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.