Spring Break in Disney World Without a Fairy Godmother

Anyone who knows me knows I am not a big Disney person.

It's not the movies I object to; in fact I think most are very clever. I'm just not a fan of all the collateral stuff manufactured for each production and intended to appeal to kids. What child wouldn’t want the Disney t-shirts, dresses, costumes, tableware, underwear, sheets towels, wallpaper, action figures, dolls, games, props, shampoo and countless princess accessories? 

I'm not the type of parent to buy into it all. I was happy to take my children to see a movie, but I didn't think they needed to become a walking promotion for Disney and its films.

That being said, but not wanting to be cast as the next evil queen, I established a guideline for our family: NO CHARACTER CLOTHES…on the outside. In other words, in our house, the only place Disney characters were welcome was on pajamas, underwear, cereal bowls and one lucky kid had "Little Mermaid" sheets.

Everyone was happy.  

Then, the word got out about the Magic Kingdom. A trip to Orlando was like a right-of-passage for many of our children's classmates and soon they began to wonder when we would go.  Believe me, we are not the type to grant our children's every wish, but we did decide on the one and done approach. So, we planned a trip to Disney World for Spring Break 2000, when the youngest child would be old enough to remember it and the oldest child was young enough to love it; and this time we "used" Disney to teach a few lessons.

• A trip to Disney World is not cheap and requires saving. So, we began tossing our loose change into a water jug labeled "Disney 2000" and soon it began to add up.
• Everyone has to pitch in. Once the jug was half full, everyone went to work counting the change and rolling it for the bank. The 4-year-old sorted, the 6 and 8 -year olds counted and stacked, and the 10-year-old wrapped and added. Piled with coins, the kitchen table looked like that of Donald Duck's rich uncle. The grand total was around $1,119.

The trip was planned, breakfast with Pooh Bear and friends was arranged and off we went with our cousins from England.

• Limit the spending money. Going into it we were warned that just about every ride had an adjacent gift shop, and kids, being kids would want the shinny souvenirs.  To head off the whining we presented each child with an official Disney autograph book and pen and gave them a decent chunk of money ($25) to spend whenever, wherever and however they wished. With the ground rules in place, they came away with fond memories of collecting autographs and having their picture taken with favorite characters. No fairy godmother necessary. 

We had a great time in Disney World. Who wouldn't? Great rides, impressive crowd control, and clean. The kids marveled at the Imagineering and the adults marveled at the engineering that goes into making the place operate so smoothly. And, despite It's a Small World being subliminally implanted in our brains as we strolled through the Magic Kingdom the kids understood it's really a big world — and one they've been anxious to explore.