Northeast DISers how often

[disneysteve]

By the time you get through DC it is smooth sailing.

There is actually a way to bypass DC. I learned about it several years ago and it has been great. Probably cuts at least an hour off the trip.

 

[lauradis]

There is actually a way to bypass DC. I learned about it several years ago and it has been great. Probably cuts at least an hour off the trip.

whats the way to bypass dc or is that a family secret that we have to pay for in disney dollars?????

 

[set1208]

We seem to go every 3-4 years. My DH isn't a fan so I can only twist his arm so much...lol

I've flown every time, stayed onsite and only used Disney transportation. This year, we have four kids so we opted for a villa, a rental car, and we will do a couple Disney days mixed in with SW and Legoland and a day or two of down time. We are flying also. We drive to NC from CT every summer and I'd rather give birth than do that drive!

This is my fourth time going. My first time was in October with just me and my DD when she was 4. The second time was in february with DH and I with our kids who were 9,2,1. The third time was me and DD for her tenth bday in May. Now we are headed down next week as a family of six.

I like October for the MNSSHP, the warm weather and lower crowds. This is the first time pulling my kids from school but we haven't encountered any problems with the administration. They are all getting some type of work to do while away so they don't fall too behind.

 

[AmberHeartsDisney]

We just bought a DVC so we'll be going 2 times a year but normally we go every year and we fly.

 

[Marionnette]

I go about once per calendar year, give or take a month or two. We just got back from a 10-day trip and I'd like to return in Sept. 2014. In 2012, I went in January and June. I also went twice in 2011 - January and Sept. Prior to that it was about once every 15 months.

We live in the Philly area and always fly. None of us enjoys long drives and our vacation time is precious. Even with the fiasco with our flight out of Philly last week, we still arrived far earlier than we would have if we had driven.

 

[dalmatian7]

We went every year with my parents - they would be in FL and meet us there (we flew in from RI). Sadly, my mom passed away quite suddenly last year. It's just not the same without her, so we haven't been back. Such memories we made, though. Unforgettable.

Enjoy your memories. My dad passed 6 years ago and I regret not having gotten a last trip in with him.

We average about 2 years between trips granted some have been longer (2009-2013) and some were multiple in a year (08 and 2013). we are lucky to have family in the Daytona Beach area so can visit them and do a quick day trip to WDW. I have driven, taken the bus, and flown to FL. I prefer to fly even though we can't get a direct flight from our local airport unless we fly into Sanford. Even with that we can leave NEPA at 6 am and be on ME before noon.

Right now we will prob do a day trip during a week long visit to Daytona Beach in 2014 with plans for a 8 day trip in 2015 and a 10 day in 2017 for my 40th bday. One good thing about turning 40

 

[Brittmarie04]

We're in south Jersey and have been going every year. The only reason we don't go more often is because of our daughter being in school. We used to go twice a year until she hit middle school. Once she hit high school, we were stuck going in August as pulling her out of school was too hard. To compensate, we started going for 2 weeks instead of 1.

Our record was 4 visits in 13 months.

We typically drive.

I agree we like to go twice a year but my daughter is getting older and I'm nervous about pulling heroit of school. Next year she will be in middle school

 

[Brittmarie04]

We have went 2 times in the past 3 years. In Jan 2013 we did a Disney cruise followed by 3 days at Disney, we are doing the same thing cruise then disney world jan 2014 .we live in Ohio so have always flown and will be flying in Jan 2014 already booked flights on southwest. The drive from where we are is about 18 hours and that's without any stops.

 

[disneysteve]

whats the way to bypass dc or is that a family secret that we have to pay for in disney dollars?????

Sure. Send your Disney Dollars to me at....

Well okay, I'll share but just with you lauradis. Don't tell anyone else.

Folks often forget that 95 hasn't always been there. In fact, the first time my wife and I drove to Disney way back when, 95 wasn't finished all the way from PA to FL. There was somewhere along the route, I can't recall where, where it wasn't done yet.

Anyway, as you approach Baltimore, instead of staying on 95 and taking the Ft. McHenry tunnel, get on 895 toward the Harbor Tunnel. After the tunnel, take the split onto 895B. Follow that to 97 South. Take 97 to 50/301 heading West/South. When 301 splits off, take that South and stay on it all the way until it reconnects with 95 just North of Richmond, Virginia.

If you'd like, you can also bypass Richmond. From 301, get on 295 instead of going all the way to 95 (take a look at a map to see where all of these directions actually go).

Some parts of this route go through commercial areas as opposed to all being highway but if you've ever been on the D.C. Beltway you know how bad that traffic can be. This route may add a few miles to the trip (and actually not that many by our measure) but if it lets you avoid sitting in bumper to bumper DC traffic for an hour or so, it's well worth it. We've used this route multiple times including just this August and it works great.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

For a while we were REALLY into WDW, USO, SW etc. We loved all of it and couldn't get enough. Luckily back then we could get flights $49-69 each way and even once got $29. We would go 3x/year then. Sometimes more. Last year we cruised on all 4 DCL ships. (one was just me & ds then 12.)

Now our kids are older so it's not so easy to miss school at all and flights are crazy high. Dh & kids are totally parked out & cruised out so even with the 35% off in spring & can't muster anyone to join me. I could still easily keep going.
Oh well.....It was good while it lasted.

 

[PatriciaH]

I have been going about 3 times a year to WDW and DH comes 2 times a year with me. We go about 1 time a year to DL. We stay with my parents in FL (they live 5 minutes from WDW) and have passes to WDW and DL. We stay with friends in CA, but usually do a night at DL. Our friends also send us airline passes-so that is a big help too! Next year we may go less though. We want to go to Ireland and Yellowstone or an Alaska cruise! That will leave 1 week for WDW. The year after that (2015) we have more vacation weeks. Hope to go to D23 in CA.

 

[PatriciaH]

I struggle with the...I really want to go to Disney, but maybe we should try a vacation somewhere else. We usually do one big trip and then a week of smaller trips/day trips. We have taken the kids to DC, PA twice, and too many trips to NH to count! So it's not like we've never done anything else. But my heart keeps wanting to go back to Disney!

That's what I'm interested in. How do you balance seeing new places with going back to Disney? Do you do other trips in the years you do go to Disney? Or do you alternate between?

About every third year. We drive from cleveland ohio. I would love to do more but there are so many other places to visit. I get the disney crazyness after about 2 years and must plan another trip.

We try to do other trips during the year too. DH gets about 17 days off and 10 holidays right now. He will have 22/10 soon. I am a Travel Agent, so it pays for me to travel and see as much as I can! We have been to Montreal, on several cruises, 2 Adventures by Disney trips (Italy/France/UK), DL Paris, all-inclusives like Beaches in Turks and Caicos and the Riu's and Iberostars in Mexico, Punta Cana, New Orleans, San Fransisco/Sonoma, San Diego many times, Las Vegas a few times (mainly for shows) and many closer places like NH/White Mountains for camping, VT, Martha's Vineyard, Cape Cod and NYC for plays and to see family.

There are still SO MANY places we want to see!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Our first trip was in 2007 and now we've been a total of 4 times in 6 years. Planning on going again next year, too. Wish we could go more often, but it's a long way from MA! We definitely fly---can't even imagine driving that far! And we get to leave home and be in MK by noontime! We fly out of Green in Warwick and usually get decent rates--less than $1,000 for all four of us.

I struggle with the...I really want to go to Disney, but maybe we should try a vacation somewhere else. We usually do one big trip and then a week of smaller trips/day trips. We have taken the kids to DC, PA twice, and too many trips to NH to count! So it's not like we've never done anything else. But my heart keeps wanting to go back to Disney!

That's what I'm interested in. How do you balance seeing new places with going back to Disney? Do you do other trips in the years you do go to Disney? Or do you alternate between?

Dh doesn't like WDW in summer due to heat & crowds, mostly crowds. Our kids get 3 days off every first week of Nov so that's a good WDW or DCL week. When they were younger and could miss a little more school we would take a long weekend near a teachers' inservice day in March.

Summer vacation meant a non-Disney trip: Grand Canyon/Sedona, Yosemite/San Fran, Williamsburg/VA Beach, Niagara Falls, etc. I find that most National Parks offer enough to do that justifies their being named a NP.
It's only been our last 2 summers that we cruised DCL but they were still more sightseeing of new things (Alaska & Med) rather than their usual itineraries to Bahamas & Caribbean. To dh, if you've seen one island, you've seen them all. That's not true but he's not a big beach/watersport person so it's all the same stuff to do in his eyes.

I think it's good to balance other things too and not just go to WDW for all trips. To me, that's no different than when people around here just go to Ocean City, NJ every summer & have never been anywhere else. Either way I'd feel I'd be doing my kids a huge disservice to limit us like that.
There's a whole big world out there & plenty to see & learn about.

 

[DCbride]

We go 3x a year- drive from South NJ in August, fly in Nov for fall break, and fly for Easter break. Sometimes it is just DH and DD6, other times our parents or our older (college and med school) kids if they can get time away. The most I went in 1 year was 5x. Our 3 trips plus the Everest race and a girls trip where we checked out a college and ran a Disney race while at WDW.

We also take a family trip, Boston, Las Vegas/Scottsdale, San Antonio, and this year New Orleans with the older kids while the 6yo enjoys special time with her grandparents.

 

[mommyrosa2]

We started going every other year, then it became once/year these past few years and we always fly as none of us can stand being in a car for too long. This year, it will be 2 trips. We already had our annual famly August trip booked when Southwest advertised a $59 ea way sale. At that time DH & I decided to take advantage & book a 5 day F&W trip for this October. Since we knew we were going in Oct., we decided to upgrade our tix to AP's this past Aug., and plan to go with the kids again next August but earlier in the month, so technically, we will have gone 3 times in the calendar year.

 

[disneysteve]

How do you balance seeing new places with going back to Disney? Do you do other trips in the years you do go to Disney? Or do you alternate between?

We do Disney once each year. We do other places at other times of the year. Over the years, we've done a Bermuda cruise, 3 Caribbean cruises, Vermont, New Hampshire, D.C., Boston, California/Nevada (including Disneyland, San Francisco, Sequoia, and Vegas), and various other places. But we still did Disney World every year. I get 4 weeks vacation so we're able to do both Disney and somewhere else in the same year.

 

[Mousemommy1]

We average every 9-15 months. We fly SW out of MHT or Jet Blue out of Boston depending on which one is cheaper.

When we go, we stay 10 nights, and "make it count". This past year we had AP's, which meant we spent 22 days in Disney in a 9 month period...that was a bit much.

We are lucky to live in a location where we are 45 minutes from Boston, 45 minutes from the beach, 1 hour from the mountains, 4 hours to Canada, and 4 hours to NYC....plus lots of stuff in between. My mom also lives in MD, so we've taken the kids down there and visited Baltimore and DC. We get around....but Disney is the favorite.

 

[lauradis]

When we go, we stay 10 nights, and "make it count". This past year we had AP's, which meant we spent 22 days in Disney in a 9 month period...that was a bit much. .

Its never enough

 

[EnchantedRoses]

Since 2008 we have tried to go every year and have been successful! Twice we managed to fit two trips in one year. We fly every single time, in 2008 and 2009. Our son wasn't two yet and flew for free and entered the park for free as well so that saved. Taking time off work, and finding a good week to pull our son out of school is a bit harder now, and we have an 8 month old, so now we try to go once a year...10 day at least! We make the most of our trip, enjoy every second of it...and when it comes to an end....we just start planning the next one.

 

[rmprhp]

We use to go every 4 years, then got down to two, then 18 months, then this past year - 3 trips - YIKES! (Nov 2012, June 2013, Oct 2013). The stars just aligned. We've been bitten hard! We have flown, driven, and done the auto train (drove down, auto train home in June). It'll probably be another 18 months to two years til our next trip.