How Much Time Between Disney Vacations

[kaysmommie]

We were the family on the street that had never been to Disney ( at least my kids had never been.) Kids were little and I was a sahm with a home -based business but we were in our budget years. Well Oct 05 I was diagnosed with cancer and operated on 2 weeks later. The surgery ended our hope for more kids, but seemed successful at beating the cancer. With a month of recovery ( read no driving, full time help for the kids and many down hours for a usually up mom) I decided it was time. For Christmas we told the kids our gift to them was a land/sea Dis trip in May 06.

It was the best, our little ones ( 3 and 5) were kids again ~ gone were the burdens they had carried while Mommy was sick and enduring complications in recovery. DH and I believe we need such a trip every year, to just laugh and have fun. We thought maybe rotating the wdw with the cruise from year to year, and making it work in the $ area would be a great goal for us.

Life is too short and too uncertain, my Sept test ( I go every 3 mos) was not all good and on Wed I go for another procedure. Planning our wdw grand gathering Feb 07 with for my mom's birthday ( her wish for this milestone year) is my therapy. (The girls do not know and every few days ask when we will go again!)

My hope and prayers are that $$ is the only thing we have to work on, that a future of family trips are ours for the planning and taking with a just a little more work to fund them. Do what makes you and those you love If for you and yours it is every other year, every year or every other month it does not matter, what matters is that it is for you and yours a magical time when you focus on love, laughter and the beauty that life should be.

Prayers to you and your family especially on Wedenesday. Really hope you get good news from here on out.

 

[Kanga1]

Prayers to you and your family especially on Wedenesday. Really hope you get good news from here on out.

Yes, prayers from us too!

We just kind of "fell" into Disney...and haven't looked back.

2005: DH had a business meeting in Orlando. We had never really considered Disney as a vacation before (we were the traditional beach people) but our DD was 4 and we thought it might be fun to spend a day or 2 at the parks. I started planning, found these boards, and that trip turned into a 10-day vacation! THE ABSOLUTE BEST VACATION OF OUR LIVES!!! We returned and decided to go back in 2007.

2006: One month after returning from our 2005 trip I couldn't take the thought of waiting 2 years...booked an 11-day trip (bringing extended family this time!) It was again WONDERFUL! Decided we wouldn't go back until 2008 to celebrate our 20th anniversary. TWO WEEKS after that trip, again couldn't stand the 2-year wait...booked 12 days for 2007! And DH and I both decided that Disney will now be a yearly thing for us. I feel very fortunate to have a DH who loves and "gets" Disney as much as I do. He's so fun-loving, carefree, and SO much fun to be around!

As for the affordibility of these trips...DH and I both have full-time jobs but we're certainly not rich by any means. We don't spend a lot on other things and I have money taken directly out of my paycheck into a vacation fund. That money is never touched and then by the time our trip rolls around, I have saved enough for everything...including souvenirs.

 

[mamaprincess]

I could never stand more than a year between trips.

 

[all4fun]

As little time as possible. LOL Last year we got AP's for Disneyland and went to DL in Sept, November, & April (taking a year off from WDW!) and last month we went to WDW and we're going again next month. DH is planning our next trip for May - we're hoping that we'll be there when they're doing the Star Wars weekends because ds really loves Darth Vader (don't ask me why!). There's always something fun and interesting going on at WDW.

We both work full time and we're not rich by any means, but we go as often as our budget and time allows. We live in a very modest house and drive very modest cars. It's just where we choose to spend our $$ mostly because feel that vacations are important. It helps that before ds was born we bought into DVC and we were able to pay it off quickly. People ask us "don't you ever go anywhere else?" Well the answer is "occasionally" but we never have as much fun as when we're at Disney!

 

[skeets024]

We were lucky enough to be there in Aug and in Oct of 2006. When we got back from our most recent trip, we booked a new trip for April '07. We are DVC members and annual passholders, so for us it's worth it. Now we have a 1 year old and visiting is an entirely different experience.

 

[Carnator]

We usually do a couple of long weekeneds and one long vacation. We had a long weekened March 06. A 10 day vacation Sept 06 and going for 4 days for Chrstmas Dec 06

 

[kaysmommie]

We went over Labor Day for a week and I really want to go for just 3 nights before Christmas but DH said "no not until next year I wanted to see all the Christmas decorations but I guess I have to wait a whole year. We plan on going yearly.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Before the boys were in school, we went about once every year or two.

We'll probably only go once every two or three years now. Part of that is because we can no longer go during the school year when the crowds are low. Another part of that is that they are old enough to get so much more out of so many other trips. We love wilderness adventures (canoeing in particular) but haven't done much because the kids were so small. Now that will provide significant competition for our limited vacation time.

 

[akamom]

We go every year.

 

[HopperFan]

This year we all went in Jan for a week, one went in March, some of us in May for 5 days, 2 of us in Sept for 8 days, all going back in Jan for 8 days. We have gone at least once a year since it opened. In all these trips we always find something new to do.

Things to factor, we live close by (8 hours). Taking airfare out of the equation can make a huge difference in how often.

We go often enough that many trips are only 4-5 days. We feel no pressure to do it all. Have even gone and only done the Magic Kingdom, Half Marathon and then home. Doing different things on different trips helps to keep it fresh.

We go for the best deal for the particular trip we are going, so we have stayed home away from home, deluxe, moderate, value and off site. With kitchen and without. We do all we can do to save money but maintain the magic and have a great trip. Always planning around the purpose of the trip (and the time of year weather wise - ie: in Jan, type of pool not important), and thinking ahead to when we can go again.

We are lucky to have lots of vacation time. So even with our WDW trips, we still had two other great 10 day vacations over the summer. Used hotel points, FF miles etc and had great trips on minimal $$. Wish WDW had hotel points

I can understand if you have a limited amount of time, some folks want to be able to vary their vacations. If we could only do one trip a year, no way would I get DH to WDW every time. I leave him home some trips as it is.

 

[HenDuck]

We mostly visit DL. DS (6) went when he was 3 1/2, 4, and 5. He'll be going again in the spring.

We won't go to WDW until 2009.

My DH says we should travel every other year. (Yeah, whatever)

If I had my way, we'd go once a year.

If my mom had her way, we'd go twice a year. But then she doesn't have a mortgage.

I like to travel at least once a year, it keeps me sane!

 

[Worfiedoodles]

The airfare is killing us! We've been in 2002, 2005 and will go in 2007. Ever since 2000, we've taken a week long vacation that was either to Disney or on a cruise (or both, we LOVED the land/sea!). 2008 we're celebrating an anniversary with a trip to San Francisco, and 2009 I suspect we'll be cruising again. I don't think I can wait until 2010, so perhaps we can do a long weekend sometime in between.

Also, we just had family move to Tampa, so we may make shorter visits that include day trips to the World.

In our case, it really is a function of location and economics. If we we're closer, we would go more often.

 

[pigletforever]

We jsut got back and we are planning on going back January 2008. it will be an Xmas present for DS(who will be 5) MIL is considering going as well. I am now anxiously waiting for 2008 prices to come out. DH told me to go ahead and book teh room so we have it. But I want to wait and see what happens with AKL concierge before I make a decision. Right now fo Jan 2008 they only have suites available. So we may be at Wilderness Lodge.