How does your family start their vacation?

[HappyLawyer]

I thought this would be a fun thread, the day before our vacation, we go out to eat because we are gone a while and this way we do not mess up any dishes or leave garbage, we also take in a movie the night before, this helps with the excitment, i think we would go crazy knowing we leave the next day. Does your family have a vacation or pre vacation ritual?

 

[Disneyof3]

Ours actually starts the day we leave. We don't go to work that day, and the kids go to school and I clean the whole house and finish up the laundry. Hubby packs the van. Then the kids come home from school, we eat supper then we put the kids in there pj's and then the dishwasher is the last thing to go off before we head out the door. This year we left at 2pm in the afternoon so the kids went to school for the morning and then they came home and ate and had showers then into the pj's and away we go.
I start packing 2 weeks ahead.

 

[isla bonita]

Normal day for everyone else but me. I get my legs waxed and a facial. Kids go to school, husband to work. We eat supper then hesad to the airport.

 

[Eeyore_girl]

Ouch! I cant imagine waxing my legs - my eyebrows are enough, thanks. You're definitely tougher than me!

Anyways, my family always fights on vacation day. My father doesnt vacation, he just doesnt know how! He stresses about work the week before and then we all pack up in the car and about half an hour in my brother starts something and I end up upset. It will be different this year though- I'm doing all the car riding with my Aunt!

 

[HappyLawyer]

Normal day for everyone else but me. I get my legs waxed and a facial. Kids go to school, husband to work. We eat supper then hesad to the airport.

i forgot the day before we leave the morning of we get our nails and feet done and our hair braided. We pack about 1 week ahead

 

[runner26.2]

I usually use the day before to decide where we're staying, make ADR's, see about getting ressies for Cindy's breakfast, buy UG, and see whether there are any specials on airfare so we don't have to drive. We usually wait until arriving to buy tickets and then get those when we arrive at the Park around lunch time on a day with EMH in the morning.

 

[HappyLawyer]

bump cmon people share your secrets

 

[626ish]

You can always tell when we're about to go, because my mom gets into this super-hyper girly mode with consistent convulsions accompanied by "EEEEE!! I'm so EXCITED!!". I get all my pins together (while humming "One Little Spark", my dad sings "It's a Small World" at the top of his lungs while packing the car, and my brother (being the "cool teenager") tries not to grin when my mom goes into conniptions. ("EEEEE!! I'm so excited!")

 

[mamacatnv]

Since our Disney trips have always been with a Christmas Day departure here is what we do:

Christmas Eve we have a family & Friends get together, we do this every year regardless of if we are leaving the next day. This past year we had 16 people over for dinner. All the leftovers get packed up and sent home with our guests. The packing has been done and the duffle bags are piled up and ready to go, the house is clean since company is coming. Dinner is on paper plates to lessen the clean up. Christmas morning we get up to see what Santa has left, have breakfast and the cab arrives around noon to take us to the airport. The whole week before is chaos with packing, working and getting ready for Christmas.

We spend all day on airplanes and at various airports and arrive in Florida some time early to late evening. Last year we arrived into Tampa really late and spent the night in Tampa before heading to the inlaws in Bradenton (S. of Tampa) some years we arrive in time to have a late Christmas dinner. Some years we fly to Tampa and others to Orlando it really depends on the cost of the airfare and the rental car. We usually spend 4-6 days with Grammie and Grandpa before we depart for Disney. This gives us a little time to unwind and acclimate to East Coast time.

The night before we leave in-laws I do all the laundry and repack us. The morning of our departure from In-Laws to Disney I am up and trying to get everyone into the car as early as possible, it is a 2 hr drive from there. We stop for breakfast, usually McDonalds since it is quick and head to Orlando. This is when the "Are we there yets" start, and it is usually me and the teenage son! We stop at our resort, check in and drop off the luggage, then take the rental car to the airport and take ME back to our resort. This is usually accomplished by 1 or 2 p.m. Now we are officially at Disney and we head to MK to buy sweatshirts and see Mickey. Must see Mickey before anything else begins.

Our friends think we are nuts, but flying on Christmas day allows us to be home for Santa (very important to the kids) and it helps keep the cost of airfare down. This year we are doing the same thing, I bought the airfare early enough that we could have left Christmas Eve for the same price but the family voted to be home for Christams Eve as we all really enjoy our family/friends dinner. Our flight this year is to Orlando and will leave earlier in the day so we will have to be up early for Santa but we will arrive in time for dinner even with the 2 hr drive from Orlando.

I am excited thinking about it and it is 9 months away!

When we get home we continue to eat out for dinner until all the vacation money is gone this extends our return to reality by a couple of days!

MamaCatNV

 

[Azure]

Last year we had milk and orange juice that we didn't want to leave while we were away so my brother drank both of them AT ONCE. He had a stomach ache because it tasted like sour milkjuice. Other than that we eat something light and try to go to sleep.

 

[stahshee]

yes WE all clean. My house must be perfect when I come home. It is depressing to come back to a messy house. I mean clean!!!!!!

 

[swillis]

Without meaning to, we have started a tradition of leaving very early in the morning for the airport (usually sometime between 4-5am) The kids said this is the best part of any vacation. They say they love being in the car, in the dark and talking about the trip, or memories, just about anything.

Besides that I also have to make sure my house is clean before I leave.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

We actually leave the afternoon before our trip. We leave our home about 3:00 pm to drive to the Philadelphia Airport Hilton Hotel. We stay there the night before - park for free. The kids love having dinner there, and then we come back and let them watch a movie. We always take a very early flight so we have to be up by 5:00 to take the shuttle over the airport.

That day I make sure the house is cleaned completely and any last minute details (last minute run to CVS etc.) are done. My older ds's (23, 21 and 20) stay home (they're working while they're home from college) so I go over lists with them - a million times.

I feel like I'm in a frenzy that day. DH takes the coins to the bank. Last year he called me and I almost passed out. We had saved $800 worth of change! That was a very nice start to our trip.

Oh, and I check and double check everything. I have a fear of leaving our Disney dollars, annual passes or something else behind.

 

[hollyb]

I love this thread. The day before any vacation I clean the house really really good. I love a nice clean house when we get home. I do all the house laundry and our clothes. We have pizza and soda on paper plates and the kids can drink out of the cans(they each get their own). I know it weirds but this signals the start of vacation. The kids get baths and are put to bed at regular time. In the morning DH and I shower pack the rest of the car go over the pet care list with the lady who takes care of them. Then our last ritual before we leave is a stop at Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. We started this about 3 years ago. It is very important to the kids.

 

[Disneynutbsv]

We are starting our vacation on the day we leave. We don't do anything major...me, dh and ds all have to work until about 1:00 and then we'll come home, pack up our toiletries, put everything in the car and then about 2:00, leave for the airport. I am a hairdresser and I have my regular set ladies I do every Friday morning and if I miss 2 friday's they have a cow, lol. So, they will miss one friday appointment.
Luckily my parents are coming up to watch the house and take care of our animals. So, we don't need to worry about dishes or stuff like that.

 

[deedeed]

I clean too!! It is so strange how everyone loves to come home to a nice house. We also go out to eat the night before so no mess and make sure everything is in order. We are flying out at 9:40 on may 20th so I have to do it the night before!!

 

[carone0318]

Well, I end up packing the bags the day before the trip usually. I perform well under pressure - I guess ! I put the kids backpacks on the table which I packed with goodies and stuff for them to do on the plane.

Last year's trip was chaotic! We closed on our old home on 6/20, settled on our new home on 6/21, went to a viewing (dh's greandmother died) that night, on 6/22 went to a mass and burial, we left the luncheon early, went home and changed and had a 5pm flight that night! Never ever want to do that again. To those who like to clean and come home to a clean house. I came home to boxes and had to blow up an air matress to sleep on! But at least it was our new home that we just had built.... and it didn't hurt that I just came home from Disney .

 

[Lovemy3babes]

This is our first trip so I've never done this before. I'm thinking it'll go something like this: clean really well the day before. My husband is staying home so I'll have to grocery shop for easy things he can cook for himself. I'll double check travel documents, pack the kids' backpacks full of fun stuff, put them to bed early so they get some good sleep, eat a good lunch before we leave (our flight is at 5pm), make sure all the laundry is done, make a list of things for my husband and so on. And I'll triple check on things to keep my children occupied on the airplane; portable dvd players and Leapster for sure!!

 

[mickeymousemom]

If we leave in the afternoon its usually on a Friday and DD's have school that day. DH and I get up after the girls get on the bus(they get up early and get themselves ready..at 12 and 16 this is easy) and do last minute packing. We head into town to get last minute stuff for the trip, then pack the van and go pick up the girls from school. If we leave early morning, the day before is spent doing all the last minute stuff. We actually pack the van that night and do pizza or something for supper. One thing that's become a tradition is that the girls and I all get new jammy pants and t-shirts for the first day driving. Mine are ALWAYS Disney themed! We try to head to bed early but it never works. It seems DH and I are more excited than everyone else and end up getting only a few hours sleep. As I'm sure it is with everyone else, we are much like the WDW commercial where the little boy says he's too excited to sleep...then the dad says the same thing. We are up around 5 and out by 6, if at all possible. Because we have a toddler now, we stay the night in Georgia instead of driving straight thru. We make it to Orlando around lunch the 2nd day and its a tradition for us to eat at Sweet Tomato's before we get to WDW. Once we're on property we stay on property!

 

[tiff211]

Wow, I never thought of it as tradition but I guess it is. I start packing weeks before. We leave next Wednesday and I am just about done except for the last minute stuff. Helps that I packed all summer clothing and we are not wearing that here yet! We leave around 7pm in the evening (driving) and stop at my dad's in NC the 1/2 point around 5am. We spend the day there and leave about 4am the next monring. Getting to Orlando around 4pm. The girls go in their pj's. When we get to my dad's there are still sleeping for a couple of hours, which means we can sleep and little longer. We spend the day with family, and usually go out to eat. Grandpa gets to spoil her grandgirls as he calls them and DH especially just rests since he does the bulk of the driving. Then on the way back we stop at dad's again.