Young Girl Alleges Parents Confined Her to Hotel Room During Disney Vacation

Some stories are just entirely tragic for all parties involved. However, how a situation is handled plays a major part in who is considered the villain of the tale. One young girl recently took to social media seeking validation for her outburst against her brother. What she revealed during the story’s context is shocking and heartbreaking to read, yet a complex scenario with many different opinions.

The Harsh Reality of Life

Reddit User u/Prestigious-Push47 posted her dilemma in the platform’s popular r/AITA subreddit. She originally sought advice over her controversial outburst against her autistic brother. The 16-year-old teenager sought refuge with her friend’s family because she felt neglected at home due to her brother’s condition.

While planning a Disney World trip with the friend’s family, her brother caught wind and “had a really big meltdown.” Her parents then tried to keep her from going as a solution. Pent-up issues and feelings burst, and the user ended up in a situation where she voiced her negative feelings about her brother to her parents. However, the story got deeper, and responders latched onto new information to formulate a response.

Confined to a Disney Hotel

The user added context to the situation in which she painted a picture of parental neglect due to her brother’s condition. Her family lives on the west coast, and she remembered visiting Disneyland Resort in California with her parents and brother when she was 11. She recalled the vacation as a horrible experience. She claimed her brother ruined the trip for her, and her parents confined her to the Disney hotel for most of the time.

I’ve been to Disneyland once with my family and it was horrible. My brother threw a huge tantrum on the first day because he wanted to go on the rides alone and sit between mom and dad so I had to stay in the hotel most of the time.

Users immediately wanted to know more about this particular situation, and the teenager clarified by adding more context.

I was 11 when the Disneyland incident happened. My brother was mostly nonverbal then but when we were about to leave the hotel he started screaming and saying no while pointing at me. My parents calmed him down briefly but when we got on our first ride he started screaming again so my parents told me to go back to the hotel. I snuck out the second day and went on like two rides before I ran into my parents and they told me to back because they didn’t want me to be out there alone.

She then edited the post more to clarify that she didn’t blame her brother for the problem. She blamed her parents for how they handled the issue.

I don’t blame my brother for what happened at Disneyland. He was four. I blame my parents for not finding a better way to handle the situation. He was nonverbal at that time but he can talk now. He isn’t high functioning exactly but he does understand what’s going on around him. He has basic life skills but can’t be on his own for very long.

AITA for telling my mom that I don’t give a f*ck about my autistic brother?
byu/Prestigious-Push47 inAmItheAsshole

Responses Pour In

The thread has already received over 16,000 upvotes and 3,000 comments in less than a day. Users are engaged in the issue, and the responses are mostly appalled at the parent’s decision to validate the brother’s tantrum. Many believe it was a horrible solution to the problem, and leaving their daughter in the hotel showed neglect and only validated the brother’s behavior.

NTA. Who cares about a few unkind things you said when they took you to Disney, and LEFT YOU IN THE HOTEL because your brother said so. That’s pretty wild, you deserve your fun Disney vacation too. And when you graduate from HS/college/whatever, invite Rachel’s parents. Her mom sounds like the best.

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byu/Prestigious-Push47 from discussion
inAmItheAsshole

One response has over 28,000 upvotes and is blunt about the parents:

NTA. They’ve left you behind in hotels so they can enjoy vacations? They’ve gone days without even noticing you weren’t home? Go be with your real family OP, because they sure aren’t it.

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byu/Prestigious-Push47 from discussion
inAmItheAsshole

Knowing the Facts

Some users tried to blame the brother. However, it is important to understand that autism is a spectrum. One response sought to call attention to this:

We have no idea how much the brother’s autism impairs him. Everyone on AITA acts like autism just makes you slightly quirky but it is a spectrum. For some people autism IS an excuse. None of that excuses the parents.

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byu/Prestigious-Push47 from discussion
inAmItheAsshole

Finally, another popular comment highlighted the teenager’s initial question. It was made blatant that the user should not have had the outburst in front of her brother; he is just another innocent in this sad situation.

Soft Y-TA for saying what you did in front of your brother, who is another innocent in this whole mess, but you are entitled to be a 16 yo and have some fun on vacation.

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byu/Prestigious-Push47 from discussion
inAmItheAsshole

In the end, the outpouring of comments and responses showed the whole situation’s impact on people. The parents arguably have made some poor decisions, but navigating these waters brings up emotions and issues on all ends, none of which are positive. However, confining a child to a hotel during a Disney vacation in order to appease another seems to be an unpopular resolution.