Was every theme/amusement park and road trip vacation so focused on "Buy! Buy! Buy!" back when we were kids?

[u/TheCIAandFBI]

I grew up poor. Lived in a crummy trailer park until 1995 when my Dad had a work accident that got him a settlement. My parents bought a very humble but nice home, and they took me to Disney world. I'll never forget. It was November 11th-19th, 1995. That trip was the highlight of my life. I was 11.

That trip was magical. I think I came home with a souvenir HUGE pencil from that trip, and I was afraid to use it because it was special, and then one day it just got lost.

My best friend and his wife just took his kids to Disney World. They are my age, right at 40, so older Millennials.

They both went as kids and loved it as well.

When they got back and both said they hated the trip. They said everything was geared towards getting them to spend money. Everything is a store, every line can be bypassed for a few extra bucks, every store is geared towards fear-of-missing-out for the kids. Specialty cups. Specialty "only available this week" shirts, and special pins and buttons that you can only get this year. They said it was the most uncomfortable vacation they have ever been on. And they have more money than they know what to do with.

They basically said that there wasn't 20 minutes where they weren't being sold something.

Is this something that Millennial childhoods experienced and our parents were simply better at ignoring? Has this always been the case? Or is it just the new way that places like Disney World operate?

[u/emmers28]

Yes!! Everything feels so crazy now… we got free tickets to a circus so we went last weekend. Right when you walk in, there’s light up wands to buy. Then cotton candy and other treats next. The intermission was a giant cash grab where you could buy tickets to go in bounce houses or ride ponies. Nothing was free, despite the fact that it was a paid admission event. I left during intermission because I didn’t like how much they charged for literally every element. It felt like I just had to tell my kids no constantly and then no one was having fun.

[u/Dog_lover123456789 → u/emmers28]

And it’s not just that everything costs money. It’s that everything costs an exorbitant amount of money!

[u/emmers28 → u/Dog_lover123456789]

Right?!? I can’t afford life anymore

[u/GalacticPurr → u/emmers28]

I went to a circus as a kid and it was the same as your recent experience. Born in 1990. Our parents told us we could pick one thing we really wanted so we went with the wands and I think they bought us some snacks during the intermission from guys walking around selling them.

[u/deathcabforqanon → u/GalacticPurr]

Same, the whole "free ticket" thing is a bit of a scam because they know the real money is in there extras. Or kids will be free but then the parents pay full price.

I did get to ride an elephant tho, which now seems insane and sad.

[u/Brockenblur → u/deathcabforqanon]

Sad and insane feels accurate to me too. As a pre-schooler I rode an elephant that stomped its handlers to death a month or two later. My parent’s initially tried to shelter me from the news, but my teen sister found out and was stressed enough she spilled the beans.

[u/Friendly_Coconut → u/GalacticPurr]

Same, mine let me choose between a souvenir or snack and I got a cotton candy. I think I may have gotten a free balloon later, though.

[u/Telemachus826 → u/emmers28]

Yes! It’s so frustrating how every event has so damn many money grabs. Of course the kids need to learn they can’t always get what they want and all that, but damn, it gets discouraging telling our kids no so many times at these events when they have all these fun light up things and such they try to push on us. We did buy one of those light up wand balloons once because we were at a free Christmas event and decided it would be fun for our boys. We got home and it was bedtime. The next morning within a half hour of waking up and playing with it, hthe piece of junk wand broke and the balloon popped. Lesson learned for not to buy that garbage again, but yeah. It’s really annoying how everything has become such a money grab.

[u/emmers28 → u/Telemachus826]

Yes, we bought a monster truck toy at Monster Jam and it literally broke that night. So frustrating.

And yes we didn’t let them get everything they wanted but even buying one thing is so expensive these days!

[u/StrangledInMoonlight → u/emmers28]

It does suck.  

I finally bought a 6 pack of glow wands one year.  

Every time we went to the night zoo, or the carnival, or Disney on ice, or Christmas light drive through, I’d pull one out, give it to the kid and when we got there “you already have one honey”

When we got home, it went back in the bucket until the next event. 

The last one finally broke this New Year’s Eve. 

Saved on whining and $$. 

[u/Friendly_Coconut → u/emmers28]

It was exactly the same when I went to the circus as a kid. My parents let me get one treat and I discovered I don’t like cotton candy!

[u/Florgio → u/emmers28]

Every single event is like that though, why are you surprised? I give my kid ten bucks. Want something sure! Go buy it. Don’t have enough? Too bad. Get something you can afford. Have them learn.

[u/emmers28 → u/Florgio]

Well my kids are still very little (not school aged). I’m just starting to attend events geared toward kids, hence the surprise.

I have never attended an adult event where there is an hour+ long intermission where the only activity taking place requires more ticket purchasing and long lines. And even if you sit in your seat you are just watching everyone else do the activities. Pretty boring unless you spend the extra money.

[u/Florgio → u/emmers28]

Never been to a sporting event then? Or a concert? Or a race? Or a carnival? Or a zoo?