When your parent (or any parent) ruins an experience for you

[KBLovedDisney]

I thought I'd share a story with you guys (and maybe you have a story as well?)

We were in the Honey I Shrunk the Audience attraction, and the scene with the mice came up. The little tails were hitting my legs and scaring me very badly! (I have nothing against mice, I just didn't like the tail effect.) What does my mom do, aside from fussing at me for being scared? Instead of saying to this little girl of about 10 years age "It will be ok/it won't hurt you/etc.", she instead grabs the tail to show me very angrily how they did the effect. I think she actually broke it...

*Just as a side note: my mother does not know how to say "It's Ok". She unfortunately lacks that ability (textbook narcissist; look it up)...but I digress.

But for the rest of the day, it kind of ruined my experience and I actually loved Honey I Shrunk the Audience.

My brother also tried to ruin the Garden Grill for me too. He kept trying to tell me how they actually make the effects out in the desert scene in Living with the Land.

I compare all of this to like hiring a really bad birthday Magician and him telling the kids how he does his tricks.

 

[21stamps]

I'm sure my son would share several stories about me ruining an experience for him... if he was allowed on this site.lol

 

[KBLovedDisney]

I'm sure my son would share several stories about me ruining an experience for him... if he was allowed on this site.lol

 

[zurgandfriend]

This happened when Ike was president so I am going to date myself. We drove across country much like the Griswold family for a family vacation to Disneyland. They had just opened the submarine ride and I wanted to go on. My Mother and sisters were scared and said NO, and they would not let me go by myself too many war movies I guess. Finally, my father said he would go with me and my mother kept saying “but what if the submarine sinks” to which my father replied “Then I’ll stand up look how shallow the water is" sort of ruined the whole experience for me

 

[JIMINYCR]

My parents ruined my life by refusing to take me to Disney as a child. ( Well maybe not my life.... but I was pretty sore when they said No we wont be going to WDW for a vacation. And we never did.) I had to wait until I was an adult.

 

[KBLovedDisney]

My parents ruined my life by refusing to take me to Disney as a child. ( Well maybe not my life.... but I was pretty sore when they said No we wont be going to WDW for a vacation. And we never did.) I had to wait until I was an adult.

Geez, I bet seeing the Disney World promo commercials as a kid didn't help none either did it...

 

[Rinx]

My wife didn't get to go on Spaceship Earth until her CP because as a child her parents said it was an upside down roller coaster in the dark and no one in the family was allowed to ride.

 

[KBLovedDisney]

My wife didn't get to go on Spaceship Earth until her CP because as a child her parents said it was an upside down roller coaster in the dark and no one in the family was allowed to ride.

Wow. Wonder where they got their info from. OR they probably hated the ride so much that they didn't want to go on it even when their kid wanted to.

"Parents that lie to their kids so they don't have to ride a ride the kid wants to..."
So lame.

 

[angela02]

The only thing I recall from my first visit to WDW in 1989 is my mother and father complaining about my hair. Mind you my dad had a military cut and my mother's hair was so short that she looked like a man, but somehow my long, straight hair was an issue. I specifically recall waiting for Kitchen Kabaret to begin and my parents spent the whole time making fun of me, telling me I had no self respect due to the way I looked and that I was ugly. They told me I should stay away from them because I clearly did not care about myself. I sat there crying, trying to figure out why my parents would do something like that in public. People around us were telling my parents they were cruel and one lady put her hand on my shoulder and told me I was "beautiful" and to not listen to them. We spent three days at WDW and the only thing I can recall from that trip was the nonstop bullying I endured from the time I awoke until the time I went to sleep. I honestly do not recall riding any other ride on our trip other than Horizons where I heard I looked my "best" because we were in the dark. Now as a parent we take our children every year and I admit, only here, that I think about that 1989 trip repeatedly while there.

 

[Sonconato]

The only thing I recall from my first visit to WDW in 1989 is my mother and father complaining about my hair. Mind you my dad had a military cut and my mother's hair was so short that she looked like a man, but somehow my long, straight hair was an issue. I specifically recall waiting for Kitchen Kabaret to begin and my parents spent the whole time making fun of me, telling me I had no self respect due to the way I looked and that I was ugly. They told me I should stay away from them because I clearly did not care about myself. I sat there crying, trying to figure out why my parents would do something like that in public. People around us were telling my parents they were cruel and one lady put her hand on my shoulder and told me I was "beautiful" and to not listen to them. We spent three days at WDW and the only thing I can recall from that trip was the nonstop bullying I endured from the time I awoke until the time I went to sleep. I honestly do not recall riding any other ride on our trip other than Horizons where I heard I looked my "best" because we were in the dark. Now as a parent we take our children every year and I admit, only here, that I think about that 1989 trip repeatedly while there.

I'm really sorry that happened to you, just reading it makes me want to cry.

 

[TXDisney]

My parents were great and took us to WDW every 2 years growing up. The only thing I wish they did was try and make Epcot more enjoyable for us growing up. We didn't like Epcot growing up (me and my siblings) bc there weren't a lot of kid things to do there. But I feel like if they took us into the shops and we watched the shows growing up we would have liked it. Now Epcot is my favorite park as an adult, so it's long behind.

The other thing I see that agitates me (when I really have no reason to judge). More of a parenting thing than a Disney thing. But it agitates me when I see a parent need to take a child all the way back to the resort for a nap or to calm down. I feel like it's a huge waste of time. By the time you get back to the resort, you could have gone to a quitter area and put the child to sleep inside the park. If it's just your family going I'm ok with it. But when your with a group and expect them to wait and do stuff until you come back to from the resort... that's when it agitates me.

 

[KBLovedDisney]

The only thing I recall from my first visit to WDW in 1989 is my mother and father complaining about my hair. Mind you my dad had a military cut and my mother's hair was so short that she looked like a man, but somehow my long, straight hair was an issue. I specifically recall waiting for Kitchen Kabaret to begin and my parents spent the whole time making fun of me, telling me I had no self respect due to the way I looked and that I was ugly. They told me I should stay away from them because I clearly did not care about myself. I sat there crying, trying to figure out why my parents would do something like that in public. People around us were telling my parents they were cruel and one lady put her hand on my shoulder and told me I was "beautiful" and to not listen to them. We spent three days at WDW and the only thing I can recall from that trip was the nonstop bullying I endured from the time I awoke until the time I went to sleep. I honestly do not recall riding any other ride on our trip other than Horizons where I heard I looked my "best" because we were in the dark. Now as a parent we take our children every year and I admit, only here, that I think about that 1989 trip repeatedly while there.

Oh dude, I am so sorry. Parents as bullies are the worst.

 

[DfromATX]

My parents did their best I suppose, but their idea of vacationing is not the same as mine. We never went to Disney World, but one time (in 1984) we took the drive from Texas to CA to go to Disneyland. We also stopped at the Grand Canyon. I just remember it being a very LONG journey and being cooped up with my parents and younger brother at 14 was not something I enjoyed. I'm sure we were very much like the Griswolds. I'm pretty sure we didn't stay in any nice places either. I remember being at a motel where my parents left my brother and I at the pool when they went to do laundry. (I know, what parents would leave their children at a motel pool unattended in a strange town?) A weird man was out there. In retrospect, I think he was a drug dealer. Anyway of course when my parents left, he came closer and at one point grabbed my and pushed me in the pool! I was only 14. I didn't tell my parents, why I don't know. The whole trip wasn't bad, but I only remember the bad parts like that.

 

[Jedi Stitch]

The only time a parent "ruined" my Disney trip. Was getting put on a bus in the middle of the night being sent back to Seattle. I was 14, she was 14, her uncle didn't agree we were of age to "explore" our friendship.

 

[21stamps]

I know..

I went on several vacations with parents and siblings, at least two week-plus per year, and many weekend/3 day weekend in between. I don't have any horrible memories directly fitting your description, but there are 2 times that stick out.

Driving back from a vacay one year my parents had bought my brother and I those huge sugar pixie stix..the ones that are like 2 feet long. My sister was a toddler and didn't have one. Anyway, so my brother and I were using them as swords and fighting each other over my sister's head. My dad kept telling us to stop.
We didn't listen.. and then my brother accidentally hit my father (who was driving) in the head. Sugar exploded all over him.
He pulled over, yanked my brother and myself out of the car, and spanked us on the side of the road.
I Will NEVER Forget It. I wasn't a little kid.. I was maybe 10 years old, and I just got spanked.lol.

2nd one, and most traumatic-

I was 16. My parents had bought a vacation condo when I was a baby, went at the same time for 2 weeks every year growing up. We became close with a few families who also vacationed at that time/place every year.
One of the boys had gone from awkward pre teen to super cute teenager.. I had a major crush on him...plus, his name was Ezekiel and I loved his accent- totally made me swoon We swam, snorkeled, played tennis every day together. Then at night I'd beg my parents to let me go play mini golf and have an ice cream with him, instead of joining them doing the same. They compromised and let him and his sister come with us, but we played directly in front of them.

On our last night he gave me a bracelet and asked if we could keep in touch over the next year. (This was before cell phones). Neither one of us wanted to leave.. we planned to stay up all night sitting on the beach and talking. My parents said I had to come in at midnight. I didn't. So my dad came out and got me. Totally embarrassing that I had to say goodbye in front of my dad. Ezekiel whispered "just sneak out when they go to sleep." I had never snuck out before, but decided that I would. And I did. I met him back on the beach, we splashed around in the ocean, I thought it was the happiest moment of my life. Then I see my mother. Mind you, my mother is not the type to yell. She's extremely soft spoken and I've never heard her say a curse word in her life.
She walked up with a look I've never seen before - said you have 5 seconds to get back in the condo before your father wakes up and all hell breaks loose. Me - "Mom, I'm sorry. We aren't doing anything wrong! I just want to hang out with him!" Her (in super scary voice)- "Now." Then she turned to my crush- "Do you want me to go wake up your parents? I suggest you go back as well."
I quickly said goodbye. Totally shattered.
Got inside the condo and told my mom that she "ruined my life!" Cried in my bed all night. Refused to eat or talk at breakfast in the morning. On the drive home I listened to Seal on my Sony Walkman over and over, crying most of the time.

I still have photos of us.. 30+ years later and I can remember every moment of that last day/night. Especially how I thought my parents "ruined my life".

 

[21stamps]

The only time a parent "ruined" my Disney trip. Was getting put on a bus in the middle of the night being sent back to Seattle. I was 14, she was 14, her uncle didn't agree we were of age to "explore" our friendship.

Omg. Ha ha ha ha.

 

[DfromATX]

I know..

I went on several vacations with parents and siblings, at least two week-plus per year, and many weekend/3 day weekend in between. I don't have any horrible memories directly fitting your description, but there are 2 times that stick out.

Driving back from a vacay one year my parents had bought my brother and I those huge sugar pixie stix..the ones that are like 2 feet long. My sister was a toddler and didn't have one. Anyway, so my brother and I were using them as swords and fighting each other over my sister's head. My dad kept telling us to stop.
We didn't listen.. and then my brother accidentally hit my father (who was driving) in the head. Sugar exploded all over him.
He pulled over, yanked my brother and myself out of the car, and spanked us on the side of the road.
I Will NEVER Forget It. I wasn't a little kid.. I was maybe 10 years old, and I just got spanked.lol.

2nd one, and most traumatic-

I was 16. My parents had bought a vacation condo when I was a baby, went at the same time for 2 weeks every year growing up. We became close with a few families who also vacationed at that time/place every year.
One of the boys had gone from awkward pre teen to super cute teenager.. I had a major crush on him...plus, his name was Ezekiel and I loved his accent- totally made me swoon We swam, snorkeled, played tennis every day together. Then at night I'd beg my parents to let me go play mini golf and have an ice cream with him, instead of joining them doing the same. They compromised and let him and his sister come with us, but we played directly in front of them.

On our last night he gave me a bracelet and asked if we could keep in touch over the next year. (This was before cell phones). Neither one of us wanted to leave.. we planned to stay up all night sitting on the beach and talking. My parents said I had to come in at midnight. I didn't. So my dad came out and got me. Totally embarrassing that I had to say goodbye in front of my dad. Ezekiel whispered "just sneak out when they go to sleep." I had never snuck out before, but decided that I would. And I did. I met him back on the beach, we splashed around in the ocean, I thought it was the happiest moment of my life. Then I see my mother. Mind you, my mother is not the type to yell. She's extremely soft spoken and I've never heard her say a curse word in her life.
She walked up with a look I've never seen before - said you have 5 seconds to get back in the condo before your father wakes up and all hell breaks loose. Me - "Mom, I'm sorry. We aren't doing anything wrong! I just want to hang out with him!" Her (in super scary voice)- "Now." Then she turned to my crush- "Do you want me to go wake up your parents? I suggest you go back as well."
I quickly said goodbye. Totally shattered.
Got inside the condo and told my mom that she "ruined my life!" Cried in my bed all night. Refused to eat or talk at breakfast in the morning. On the drive home I listened to Seal on my Sony Walkman over and over, crying most of the time.

I still have photos of us.. 30+ years later and I can remember every moment of that last day/night. Especially how I thought my parents "ruined my life".

LOL "Don't make me have to pull over!"

 

[21stamps]

LOL "Don't make me have to pull over!"

We heard those words a lot growing up. I can't even read them without hearing them in my dad's rough voice.lol.

I haven't used that line on my son yet. One benefit of only having one child, I don't deal with fighting siblings But car rides are definitely more boring for the only child.lol

 

[KBLovedDisney]

LOL "Don't make me have to pull over!"

I was a a screamer as a kid. One Disney trip, I about ruined it for my family because I screamed almost the entire 8 hours on the road in my car-seat...then I heard my mom and dad simultaneously say this. Yep, I stopped because if I hadn't, spankins were next.

 

[KBLovedDisney]

The only time a parent "ruined" my Disney trip. Was getting put on a bus in the middle of the night being sent back to Seattle. I was 14, she was 14, her uncle didn't agree we were of age to "explore" our friendship.