Possible "off year" alternatives to Disney World??

[StirlingSilver83]

Yay! Fun question! Disney World is our absolute favorite place in the whole world to vacation...but we were not able to go this year...we are going back in 2017 though. Anyways we aren't doing any vacations this year, we might do a few day trips but more than likely not staying over night. If I had to choose a back up vacation instead of Disney my top 2 choices would be Hershey, PA and Williamsburg. We live in NJ so both are relatively close to us. Hershey Park is an awesome park and there are a lot of other things to do in and around the town of Hershey. And well in my oppinion Williamsburg needs no introductions, lol...we love the theme parks and the historical aspect of it is awesome and the the town itself is so cute! Anyways those would be my options if we couldn't do Disney.

 

[J'aime Paris]

We tried the beach vacation a few years ago in Orange Beach, AL
My teen loved it! There is a ton to do if you like staying active. (Or you can simply relax on the sugar white sand!)

At the condo complex there were tennis courts, basketball court, shuffleboard, 3 hot tubs, indoor pool, outdoor pool, sand volleyball, fitness center, sauna, indoor racquetball, a splash pad for the younger set.

In the area was a zoo, waterpark, state park for any nature venture, ziplining, segway tours, marina, pier, ferry to Dauphin Island,helicopter rides, charter fishing excursions, kayak, jet ski rentals, a concert venue, Tanger Outlet for shopping, tons of souvenir shops, awesome dining options, etc.

Gulf Shores is just down the rode ....plenty more to do!!

We fell in love with the area so much, we bought two beachfront condos in Orange Beach. We rent them out, and have others help finance our retirement dreams!

 

[mjkacmom]

All 5 of my teens would choose a cruise or a beach vacation over WDW. Where do you live? Tour kids are also a perfect age for Atlantis or AI's. My kids have also been to DC, Philadelphia, Boston, NYC, Montreal, and Boston.

 

[kboo]

I saw that OP lives in Iowa? I was going to second? third? Washington DC. And also my home, NYC, though it's not necessarily affordable. (We don't really get sticker shock at the restaurants at WDW... :-\) That said, the same things that are going for DC go for NYC - you could drive and park outside manhattan, and rent an airbnb or VRBO apartment. While there are many things that are expensive, there are many that are not, like the parks, many museums (have a suggested donation or have free days) and if you came in the spring, summer or fall, there are lots of free concerts, theater and other events. Plus, the people watching is really fun!

As for other coasts, I agree with Northern CA: San Francisco, Napa, Monterey, are all lovely and really conducive to a driving vacation. And, of course, all the national parks. But you knew that already.

 

[TJDisneymama]

Over the yearswe have done: Ocean City, MD; Jersey Shore, NJ; Niagara Falls, CA; White Mtns, NH; Old Orchard/Ogunquit Beach, ME; Mystic, CT; NYC.

We are considering Gatlinburg, TN or Myrtle BeAch, SC next.

 

[moesy4]

We LOVE to cruise and although we are excited about our first trip to Disney this year, I still keep checking cruises just in case. Norwegian and Royal Caribbean both provide a very consistantly great experience that is at least a 1/3 of the price of Disney cruise lines, no need to get on board the hype of Disney ships and pay those insane prices. We also enjoy Carnival, but if you are deluxe people I would recommend the other two. We stayed in a spa mini suite on our last trip and the whole trip including 2 nights in Miami, 7 nights on Norwegian's newest ship, unlimited alcohol, the upgrade to the specialty dining package, unlimited spa access, and all our fantastic shore excursions for well under 4,000 for 4 people (we had free flights so that doesn't include that).

 

[clori]

We don't like the cost of Disney for a yearly trip either plus there is just so much more to see and do that my kids would not want to just vacation at Disney. My kids are now 11/15. My kids love Disney but they also have loved all of our vacations. We've done Niagara Falls, Harrisburg PA (Hershey, Gettysburg & Lancaster), Washington DC, Philadelphia PA, Point Sebago Resort in Maine, White Mountains, NYC etc. We have done cruises in the past as well. If money were no issue my kids want to go to Hungary since we have family there.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

It's a big world. Find something interesting. A big city. The beach. A national park. A cruise. Somewhere international.

 

[maranara]

I'm from the DC area...it's pretty awesome here. One of the nice things about DC is that once you're here, a lot of things are free. All the Smithsonian museums (and the zoo is part of the Smithsonian) are free, along with the monuments & major buildings (white house, capital, library of congress, botanical gardens, etc). There are some other museums that charge an entrance fee (Newseum, Mount Vernon) but they're also very reasonable. We get out of town guests a lot and they always comment how nice it is to be able to spend full days touring without paying for anything but hotel & food. You could combine DC with Williamsburg (about 2 1/2 hours from here) which is also a lot of fun (and if you go in the summer, Busch Gardens is awesome!).