I think my wife is insane, but we’re going to Disney.

[zurgandfriend]

I saved money for 3 years to surprise my family (wife and son) with a trip to Disney. I saved enough for a deluxe resort for a week, plus airfare, park tickets (park hopper plus) and spending/dinning money. I have saved enough for a great vacation without having to go into any debt.:king:
I was going to tell them on Christmas. However this past week we were all home sick with the flu, luckily not the swine flu just your basic stomach bug. We sat on the couch and watched various WDW vacation planning DVDs; we still like Dave, Erin, Stacey and Luke the best. As a feel better present I told them about my secret account and said “let’s go in August before school starts!”
My wife said she didn’t want to go.
I then suggested going for either Christmas 2009 or for the 2010 spring school vacation but she still didn’t want to go. She said “I’m sick of Disney World, you take our son and go, give me a portion of the money I’ll go on my own vacation.”:fork:
We have never taken separate vacations and I feel that a Disney vacation should be a family vacation. So I told her, I will plan for a trip in summer 2010 and if you still don’t want to go then I go with our son. That was on Thursday.
Saturday night we were at the Red Sox; in the 9th inning, with the Sox leading the Mets 2-1, Jon Papelbon pitching and the tying run on base. My wife turns to me and says “I’ve been thinking we should go to Disney this summer.” I think it was such a shock that my reaction distracted Papelbon who gave up the game winning home run.
I looked at her and said are you sure? She said yes she thought about it and she really wants to go.
Now for shock number 2, she said “Could we stay at the Polynesian?” We were going to stay there for our honeymoon but my brother in-law gave us a week at the Contemporary as a wedding present. Every trip when we tour the Polynesian she says she was glad we didn’t stay there and she wanted no part of that resort. At this point I asked her “who are you and what did you do with my wife?”
I think my wife is losing it but… I have just booked the Polynesian and made my ASR’s. So we are going! 89 days and counting.

 

[rock_doctor]

I would sit down and explore why she did not want to go. I bet there is an issue you don't know about. Does she hate the crowds, does she hate that you truck off with the son and leave her there, or so on... Maybe you can book her somethings nice to do or some family only things. Maybe you can book your son a day long tour and the two of you go rent a float boat....

 

[lbrad]

Germany (I wanted Chef Mickey or Liberty Tree tavern but no way)
Morocco (my son wants to see the belly dancer)
Luau (my wife wanted to go again & my son wants to see the hula girls)
Chef Du France (ate there on our honeymoon)
Yachtsman Steakhouse (best meal we ever had in Disney)
Brown Derby (tradition, we always eat there when we go)

How old is your son:shrug:

 

[lbrad]

Concerning Dining we have eaten at most of the “Signature dining restaurants” (i.e. Jiko, California Grill, Artist Point, Flying Fish café Citrico’s etc. ) during past trips. One thing I found on a previous trip was that we made too many of these reservations. We would be having fun at a park in our shorts and Tees and have to stop and put on business casual attire for diner. This trip, as there are 3 of us, we decided each of us gets to pick 2 dinners.
Question, should I make as ASR for breakfast at the Kona Café or can we walk in? At the Contemporary and Wilderness Lodge we always walked in to the Concourse Steakhouse or Whispering Canyon for breakfast and I know my son would go for the Tonga Toast.

It's always best to have ADR's. Concourse Steakhouse is gone. There is a new restaurant "The Wave" at the Contemporary. Enjoy your trip:sohappy:

 

[zurgandfriend]

How old is your son:shrug:

He's currently 11 will turn 12 in Novemeber so the hormones are racing.

 

[Prof Ecks]

I think your wife had an extreme case of a behavior I don't think is that uncommon. The scenario is this: one spouse is heavily committed to the concept of a WDW vacation. When they think of a family vacation they think WDW. Call it an illness (smile) or simply a belief, but this person thinks that if you are going to spend a lot of money on a family vacation don't think Europe or an island beach vacation or going to a big city, think WDW. Now, the other spouse or partner is simply not as invested in WDW as their spouse, so their initial reaction is to try and offer an alternative. "Let's go somewhere else for a change", or in your wife's case, I would rather not go with you at all if you insist on going back there again. However, after considering the situation the spouse changes his or her mind. Probably not due to insanity but because they begin to review the memories of their past vacations, the great family experiences they have, and eventually conclude that another trip to the "world" will most likely provide them what they want from a trip, rather than going somewhere else.

I have a student who did a paper on WDW vacations and noted that every few years the family would go somewhere else, like the Grand Canyon or Chicago. The parents would say they needed an alternative. However, the family decided after each vacation that they preferred a WDW vacation better. Finally, as a result, that basically became their vacation.

So, I suspect that what you experienced is not as uncommon as we might think, just sort of an extreme version of the behavior.

 

[zurgandfriend]

I think your wife had an extreme case of a behavior I don't think is that uncommon. The scenario is this: one spouse is heavily committed to the concept of a WDW vacation. When they think of a family vacation they think WDW. Call it an illness (smile) or simply a belief, but this person thinks that if you are going to spend a lot of money on a family vacation don't think Europe or an island beach vacation or going to a big city, think WDW. Now, the other spouse or partner is simply not as invested in WDW as their spouse, so their initial reaction is to try and offer an alternative. "Let's go somewhere else for a change", or in your wife's case, I would rather not go with you at all if you insist on going back there again. However, after considering the situation the spouse changes his or her mind. Probably not due to insanity but because they begin to review the memories of their past vacations, the great family experiences they have, and eventually conclude that another trip to the "world" will most likely provide them what they want from a trip, rather than going somewhere else.

I have a student who did a paper on WDW vacations and noted that every few years the family would go somewhere else, like the Grand Canyon or Chicago. The parents would say they needed an alternative. However, the family decided after each vacation that they preferred a WDW vacation better. Finally, as a result, that basically became their vacation.

So, I suspect that what you experienced is not as uncommon as we might think, just sort of an extreme version of the behavior.

I believe you are correct. I have experienced the exact scenario you described during other family vacations. Taking a family vacation “some place different “not received the Disney level of service or satisfaction and each of us at some point expressing the view that “we should have gone to Disney World.”
I know that Disney World can affect people in strange ways. A few years ago a co-worker and spouse planned a surprise WDW vacation for their children. They told the children ages 7 and 9 they were going to Hershey Park. The family boarded the plane for Orlando, landed and drove up to Disney World. The children did not catch on until they drove through the front gates. At that point the children lost it, not from joy but from disappointment. The children had it fixed in their minds that they were going to Hersey Park and could not cope with a shift like that, consequently the family had a horrible vacation.

 

[foreverbelle]

well have a good time.....i dont see me having to twist my husband what so ever. but give it a few years and maybe.

 

[kstella]

It's a woman's perrogative to change her mind. Just be glad that she came around to your thinking.

I have taken many trips to Disney without my husband because the circumstances didn't permit him to go. He encouraged us to go without him and we had a good time although his absence was felt.

 

[KingStefan]

We seem to have established a pattern of going to WDW every other year, although we may break that pattern this year, because we may not take a vacation at all - but we'll see.

Four years ago: WDW. Twice actually, because I bought an AP, and the amount I saved on the first trip paid for the second (won't explain here, because it's way OT).

Three years ago, my wife was just finishing her fight with Hodgkin's disease (cancer free now for over two years! :sohappy, and there was no way she was going to be able to keep up the usual pace of WDW, so we went to an all-inclusive resort in Jamaica. Turned out to be a good choice.

Two years ago: WDW

Last year was the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec. We thought it would be a good change, and it was. We all really enjoyed that vacation; there was lots of special activities, and the food was fabulous! We went WAY over budget, though, and in the end we spent WAY more than we would have at WDW; but that was OK, because it was a good change.

This year, we were thinking maybe Paris (including DLP, of course). The dollar is strong, airfare is down, etc. But the airport fees really kill the idea - in some cases the fees are more than the ticket. If DW were not out of work at the moment, it would be a possibility, but now we're hoping to squeak by with the special deals at WDW, and if we drive we'll save a few extra $. Please everyone, send pixie dust our way! Thanks.