Grandma makes granddaughter cry on Disney trip, then tells stranger who bumps into her ‘This is why I support ICE’
Grandma paid for part of the Disney trip, but her granddaughter was left paying in tears.
In a recent r/TwoHotTakes Reddit post, u/West-Squirrel6965 explained that her family won a $3,000 travel voucher but needed additional money to make the vacation happen. Her mother-in-law offered to cover the difference if she could join them. Based on the Redditor’s sentiments, it appeared to go from family vacation to family fallout quite quickly.
According to the woman’s Reddit post, her mother-in-law repeatedly belittled her husband, but it wasn’t until their amusement park trip that she started targeting their 8-year-old daughter as well. When the couple’s 11-year-old son was frightened of a ride, Grandma comforted him. On the other hand, when their 8-year-old daughter got nervous or tired, she reportedly muttered “shut up” among other insults. The girl eventually asked her mother, “Why does Grandma hate me so much?”
The experience continued to go downhill after they found out the Bluey show wasn’t running that day. The mother offered to buy her daughter something from the gift shop instead. Grandma allegedly shot down the girl’s choices, dismissing them as “garbage,” until she cried. Fed up, the mother finally intervened, saying: “Are you her mother? No? Then mind your business.”
Grandma’s Disney behavior leaves granddaughter in tears
The emotional cost of family fights aside, a vacation covering both parks can come with a hefty price tag, which helps explain why the grandmother’s offer was appealing. Depending on when the family traveled, Disneyland’s tickets can start at $104 on select dates. As for Universal Studios Hollywood, one-day admission tickets start at $99.95. That’s before accounting for meals, accommodations, and transportation.
The quarrel didn’t stay in the family for long, as the grandmother reportedly made a cold comment toward someone who accidentally bumped into them with a stroller. The stranger apologized in Spanish, and the grandmother reportedly made her ICE remark. The reddit poster said that she and her husband were “mortified”, so the couple apologized and left the line. The husband eventually told his mother to “STFU” (shut the f*** up).
Unfortunately, bringing up ICE during an otherwise ordinary encounter isn’t unheard of. In another incident, a woman allegedly threatened to call ICE on taco vendors in California. Racial discrimination from customers even found its way to food establishments, as a Pizza Hut customer told a Spanish-speaking couple to go back to Puerto Rico. In this family’s case, the grandmother’s ICE remark became another reason the couple wanted distance from her.
A possible inheritance complicates things
Back home, the woman decided she and her children should cut contact with her mother-in-law. One problem was that the MIL has previously threatened to leave her assets to charity if the family distances itself from her, and this was reportedly one of the reasons why the woman’s husband could not cut ties with her. “My husband doesn’t want to completely cut her off, partly because he wants anything he eventually inherits to go toward giving our kids the best possible start in life—college, their futures, etc.,” she wrote.
As her post progressed, she clarified that she doesn’t think her husband cared much for the inheritance. As for her own position, she shared that “At this point, no amount of inheritance is worth letting someone treat my husband and children this way.”
Research also suggests grandparent relationships matter in a child’s development. A 2026 systematic review covering 59 independent samples found a modest positive association between stronger grandparent-grandchild relationships and children’s developmental outcomes. The findings don’t establish what happened in this family, but the girl’s question about why Grandma hated her suggests the vacation was hardly the “Happiest Place on Earth” for her.
In an update, the mother clarified that her husband defended their daughter throughout the trip and supports the children having no contact with his mother. She believes his reluctance to cut ties himself may stem from his difficult childhood and fear of further conflict. The grandmother may have partially paid for the vacation, but it seems to have cost the family more than they bargained for.
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