Do you find that you only vacation at WDW? How do I get out?

[RoyalCanadian]

I simply can't imagine limiting vacation to only Disney related ventures -- there is so much more in the world to see and do and discover. Like a previous poster, I have a bit of travelling under my belt (as well as a few extra pounds I would like to be rid of.) I visited Great Britain twice while growing up and enjoyed car trips to Florida with my family (including non-Disney trips to the Gulf Coast). I spent 10 weeks backpacking through Australia after graduating from university. DW and I have honeymooned in Great Britain (with a day in France to visit Vimy Ridge, a major Canadian battefield of WWI), visited Williamsburg, Quebec City, and New Orleans as well as visited friends in Montreal with DD and enjoy summers on Lake Huron at her parents' cottage in Sauble Beach, Ontario. On the horizon is a trip to Germany to visit the "Luther-lands" and another trip to Great Britain and France (OK, OK we're taking DD to Disneland Paris as her first Disney experience!). There's another trip to Quebec City this summer. I still need to see Newfoundland & Labrador, as well as Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut to have been in every province and territory in Canada. Add to that the 35 or so American states I've never seen and there's a whole lot of North America to cover.
As for DVC -- we'll be home in Jan. '05 with plans for Mar. '06, but after that we will probably bank and borrow our points to stay in 1BRs and 2BRs (and maybe even a GV @ OKW or BWV) every couple of years instead of making annual trips with our 150 points. This way we'll be able to take friends with us. I have great memories of visiting Savannah, GA as a child -- HHI would give us the opportunity to go there again. (Is the Pirate's House Restaurant still going?)
Yes, Disney is a fun place to go -- but I'd be a much poorer person if my only impression of the rest of the world is what I learn from wandering around World Showcase @ EPCOT. Suffice to say that DVC will not limit our vacation habits.

 

[pumpkinboy]

Originally posted by Cruelladeville
...I do have a Marriott that I use for renting out usually, but next year I am using it in Florida. I bought it to use to travel to other places, but it hasn't worked out too well, although I plan to change that...

Try the Marriot Custom House here in Boston some time. In terms of location, architecture and amenities, it is hard to beat for an urban/ historical vacation. The Freedom trail passes within a block or two.

As for the original post, DW and I miss going other places as we did before we had kids, and at some point we'll go to other interesting places. But we have a 6 yr old DS who is completely wheelchair-bound and has lots of special needs, so WDW works great for us. DS is a boy who does not like his routine interrupted, so has hated most vacations we have taken with him; but when we got him to WDW for the first time, WOW, the smiles that came from that boy were breathtaking. And when we are there it's almost like being completely normal, bcs having a wheelchair bound family member just doesn't restrict you the way it does in the rest of the world; plus, he gets treated like royalty by the CMs. That's when we decided to investigate DVC.

His now 4 yr old princess loving sister does not mind a bit either. When she complained over the weekend that we couldn't have a pet that she "can pat and rub its belly" (we have fish; Mom is allergic to cats & dogs), I explained to her that if we had a cat or dog to take care of, we wouldn't be able to go to WDW. She agreed that she would rather go to WDW every year than have cat or dog. Yeah, it was not entirely true, and a little manipulative, but hey, that's part of the fine art of parenting, right?

 

[MinnieGi]

We do Disney plus other vacations. Even if we didn't own DVC I know we'd go back to WDW every year and currently we're doing twice a year. It is just such a great family resort and we have a 3yo and another on the way. Even though we make it a point to venture to other places we just love returning to WDW!!!

We are planning a week at the beach in Lewes, DE this summer with some weekend getaways to the DE beaches throughout the summer. In past years we have also taken DD for a week's vacation to Rocky Mountian Nat'l Park, CO; Wash. D.C.; NYC; Rehoboth Beach, DE. Its nice going to other places, but it always feels like coming home when we return to WDW!!!

 

[Jecca]

Yeah, I definitely have to have my WDW fix at least once a year. And when we have a few extra days of vacation and want to get away, I can't deny that I call CRO to see if there are any good cash rates available. But lately we've also started adding little weekend road-trip getaways too. We've gone to New England and spent several days in Boston, we've gone to Vegas and are going again this July, and we're hoping to get a room at HHI in late June. These are just extras to me, though. My DVC trips to WDW are what I consider my "main" vacations.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

I went and found this from an earlier thread. Although we only vacation at WDW, I think donald@home said it very well...

Originally posted by donald@home
I have been going to WDW at least once a year since 1979, and since becoming a member of DVC seven years ago, I have gone to WDW, VB, HH and DCL many times in a year. I don't get tired of my Disney trips, but I must admit the parks do not hold the same attraction for me that they once did. We don't go to WDW for the parks anymore, but we now go for relaxing in beautiful resorts, wonderful dining, fun recreation, beautiful holiday decorations, fun times with friends and family, and a much needed escape from the cold New England winters. We still go to the parks, but we treat them more like side dishes rather than the main course. We always enjoy the parks for special events like the Mickey's Holiday Party, the Halloween Party, and the Food and Wine Festival. We still vacation at other places, and even have a time share at the Westin St. John for our non Disney Trips. This year alone, in addition to Disney/VB in Feb, Oct, and Dec, we are going to Arizona, Las Vegas, Montreal, San Francisco, and St. John. So just because you own a Disney Timeshare, you can still go to other parts of the world in addition to your trips to Disney.

By the way, I have visited most cities in the US, and many in the Caribbean, Mexico, Canada, Bahamas and Bermuda, and the only place I will spend my vacation time is WDW.
We actually enjoy our Disney vacation more and more each time we go, and can not imagine getting tired of it.

MG

 

[pearljim]

Well, we tried Cape Cod last year but I couldn't find one hidden Mickey.

 

[Disney4ever4569]

I am new to DVC and haven't used my membership yet. Up to this point, all our vacations have been at Disney World. Now that I'm a DVC member I'm still looking foward to Disney World (that's why we bought DVC), but also maybe trading out some points for a week in one of the World Collection (Timeshare) places every once in a while. We love Dinsey resorts (especially Boardwalk, Beach Club) We could stay at the resorts with just going to parks 1 or 2 days. They are just great resorts.

 

[laceemouse]

Hey Royal...I like your style! We have not been to Savannah in years (we used to live nearby in Jacksonville) but as far as I know The Pirates House is still there. What a great place, thinks for the memory jog!!! The other TS we own trades through RCI and they have a place at Tybee Island which is right by Savannah...I have now added this to my "to be visited in the future" list...Happy Travelling!!!

 

[K9pal]

Our "system" in the past was one small vacation and one big vacation per year. Small was usually Gatlinburg/Smokies, big was WDW, cruise, Hawaii, etc. Then DH made plans to retire, and I get 5 weeks vacation per year, so last fall we bought into the DVC at the 150 point level. Since it's just the 2 of us, we can now go on one small and TWO big vacations each year! We love to cruise also, but at this point we aren't interested in the Disney cruises. And although we LOVE WDW, we also love to try new places and new adventures.