WDW without kids

[KAT1811]

We have never been to WDW without our children. To be honest with the exception of a short business trip about 3 years ago DH and I have never been away anywhere without the kids (to be honest we don't even have a babysitter outside of family). DH is turning 40 this year and I would love to sneak away for a long weekend with him alone to WDW. We both love WDW and there are tons of things I would like to do that we can't/won't do with the little ones in tow.

I'm worried that I will feel very guilty leaving them. If anyone could share some inspiring words or experiences I'd appreciate it.

[Disney Hungarian]

I talked my sister and her husband into taking an anniversary trip one year. The suspense that followed was almost comical. They felt so guilty. They had taken their children many times before and were not neglecting them, yet that is how they felt. They would not tell the kids of their plans and when they did tell them they were going on a trip for their anniversary they did not tell them where. To this day. Many years later. I still don't think they have told them. They had the most amazing and romantic time. I will tell you, like I told them. Just do it already!:mickey:

[TammiMcMan]

Okay, here's my story about DH's and my first "kids free" trip to WDW. I felt so guilty going without the kids, that I told them we were going to an adult only resort in the Bahamas. When I did finally come clean and tell them that we were going to Disney to celebrate our 40th birthdays and 20th anniversary, they were fine with it. Once I got past the guilt, all was good and it was an amazing trip. We enjoyed time at the spa and even spent an entire afternoon at the ESPN bar, eating and watching football games.

My sister and I are planning an adult only trip in 4 years with the husbands ;) .

[JerseyDad]

........we've been to WDW several times with 2 of my 3 kids (both daughters)....have been there a few times with only the youngest daughter (now that the oldest is in college)...and have been there once for two days with just me and the wife, while the youngest went on with friends to Sarasota for a few days before we all went on a cruise out of Tampa. To be sincerely honest...you will not feel guilty...you will have a great time being "all grown up" in WDW.



.....and to be even more honest....I missed my Shih-Tzu...Cody...more than the kids!! ....just don't let them know..:secret:

[Fangorn]

If you just do it and keep going without the kids occasionally, the guilt will eventually stop. Trust me. Been there.

Steve

[faline]

Doing something for yourselves is a good thing! Go for it and promise to enjoy your time there!

[Mousemates]

we did it this last september and it was good for both us and our children....and the guilt goes away pretty quickly once you settle in and start enjoying some good "just the two of you time" like you did in the old days.

[BrerGnat]

Do it!

It's a good thing for your kids to see you and your DH doing something "alone together". It will reinforce their understanding of what it means to be married, and will help them feel secure with your relationship. Promise to bring them back some souvenirs and just go. DH and I try to do that at least once per year, if possible, for 2 nights.

Like you, we also don't have babysitters outside of family. Just too many issues to go there. ;) But, we do very much trust the family we leave them with, and they come stay at our home, so our kids feel comfortable about it.

In fact, DH and I are doing this for 2 nights in December...staying at Grand Californian Hotel, eating at Napa Rose, seeing World of Color, and having a couples massage at the Mandara spa are "among" our list of things to do. :cloud9: I can't wait!

[Goofy4TheWorld]

I just returned from a trip with just my wife and I (left DS2 at home) and LOVED IT!

We returned from a DISASTROUS trip in June after DS2 released an explosion of the terrible-twos. I told my wife to soak up all she could of Disney because we wouldn't be back this decade. Two weeks later we booked a recovery trip in October for just us two.

Long story short, we left DS2 with the grandparents and had a fantastic time on our own. My wife is pregnant, so we rode no thrill rides at all and got to do a lot of shows/parades/skits that we normally would run right past on our way to the next mountain (or avoid because never-scared-of-anything DS was suddenly scared of the dark). It was an incredible trip, even though we were exhausted from getting up so early, but well worth it.

We did not tell our son the truth, we just told him we were going to buy him some toys and that we would be gone about 5 days. He handled it so well we probably could have told him the truth, he barley missed us the whole time we were gone (the grandparent's tractors helped keep him busy).

I felt guilty for a few hours when we arrived at AKL because I knew how much more he would have enjoyed AKL over the CR, but after I talked to him on the phone that first night and he was perfectly fine with telling us goodnite, I was just as happy as I could be for the rest of the trip.

My wife and I had such a great time on our own that we are crazy enough to bring DS2 back for a short December trip (got to get all we can out of our APs you know :D).

[WDWCrazyKaren]

DH and I are doing our second no kids trip in January. We had so much fun the first time without kids, that we just are itching to do it again. We felt TERRIBLY guilty the first time, and promised the kids that they would go the next year with us. We had a great time with them, but now we're going alone again, and have promised our youngest DD that she gets to go on our next trip. She just didn't really care much at all. We were quite surprised. Our oldest DD23 was more upset than the 13 year old!

Do it. You will not regret a moment of it. There ARE adult things to do, but you still get to act like a kid if you want to!

Do it!

[c&d]

Definitely go. We went for our 10th anniversary and we had a wonderful time. It was different without DS but we had such a great time. We went during the F&W festival which made it really nice. We went to the special dinners they have and were able to wonder slowly through Epcot tasting everything. There was a twinge of guilt while waiting for our flight but sometimes you just have do to something for yourselves as a couple.

[magicofdisney]

The first time I went without my kids, I almost cried. I'm not an overly emotional person so I surprised myself with this reaction. However, each time gets easier and this last time (May 2010) I had few regrets or remorse. It was nice. I'm looking forward to my next trip, sans children.

[minnie04]

I say go for it!!! We do so many wonderful things for our children. We just went on a weekend alone not too long ago and my youngest packed his bags and said he was going to. Mind you we have taken them to this place for a weeklong vacation before (Hawks Cay, Keys. Fl) and they loved it, BUT it was our turn to have a nice few days to do what we wanted. We even booked an extra night once we were there.lol.. Parents, no matter what we need time alone with DH/DW...Don’t feel guilty need have an amazing time!!! :thumbsup: You will get to do all the grown up things that they don’t really care for anyway..

[cfoshe]

my DW and I are the same as you, never go or doing anything unless the kids are with us. I even gave up flying remote controll airplanes because I was the only one in the family that enjoyed it. 4 years ago, my kids would have been 9,11,and 15, we did our 15 wedding anniversary with no kids. Now we are planning our 20th for next year with no kids. Yes, felt guiltly then and now too. The kids stated they do not mine, back then and now. We have an open releationship with our kids and we would never lie to them and say we are going somewhere else and decieve them. I would fell that your only asking for trouble later from them because they will remember if you lied to them. Go have a fun trip, the guilt will only last until you leave then you will wonder where the time went because you will be back home.

[Scott C]

Okay -- so we are in a slightly different situation -- our boys are in college now. But my wife and I just returned from the first trip without them. It was actually just for one day for MNSSHP on the way back from the keys. I was a really neat but different experience. DW did get a little emotional on Splash-it was her and the kids fav to ride together. It was a neat trip although from a different perspective.

Relax and enjoy
Scott

[MarkC]

My wife and I just took our first trip to the World without our kids in July. However, they are 18 and 21. The 21 year old chose not to go as he has been there about 15 times. The youngest was at a convention. We did have a great time.

However, I am going to rain on most of you and the other posters parade. If you want to go somewhere with just you and your husband, make it someplace the kids wouldn't be interested in, i.e. Maine, Las Vegas, etc. Your kids are only young once, and you will have plenty of time after they are out of the house to go to Disney without them, as we just did.
We will be 9 month empty nesters in a few months, and then we'll have plenty of time for those other trips, which we are already planning.

Your kids would probably like to celebrate the birthday with Dad. So I am going to vote no, and I'm now prepared for any arrows fired in my direction.

[WDWCrazyKaren]

My wife and I just took our first trip to the World without our kids in July. However, they are 18 and 21. The 21 year old chose not to go as he has been there about 15 times. The youngest was at a convention. We did have a great time.

However, I am going to rain on most of you and the other posters parade. If you want to go somewhere with just you and your husband, make it someplace the kids wouldn't be interested in, i.e. Maine, Las Vegas, etc. Your kids are only young once, and you will have plenty of time after they are out of the house to go to Disney without them, as we just did.
We will be 9 month empty nesters in a few months, and then we'll have plenty of time for those other trips, which we are already planning.

Your kids would probably like to celebrate the birthday with Dad. So I am going to vote no, and I'm now prepared for any arrows fired in my direction.

I would never fire an arrow at anyone! But you are correct, we can agree to disagree on our vacations without kids. DH hates Las Vegas, or anywhere he might actually have to go outside and see nature :secret:, unless it's on a golf course. I don't golf, so.....that leaves DISNEY WORLD! (Don't worry, we are going to Europe without the kids next year :thumbsup:)

[bostonsam]

A vacay without the kids hmm well only DW if we were able to do it up...would prefer to go someplace not so kid oriented:blush:maybe Niagra Falls

[Suz36]

DH and I just did Disney sans kiddos for three days at the beginning of the month. We'd only ever been away from our 10 and 7 year old for 1 night, and we also only have family babysitters. Yes, I felt guilty before, a little during, and after, but we had a great time and it was well worth it! Go for it!!!!

[AllDisney]

Do it:mickey:

You both deserve the time alone and more than likely the kids will be spoiled by whoever will be watching them.

[diz_girl]

However, I am going to rain on most of you and the other posters parade...Your kids are only young once, and you will have plenty of time after they are out of the house to go to Disney without them, as we just did...Your kids would probably like to celebrate the birthday with Dad. So I am going to vote no, and I'm now prepared for any arrows fired in my direction.

No arrows here. I definitely agree.

We only have one child now (DS3), but the second is on the way. I've missed putting him to bed only once. We also only have family babysitters. I just can't imagine going anywhere without him, especially WDW.

With the one on the way, there is a medical issue that requires me to be hospitalized for 5-6 weeks before the baby is born, premature by about 5 weeks. I'll be in the hospital by Thanksgiving and the baby should be born around Christmas. DS3 can visit me, but I'll miss Christmas with him at home. No picking out a Christmas tree, no decorating the tree, no baking cookies with him, no Santa train, no opening presents by the tree, etc. Don't feel bad for me, as I'm extremely lucky that this problem was identified or else things would have most likely ended very badly. I just mention this to stress the point that the time with our kids is finite and precious.

When I was growing up, my parents vacationed without us only once, for their 15th anniversary trip to Hawaii. They didn't vacation separately again or vacation without us to WDW until I was in college (I'm the youngest). They actually took us to Hawaii nine years after their anniversary trip.

DH and I are actually planning to do annual National Park vacations once the youngest is old enough (maybe 3 or 4). We'll also do WDW every other year. So if we're lucky, we'll have about 15 years of National Park vacations with the kids. I know that my time with thm at home is limited, and then they'll be out of the house. That's when I'll do my WDW trips without the kids.


By the way, if you're curious about the medical issue, just Google 'vasa previa'. I'll actually be creating a new thread about it in the near future (in the Water Cooler, outside of the Mom's group) - just to get the word out about it, as it is so rare that few people outside the medical community have ever heard of it.

[Goofy4TheWorld]

:archer:
:archer:
:archer:
:D

[DisneyDINK]

If you didn't divine it from my screen name, I don't have children. I do like going with my family and friends with the kids along. It is fun to remember what it was like for you as you watch them have a good time.

When you go on your own you can pick any time of the year. School's in session, who cares? You can go do the marathon, or experience Food and Wine or just pick a time when the crowds might be lighter.

I hope you have a great time, whatever you decide!

[magicofdisney]

My parents only vacationed once away from us when I was a kid. However, they both worked outside the home. I, on the other hand, am a SAHM that homeschools. I feel the kids and I need breaks from one another. In all honesty, I think I could have handled a couple of more breaks from my parents, growing up but not because we didn't have a good relationship.

[kemps@wdw]

No matter what anyone says or does, there will still be that small amount of guilt that you will always have. You're parents, that's just the way it is. Especially when it involves WDW. That being said, a trip to WDW sans kids is a wonderful experience. We went to WDW on several occasions before we had children,and it was a totally different way of doing things. Alot slower paced, and more adult oriented entertainment. Over the years we've been numerous times w/our DD. On the go from AM to PM and multiple parks daily, and just this past Oct. right before our 31st anniversary w/our now 17 yr old DD. So, I'm guessin our next visit to the World may be sans kids again, and this time around (@ our age) it will DEFINITELY be alot slower paced, but still just as enjoyable.