One Vacation a Year

[hipchickie]

When my son was young we did Disney only for a few years - it really is easy, we found it very affordable and a great value.

Now the kids are old enough to be "entertained" in other places, so we have cut down to every other year. After this year, I think we will cut back to every 3 years (if my husband and I can wait that long we are the real addicts) I would love to go to DC, but I really think they should both be strong readers or they would be pretty bored with all the museums. But at 7 & 10, they are old enough to stay with us, not need constant supervision, etc.

We went to an all inclusive in mexico last year and the kids had a BLAST - they actually were disappointed we were going to disney this year, they wanted to go back to MX! You can find great deals there and in the DR, but obviously you are going to have to fly to get there, which may jack the total vacation price up for you.

Next year we are planning to go to Kenya and Ethiopia, then the kids really want to go to the Grand Canyon so we will probably do that, my youngest wants to go to CA, my husband has relatives in greece we want to visit, and in germany, and switzerland, and I have cousins in argentina, and friends in Brazil.....you get the point

 

[neatokimmo]

I dearly love Disney, but I think for *me* it would lose some of its magic of we went once a year or more often than that.

Me too. I had one year when I went on three cruises. The third time I got on the ship it was very ho hum. I think for me, I require a mix to keep things fresh.

It has been 2.5 years since our last Disney trip, we leave in 12 days

 

[StuckInKS]

We will be at the BC the 3rd time in a row this coming summer. And although I have researched and priced a ton of other destinations, we just feel that with the ages of our children (6,4,2), Disney is the best place to go.

This is true for us as well. I'd love to go to Hawaii, but with our kids ages and the cost for all of us to travel there, it is just not going to happen. Same with Italy or Russia. Anywhere I want to go is too expensive for a family of 8 and my kids would not appreciate it at their ages (and going without them is not an option either). Besides, we going to Disney and if we could take two vacations a year, they would both be at WDW.

 

[indimom]

We only take one vacation a year, sometimes its more like every 18 months.

We've been to Disney twice since our kids were born (2005 and 2010). As much as we love it, we couldn't just go there for our annual vacation. There are other places we want to go...

If we could afford two vacations a year, I would probably do Disney every other year. That sounds about right for me.

 

[JaymeC]

We really only do one vacation a year. For the past few years, it's been with Disney tagged on as an extra. We were living in Japan, and wanted to go through Tokyo so it seemed common sense that we stop by Disney on the way. Honestly, it also helped a bit with the homesickness of being overseas for three years. I coped with that better than most, but there were still times and seeing something as home like as Disney was nice The same thing goes for DL. We seem to stop by there when we're visiting family down in San Diego. Our trip this past year was just to go see my parents in Ohio so no Disney. This upcoming year we'll probably go see my inlaws, and I'm hoping we can do two days at DL. Our WDW trip is planned for 2014 right now for a full week, but I don't think we could do that more often than every 3 years or so and even then only if we're on the east coast.

Dh and I are in a weird position though. The military kept moving us around so a lot of our 'vacations' have been visits home while the true sightseeing has been seeing what we could over long weekends in our current home. I expect this to change since he's now out of the military and we're more stationary. Not that there's not a ton of stuff to see on the east coast that should keep us entertained for at least a few years

 

[DisneyLoverUSA]

With the young age of your kids I think it is probably a good idea to limit your trips to Disney right now because most other locations wouldn't be of interest to them. Especially some place like D.C. Kids don't really appreciate that kind of trip until they are around 10 or 12.

I took my kids on a trip to Texas a few years ago (I am from Texas but no longer live there and haven't for 15 years) and we went to the Fort Worth Zoo, the FW Museum of Science (sucked) and Six Flags over Texas in Arlington. The kids loved Six flags but at the time they were 8 & 9 and most of the rides there were too big and scary for either of my kids to ride. They would ride the wheels off them now at 10 and 11. But my point is, even some places you would think would be a good kid vacation sometimes doesn't turn out to be so great. Stick with what you know they love right now. Vacations are so expensive you don't want to waste that valuable money on a trip that might suck to your kids.

 

[LovesTimone]

Disney gets my vote, your kiddo's will only be little once, once they hit middle school they will start to want to do other things, enjoy it while you can.

I do have to agree with another poster, you could try a less expensive resort, which would save money and give you a different feel so it would be a different trip. This way you might be able to swing a weekend get away or two for your family.

I would like to suggest POR, they can accomadate a family of 5, and your children are small so they will fit on the pull out trundle bed. The pool is really great there. OR.... could also do a value family suite that way you have 2 bath rooms and a bit of privacy, I think the cost is around the same, but you will have to run the numbers to be for sure.

Are you going when free dinning is going on? if not you might want to think aobut it. When my DD's where little, we always tried to go during this time. This will help with the botton line also. If you stay at a moderate resort you and get the reg dining plan, you can use your TS for Character meals which will help with $$$. Also you could have breakfast in room, which will let you get dressed while the kiddo's eat or you could have a picnic by the pool. DH and I still do this. We bring deli meat and cheese and make roll ups, crackers fresh fruit and veggies to snack on, this is perfect finger food so that the kids can run back and forth and still get something to eat.

You could also cut your trip down, lets say you normally stay 7 nights you could do stay 5 nights and that also would let a bit of wiggle room for a road trip later on in the year.

 

[pigletto]

When we first started going we went every year. I like to go once a year, but not at the expense of going anywhere else. Once we had taken our third trip we wanted to vacation elsewhere as well. So we don't spend as much as we could on a Disney trip and spread out the vacation fund.
This Spring we're going to Disney. In the end of summer we are planning a road trip to the mountains. Found a great deal on a condo for the week, and we're driving the three days there and back as part of the trip!
It takes some serious budgeting but we are managing both trips.

 

[VroomVroomLightning]

For us right now we are a younger couple with no kids. This year we have what we would consider 3 vacations planned. A short trip to Pigeon Forge for a few days since we have some vouchers to use. Then a week to Northern Michigan (This is to visit family but we still have a lot of fun too) and then finally the whole family is going to Disney World in September! We didn't go last year and we are all missing it so back we go this year! So for everyone it is going to be different especially if you have kids or not!

 

[canadianjovigirl]

We have taken our kids to both Disney World and Disney Land, but have yet to return to either as there are just so many other places to go. They loved Florida and the parks but when we start planning our yearly vacation they seem to prefer a beach somewhere

We tend to take one family and one couple vacation a year. On our kids wish list of places theyd like to travel to still is Hawaii, Turks & Caicos, Thailand, Australia and they love to spend time in Florida even without the parks.............

Travel to what works for you...........we tend to hit up Mexico frequently as its a reasonably priced trip for us, not to far and we all enjoy it, yet there are others who wont consider even going there but for our family it works and we love it...............heading back there next month.

 

[*pixie*dust*]

As a few others have suggested, try a less expensive hotel at WDW. A moderate resort would save you considerably over BC, which would give you the ability to squeeze in an extra trip every so often.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

We mixed it up with other vacations. We used to do disney once every 3 years.

One year disney.
One year had to go visit family in MN
One year another fun location - we did Colonial Williamsburg/Busch Gardens, Washington DC, St. Augustine, FL for just a couple of examples.

My family wants to go back to doing Disney every 3 years so I will continue my solo trips. Which is fine because I love them.

 

[eliza61]

If you could only afford ONE vacation a year, would you go to WDW every year, or do it every other year with a different vacation in between?


We will be at the BC the 3rd time in a row this coming summer. And although I have researched and priced a ton of other destinations, we just feel that with the ages of our children (6,4,2), Disney is the best place to go.

Of course, I realllllly want to do an all-inclusive resort, or take smaller weekend trips, etc., I really don't know if I can take being away from WDW for 2 years

In the future, when we make more money, we do plan on taking two vacations a year, but right now money is tight and we are saving every last penny to afford vacation this summer.

I just feel like I'm missing out on other things and depriving my children by ONLY going to WDW!!!! But, those other places will still be around when they're older and we want to explore more, right?

LOL. You do realize that Disney will also be there for the forseeable future right?

Why do you feel that disney is the best place to go?

We mix our vacations up. This year we are heading out west to the national parks. truthfully my kids have a great time where ever we vacation, I think it's just the simple fact of us having fun all together.
Now I will say there was a period of time we were hitting disney about every 12-15 months and we were taking smaller vacations also.

Now that they are young adults we have asked them what was some of their best vacations and disney is usually at the bottom of the list.

 

[budafam]

Personally, with kids that age, I could go to Disney every year till they're all at least teenagers... then you can focus on other destinations. Disney is so catered to kids & the "magic" is only good for so long... I'd take advantage of it while you can. My husband "says" that we should only go once a year... my dad was always a once in every 4 years type of vacationer... me? I'd love to go twice a year, at least! Everyone is different.

I do agree with the previous poster though, stay at a cheaper place and you will be able to afford another mini vacation each year. We like to go to Wisconsin Dells for a weekend or to the Mall of America... it's not horribly expensive and doesn't take up too much time either.

 

[EricaG]

We've mixed it up some, but also done a few Disney cruises. Our most recent trip to WDW will probably be our last for a few years (but don't quote me on that!) because we have several other places we want to visit within the next few years--Grand Canyon, Hawaii, etc.

I have to say that I think a younger child enjoying other types of vacations depends on the kid. We only have one, which I know makes a difference in making travel manageable, but we have taken him on a NYC vacation when he was just shy of 4 years old and to DC when he was about 4 1/2, and he did great and enjoyed both of them a lot. In New York, we did Natural History Museum, running around Central Park, visiting the huge toy stores, a boat tour around Manhattan--he loved it all. In DC, we visited Air and Space more than once, Natural History Museum, and Museum of American History (remember, all the Smithsonian ones are free!), and of course Lincoln Memorial and walking on the Mall--again, great time and loved seeing everything. He's always been pretty easy-going and good in restaurants, luckily for us.

Just wanted to throw that out there--depends a lot on the kid whether or not they will appreciate and enjoy certain types of vacations, and places like NYC or DC can be "little kid-friendly"!

 

[gillenkl]

I would not limit my family to disney - the world is a big place - so much to see....so little time.

Could you do a super budget disney trip and then 1-2 long weekend getaways?

 

[beansmom]

as much as i love disney, i agree that there world is a big, wide place. We go to Disney at least once a year and spend a week or two somewhere else. Last year it was Italy, this year we are going to Hawaii. Next year, Ireland/Scotland...and there are ZILLIONS of places in the good old USA I'd like to see.

I think variety is the spice of life.

 

[VAfamily1998]

I would DEFINTIELY mix it up a bit!

We usually go on 1 or 2 vacations a year--but only go to Disney once every 2-3 years.

 

[VAfamily1998]

Personally, with kids that age, I could go to Disney every year till they're all at least teenagers... then you can focus on other destinations.

Curious, do you have kids--and teenagers at that? My oldest is only in middle school--but from what I've heard from friends/relatives, it's only going to get more difficult to take family vacations as they get older...the summers get taken up by school sports camps/summer jobs/etc. as they get older...and once they are in high school it's a lot more difficult to take them out of school for a vacation because they need as much time as possible to prepare for AP/IB tests, participate in the games/activiites/etc.

I can't imagine the experiences we'd have missed out on if we waited 'till our kids were at least teenagers before taking them places other than Disney.

 

[Marionnette]

Curious, do you have kids--and teenagers at that? My oldest is only in middle school--but from what I've heard from friends/relatives, it's only going to get more difficult to take family vacations as they get older...the summers get taken up by school sports camps/summer jobs/etc. as they get older...and once they are in high school it's a lot more difficult to take them out of school for a vacation because they need as much time as possible to prepare for AP/IB tests, participate in the games/activiites/etc.

I can't imagine the experiences we'd have missed out on if we waited 'till our kids were at least teenagers before taking them places other than Disney.

My kids are in college, so I guess that I can answer this from experience.

Extra curricular activities and summer work for AP classes can take up a lot of a kid's time but it doesn't make vacationing with teens impossible. We took plenty of trips in June, when school was just finished. It never interfered with their school obligations, even when we spent 17 days in Italy.

And we spent most of their early years in Disney.

I don't think that they missed out on anything. And in all likelihood, they were more appreciative of the sights we took in because they had a point of reference from their various upper-level history and social studies courses. I don't think they would have enjoyed the Uffizi as much as they did had they not had AP Euro history prior to their visit.