Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TOGETHERNESS
ANOTHER DIMENSION TO CONSIDER
is how much togetherness seems appropriate to
you. For some parents, a vacation represents a rare opportunity to really connect with
their children, to talk, exchange ideas, and get reacquainted. For others, a vacation
affords the time to get a little distance, to enjoy a round of golf while the kids are par-
ticipating in a program organized by the resort.
At Walt Disney World you can orchestrate your vacation to spend as much or as
little time with your children as you desire, but more about that later. The point here
is to think about your and your children's preferences and needs concerning your time
together. A typical day at a Disney theme park provides the structure of experiencing
attractions together, punctuated by periods of waiting in line, eating, and so on, which
facilitate conversation and sharing. Most attractions can be enjoyed together by the
whole family, regardless of age ranges. This allows for more consensus and less dis-
sent when it comes to deciding what to see and do. For many parents and children,
however, the rhythms of a Walt Disney World day seem to consist of passive enter-
tainment experiences alternated with endless discussions of where to go and what to
do next. As a mother from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, reported:
Our family mostly talked about what to do next with very little sharing or discussion
about what we had seen. The conversation was pretty task-oriented
.
Two observations: First, fighting the crowds and keeping the family moving
along can easily escalate into a pressure-driven outing. Having an advance plan or it-
inerary eliminates moment-to-moment guesswork and decision making, thus creating
moretimeforsavoringandconnecting.Second,externalvariablessuchascrowdsize,
noise, and heat, among others, can be so distracting as to preclude any meaningful
togetherness. These negative impacts can be moderated, as previously discussed, by
yourbeingselective concerning thetime ofyear,dayoftheweek,andtime ofdayyou
visitthethemeparks.Thebottomlineisthatyoucanachievethedegreeofconnection
and togetherness you desire with a little advance planning and a realistic awareness of
the distractions you will encounter.
