Budget Friendly Vacation?

[Hootenany]

Hi All!
Looking for ways to make best use of a $1000 flight voucher that I received. Here is a bit of info to be considered...

Family of 5- Kids are 19, 17 and 13
Disney discount available to us until August (50% off rooms, 10% off tickets)
Home is NC
We have access to cheap flights to and from Orlando, so we prefer to use this voucher on a trip that isn't to Orlando.
Voucher needs to be used for flights in the US
DH and I aren't opposed to leaving kids at home.

Thanks in advance for all of your advice!

 

[kymom99]

How about Vegas?

 

[gottalovepluto]

Then I’d leave the kids at home and head someplace you and DH either love or have never been! Went to New Orleans for the first time since after Katrina this last summer and LOVED it. Are National Parks more your style? CA? Ski trip for 2 (if you ski)? Cozy mountain lodge? Beach retreat? Without the kids your options definitely expand

 

[Hootenany]

How about Vegas?

We have not been to Vegas yet- definitely on our list!

 

[Hootenany]

Then I’d leave the kids at home and head someplace you and DH either love or have never been! Went to New Orleans for the first time since after Katrina this last summer and LOVED it. Are National Parks more your style? CA? Ski trip for 2 (if you ski)? Cozy mountain lodge? Beach retreat? Without the kids your options definitely expand

Ooh- I hadn't thought of New Orleans!
I love the beach, hubby loves the mountains. We went to California last summer and LOVED it! Should have mentioned that we will probably have to travel during the summer months, otherwise skiing would have been fun!

 

[Monykalyn]

First- Homeaway can be great for cheap but better accommodations than a hotel. 2nd- New Orleans or Pacific Northwest would be great choice for couples trip- especially in summer I’d pick PNW. Portland/coast/Washington state are gorgeous!!

 

[sk!mom]

I think Vegas is enjoyable in the summer because you can spend so much time inside and there are impressive pools to enjoy. We're headed to Vegas on Monday and my one disappointment in going now is not being able to use the pool.

For me, New Orleans is miserable in the summer and I LOVE NOLA. I just can't handle the heat anymore.

Seattle is fantastic in the summer.

I'm not sure where you went in California recently but we loved San Francisco and Sonoma. It was wonderful in the summer.

 

[OhMari]

How did you get 50% off rooms at Disney.
I would do Disney. Disney has gotten so expensive, sounds like you have a lot of great savings going on.

 

[Darcy03231]

San Diego. Rent a house on VRBO or Airbnb. We bought a city pass and had a ball. We were there for a week and got the 5 day pass, which we thought was perfect.

 

[HeatherC]

If you have never been, Southern Utah is amazing! You could fly into Salt Lake City and rent a car to see the “Mighty Five” National Parks. Unlike anything else in the US.

I did a round trip cross country trip with my kids this past summer. We saw over 11 National Parks and visited almost every state from Massachusetts to California and back and saw unbelievable amazing places. Yet Utah was a highlight of the entire trip and completely blew us all away.

My dh and I are planning to go back next fall by ourselves.

It would be a great destination for your whole family or even just the two of you. Highly recommend it!

 

[kathy884]

I'd fly to Denver, rent a car, find a place to stay in Estes Park, and spend time in Rocky Mountain National Park (The mountains there are heaven on earth to me). Maybe spend one night in Denver before doing the two hour drive to Estes Park too, to acclimate to the altitude a little bit. As late as you can go in August is good, as many families have school starting earlier and earlier and crowds will be lighter. Their are shuttles from town (Estes Park) to RMNP popular trailheads too if you have a later start, as well as shuttles to popular trailhead from one of the visitor's center. The Trail Ridge Road drive up to the Alpine visitors center with stops along the way is so much fun. I usually after stopping their continue on to Grand Lake also and then come back. There are wonderful family friendly hikes and photo ops and wild life (elk are most prevalent). The hike to Emerald Lake from Bear Lake is my favorite. It's fun to do free ranger guided hikes, walks, and talks. This is my favorite all time place to go for a summer vacation.

Everyone is different in what they like, but thought I'd throw this thought out. Rocky Mountain National park is one that it's easy to spend a whole week at. It's a great size with so much to do, but not so overwhelming like Yellowstone or Grand Teton National park. You can stock up on snacks in a cooler at the Safeway and then be right on your way to the park.

 

[TwoMisfits]

Hi All!
Looking for ways to make best use of a $1000 flight voucher that I received. Here is a bit of info to be considered...

Family of 5- Kids are 19, 17 and 13
Disney discount available to us until August (50% off rooms, 10% off tickets)
Home is NC
We have access to cheap flights to and from Orlando, so we prefer to use this voucher on a trip that isn't to Orlando.
Voucher needs to be used for flights in the US
DH and I aren't opposed to leaving kids at home.

Thanks in advance for all of your advice!

So, with kids that age and the possibility of a flight, this seems counter-intuitive, but I'd say NYC. The 2 most expensive parts of the city are getting there and staying there, so you've got the 1st covered. And it seems they are the perfect age to enjoy all the tourist sites, and with all the passes and cheap same-day tickets you can get, you can probably find a very "budget" way to do the city in a fun way. As for the hotel, it may "pay" to stay in NJ at a free breakfast hotel as a group of 5 and train over...but that would require knowing exact dates and plans...

 

[Hootenany]

First- Homeaway can be great for cheap but better accommodations than a hotel. 2nd- New Orleans or Pacific Northwest would be great choice for couples trip- especially in summer I’d pick PNW. Portland/coast/Washington state are gorgeous!!

Thank you for this- I've been researching the Pacific Northwest and it looks incredible!

 

[Hootenany]

How did you get 50% off rooms at Disney.
I would do Disney. Disney has gotten so expensive, sounds like you have a lot of great savings going on.

My daughter has been accepted into the college program. If she is able to go with us, we will get 50% off of our hotel stay and she will get into the parks for free. With that "savings" (my husband always laughs at that) and the additional savings of $1000 off of our flight, it almost seems silly to me not to go. We did just go to Disneyland last summer for my son's Make A Wish trip and fell in love with it. We have all said that we would love to go back.

 

[Hootenany]

So, with kids that age and the possibility of a flight, this seems counter-intuitive, but I'd say NYC. The 2 most expensive parts of the city are getting there and staying there, so you've got the 1st covered. And it seems they are the perfect age to enjoy all the tourist sites, and with all the passes and cheap same-day tickets you can get, you can probably find a very "budget" way to do the city in a fun way. As for the hotel, it may "pay" to stay in NJ at a free breakfast hotel as a group of 5 and train over...but that would require knowing exact dates and plans...

NYC is definitely a contender!

 

[rosegoldmonorail]

hmmm, what about disneyland?

 

[stsomewhere]

cruise!

 

[starry_solo]

2 of you or the entire family?

DC? NYC? LA?

I like the national parks so Yellowstone or Yosemite would be a good idea too. Plus, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion National Parks, that sort of thing.

 

[pens4821]

I'd fly to Denver, rent a car, find a place to stay in Estes Park, and spend time in Rocky Mountain National Park (The mountains there are heaven on earth to me). Maybe spend one night in Denver before doing the two hour drive to Estes Park too, to acclimate to the altitude a little bit. As late as you can go in August is good, as many families have school starting earlier and earlier and crowds will be lighter. Their are shuttles from town (Estes Park) to RMNP popular trailheads too if you have a later start, as well as shuttles to popular trailhead from one of the visitor's center. The Trail Ridge Road drive up to the Alpine visitors center with stops along the way is so much fun. I usually after stopping their continue on to Grand Lake also and then come back. There are wonderful family friendly hikes and photo ops and wild life (elk are most prevalent). The hike to Emerald Lake from Bear Lake is my favorite. It's fun to do free ranger guided hikes, walks, and talks. This is my favorite all time place to go for a summer vacation.

Everyone is different in what they like, but thought I'd throw this thought out. Rocky Mountain National park is one that it's easy to spend a whole week at. It's a great size with so much to do, but not so overwhelming like Yellowstone or Grand Teton National park. You can stock up on snacks in a cooler at the Safeway and then be right on your way to the park.

I love this suggestion. We have family in CO, so we go every few years. We love it! We aren't hikers, but did the Emerald Lake hike this year, and it was awesome. We went last week of August and the crowds weren't bad at all.

 

[ldo]

if you are willing to chip in extra $, then I would look for discounted flights where you cannot drive and take the whole family for a trip out West. $1K will get 5 one ways to California, but you'd have to pay another $1K to get back. We took our family or 5 same ages to LA and San Diego and loved it. We stayed outside of SD in the hills (which was beautiful) in a condo for cheaper lodging and cooked dinner each night. We went to Calsbad, Missions, battleship, and San Diego zoo. Totally different scenery than East Coast. I'd also recommend flying to Phoenix to see Sedona and the Grand Canyon. You can also drive from Vegas--but it's a long 6 hour drive.We have also done P NW and loved it, esp. taking the ferry over to Olympic Peninsula from Seattle.
You can easily drive form NC to DC, so don't waste airfare on that. NYC is also great. There is a Hyatt Place in NJ near the Statute of Liberty that sleeps 5.
For a couples trip, I'd do San Fran or Vegas. We flew into Vegas and drove to Zion Nat Park about 2 hours away.