Usage of points after having kids.

[jo-jo]

Glad it worked for you - it works for a lot of people. My son ended up being a sort of marginal student and marginal young adult - it took a while but he's coming around. And when you have a kid who ends up struggling, then maybe the "good value" they ended up getting was play is more important than work. Sometimes what we teach our kids is what we didn't intend to teach our kids and as parents it can be easy to question ourselves. Its hard to tell when they are six and seven whether they will be motivated. And of course you work hard to be able to afford Disney trips - my husband and I both had professional jobs when they were growing up. It, unfortunately, isn't that simple.

Yeah, its harder for some kids . You know your child.

But I'm glad our kids didn't grow up during when school districts decide if your child is out for two days it's a capital crime. One year, we had a teacher strike during the fall. It was decided that Christmas break was cancelled. My DH always saved vacation time to take off those ten days when the kids were home. I told the principal that they wouldn't be in school and why. We didn't go anywhere, we just always plan this as an important family time.

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

We just had our first (7months old now) and trying to forecast how many points we should have. We've owned 160 points at AK since 2015 and we have always had banked points (thanks to a loaded contract). We recently bought 125 at GF to give us walking access to MK. With the new points we definitely have more than we will use over the next few years, especially while she is so young.

Has anyone gone from a single/couple to having young kids and see a change in frequency and duration of trips? We are debating selling our AK points to offset the cost of the GF points but really not sure if we should expect to use more or less points over the next 10-20yrs. I expect our usage of point won't change much (although GF is more expensive) while she can use the Murphy bed and doesn't have a sibling, but I really don't know.

We went more when our kids were younger. We go less now that they are in high school because they can't miss school and we can only travel at high point times. We started at 160, and now have 360. We like to stay in 2BR now that they are older. When they're younger, 1 BR was fine. If I don't jave enough points, I look for point transfers on these boards to meet my needs instead of buying more points right now.

 

[Sandisw]

Mmm,

I let my son skip school to go on vacations

He is now in college full time and working full time. He learned very quickly when he turned 18 that getting to play hard is expensive.

You have to work hard to be able to afford Disney trips, new cars, computers, etc….

If they are motivated, have good values, and have had parents not “friends” raise them, then missing school is not the end of the world….

I worked for a district that had a policy that no work was to be sent ahead of time.

Once a student was back it was up to the teacher to decide if they wanted to give the child the missed work and allow them make it up for a grade.

I taught little ones and never gave things ahead because too much uncertainty in what would or would not get done.

Some parents weren’t happy but I always said if you want something for them to do have them read and keep a journal each day..pictures or words…

When they got back, I gave them copies of what was accomplished and let them decide if they wanted to have the child do over time.

Of course, I too was never worried about kids missing especially since it was K to 3!

 

[Sparky984]

My kids school said ”no you can’t take them and the teachers don‘t have to give them the work early or let them make it up!”

the teacher gave then the work early, an excepted it as on time….

pretty sure i was able to get the school to count the days as excused absences because it was a family obligation.

bottom line, you are the parent, you decide what is best.

i promise you my kids did better on the years we went on extra vacations than the ones when we stayed home….

the brain needs fun too

Agreed! Everyone needs a mental break. For some reason kids are often forgotten about here, maybe because they get a summer break. This time is concentrated and kids do get burnt out. A couple/few days off school once or twice a year, depending on your child and personal/school calendar is fine. I’ll argue with any school board that tells me otherwise. Perfect attendance does nothing for you. Not in school or at work. Be happy, be healthy, do well.

I would work to minimize time lost and make sure it’s not during finals or the like, but allowing kids a break needs to be more normalized.

 

[DVCanadian]

You should just try a one bedroom next time to see if you like it.

Don’t forget about family trips to Hilton Head, Vero Beach, and Aulani for some of those years when you might not go to WDW.

 

[Memorymakerfor4]

I’d hang on to those AKV points until you see how your family might use them. As others have said, taking advantage of one bedrooms is really nice. It’s great to not have to tiptoe around sleeping bodies.

My kids are still of an age where they’re ok sharing a bed but the day may come where we’ll either add on to move us up to a two bedroom, or we’ll space out trips a bit to do it. 300 points per trip is the target I have in mind for that.

 

[DebLovesPooh]

As our DD has gotten older, having a separate space has grown increasingly important to her. We went from studios to 1-BR and now we’re a 2-BR family. I’ve added on small direct contracts to get us to where we are. So, I would not unload any points just yet. I think it’s more likely you will need them as your LO(s) grow up.

 

[kboo]

This varies wildly from district to district. It will depend what your state and local rules and policies are.

As far as I know, Michigan (and Ann Arbor) are pretty tolerant of family vacations. However, we decided pretty early on--before our eldest started kindergarten--that we would try to never pull our kids out of school for a discretionary trip. We stuck to that, and it worked out well for us. During the calendar year there are 15 full weeks when the kids were not in class, plus a couple of almost-weeks (Thanksgiving, Fall break). With some advance planning and prioritization, it was not hard for us to take 2-3 weeks of family vacation per year. One was usually a Disney trip, and the other(s) something else.

Most years, our "Disney trip" was to either Orlando or Anaheim during the kids' winter break in mid-to-late February. We also did one Orlando trip during spring break, and a couple of summer weeks. One summer we spent a week in the water parks, Disney Quest*, and visiting the resorts, completely avoiding the heat of the theme parks. Another year was the DCL Alaskan cruise in August. One year was a week in Paris in an apartment in the 14th arr., followed by a four-night stay at DLRP for the first half of July. We even did Christmas week at WDW one year--not something I want to do all the time, but it was great fun to do once.

There were lots of other trips to lots of other places: Hawaii, Washington DC, the Smoky Mountains, the Outer Banks, Sedona and the Grand Canyon, the Rocky Mountains, etc. etc.

Other people pull their kids and don't think twice about it, and that's fine for them. But, we decided we were going to avoid it, and were able to do so without sacrificing our ability to take plenty of vacations, Disney and otherwise. Some of them might have been a little more crowded and/or a little more expensive than they would have been if we'd been willing to pull them, but we figured that was just part of the cost of having kids.

Once our oldest started grad school, it got much harder for us to all be somewhere together. (She's spending most of her summer digging in caves in South Africa!) With her brother now also starting grad school this Fall, it will get harder still. But, we still manage. They were both able to join us for a 10-day trip to Boston and Northern Vermont this June. We'll spend a week with each of them separately during their respective spring breaks, and we've invited them to join us for our two weeks in the Hawaiian islands next summer. Turns out the nicer the plans, the more they work to make it happen. ;-)

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*: Yes, I'm dating myself.

I LOOOOOVED Disney Quest! We are old(er) parents so we've been lucky to have more say in our work schedules when our kids have been little. Our story below - but we are on the cusp of "More points? Or has the addonitis been cured?"

I would advise traveling while they are young because 1. Tickets are FREE and 2. Schedules are easier to figure out before school.

100% agree with this. Before my kids were 5, we went to WDW during low crowd times and it was so lovely.

About us: I grew up going to WDW the frugal way - car trips, packing sandwiches, staying way offsite, A-E tickets ... I have many fond memories of being a kid on annual summer trips to WDW (that also included other places along the way). They were public school teachers and back then didn't teach summer school or need to work over the summer, so we traveled for 2 months every year I was young.

Still had a blast going to WDW when I was in grad school when my parents got an RCI timeshare in Orlando. We also traveled lots of other places as well. But once I was on my own and dating/engaged/married to someone who wasn't really a Disney person, it was harder to spend the $$$$ for our own trips, until our kids came along. My mom was diagnosed w dementia when my oldest kid (her first grandchild) was born, and my regret was not being able to bring them on as many Disney trips when she was still able to travel. We did manage 2 trips when she was still able to enjoy it - one offsite and one with rented points. We bought DVC in 2017 but she wasn't able to join us by then. She passed last year, but then my dad (her primary caregiver for so many years) was finally able to join us last Christmas and is coming again in 3 weeks. I think our pattern has been, so far:

With little kid(s) - we started going once every 12-18 mo, a hotel room or a studio would be fine.
In 2017, bought DVC (185 pts) planning for a week a year alternating in a studio/1br, approx. Summer, low points, but really we culd go any time.
Stayed in a 1br; could hang out in another room while the kids slept; Got addonitis
Additionally, our older one started elementary school and we adopted @Brian Noble's approach of keeping the kids in school as mich as possible, so we now spend a bit of time over Christmas break and April break - the two highest point times to go.
My kids are in full on "I Love Disney" mode, and would happily go to WDW or DL every few months if we let them choose how to spend our vacation time and dollars. We've settled on approximately every 8 months, though we do fit shorter trips in between. And since mom passed, we have started getting 2BR instead of 1BR. This summer my sister's family decided to join us at the last minute, so I've now booked a 2BR and a studio for part of our trip. I'm happy to do it if it means more family time (none of us lives in a large enough space for us to visit and stay at anyone's house, and there are now 5 cousins ages infant, 7, 11). For my dad, I think being at WDW is a joy for him and I'm happy to treat him as many times as he'd like to come.

We will see how it goes in the next 1-2 years, but if we need to start getting GVs we are going to need more points. It's a happy problem to have, though. If my kids follow the same path as my sister and I did, they will probably want to continue coming once a year, at least, and right now we have just enough to do once a year in a 2br at Magic Season or whatever that is.

tl; dr - we might need more points if granddad wants to join us more often.

 

[Travel60]

We bought back near the beginning when our kids were maybe 5 and 8. After one time in a studio (no thanks), we went to minimum 1 bedroom. We went maybe every other year in heat of summer, watched them love the Disney experience.

Middle school got harder with activities, high school harder with work and activities, college and grad achool tough. But we still found a week in spring break or summer. Occasionally went on cruises (that used up a huge chunk of points and people will tell you that it is bad use, but those cruises were some of the best family time we ever had). Did cruise to Alaska with DS, DD and new SIL that was great. Now in planning for one with them plus 2 grands and new DIL.

DH and I also now do annual 3-4 week snowbird trips to WDW, VB, HHI. One bedroom. And we trade out points occasionally to follow our favorite football team. Del Coronado in San Diego, others near Phoenix, San Antonio, once in NYC, once for a wedding in Asheville. Again, maybe not the best use but we love it.

We gave each kid points for a week long honeymoon in Hawaii.

Haven't been to a park in years but that's about to change with the grands. We now do 3 bedroom villas when we all go.

 

[fumanchu2488]

Not sure if you said exactly your current vacation habits, but if you have 160 points are in a constant banking mode it seems like you are once a year visitors (or two small trips) for about a week or so.

We have a 4 YO and barely 2 YO.

In general, regardless of Disney or elsewhere, traveling with little kids is hard. A lot harder than going with just two adults. We have gotten used to it, but airports, flying, transportation all gets exponentially harder when you have a 1 YO - 5 YO. I can pack for a week in a small carry on and I feel like we are moving a house with all the stuff we bring for our young kids.

That being said, we like to go once a year. Now that the kids are a little older, we enjoy a longer stay (6 - 8 nights) so we don't have to deal with multiple trips. We made the 'mistake' in October of staying in a 1 BR so that we had separate sleeping areas. Our next trip in May is going to be in a studio. We will see how that goes. Currently we have 150 points and it works for us since we go in lower point periods and can stay in a studio. If our May trip proves we need a 1 BR, 150 points probably isn't enough.

The other thing to consider is the cost. Going from 2 people to 3 or 4 means double the airfare, double the ticket costs, double the food, etc.... Our Disney trip last year when our youngest still had free theme park tickets was still over $3,000 for 6 nights not counting the hotel (points or maintenance). And that was with four round trip air tickets for around $500. Looking at May and our airfare is going to be double that now.

All that being said, I love bringing little kids to WDW. Our park days are a lot different and we spend a lot of time at the pools. A successful MK day for us is rope dropping (our kids are early risers), riding Barnstormer (Goofy roller coaster as our kids refer to it) 10 times while everyone does Peter Pan and SDMT, riding Pirates, Speedway, tea cups, small world, astro orbiter, playing at the tiniest play area under the bridge near splash mountain and meeting Mickey on the way out of the park at 1 pm. Afternoon is usually pool and a trip to another park for dinner at 5 pm a few rides and bed time around 8 pm. Most would find that day to be a waste of time and money but with DVC I don't feel the need to kill ourselves since we are able to go every year.

Enjoy it!!!

Just some thoughts.