I was raised by very frugal parents. They took me to Disneyland twice (when I was 4 and when I was 16.) My only souvenirs were ears and lots of pictures. I know that going to Disneyland was a major splurge for my parents.

I don't feel like I had a deprived childhood at all. In fact it's the other trips we took that I remember. One of my favorites was when we would take day trips to Carmel, hit the white sand beaches to fly kites and then browse through the art galleries.

I think sometimes the best thing for kids is to allow them creative freedom (supervised though.) I remember making up all sorts of fun activities with the neighborhood "gang". We'd have parades or pretend we were in Hawaii (put on our swimsuits and use a towel as a "boat".) We'd also make a "Bedouin" tent in the living room using chairs and a blanket and pretend we were Nomads. Camping in the backyard was fun too. I think lack of video games and no cable helped with this, but I'm sure todays kids still have imaginations.

I don't believe that you'll scar your children by limiting or forgoing the amusement park vacations.