Dilemma: a new mayones guitar or disneyland w/family

We went to Disney World when I was a kid. "It was great!"... I guess.

The thing is.. I don't honestly remember it in any intensely positive way. It didn't change my life. It didn't effect my happiness. It didn't make me feel as if my parents were the most awesome people in the world. It was... just a vacation. What I remember much more clearly and fondly, are all of the fun things that we did on a much less flamboyant level... the times that we would picnic in the woods, the times that we would go to the state fair, the fishing trips that my Dad and I went on, the backyard fireworks show at Grandma's house, etc, etc, etc. Cherished memories have absolutely nothing to do with a one-time expensive theme-park. They instead have everything to do with those inspiring and spontaneous interactions with family and friends. Obviously I don't know the circumstances but if this is a "One or the other" kind of thing, I'm not sure that a trip to an expensive theme park is the best choice.

Honestly... I don't know if I would necessarily spend that dough on a Mayones, but I would certainly put aside funds to be able to take some smaller impromptu day trips and things of that nature. In the bigger picture, I sincerely feel that as long as everyone's hearts are in the right place, that the best memories can be made with a minimal amount of money and effort. Lastly... It's not uncommon for a high-dollar excursion to take a serious wrong-turn due to undue stress, high expectations, unenthusiastic participants, or less than ideal circumstances.

Just another point of view maybe worth considering.

 

I'm thinkin about a reason to choose Disneyland... but...I give up

 

By all means do something with the family but this is like "should I get something great or smash myself in the face with a hammer".

 

I'd say take the kids to Disney or somewhere else. I went to Disneyland Paris as an adult and had an awesome time. I can only imagine how much more awesome it would have been if my parents could afford to take me there as a child.

Reprehensible tactics or not that doesn't matter to the eyes of children, especially if they're in to Disney.

 

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Disneyland 100%

Those memories will stay forever and that Mayones is gonna be collecting dust after a couple of years because you have 500 other guitars.

Would you rather:
- tell that story about your explosive diarrhea in Disneyland and you shat on Mickey, about how you had a great time with the family, about how you paid $20 for a cup of coffee etc
- or tell that story about how you bought yet another new guitar and played it for a while and.. nothing

 

No kids here, so take my perspective with a grain of salt if you like, but I don't believe that it's selfish to do something for yourself once in a while. There will still be plenty of opportunities- and obligations- in the future to spend all of your money on them.

 

Maybe do something less corporate and outrageously expensive with your family

Corporate America wants you to believe that in order to be a good dad you have to spend incredible amounts of money at their theme parks, I wouldn't buy into it. Go camping, get back to nature, get away from civilization.




.....and get that Mayones

 

I hate to be rude, but when I am in the position that I have to choose something for my family versus something for myself, family always wins. Seems like a fairly easy thing to prioritize: Family, (many things in between), guitars.

I agree we have to be selfish on occasion, but not at the expense of experiences and necessities of our families. If you can afford a vacation with the family OR an item for yourself, you can't afford the item.

 

You are on a guitar related forum..... WTF do you expect? Lol

 

The problem with guitars is that they're like toys, if you have more than one you'll get bored quickly. Disneyland can be a good experience but check out some other options like going to a country you thought you'd never go to. If your kids are below the age of 4 I wouldn't quite suggest taking them right now because they'll have a hard time remembering.

 

Depends, are we going to get a deluge of Mayones-related questions or Disney-related questions?

 

hadn't even noticed who it was

 

With the money you would burn at Disney, you could do so many more amazing things together with your family. Disney is a money pit. The whole area surrounding it is designed to leech you.

Idk, I've been to Disney more times than I can remember because my grandma lived in Orlando when I was growing up, I'd get to go to a park at least half the times I visited her, so I probably take that experience for granted. But I went for the first time in a long time just last year and was pretty thoroughly disappointed--not in the rides or the parks, but moreso that everything and everyone is very blatant in the manner in which they squeeze you for cash. Also the food was 100% miserable (despite costing 4x-8x more than food is supposed to cost).

My wife is like, "I can't wait to go back to Disney. We can go again, right?" and my answer to her is "Sure we can" but in my mind I'm like I'd rather chew birdshot.

I want to go to the Grand Canyon.

 

How much do you like your family?

 

Me personally, I'd have to choose family. But like a lot of guys have said in this thread, Disney is so ridiculously overpriced for what you actually get to do. My wife is deadset on taking our kids one day and I've already put it off multiple times. Right now they are only 7 & 3 with my 3 year old son still taking naps and wanting to be held if we have to walk more than 50 yards from the parking lot into a store! Haha! So there is no way I'm taking them to Disney yet. Especially when I can take my kids to lesser known waterparks and amusement parks where they get to literally stay on rides or get right back in line and ride the same thing over and over again and have tons of fun. A couple weeks ago we went to the indoor waterpark Kalahari in Sandusky, OH and with a groupon deal we got 2 days of waterpark fun, $100 credit for the arcade, one night stay in their hotel and with the meals I maybe paid $400 and my kids were crying when we had to leave cause of how much fun they had. My daughter refused to take off her admission bracelet for over 2 weeks, hahaha! Yes, I think they'll have the time of their lives at Disney, but there are so many other vacations I'd rather do with them that cost waaaaaay less.

 

It's like the joke - "What weighs more, a ton of bricks or a ton of feathers? A ton of feathers, because not only is it just as heavy as a ton of bricks, you also have to carry around the weight of what you did to those poor birds."

While I personally have zero desire to ever go to Disneyland, they say people who spend money on experiences are happier than people who spend money on things. While there's obviously some grey area in between, I'll say this - I went to Chile, mostly Valparaiso and Patagonia, for a bit over a week this January, and if given the choice between that trip or the insanely nice Suhr I could have bought for the money I spent on it, I'd go back to Torres del Paine in a heartbeat.

 

Another way to look at it: your kids will be pushing your wheelchair when that day comes...not your guitar collection

 

My wife and I don't have children yet, but for wants (like guitars) we just budget them out. I put X amount aside for toys, and I can spend them either when there is a zero interest type deal or once I've saved up the cash.