41-year-old Disney-obsessed mom forces her family to visit Disney World from the UK 35 times in a 10 year span: 'After the first 20 or so times I started to get rather bored of the parks'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Aug 11, 2025 8:00 AM EDT

Disney Adults are one of the most oppressed groups in the world today. Well, not necessarily, but they do get a lot of slack for the mere crime of liking a theme park. Sure, maybe wearing mouse ears and crying when you meet Donald Duck is "uncool" by the standards of conventional society, but within the gates of Disneyland, it's a magical moment! The best part about Disney theme parks is that they're fun no matter who you are. They aren't cheap parks made only for kids; they aren't concrete jungles with 10 roller coasters and nothing else. Disney provides magical experiences for children of all ages. 

That said, there is a point at which being a Disney Adult can get out of hand. If your trips to Disney are costing your family its financial future, you might want to cut back on trips to Florida. 

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  • Woman wearing golden mickey ears at Disneyland
    via Joel Sutherland

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • The dad in this story is in an awkward position. His entire family is sick of going on constant vacations to Disney World, but his wife can't get enough of them. She wants to go again, despite having gone 35 times in a 10 year period. This rich guy has no idea what to do to keep his wife happy and stop going to Disney World.

  • Its hard to know where to start with this, but around 12 years ago my parents took me, my wife and kids to Disney World for the first time. My wife instantly fell in love with it and in the years that followed, as I was doing very well financially (I am the sole
    via u/That-Intention-4134
  • breadwinner for the family) we visited Florida a total of 35 times in a 10 year span. We even purchased a property near to the park so that we had a 'home away from home' and that we could Airbnb when we wasn't there.
    via u/That-Intention-4134
  • A large white house with two garages on the front of it
    via Eric Ardito

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • I have to admit though, that after the first 20 or so times I started to get rather bored of the parks. We knew them inside-out, and me and the kids pretty much rode all of the rides like we were on autopilot with very little interest or emotion. My wife, however, continued to love every moment of it.
    via u/That-Intention-4134
  • That said, the kids and I continued to enjoy the holidays though for a further 15 visits as it was still a nice change from the UK...sun, palm trees, a swimming pool etc....
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  • FF to now and our financial situation is different. Although we could technically still afford regular trips, it will eat into our savings and potentially cause us issues in the future. I've done everything I possibly could to make this withdrawal from Florida
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  • more bearable for my wife (we moved to Spain so we have good weather and a relaxing life) but she is still constantly nagging me for trips to Florida.
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  • White and blue castle under blue sky during daytime
    via Brian McGowan

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • I've started putting my foot down, giving her reality checks and being short whenever she brings up the subject, but I guess Disney is her obsession, her addiction and I'm the dg dealer who is suddenly making her go cold turkey! Any advice? AITAH??
    via u/That-Intention-4134
  • AlwaysHelpful22 You should not sacrifice your financial future to feed her Disney obsession, NTA.
    via u/AlwaysHelpful22
  • GENERAT10N_DOOM I too am the significant other of a Disney obsessed woman (although not as obsessed as yours). Disney is designed to capture people like your wife, hold their attention captive, and drain your wallet. the mouse always wins. Disney coined the term for their marketing strategy 'from the cradle to the grave.'
    via u/GENERAT10N_D00M
  • gordito_delgado I really don't get that obsession at all. Yeah the experience can be fun... if you go every 5 years, and with your kids. But even a couple of consecutive days you see there isn't THAT much to see. What possible enjoyment can there be after the 10th time in a year? It would be like watching a shallow overproduced movie over and over.
    via u/gordito_delgado
  • SpamLandy They went to Florida 35 times in ten years, that's like a week there every 14 weeks. Unless OP is a billionaire I suspect this ship might have sailed.
    via u/SpamLandy
  • SpamLandy I'm in the UK and when I was a kid if people went to Florida I filed their family as rich, international travel was even less accessible than now and it's a big deal to take your family even once
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  • EnterNameOrEmail NTA sell the Florida property if not yet sold, and tell her that if she want to visit Disney she needs to get a job and pay for it herself. Also there is Euro Disney it could work as a substitute for the real thing.
    via u/EnterNameOrEmail
  • That-Intention-4134 OP Funny you should say that. Right before this post I said to her: "ok alternative, sell the house in florida and then you can use your half of it to go there as much as you want. ill keep my half for retirement/kids future tho"
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  • TotallyNotMyself123 That is a very bad idea, your wife shouldnt spend her half on herself and you have to sit there pretty much putting your money into your families future. She is a adult, both of you should use the money from the house for a future plan, not only you. Dont enable her like that.
    via u/TotallyNotMyself123
  • That-Intention-4134 OP I knew she would never agree to selling the house (she loves it way too much), I said it as more of a way to try and get her to see the bigger picture. Right now it does well in rentals too, so I'd be shooting myself in the foot.
    via u/That-Intention-4134
  • coconut_curry_sauce The issue with being a passionate Disney adult is that everyone is gonna infantize your wife. You see it a lot in these comments that don't see her as an equal partner but a spoiled child. You have an investment house with a rental that seems to do well. Do you see yourself retiring in Florida?
    via u/coconut_curry_sauce
  • That-Intention-4134 OP Sadly can't retire to Florida due to the way visas work. This is why we moved to Spain - to retire somewhere with a Florida climate and slower pace. I also thought I might be able to get her to enjoy Disney Paris (but I'm having no luck with that)
    via u/That-Intention-4134
  • Longjumping-Lab-1916 Choice of retirement between Spain and Florida? No contest.
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  • Cat_Chat_Katt_Gato Absolutely nta. This really does sound like an addict, the problem is you having enabled her for so long. (Which i get, as I've basically enabled my actual dig addict husband the last 25 years, by not giving him the boot every time I said I would, and by living in poverty, so he didn't have to work hardly ever.)
    via u/Cat_Chat_Katt_Gato
  • That-Intention-4134 OP Its totally an addiction. When she's not at Disney she will spend at least a few hours every day reading about Disney and watching youtube videos of people that are there. Even videos of rides that we've been on a literal 100 times. Its 100% an addiction.
    via u/That-Intention-4134
  • coconut_curry_sauce My dude, therapy. There's deeper things at play.
    via u/coconut_curry_sauce

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family drama vacations disney wife reddit story disney world florida husband British family reddit thread Reddit family vacation vacation kids dad mom
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