Key West with Kids

[retailman]

That is your opinion, and you are entitled, But I would not call Female
imperators and totally nude club family entertainment. My wife and I have
been to Key West many years. The question was asked if it was appropiate
for kids and to that my answer is no. You and Disney can bring your kids
there are anywhere else you would like.

 

[bdh]

That is your opinion, and you are entitled, But I would not call Female
imperators and totally nude club family entertainment. My wife and I have
been to Key West many years. The question was asked if it was appropiate
for kids and to that my answer is no. You and Disney can bring your kids
there are anywhere else you would like.

Since you own at Qtr House, I hear you saying that your family and kids don't travel with you to NOLA (or did they close all the strip clubs and sex shops there and it's like downtown Disney now?). You should also avoid the "family beach" town of Myrtle Beach as they have gentleman's clubs and strip joints there.

The point is: a lot of towns have adult entertainment establishments, the fact they exist does not mean families and kids should not visit the area. As is the case anytime a person/family travels, you need to be aware of your surroundings. Telling someone that KW is not appropriate for kids due to some establishments on Duval is a disservice to the multitude of other activities in the area. Since you've been the KW many years, I would have thought you'd have seen that KW is more than Duval St - just like NOLA is more than Bourbon St.

PS: The next time you visit KW, I hope you don't walk past the The Key West Butterfly & Nature Conservatory on Duval when the butterflies are mating.

 

[retailman]

I do not understand where you are trying to go with this link. The OP asked
for opinions of Key West, which I responded to as other did. Now I feel you
want to attack me for that possition. I have always tried to help other Tuggers when asked a question about any area i new about. I have been
timesharing over 22 years and have some knownledge.

About me taking my family to New Orleans, they do go and enjoy it.
My son goes and has a great time on Bourbon Street, but he is 45 not a
kid.

 

[vacationhopeful]

While Walt never personally told me, but I'm thinking if Disney felt KW was an inappropriate location for families or kids, they wouldn't stop there on a weekly basis.

Just saying.

Disney is ALL about making MONEY! This corporation is NOT the morals police. It is a port of call for several reasons: it is a short float down the coast (less fuel), looks good on the schedule, no customs fees, no hostile foreign governments, port fees could be low, and it fits into the float time to Western Carribean schedules. Plus, if you missed your plane connection, you can still catch your cruise.

Key West did not just build the dock and the cruise ships just came. I am sure there are financial incentives (a form of kickbacks) paid to the cruise lines also.

 

[AKE]

Let's get real! I have been to Key West many times over the past 20 years from the time that my kids were small. Unless you lock your children in a soundproof, windowless room with no interent, email, cell phone, etc, you are not going to expose them to something new (and most of your kids' information will come from their friends, no matter how moral you may think that their school or friends are). From my experience, the more you try to hide or deny something, then the more 'interesting' it will become for kids. There are LOTS of families at Key West on any given day (and no-one ever had a blindfold on their kids from my experience). One of the highlights is going to the pier at sunset and watching the jugglers, magicians, acrobats, etc. Some of these acts have been there longer than we have been going to Key West and there are many many families with their kids who go and watch this every night (including ourselves).

Today Key West is tame by what is was like 20+ years ago. If you walk Duval street after dark you may see same-sex couples (who can now legally marry in many states as well as Canada etc) holding hands etc BUT you will see this in New York City and every other citys as well; more impressionable will be the bars with live music and people walking down the street with drinks in their hands (but are your kids going to be in bars at 11 pm?). In the daytime Key West is full of tourists with the usual touristy things - no different than anywhere else. I should note that my kids also went to New Orleans when they were small. What impressed them was a group of rubbies sitting/sleeping on the sidewalk - my kids were oblivious to everything else (and even with the rubbies my kids looked at them, made a face, and then walked past without further comment).

 

[bdh]

I do not understand where you are trying to go with this link. The OP asked
for opinions of Key West, which I responded to as other did. Now I feel you
want to attack me for that possition. I have always tried to help other Tuggers when asked a question about any area i new about. I have been
timesharing over 22 years and have some knownledge.

About me taking my family to New Orleans, they do go and enjoy it.
My son goes and has a great time on Bourbon Street, but he is 45 not a
kid.

Not attacking you for your opinion, but since you provided such a narrow response to the OP (as in, "No, take your kids to Orlando"), it's necessary to provide the OP with the rest of the information on the topic.

Portraying KW solely as the center of immorality due to the existence of a few adult entertainment establishments is wrong. The multitude of museums, historic sites, art galleries, fishing, snorkeling, jet ski, beaches, butterfly conservatory, restaurants, sunset celebration, etc. establishments are slighted by your initial "no" and the follow up the singular "strip club and naked bar" responses.

No doubt I was entertained by your comments that because there's adult entertainment in KW that families and kids should not go - and couldn't help myself in regards to how "pure" NOLA is.

FWIW Our family visited NOLA when the kids were ages 12 to 19 - simply used some common sense and didn't go see the "sites" on Bourbon St at midnight.

In closing, sharing of information is a wonderful thing (here on TUG and anywhere else) - but the more information an individual has, the more informed and educated a decision they can make.

 

[retailman]

My view is not any narrow than yours, thinking come on down to KW with
the kids, they want see anything that they should not see.

This is gone on to long, One finale time. The OP asked for opinions, I gave them mine. Right, wrong or indifferent it is still my opinion not for kids.
You are know one else has to take that advise.

Leave the dead horse alone.

 

[bdh]

My view is not any narrow than yours, thinking come on down to KW with
the kids, they want see anything that they should not see.

This is gone on to long, One finale time. The OP asked for opinions, I gave them mine. Right, wrong or indifferent it is still my opinion not for kids.
You are know one else has to take that advise.

Leave the dead horse alone.

Your 13 word initial "informational" response is now duly noted as a single word opinion - "No".

Agreed, you have killed the horse.

 

[Karen G]

Since the OP seems to have gotten the information he/she requested, I think we're done here.