefully good parenting skills) to have great kids. Well.... until number 5 came along... :lol: !! He is a fireball that truly takes exraordinary parenting powers. I was always able to distract or soothe the older kids when a tantrum seemed inevitable. But my dear sweet little "baby" has a habit of SCREAMING the minute he feels like things aren't going his way. Believe me I get the looks! Parents glaring like I can't control the mouth attached to the cute little blonde boy. In some ways that is right.. As he gets older (another few months) I will be able to invoke a time out or take away a privledge but at just 26 months he doesn't understand anything other than I WANT IT RIGHT NOW! I guess I just got lucky when the older ones never did this.

But I will always be very aware of how his noise (polite way of saying huge explosive meltdown... no kicking or hitting..just noise) is effecting other people. I would never stand in line, or sit at a restaurant and let him siren away.. I will always remove him and not let him interfere with others experience of where ever we are. I really can't stand when a parent just stands there ignoring a kid..even if he or she is being unreasonable and shouldn't be given into..its no excuse for making everyone else have to listen.... And on the other side... please understand when the parent and hollaring kid are stuck someplace (bus, plane) and can't do anything... especially when the parnet WANTS to do something...

I think its too early for me to try to be logical or make sense..but there ya go anyway!!

 

[FourFourSeven]

Originally posted by Yellow Shoes
Sometimes we forget how exciting the littlest things are to a child ....

So true - my 18 month old's favorite experience at Animal Kingdom? Watching a leaf blow around, then walking over and picking it up...

 

[frazierle]

In a previous post I commented on how my wife was about to strangle me because I had every minute of the day scheduled on our first trip to Disney with our kids. The kids didn't want to do things or move. etc, etc, frustration sets in.... After the second day we had a melt-down and my wife told me where to put my schedule. My concern was that we had to see everything - for the kids sake. After being re-calibrated and actually listening to what the kids and wife wanted to do. It turned out to be a stress free trip. My wife always reminds me we have to enjoy our vacations with them cause they are only young once. What we miss we can do later. We have been another 8 times since the first trip to WDW and once to Disneyland. The kids dictate the pace where we go and what we do. We have had some of the best vacations by doing it this way. When they are tired we go back to the room. They feel like swimming - time to get some reading done. Takes alot of the stress and worry out.

Something an old timer has always told me was "to be part of the solution and not part of the problem". When we have seen kids on buses crying or acting up, we try to interact with them and sort of cause a diversion with them. This works most of the time, in getting them to settle down. Of course my wife says because I'm 6'3" and 300lbs they're probably afraid I'm going to rip their head off if they don't calm down.

 

[Lilo]

As a parent of a 6 year old, I learned a lot from my first WDW vacation. He was 4-1/2 and my husband refused:hammer: to rent a stroller. Enough said with a tired cranky boy. By vacation #2, the following year, we rented that stroller and this past Thanksgiving, we still rent that darn stroller. I wish they made them big enough for me. Also I am also in the habit of over planning every step of the way. Not anymore. Learned that lesson real well from the first time. We had reservations at the California Grill for 2 nights. The first night was great he was an angel. The next time - as soon as he started we took him right back to the room (we were in the Contemporary anyway) and ordered room service. That's what you have to do. Remove them as soon as they start and not wonder if they will calm down. After all I like a nice dinner too.

 

[Grumpy56]

You are right, Lilo! Remember when room service was for a romantic interlude?:lol:

My kids are older now but there's always at least one evening on a vacation where we get room service, because they are just not up to eating out.

 

[jutz53]

First, I love this site and browse daily and I agree with points you have made. This is a subject that really gets me fired up. First of all I am now a grandmother who goes to Disney with DH most of the time. My grandchildren have gone with us twice. If you don't want to be around fussy children go to Sandles or another remote island paradise. Disney is magic and that magic begins with children. What really upsets me is when adults who are in airplanes, or Disney and are extremely upset because a child is having a meltdown and start to loudly express their dissatisfaction and totally forget what their own children were like. It has happened to every parent in the world.When I see a cranky child my only hope is that the parent understands and isn't made to feel guilty about the behavior of the child and in turn takes it out on the child. My apology for the length of this, however, with this country on the verge on war, lets get real on what is important to be upset about.

 

[Lilo]

Originally posted by Grumpy56
You are right, Lilo! Remember when room service was for a romantic interlude?:lol:

My kids are older now but there's always at least one evening on a vacation where we get room service, because they are just not up to eating out.

Romantic interlude???? Not with this kid. That's why DH and I go to Sandals (Antigua is our favorite - 2 times already plus we renewed our vows) when we can or even overnight to Atlantic City for that romantic time. Trump Taj has this great restaurant, expensive, but romantic. To be honest, eating in the room sometimes is just what you need after walking all day and you can eat when you want.

 

[wannabeBelle]

aaawww c'mon Miss Lilo, your darling little Angel?? :lol: :lol: :lol:
Actually I havent been to WDW withg him as of yet so I really can't speak authoratatively, however I do believe with thoughtful parents who are sensitive to their children's needs, WDW can be a wonderful place for all. Belle

 

[Lilo]

He's not real bad:zipit: But children will meltdown occasionally. Actually I have seen more adults do a meltdown at WDW then kids. Between the ages of 6 and 10 they are o.k. But when hormones kick in, then they start up again.:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Grumpy56]

Originally posted by Lilo
Romantic interlude???? Not with this kid. That's why DH and I go to Sandals (Antigua is our favorite - 2 times already plus we renewed our vows) when we can or even overnight to Atlantic City for that romantic time. Trump Taj has this great restaurant, expensive, but romantic. To be honest, eating in the room sometimes is just what you need after walking all day and you can eat when you want.

I meant BC, Before Children!

 

[Pippa]

My fiance and I have stayed at the Boardwalk Inn and the Caribbean Beach,definately more kids at the CB! So pay for a deluxe hotel, eat in expensive restaurants and party at Downtown Disney in the over 18 clubs its not rocket science!!!!

 

[EnSkywalker]

My thoughts:

My wife and I have been there the past four years. We have no children and our vow is to never take kids (if we have any) until they are at least 5 years old. This is for a number of reasons primarily because they won't remember having ever been there and second because we've seen too many parents dragging kids through the park.

We personally don't have any problem with kids loosing it. Our problem resides when one of several things happens.

1)The parents haven't recognized that the kids need a break to rest and recuperate. Heck, even we do that just from the amount of walking.

2)The kids are completely wild with no sense of discipline. There seems to be a huge number of these.

3)The kids invade our personal space and then don't remove themselves when asked nicely.

We saw a 2-3 year old girl two years ago that didn't want to ride Living with the land at all and had just lost it. She was trying every trick in the book because she was flat out terrified. We were not mad that she was screaming but only mortified for her and her parents. Luckily the dad made the correct decision and got off the ride before it started.

On another side though, we were eating lunch at Fulton's and the rather large 7-10 year old girl was chewing with her mouth open, talking while eating, and taking food off of the rest of her family's plate and shoveling it into her mouth. We almost had to leave the restaurant since it was making my wife nauseous. A classic case of parents failing to discipline.

For some reason, the British kids always seem to be the best behaved and cutest everytime we've been down there. Of course it could be what we thought was cute was driving their parents nuts. Handing mom chips (crisps) instead of the fries (chips) when asked.

 

[AliciaLuvzDizne]

i agree that its not always the parents fault at all...
but i've always said
you need a licence to catch a fish, but ANYONE can have a child...
scary

last year when i was at Universal Studios i witnessed a parent litterally PUSHING his kid through the line and smacking him upside the head and of course the kid was trying to stick up for himself (id say he was 10ish) and that just made the dad worse and more ticked off...
and by the time we made it onto the ride the kid was absolutely hysterical crying... and why not, he was absolutely HUMILIATED!!

so like i said in the begining, its not always the parents, but maybe there should be some kind of screening process!

:sohappy:

 

[Dwarful]

weve done WDW and DL before children and now with children. Our first trip w/children the baby was 18 months. Our girls are 4 years apart so if we waited until the baby was 5-6 our oldest would be 10 and I can't imagine making her wait until she was 10 for the disney experience.

this last trip we had 5 children with us ...the baby being 2 years old. She did great at Cinderellas breakfast, Germany, LIberty Tree Inn. But those are the type of places she is most accustomed to...places that tend to be child friendly. Of course my husband and I have a strict battle plan in place anytime we eat out..if the baby starts acting up then one of us steps out with her while the other stays with the party..then we switch places. Its not always what YOU want but it works and when you are in Disney you don't always have the option of a babysitter...(esp. those that stay off site.)

The only time we ever had any problems was on a morning bus ride and this group of four adults who were there w/o children made a snide remark about birth control or lack of it...they made the lousy assumption that all 5 children belonged to my husband and myself (only two are ours!) and let everyone on the fully loaded bus what they thought of us having 5 children. We all just laughed about it but for the rest of the trip all 5 kids were calling us Mom and Dad!

 

[AliciaLuvzDizne]

Originally posted by Dwarful

The only time we ever had any problems was on a morning bus ride and this group of four adults who were there w/o children made a snide remark about birth control or lack of it...they made the lousy assumption that all 5 children belonged to my husband and myself (only two are ours!) and let everyone on the fully loaded bus what they thought of us having 5 children. We all just laughed about it but for the rest of the trip all 5 kids were calling us Mom and Dad!

eew thats a pretty risky comment to make on a bus full of parents
and 5 isnt even THAT many...
some lady on Inside Edition just gave birth to her 14th!! thats like one whole bus for your family alone!!

 

[LostBoy]

Our 18 month old son will be making his 4th trip to WDW in 8 days, we are very fortunate to have a incredibly good tempered, happy and well behaved son
Seems (to me) that most melt downs happen in the early afternoon (1-3), maybe it's a combination of heat, over stimulation, crowds and just plain getting tired
We take that into consideration and usually head back to the hotel (another reason to stay on property) about that time to rest, swim, nap, play and recharge our batteries - works very well for us
When it was just my wife and I we could go to WDW for 3-4 days and see and do everything we wanted (I'm a WDW freak and we usually go off season), now with a child we extend our stays for an entire week and it's a much more relaxed and leisurely vacation. We keep our schedule very flexible and plan at least one off day
and just as a few other have said in this thread if our son does get cranky either my wife or I will take him to a more secluded place and get him to calm down (for me singing "I want to be like you" from the Jungle Book in a Louie Armstrong voice to our son works wonders, hey if it works ....)

and yes the parents who say "We spent all this money and now you're going to have good time whether you like it or not" might be missing out on the best part of WDW and the magic

 

[McArcDes]

I for one am a person with four kids. Some people think that is a lot but I also have a cousin with nine and working towards twleve and his brother who has six.

We (my wife and I ) have taken our four to WDW many times and at many different ages. We took out oldest a week after she turned one and she loved it. There are several memories that were created on that visit that will last with us forever. One of those memories was watching her "go nuts" (ie get very excited) during Spectro Magic when she saw all the characters and then to see the smiles on the faces of the people in the crowd as they watched her. Thats the real magic. How often do you see an adult bouncing up and down squeeling with glee just because they see Chip and Dale?

As for kids not liking something or having melt downs etc. I have had many experiences with this while visiting...I have found that people that have children ususally give you an understanding look of sympathy and the ones who give you dirty looks or make comments are the ones who have no clue what it is like to have kids. The ones who say " I am going to do this" or I am going to do that when I have kids" don't know that the perception of what it is like to have kids and the reality of haveing kids are two different things.

Each kid is different. My two oldest when they were three and five went with us and loved every ride they could get on. Our oldest at five years old went on the Tower of Terror five times and wanted to go back for more! At three our second oldest went on Splash Mountain and Big Thunder and had a blast. On the other hand our son at three was scared to death of the Winnie the Pooh ride as well as all the others. Go figure. We ended up keeping him out side while we baby swapped (We had our youngest who was one at the time) so it was not a big problem. All we had to do was adjust.

I could go on and on but this is long enough already....

 

[wannabeBelle]

Speaking for the childless people....I think it is safe to say that the majority of us(Myself included) that we DO understand when children have a meltdown. It happens. we are all aware of that. But if your child was having said meltdown would you force the child onto a bunch more rides? Probably not. But we have all seen it happen by insensitive parents. What us childless types do not understand is why a parent would let a child rampage or meltdown and not do anything about it?? If your child is kicking other people on the bus on the way back to the resort, hold him or her until you get back to the hotel!! If your child is having a metdown, are you as a parent doing anything about it? If not, why? While Disney is certainly a place for children, it is also a place for grownups. I dont have a problem with children and in most cases get along incredibly well with them. One time on the Pooh ride I had a sweet little girl who just attached herself to my leg as her Mom and I were talking. She liked me and I liked her right back. Children can be great if the parents understand that Disney is a BIG place and may be a tad much for the kids to take in. Also Children who are just badly bahaved are a pet peeve because I know so many good children!! I also make it a point when I see great behavior from a kid to compliment the parent. Good children are not the rule today and the parents definitely deserve some praise for that!!! And they just dont hear the praise enough!!! Belle