A woman going to Disneyworld without her children has divided and baffled the internet.
Maddie, 30, who describes herself online as a “Disney and Universal travel specialist,” posted on social media that she dealt with “mum guilt” when leaving her children to go to Disneyworld without them.
“Have you ever gone on a solo vacay to Disney without the kids?” She asked.
“I love taking family vacations to Disney, and I do 99 percent of the time! But every now and then it’s so nice to let loose and be a kid without the kids.”
The 30-year-old didn’t seem to expect any backlash for sharing her holiday on social media and added, “This is your sign to take the trip, mamas.”
The comment section quickly became not about Maddie’s trip but far more about people’s judgments on whether she should have taken her children or not.
Maddie added in the comments that she’d be taking her two young children in three weeks but she was glad she went without them first and got to drink and ride big rollercoasters.
The post went viral after a screenshot of the clip was shared on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Someone reposted Maddie’s decision on X, and joked, “I’m Going to have to side with the mum guilt on this one.”
That tweet amassed over 14 million views and kicked off a big debate in the comment section.
One person responded and amassed over 18,000 likes by declaring that they only go to Disneyworld “without” their kids.
“I am a full person outside of being a mother and I am not obligated to take my children on my vacations. Family trips exist for a reason,” the mum argued.
The poster replied that while that was clearly the mum’s right and she had no issue with someone taking a vacation without their family, she couldn’t ignore the irony of the situation.
“It’s my right to think it’s very funny to leave your kids at home to go to a kid place,” she replied.
People on Maddie’s side argued that even though she was going to have a child-friendly place, that didn’t mean she had to bring her children.
“It’s good for mums to have a break, and it’s good for kids to learn they don’t get to do every fun thing they hear about. Not seeing the problem,” one wrote.
Another wrote that she “kinda” understood where the mum was going from because every time she goes to a theme park with her husband and child, they can’t enjoy certain rides because their toddler isn’t old enough to ride them.
“Mothers can go and have fun in Disney without their kids. They are allowed to take a break and have fun on their own, and it’s not like they can only go to Disney once, they can bring their kids next time,” another pointed out.
On the other hand, plenty of people were baffled that she’d chosen to go to a place crawling with children without her own.
“I genuinely cannot comprehend why I would want to go to Disney without kids. Trips without them for sure, but Disney?” One wrote.
Someone compared it to the equivalent of “leaving the kid at home to go get a Santa photo at the mall.”
One called her actions “crazy,” another said it was “embarrassing,” and one wrote that they couldn’t “imagine” doing something like that without their kids.
In general, people didn’t take issue with the young mum going on a vacation away from her children; most were just confused as to why she’d chosen Disneyworld of all places.
