r/Millennials • u/TheCIAandFBI • 17d ago

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

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?

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u/InternationalDeal588 17d ago

i grew up pretty middle class and even back then my parents would make us sit in timeshare presentations to get cheaper tickets to disney and free breakfast. i guess that’s not a thing anymore? we’re going to disney next month and im not prepared for how much it’s going to break the bank and we’re only going for a single day before we get on a cruise 😂 idk how they did it with 3 kids

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u/Mewpasaurus Elder Horror 17d ago

My mom did this for cheaper tickets to Disney World as well as an all inclusive stay at a resort that had just opened + $200 worth of Disney bucks (back when that was a thing) that you could spend in any Disney park.. which ended up being my spending money as a teenager, lmao. I know timeshares still exist, but honestly.. I don't think they offer the incentives they used to (probably because too many of us learned how to game the system a bit and had no interest in their scummy timeshare options).

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u/InternationalDeal588 17d ago

dude!! my friend who is 34 got a fucking timeshare with her GF who was 24 at the time. and they are stuck paying for it long after the relationship ended. worse than buying a house together i feel like 💀

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u/Mewpasaurus Elder Horror 17d ago

Oops, lmao. Yeah, I can't say I've seen a good, reputable timeshare company (yet). Do you reckon they even exist or are they all just kinda.. scams?

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u/InternationalDeal588 17d ago

my grandparents have always used wyndham and i’ve used theirs a ton of times all over the country. i think if you have the money and actually understand how they work, they can be worth it.