Love Disney But....

[DW mouser]

I am wondering where you all go when you are doing other then a Disney vacation. I would like to take my 3 grandkids and their Mom and Dad somewhere besides Disney in 2007. We have done Disney 6 times and I know there must be some other fabulous places too.Any ideas that won't break the bank?

 

[MomofCKJ]

We rent a house every year in Ocean Park, Maine and spend a week at the beach. Ocean Park (you can see it at www.oceanpark.org) is a wonderful, very family oriented, small beach town. We absolutely LOVE it there! We go off season (the last week of June, peak season begins 4th of July week) and our house is one block from the ocean and sleeps 8. We pay $1600 for the week, it jumps to $2300 peak season. The house has all the comforts of home (cable, AC, dishwasher, micro, etc) but still feels beach-housy!

Anyway, that is our annual trip and we love it. A week of the ocean, ice cream, shell collecting and a trip to FunTown (cool little amusement park in Saco Maine).

I would love to go to Disney each year but that is not going to happen. It would be nice to go every 2-3 years I think. We'd never give up our week in Maine though, we just love the time there.

Allyson

 

[I Love Pluto]

No Mickey? That is NOT a vacation!

 

[java]

Our favorite off disney year trip is Kiawah Island- rent a condo and rent a beach setup(chairs and umbrella waiting for you on the beach with your name on it!) We also love the Cape (we have stayed at the Chatham Bars Inn- great Children's program and great food! Lobster sandwich is the best I have ever had!) And there is the ocean- whale watching- mini golf- shopping all beachy type fun. Those are our 2 favs- Oh and for a quick trip we love Williamsburg. Stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge last time* (and as a Grandparent I think you have earned the right to VETO that one! lol)

 

[amytheobald]

If you like a resort feel and the kids like waterparks try one of the Great Wolf Lodges located throughout the U.S. Just google Great Wolf Lodge... We had a great relaxing 4 days last summer, and my kids cried when we left...and it was only about 200 a day including room, waterpark admission, and food for 5 of us!!We didn't leave the resort except for once during the stay, we ate onsite and just played and relaxed it was great!!

 

[tacomaranch]

Each late spring we load up our vintage 5th wheel, our horses and take off about 50 miles back in S. end. We live in the mountains so it is really back there. We spent the entire weekend cutting down trees and blocking them. We have lunch and dinner over the campfire each day. We are always tired from a hard days work.

Sunday afternoon we leave the 5th wheel up there and bring the horses and truck full of wood down. I use my horses to pull the big trees for me in spots I can't get the wheeler. They also are fun to take for rides around when we want to be quiet.

It is a work holiday but we stay warm cutting up the wood, then it keeps up warm all winter long.

 

[LaraK]

A couple of suggestions.....

The beach is fabulous and we always go at least once a year, even if it's just a long weekend (we live about 2 hours from Ocean City Maryland).

Another neat place is Williamsburg VA....you have the historic area, Busch Gardens and Water Country USA. About 45 minutes away you have Kings Dominion for more thrill rides.

 

[dbarker]

We are in Texas. So, we usually head for San Antonio for a week during our off years. We visit the Alamo and other local historic sites and we go to Sea World. We usually rent a Kabin at the KOA. We all love this.

 

[MomofKatie]

Our last 3 vacations (other than WDW) were:
-Easter break, Washington, DC. Did all the tourist-y monuments and Smithsonian stuff, went to Chinatown, and saw a DC United soccer game. Fun trip.

-4th of July week- DMom gave the whole family a cruise to the Southern Caribbean. Nice, but we discovered we aren't really "cruise people". Would have preferred just renting a house on one of the islands and spending the whole 10 days there.

- Visiting DMom and DDad in N GA- went to the GA Aquarium, visited friends, and just hung around Atlanta and the N GA mtns.

 

[flying_babyb]

Washigton DC is great! We went in july, HOt as heck but a blast. I would love to go to a beach house for a week or so, but unless there was a huge mall, i think i would be bored.

 

[mouseketeer_mom]

We are beach people. Bigtime! The thing with beach vacations is that they can be whatever you want them to be. Ocean City Maryland, Mertyl Beach, Nags Head... places like that offer the beach and lots of dining, shopping and other attractions. You won't get bored. On the other hand, there are some amazing "sea side" towns in New England that offer a different feel. We have been to Maine and Rye Beach NH a few times and loved it but be prepared, that is one cold ocean up there! For a more remote, really relaxing vacation, try the most southern or most northern points of the Outer Banks. The southern most point still has a beach town feel to it, it's just not too comercialized. The most northern point is our favortie. The hard road ends, and the shore line becomes the state road. The beach stretches another 15 to 25 miles with four wheel drive access only. We load up our expedition, drive up the beach until we find our house. We don't see a road or store again for 7 days. We rent a house with a pool table, swimming pool, lots of space. Beach it every day. We love it!

 

[Zoemakes5]

Well, our Disney trips tend to be combined with visiting family members, and the Disney portion is just part of it.
Last year, when we went to DL at Thanksgiving time, we went to DL for two days and then to Palm Springs for a week with the family.
This next time, we're going to DL for Spring Break, spending three days there and then going to San Diego area for a week.
Last time we went to WDW we spent a week with family in Orlando at Marriott Horizons and then went to WDW parks for only two days, and then one day of stuff "around" the parks, such as a character meal, shopping over at DtD, eating late lunch there, etc.
Just about everything else has been mini-trips. We like the Wilderness Lodge the best. They have fully furnished condos there. It's great in both summer and winter, though there's more to do in the summer.
We did take a really fun trip to San Antonio for spring break one year. It was wonderful. We were able to stay for less than $40 a night at the Days Inn there, get internet deal at Sea World of pay for one day, get the second for free. There's also 6 Flags there (though we didn't go) and I love the River Walk and the San Antonio Zoo.
I'd like to do Vegas.
I'd also like to do Washington DC with them. Both DH and I have been there numerous times.
I'd like to go back to San Antonio.

 

[Starr W.]

We love going to Northern Michigan in the Sleeping Bear Dunes area(Glen Arbor). We stay in a 2br condo, go to the beach and the boys love it. The condo we stay in has wonderful views of the lake, enclosed porch so we eat out there.

It's where we discovered condos/villas are the way for us to vacation. We like being able to eat breakfast in(no one is a big eater in the am) and everyone sleeps much better with the 2 br.

 

[latexscooter]

We mix it up and do different things. We've done National Parks and rented cabins on site. We've done "travelling trips" where we visit several places at once. We had one of these kinds of trips in August and hit Hershey Park, Amish country, Philly Zoo, Crayon Museum, and various places in Central PA. We love Disney the most and look forward to those trips the most but you really can do many other things too.

 

[Oceana]

I am wondering where you all go when you are doing other then a Disney vacation. I would like to take my 3 grandkids and their Mom and Dad somewhere besides Disney in 2007. We have done Disney 6 times and I know there must be some other fabulous places too.Any ideas that won't break the bank?

I know my FIL must think this too, thing is Disney is my default vacation destination. I know I can go to disney and have a great inclusive great fantastic time and so will my kids. Rain or shine we will have a fantastic time.

all other destinations leave room for issues... rain at the beach or closed museams in DC or whatever... I cannot come up with a place that has so much to do for every member of my family... when my kids are older I would love to travel the world with them... but til they reach a certain age and understanding of the world how much will they get out of it you know

dont knock the disney vacation it is like a garuntee on fun and when we work so hard no adays to have vacations I want that garuntee

julie

 

[daisyduck123]

All we've done is WDW the past few years.

In 2007, we are going 3 times...for a total of about 23 days/nights. Can't wait!

 

[SelfEmployedDebtFree]

Its been several years, but we did 6 different trips to Cancun. We went during hurricane season. It was cheaper than Myrtle beach. Cancun RULES! I'd go there over Disney (no flames haha) if it werent so darn expensive! We were going back when you could do a 5 day trip all inclusive at an amazing Cancun resort, INCLUDING AIR from Charlotte NC for less than $700.00 for 2 people!!! Yes, you read that right. We actually did it, All airfare, shuttles to the resort (Blue Bay Marina), all transportation around Cancun via the Blue Bay buses (since discontinued), scuba lessons, snorkeling rentals, swimming, sailing, sailing lessons, discoteque, and such ALL for $680.00 TOTAL for BOTH of us. Thats less than $400.00 per person INCLUDING AIR and RESORT!!! Those days are long gone. they went away when Cancun first caught on as a big destination. Id go back in a second, but we now have twice the family, and it would now cost us upwards of $3000 even WITH an awesome deal. Its Disney for us. We still do take mini trips to Myrtle Beach, OBX, Gatlinburg TN, Pigeon Forge, and Paramount's Carrowinds.

 

[DW mouser]

Thanks for all your replys!! I definitely have some places to read about now that you all have tried!!

I'm not knocking Disney, but we've been so many times and I know my husband and son would just rather do something else. We have lots of memories of our Disney vacations and I hope to have one in a few years again.

I'm thinking Williamsburg or one of the National Parks. We do have a camper. No horses though, just 4 wheelers!!

 

[Vannah]

We normally either go to San Antonio or try to see some other states. I've been to Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Alabama all in one trip. It was very fun. My grandparents also took me and one of my cousins to Oklahoma one year. It's exciting to get to see the different ways the land looks in the different states. Maybe you could try a road trip?

 

[tinkerbell-clara-kit]

i think alabama adventure is good in the summer and rock city or ruby falls in Chattanooga,Tennessee is a good place during anytime of the year.