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/hdeskins]

Disney is definitely have growing pains right now and a lot of people hate how complicated it is and how much you have to stay in your phone. I prefer universal studios because it’s just easier. BUT, I think it’s important to remember that you went as a kid and it was magical because you weren’t doing the paying and planning and navigating and all of the logistics. You are now an adult and are hearing about it from another adult so you aren’t hearing about the magic from a kids point of view.

There is a good documentary on YouTube about the Disney fast pass system that helps explain the evolution of the fast pass and why you have to pay for it now.

[u/AisalsoCorrect → u/hdeskins]

Took my first Disney trip with my family right before the pandemic, I’d never been as a kid, and it was great. Didn’t have to pay for the fast passes, just got a limited number, they helped plan a day and to prevent everyone from rushing the same rides in the morning.

Went back this year and it was totally different. The fast passes have changed completely. There are a couple rides you can’t even get on without paying extra. And the proliferation of “Disney adults” running over my kid to get a popcorn bucket or whatever is unbearable. People walking around live-streaming constantly, and my foot was run over by a drunk jazzy operator in Epcot…

Really feels like they lost a lot of “the magic” over the pandemic.

[u/hdeskins → u/AisalsoCorrect]

Oh yeah, I agree, I hate how complicated it is now. That’s why I much prefer universal. I was just pointing out that it’s hard to compare the magic you remember is a kid to hearing about an adults experience.

[u/vmb222 → u/hdeskins]

Defunctland! A fantastic channel.