vacation ideas for next summer?

[Rock'n Robin]

I guess I have been away from Disney for so long (1/2/04) that I am seriously entertaining different vacation ideas. Next year is our 20th anniversary and while our original idea was a week at the Beach or Yacht club, that is $3800 for the 5 of us, just room and tickets. So I guess I'm willing to spend $4500-5000.
I found a good deal for 5 days at either the Beaches Ocho Rios (Bochubel, I think it's called) or Turks/Caicos. But DH has no desire to do that, although an inclusive sounds good to me. I did an Expedia search on Ocho Rios and almost all of the inclusives are sold out for the two weeks in July I'm looking at! Don't know what the big deal is in Jamaica in July!
Checked on Hawaii, but the high air prices mean that only 2 star hotels are affordable. That worries me.
Checked on inclusives in Cancun (this was on travelocity) but the one that looked good would not give me an estimate unless I "reduce the number of guests". Hmmm, do I leave DH home or one of the kids? Back to the drawing board.
I am going to price out England for the heck of it, but I really don't want a vacation without a pool or beach involved! That's why an inclusive vacation somewhere sounds good to me, or a cruise. However, DCL costs too much (sorry, but I'm glad we already did DCL because they are WAY more than the other lines) and RCCL also won't give me an estimate unless I get rid of DH or one of the kids. Carnival will sell me a room but I question whether 5 of us wil be comfortable.
Any ideas, or should I just book WDW and be done with it?
Robin M.

 

[Jennifer S]

We are going to Cancun (actually just south of Cancun) to Iberostar Paraisio Del Mar. It's all-inclusive and for 4 (2 adult, 2 kids) it is $3,400. Check w/ a travel agent like Apple, funjet or liberty. My neighbors went w/ 5 and it was @ 4,000 for everything. They went in July too. The kids said it was better than Disney and the pictures were beautiful.

 

[KarenB]

Here is what we did this summer. Flew to Vegas (nice heat and pool) for 3 nights, then 2 nights each at Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, and South Rim Grand Canyon (no pools but warm and wonderful hiking) then 2 nights at Sedona (back to the pools) and flew home from Phoenix.

Vegas was fun-saw some shows, explored the city, got some of the WDW theming and crowds. But the National Parks were simply wonderful!! Nice family time! I liked the idea that really no one in the world knew where we were except for DH, myself and our DSs. We stayed in El Tovar on the south rim of the Grand Canyon. Very romantic lodge and dining room-you can get one of the girls to baby sit!! You can make these parks as relaxing or strenuous as you want.

Sedona was just a really cool and fun town. I came home feeling so fit and rested. You could say it was "cleansing!"

PM me if you need more details!
Karen

 

[Blondie]

My DH and I were just discussing this topic at dinner!

We were thinking about Las Vegas. KarenB, we might just walk in your footsteps!

 

[Rock'n Robin]

Thanks guys. Unfortunately we are the one couple in the US who have absolutely no desire to go to Las Vegas. The parks sound cool. I thought maybe a couple of days at Disneyland, we could stay with relatives for the rest of the time (I would probably stay onsite while there, but I think 3 days is all you need at DL and DCA--after that we could stay with DH's uncle or cousin and see Universal and the other "sights"). I still think Jamaica sounds great, and someone recommended Puerto Vallarta--a couple of good inclusive resorts there, but the airfare is more than the resort!
I did price flights to London--yikes! My whole budget would be airfare, and when I did a hotel search it was the same thing--too many guests, so we'd have to get 2 rooms.
Did you know airfare from Detroit to Sydney, Australia is $1600 each?
Just planning Disney is a lot easier.
Robin M.

 

[MoniqueU]

I have been to Turks and Caicos and have walked by the Beaches there. It is great. It is one of the places I want to go badly. I don't know if you can get a room for 5 grand though for a week with 5. If you can I would say go for it. I have been to Jamaica too and while it is fun the beach at Turks and Caicos knocks the socks off of Ocho Rios.

I have also been to the Cancun Area. Loved it too. If you can get a good hotel and air deal down there for a family of 5 without getting two rooms let me know where.
Here is a great website that lists the family of 5 friendly hotels. The ones in Cancun just weren't the tops on my list.
Good luck!!!

http://travelwithkids.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.vacationkids.com/famfive.php

 

[Chris2597]

The best vacation we had with the kids was 12 days in Calif. We started off in San Fran, staying 5 nights....we saw so much and had a blast....We went to Alcatraz....I didnt want to go but it was so interesting....the kids loved it..The street performers and artists are wonderful....China town was fun and the kids couldnt get enough. We went to the Redwoods, Muir Woods, Winchester Mansion, Fisherman's wharf, the Trolley cars, found the Painted Ladies (houses from Full House)...Lots more but I cant think of it....We headed up to Sacramento and toured Old Towne, took a tour of the Jelly Belly Factory.....and then spent our last leg of the journey at Lake Tahoe....absolutely the most beautiful place. We flew into SF, rented a car, and drove all over the place....flying out of Reno.

 

[ColoradoBuffaloMom]

Have you thought about a cruise? We've had great times as a family while cruising. I'd recommend Carnival and Royal Caribbean. A great cruise web site is www.cruisecritic.com

Elise

 

[disneysteve]

Let's see. You could join us for 14 days in Israel next July, but not for $5,000. It's probably going to cost us about $12,000.

On a more realistic note, our summer vacation this year was great. We started in Anaheim and did 5 nites in Disneyland. Then we drove up Pacific Coast Highway ending in San Francisco where we spent 4 nites. From there we drove to Sequoia National Park for 1 nite. Then we drove through the Mojave and did 3 nites in Vegas. You can just skip the Vegas part and extend Sequoia or San Fran or add in another stop. We had a ball and the whole trip for the 3 of us cost about $5,500. We could have done it cheaper if we needed to by staying in less expensive hotels, renting a smaller car, etc.

My other recommendation would be a cruise. You could do the Caribbean, Alaska, New England/Canada or could get exotic and do the Mediterranean or Europe though that takes longer and costs more. We've cruised 3 times with Carnival and loved every second of it.