Something we're encountering as the kids get into middle school ages is that camps where the kid needs to write just a sentence or two as to why they want to go is sufficient to make it so that the kids there actually want to be there. This has led to far superior experiences in our house - gifted program or not.
I also think there's a bit of a filtering effect as kids reach middle school due to parents realizing that when they are paying for camps, they might as well be paying for something their children are actually interested in instead of something the parents are interested in their children being interested in. Around 10-11 years old was the age my kids really started whining if they didn't want to attend certain camps I thought would be cool
polarbear
