Has becoming a parent changed your favorite attraction(s)?

ELLH

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jul 30, 2011
In an attempt to generate positive/light-hearted discussion I wanted to pose a question to the community of parents/grandparents/wardens:

Has your attraction preference at Disney changed now that you're visiting with children?

Has it changed as your children have gotten older?


Thirty-five year old father of one DD7 here. Before the kiddo came along my wife and I would take yearly trips to Disney (not too far a drive from North Alabama). In those years my personal favorite ride was between RnRC and EE. My wife’s favorite ride was (and still is) Tea Cups. Outside of that we shared enjoyment in riding Space and Splash Mountain… the usual. We never rode Dumbo other than maybe once or twice and don’t recall riding the majority of other “kid” rides (Magic Carpets, Astro Orbiter, etc). I wasn’t a big fan of Haunted Mansion (I didn’t hate it; just wasn’t near the top of my list), though, my wife was.


We first visited DW as a family when my daughter turned two. The ride selection was limited so let’s fast forward to a time when she was a bit older and an active voice in our ride selection… let’s jump to 4 years old. During that time DD was a huge fan of Haunted Mansion and with her love for HM, so began my love and appreciation for the ride. Likewise, I really found enjoyment in rides like Dumbo and Magic Carpet. Around this time DD also began riding BTMRR. Riding that with her was a treat. Now that she’s 7, her favorite rides are probably Space Mountain, RnRR , FoP and EE. She’s fallen more out of favor with some of the “kid” rides she used to love.


It’s interesting to me to look back over the years and note how DD’s favorite rides changed from HM to EE, but there’s also a lot of “given” there. Naturally, as she grew she was able to experience more and her tastes changed. The more interesting aspect, though, is how in some ways I’m the opposite of DD. Meaning that I started out as an adult (teenager) riding all the grown-folk rides and never thought much about me missing out on the “kid” rides. Now that I’ve gotten to experience DW with my child over the years I look back and see how being a parent has altered my nominees for favorite attraction. For example, I’d still put EE and RnRR up there but it’s not a complete trip to me if I don’t get to ride Little Mermaid or Magic Carpets. And Haunted Mansion is an absolute must for me now.


I think it’s cool how your perspective can change when you’re limited in options and have no real choice other than to experience something you wouldn’t have otherwise bothered with.


Well, enough about me. I’m curious how you others have potentially changed your attraction preference once you’ve had little ones. Have fun with it… no judgement here. ;)
 
I remember loving Space Mountain when I was 10 years old and riding with my Grandma over and over. That's also my own 11 year old's favorite so I guess it hasn't changed. That being said, having kids has made me much more open to other experiences. We thoroughly enjoy the Frozen sing a long at Hollywood Studios. It's so fun to watch everyone in our group (teenage boys too) belt out the Frozen songs. It makes me laugh and it's not something my husband and I would do by ourselves. As for Dumbo, soaring above Magic Kingdom with your toddler screaming with delight, what's not to love? And the nostalgia of those wonderful memories will make me ride it forever. But if you never have a toddler, it's a silly ride.
 
My attraction preference has not changed, but I think my appreciation of them has. Things which I loved because of nostalgia, but which I found to no longer be particularly exciting, now have a fresh new appeal.
 
I would say it is a mix for me with our 2 yo! I hated thrill rides as a kid and only started going on them in the last 5 years. Before that my favorites were the People Mover, TSMM, and Peter Pan. I actually started pushing myself to try thrill rides in hopes that my kiddo might enjoy them in the future and I wouldn't pass along my scary cat tendencies (my husband loves roller coasters). I now love RnR, BTMRR, and EE (along with all my old favorites). I have always appreciated the difference between Disney and other amusement parks when it comes to theming and how that makes a non-thrill ride special in other ways. I do have a greater appreciation for rides that we can all ride together now that I am a parent. It has been amazing to hear our daughter talk about the rides a few months after our trip. The magic really sticks with you when you get to relive it through a child's eyes. I am excited to see how this continues to evolve as our daughter gets older!
 
In an attempt to generate positive/light-hearted discussion I wanted to pose a question to the community of parents/grandparents/wardens:

Has your attraction preference at Disney changed now that you're visiting with children?

Has it changed as your children have gotten older?


Thirty-five year old father of one DD7 here. Before the kiddo came along my wife and I would take yearly trips to Disney (not too far a drive from North Alabama). In those years my personal favorite ride was between RnRC and EE. My wife’s favorite ride was (and still is) Tea Cups. Outside of that we shared enjoyment in riding Space and Splash Mountain… the usual. We never rode Dumbo other than maybe once or twice and don’t recall riding the majority of other “kid” rides (Magic Carpets, Astro Orbiter, etc). I wasn’t a big fan of Haunted Mansion (I didn’t hate it; just wasn’t near the top of my list), though, my wife was.


We first visited DW as a family when my daughter turned two. The ride selection was limited so let’s fast forward to a time when she was a bit older and an active voice in our ride selection… let’s jump to 4 years old. During that time DD was a huge fan of Haunted Mansion and with her love for HM, so began my love and appreciation for the ride. Likewise, I really found enjoyment in rides like Dumbo and Magic Carpet. Around this time DD also began riding BTMRR. Riding that with her was a treat. Now that she’s 7, her favorite rides are probably Space Mountain, RnRR , FoP and EE. She’s fallen more out of favor with some of the “kid” rides she used to love.


It’s interesting to me to look back over the years and note how DD’s favorite rides changed from HM to EE, but there’s also a lot of “given” there. Naturally, as she grew she was able to experience more and her tastes changed. The more interesting aspect, though, is how in some ways I’m the opposite of DD. Meaning that I started out as an adult (teenager) riding all the grown-folk rides and never thought much about me missing out on the “kid” rides. Now that I’ve gotten to experience DW with my child over the years I look back and see how being a parent has altered my nominees for favorite attraction. For example, I’d still put EE and RnRR up there but it’s not a complete trip to me if I don’t get to ride Little Mermaid or Magic Carpets. And Haunted Mansion is an absolute must for me now.


I think it’s cool how your perspective can change when you’re limited in options and have no real choice other than to experience something you wouldn’t have otherwise bothered with.


Well, enough about me. I’m curious how you others have potentially changed your attraction preference once you’ve had little ones. Have fun with it… no judgement here. ;)

Not for any one particular attraction, but in my single years I would not have dreamed of going to Disney (or Universal) without spending a full day at one of the water parks. I used to love water slides with a passion. But my kids don't quite share that passion. If there is a tamer, less intense slide, they may do it a few times, but mostly they just splash around in one of the pools, and they can do that at the hotel's pool. For this reason, I've decided against trying Volcano Bay on our next trip. It looks cool, but for my family it would be a waste of money.
 
I went once as a child to WDW and didn't go back until I was grown and had children of my own. As a kid, I only cared about thrill rides and Space Mountain was my favorite. We took our second family trip when I was pregnant and I couldn't ride them, so we ended up trying a lot of rides we skipped before, like Astro Orbiter and Journey into the Imagination. During our last trip I could ride thrill rides again, but definitely made sure to fit in some of those new favorites. My favorite rides, per park: Haunted Mansion, Soarin, Tower of Terror, Avatar Flight of Passage.
 
I agree with PP. My favorite rides haven't changed, but I will always cherish the smile on my 3 year olds face when we went on the flying dumbo ride. It absolutely melted my heart :-)
 


I never got the chance to try WDW without kids. My 1st trip was as a 45 year old parent of a 5 year old. Now having baby girl has made me a Disney fan, we are about to do our 5th trip in 12 years.
 
DGD and my niece are daredevils at heart and traveling with them has allowed me to ride more rollercoasters and actually enjoy them.
 
Space mountain was always my #1. When we took our oldest in 2002, I figured we do a rider swap so I could ride it but we ended up just skipping it because it wasn’t about me anymore.

When we went back in 2005, I was pregnant with our 3rd so no fun rides for me!

When we went back in 2008, I took our oldest on SM...oMg..it was rough, really rough! I still like it and will still do it but boy does it give me a little bit of head issues....
 
It was so fun doing Dumbo with my daughter when she was almost 3. I remember riding it as a kid and thinking it was really lame, but as an adult it was SO fun to see her loving it.

Likewise, she wanted to do the carousel multiple times. We have carousels all over and she's been on lots (zoos, local parks, etc) but it was still worth it to ride over and over because it just made her SO happy.
 
My fave has always been Splash Mountain. I figure at some point I will be too old and grouchy to want to get soaked- haha!

We live in AZ so we go to DL much more than WDW. We always skip Peter Pan in DL because the line is awful. My kids had been to DL 5-6 times and hadn't ridden it. We got a FP for it last summer in WDW and my kids (then 5 and 6) loved it. So much so they begged to go on it at 9:30AM a few days later and I had to really give in to my feeling of "but the other lines are so short right now" panic and go with it. We lucked out with a actual wait time of about 15 minutes vs the 40 minutes posted. But, their affection for the ride made me see it in a whole new light.
 
I only got to take my kids 2x's in life. But no my tastes would never change to ride any rides/
 
I agree, My perspective has changed so much now that I'm a Mom. Prior to kids, I would shoot for all the thrill rides (SM,TM) but now that we have a toddler in tow, we never miss Dumbo or tea cups. Also never waited in line to meet characters or princesses, nowadays that's a #1 priority. And I'm 100% happy with that. I love seeing her eyes light up when she meets her favorite. Makes me not miss the thrill rides (almost). :)
 
I agree, My perspective has changed so much now that I'm a Mom. Prior to kids, I would shoot for all the thrill rides (SM,TM) but now that we have a toddler in tow, we never miss Dumbo or tea cups. Also never waited in line to meet characters or princesses, nowadays that's a #1 priority. And I'm 100% happy with that. I love seeing her eyes light up when she meets her favorite. Makes me not miss the thrill rides (almost). :)
Have you been forced yet to become the veteran of to many character meals? I looked it up the other day and realized that because of my daughter I have been at least once to every character meal.
 
Have you been forced yet to become the veteran of to many character meals? I looked it up the other day and realized that because of my daughter I have been at least once to every character meal.
I've actually lucked out in that she didn't know they exist. However, on our trip next month we are going to do the Princess Storybook lunch at Epcot. She is pretty excited while my picky eater husband is dreading it!
 
I've actually lucked out in that she didn't know they exist. However, on our trip next month we are going to do the Princess Storybook lunch at Epcot. She is pretty excited while my picky eater husband is dreading it!
Just console yourself with this knowledge. Every character meal you do saves you at least 1-3 hours of waiting in lines for characters. I have even suffered thru Hollywood & Vine because at breakfast they had characters that appeared no where else and the Princess Lunch is decent food.
 
No, although Space Mountain and I have a weird relationship as I age (that has nothing to do with kids). I would not ride it until I was a teenager (too scared), then I loved it, and now it is not the most comfortable thing for me. I'm guessing I will eventually get too old for BTMRR as well.

ETA: With kids, I do care a little about parades, fireworks, and meeting characters. I didn't care about that when I was a kid going to Disneyland or when DH and I went to WDW pre-kids. When I was a kid (pre-FP era), the rule was to go on rides while the "tourists" did those things.
 
I never cared to M&G with characters. Not my personal cup of tea.

Now it is what I look forward to the most. To see their excitement in seeing their favorite characters right in front of them brings me unspeakable joy. Here is my (now) DD9 at the start of our first trip. We weren't even in a park yet. We were waiting in line to meet Chip & Dale & AK

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I didn't start going until I was an adult with a child. I was a single mom and my son was just shy of 3 when we started going. We went every other year until he was grown and out of the house and I could afford to go every year. When my honey and I got together, honey didn't go with us because it was our thing and he hates to travel and hated crowds. My son continued to go with me every other year until about 3 years ago and now he goes with me at least once a year. He got married, joined the Navy, got disabled and divorced but his wife went with us a few times. Our ways of doing the parks and the vacations changed as he got older. Until he was about 12 it was all about working around him, if he got tired we went back to the resort, if he got hungry we ate, if he wanted to ride something we did, etc. MK was never one of his favorite parks, when we started going it was just MK and Epcot and Epcot hadn't been open very long. He loved Epcot but he has always been fascinated with learning and discovering new foods so visiting WS was heaven for him. After about 12 we would start to lean more toward taking tours and riding less rides and spending more time exploring. Now, he is partially disabled (nerve damage in his spinal cord) we have to kind of take it easy, spending less time riding rides since there are a lot that hurt him and more time taking in the details. Oddly enough, it's more comfortable for him to stand than sit so the walking doesn't really bother him but we do spend a lot of time in the hot tub at the resort. I also now take at least one solo trip every year, my son is back in college and also works so his schedule isn't very open. On solo trips I do ride rides he can't like Dinosaur but spend more time watching shows and just sitting and taking it all in.
 

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