vacation..what should I do?

[Katy Belle]

This will be long...so sorry...hang in there with me.

I am so confused. We are currently living overseas. One of the reasons we did this was to be able to travel to other countries. Europe and Asia are both easy access from here. We've already done Paris,including Disneyland Paris, 1 night in London, Oman, Dubai, Abu Dhabi. We will do Kenya or Tanzania this year. We will come to the USA for about 7 weeks this summer.

I KNOW we should spend our $ on travel here.. but I WANT to do WDW and Universal!!! December 2006 my boys get a long vacation, about 6 weeks. I think its the perfect opportunity to fly to the USA and do Disney before Christmas.
Pros...my boys are getting older, I love the magic of them being young. Value Season and low crowds, I won't pull them out of school due to ages anymore. Nice weather. We have never done Universal and they have a fabulous deal right now. MVMCP We would visit our parents in Nebraska for Christmas.

Cons...$, it would probably be around $6,000ish, not counting air fare,if we do about 5-6 days at WDW and 2-3 at Universal. - Jet lag- in a hotel room it would be really tricky, you do crazy things like waking up at 4a.m, and fall asleep in your dinner at 6. Missing out on another country.

So, what do you think? Am I crazy for wanting to do this over Christmas in Germany or Switzerland?? What do you suggest??

Boys will be 11,9,6 in December.
TIA
Katy

 

[golfgal]

While I understand the attraction and the desire to see Europe, there are a lot of wonderful things to see in the US as well. I think your boys are the perfect age to take them to Disneyworld and wouldn't pass up an opportunity to do so if you really want to go. Maybe you could come over a day or two before you start your time at Disney, maybe spend it at the beaches in Florida to get your body adjusted to the time change. The positive side of the time difference is that you won't have any problem getting up for park opening, go back, take a nap and then hit the evening things at the parks. Also, depending on when the vacation starts/ends, you wouldn't have to be there the week of Christmas, which is unbelievably busy. The few weeks before Christmas are a great time to go, as is the 2nd/3rd weeks in January.

Keep in mind that your boys have already seen more of the world then most people will see in their lifetime, and places that most people will never see.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I think whatever you do will be fine. Just give yourself a few choices and think it over for awhile until the mood hits you.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I think that it's unreasonable to you to think that all of your vacations should be overseas. You've seen some of what there is to see and you will plan more trips that take advantage of what there is to see closer to where you now live. Nothing wrong with wanting a trip to WDW and Universal and spending time with family at Christmas would be great for your family and the grandparents. The other places will still be there, but time with your extended family is priceless. I would take a day at the beginning of the trip to try and adjust to the jetlag before hitting the parks.

 

[noseybuddy]

Your kids are at a great age to go to WDW and US/IOA. Did you sit down as a family and discuss what everyone wanted to do. Christms time at WDW is beautiful. With a six week break I would choose this vacation, but I would make sure I wasn't at WDW the week of Christmas. US/IOA would probably be ok that week because of the FOTL deal when you stay in one of their hotels.

 

[Katy Belle]

Thanks everybody! You made some very good points. I guess ít makes sense to go on USA vacations too. Thinking we may go visit the Grandparents before flying to WDW and again after. DH may not be able to join us for the whole trip, but it is still worth it. I'd sort of hate to miss the opportunity of being able to go during Value season, low crowds, chirstmas festivities, without pulling kiddos out of school!
Thanks so much for your opinions.
Katy