Splitting up the family..?

[SqueekieKitty]

I am trying to plan a trip to WDW in December for my son's 3rd birthday/Christmas. We live about 3 hours away and have annual passes. The older 2 kids get out of school on Wednesday the 18th and the little one's birthday is Saturday the 21st.

Here's my problem... DH works a Mon-Fri job with basically NO time off. We went to WDW this past week for a pre-school trip and it was WAY more hassle than it should have been for him to take off Monday and Tuesday. He got a lot of flak for it and he's really been put off the idea of trying to do it again.

I'd love to plan a trip for more than 2 days, but I would have to go down with the kids earlier in the week scared and then DH would only be able to join us during the weekend. Has anyone ever gone on vacation with only part of their family, with the rest meeting up later? Tell me your experiences, please!

 

[4kids4karen]

Many families split up vacations. Many people take trips without one parent. Do what is best for your family.

 

[Disworldluv]

Many families split up vacations. Many people take trips without one parent. Do what is best for your family.

Sound advice. Our family has done this in the past when our children were young.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Did it all the time when kids little & work conflicts...especially since your husband got flak, wouldn't even be an issue..not in todays economy & job market

 

[Lilliputian]

Our last 2 vacations were over a month long. DH was working from home and could work anywhere with an Internet connection, so we'd rent a house in Windsor Hills, and I'd take the kids to the parks during the day, and he'd join us on weekends and sometimes in the evening.

I was a little nervous about going into the parks without him (I have 5 sons!), but we had a lot of fun. We didn't do anything with a height restriction when my husband wasn't with us because we have a mixture of big ones and little ones, which I'm sure you do, too, if you have a 2 year old and some in school. We'd get to the parks by rope drop and ride the popular rides that babies can ride, and then when the parks started to get crowded, we had plenty of times for the overlooked attractions and activities. We had so much fun doing things that most people either don't do at all or just rush through. We've done every Agent P adventure, every Kidcot station, spent hours on Tom Sawyer Island, and all those kinds of things. We've also spent some time visiting the resorts. We like to pack a lunch and walk around a resort with pretty grounds and find a nice place to eat. Most of the resorts have playgrounds, too, which little ones always appreciate.

 

[laughinplace199]

This past spring, DH & DS12 flew down to Florida to see some Red Sox spring training games. They flew down on a Saturday for Sunday and a Monday games.

On Monday, DD14, DS6, & I flew down to WDW. We did a park and went out to dinner. By the time we got back to our hotel that evening, DH & DS had arrived. We spent the rest of the week together at WDW.

 

[SqueekieKitty]

Thank you for calming me down, guys! I was worried that it would be a pain in the butt or be unfair to Dad to miss some of the vacation. I just keep finding lots of good deals on condos that would make it about the same price to go for a week as a weekend and I know two days will be pushing it to get in all the holiday goodness that Disney has to offer. I'll keep looking at weekly rentals then...