Traveling with kids fails most often not from a bad destination choice but from an adult-paced itinerary applied to a trip that needed a much slower, more flexible one.
Scheduling activities around naps and regular mealtimes, rather than fighting against them, prevents most of the meltdowns that derail a family travel day. A slightly less ambitious itinerary that respects this schedule usually goes better than an ambitious one that doesn't.
Long flights, drives, or layovers need their own plan - snacks, activities, and downtime options - separate from the destination itself. Transit time is often the hardest part of family travel, not the destination.
A day where the family saw one thing and everyone stayed reasonably happy is a genuine win with young kids, even if it looks unambitious compared to a solo traveler's itinerary. Measuring family trips by adult travel standards sets up disappointment that doesn't need to happen.