Vacationing at WDW: How long between trips?

[sritter78]

Dh and I went in July 2004. We took DD in July 2006 when she was 11 months. We went again in July 2008 (DD was 2). We are going again in May 2009 (DD will be 3 and DS will be about 6 weeks). The only reason we are going again so soon is the IL's are paying and going with us. Otherwise, we are on an every other year rotation.

 

[Elmo888]

We went in 2001 sans kids, and we took our kids for the first time in 2007. And then again in 2008, and now I'm planning a late 2009 trip (for my 40th birthday!).

I don't think that we'll keep up the pace. DD#2 will be 5 on that 2009 trip, and I think that I'll be ready to take her other places after that. It is just a nice trip with young kids.

For those that think that going too often loses the magic, I don't find that it does. Every trip is different, and we are all dying to go back.

 

[JamesMom]

What is the time time frame between each of your Disney Trips? For as much as I would love to go to WDW every year, its just not going to happen. We dont own a DVC, cant guarentee when we can get away each year and things like that. I am curious to know what others do. I think many of us would like to go several times a year or maybe even live there.

Some families do it every year, I am on the every 2 to 3 year thing, I think. I am worried that it will lose the magic should we go every year, and I want our kids to experience other things outside of Disney. Be it domestic travel (within the USA) or other places in the world...
We went last April ('08) and am considering next April ('10), but also thought about waiting til 2011 andgo elsewhere next year as I am not sure that we can get away tis year until the summer. I just cant do Florida in August! Ok, enough rambling... I look forward to seeing the posts/replies!

TIA!!

We know exactly what you mean! We just bought into Disney Vacation Club and expect to vacation there every 2-3 years. Any more than that and, we too, think the magic will become mundane and we have too many other places we want to visit - national parks, cruises, beaches, landmarks, etc to do on the off years.
Plus who gets that much vacation time! Because of the economy and nature of my husband's proffession he hasn't stayed a company long enough to get more than 2 weeks of vacation a year so we gotta spend them wisely..

 

[bigbabyblues]

We went for our honeymoon in 1997, with our boys in 2004, again in 2005, then DH & I for our anniversary in Feb 2007, as a family in May 2007, and again Thanksgiving 2008.

We're planning another trip for May 2009 because we bought APs. I don't know if we'll get another trip in before they expire in November 2009, but I doubt it at this point.

Right now, we plan to go at least once a year until the boys no longer want to, or it's no longer affordable for us. Our likes and dislikes change enough that the trips don't seem boring to us.

 

[DISNEYNV]

We go every year or at least every other year to Disney or Universal or both. While yeah there are many other aces to go and explore in the US and abroad we always tend to compare these trips to our Florida ones and they always win out! There is so much to do at Disney especially even a yearly trip can seem like a brand new one...so many places to stay! We love it!

 

[Fintastic]

We went on our honeymoon in 2002, went for DD's 4th birthday in late 2007, and we have a trip to Disneyland scheduled for Halloween this year. We lived close enough to drive for our Disney World trips and now we don't, so I don't know when we'll get back there with the cost of airfare for a family.

 

[disney fan 1994]

Hi first timer. This is my first time doing this. What Is dd and ds?

We go one a year but sometimes more since we have kids. Our kids love going to their vacation home. When we leave and are on that excitting train ride at the airport they look at their daddy and say when can we go back. The best was when we went 3 times in 10 months. We had planned to go in Dec 07 and our military friends asked it we could have a reunion in May 07 so we did we got together with all of our families that we have not seen in 10 yr. So since we knew we were going in dec we bought a year pass cheaper for tickets. Then in March 08 we surprised the kids and didn't tell them we were going and took them to the airport thinking we were dropping daddy off and asked them when we got to the airport if they wanted to go back to Disney for spring break. So we did.

So far our Disney history is:
Since 1999 till present 12 trips to WDW 3 Disney cruises
We did miss 2 years, each year our kids were born we didn't go any where.

You do what works for you, we can't get enouogh. I do enjoy planning our next trips and helping others if I can. In Dec we went with my family so it was a group of 12 and had a grandvilla. We will do that every 5 years. If it was up to my husband it would not be so often but he knows the kids love it and no I don't think they will loose the magic. Each time we go something is different and the kids look foward to see what is different. Here is a question Is their anyone that does everything the park have to offer on a vacation? We don't it is still vacation so we do stay up late, sleep in, and go back for a swim during the day. That is a vacation for us.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

Hi first timer. This is my first time doing this. What Is dd and ds?

Welcome!

You might want to check out the list of acronyms here (post #1):
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1660743

DD is Dear/Darling/Disney Daughter
DS is Dear/Darling/Disney Son

 

[wvdislover]

Hi first timer. This is my first time doing this. What Is dd and ds?

We go one a year but sometimes more since we have kids. Our kids love going to their vacation home. When we leave and are on that excitting train ride at the airport they look at their daddy and say when can we go back. The best was when we went 3 times in 10 months. We had planned to go in Dec 07 and our military friends asked it we could have a reunion in May 07 so we did we got together with all of our families that we have not seen in 10 yr. So since we knew we were going in dec we bought a year pass cheaper for tickets. Then in March 08 we surprised the kids and didn't tell them we were going and took them to the airport thinking we were dropping daddy off and asked them when we got to the airport if they wanted to go back to Disney for spring break. So we did.

So far our Disney history is:
Since 1999 till present 12 trips to WDW 3 Disney cruises
We did miss 2 years, each year our kids were born we didn't go any where.

You do what works for you, we can't get enouogh. I do enjoy planning our next trips and helping others if I can. In Dec we went with my family so it was a group of 12 and had a grandvilla. We will do that every 5 years. If it was up to my husband it would not be so often but he knows the kids love it and no I don't think they will loose the magic. Each time we go something is different and the kids look foward to see what is different. Here is a question Is their anyone that does everything the park have to offer on a vacation? We don't it is still vacation so we do stay up late, sleep in, and go back for a swim during the day. That is a vacation for us.

As many times as we've been, there are still things we haven't done (for instance, we've never been to Tom Sawyer's Island), or that DH and I have done, but our DD's haven't had a chance to do (Animation Studios). We always do different things, so the trips are never the same.

 

[disneynewbee]

We are on an every 2 years plan. We would like to go for a wk every year but since we live so far and getting there is half the cost we save money by going for 2 wks every other year rather than 1 wk every year. The in between year we either do the beach for a wk or do several small 2 or 3 night trips to different amusement parks and the beach. Our first trip was in 04 and we had just the two kids then, next trip was in 06 and we had the three kids then. Our next trip was supposed to be 08 but we had a baby in June of 08 and we wanted to include a cruise with the trip and didn't want to take a 4 month old baby so we pushed it back and will go with the 4 kids in Oct 09. We are including the cruise on that trip for a new experience for all of them and Disney itself will be new for the baby and for my 3yo since she was not even a year when she went.

 

[snowwhitemom]

well I guess my signature says it all..... we are there about 4 times a year. My dd who is 12 stopped counting , my 2 1/2 year old has been 7 times and my 6 month old has been 2 times....and will be there once more for sure and maybe 2 times prior to his b day. however we are DVC members and that makes a huge difference.

We do other fun things as well but my husband and I have lots of vacation time........ 7 weeks last year and 8 this year..... ya know use them or lose them...

 

[RACHELSMOM1]

When the kids were smaller and finances were tight, we went once a year. Now we go several times a year. We had two months in between our last two trips, but that is not the norm. Disney never loses its magic with our family even with our frequent visits. We still do go to other places in between. I know some folks ONLY vacation at Disney, which is something I cannot imagine, but different strokes for different folks. We like a little variety, some old and familiar experiences and some new and exciting.

We also go several times a year. Any amount of times between trips is too long! That said, it will be March when we make it next and I can hardly contain my excitement!!

 

[mandynee22]

(Mom of 9 yr old and 2 yr old)
We went when I was pregnant with DS (so... '06) for a few days and also on a cruise (same week)
Then we went in Apr/may last yr ('08) and I'm planning another for 2010. I guess we're turning into every 2 yrs. Reasons? Money for one plus my job (I deliver papers and getting coverage is a huge PITA)

 

[Tinkerbellandfamily]

I have the vacation club so I try to go every 6 months. Depending on where I stay and how long I stay, there have been times when I go three times in one year. I can't imagine not having the vacation club since I'm a single mom and I don't think I could afford to go as much as I want without it!

 

[jmj2wdw]

My hope is to go every 3 years with my family and so far, so good! DH doesn't want to go back, but the kids ask when we're going again.

We're going April 2009, have been December 2006 and October 2003 (and there were a few trips before that seemed to have a 3 year interval as well!).

 

[jodifla]

At least once a year, sometimes 4 times a year. that's why we bought DVC!

 

[puffkin]

We go twice a calendar year but stagger our trips to get three week long vacations on one annual pass to keep costs down. We also own DVC. We did October 2007, January 2008, October 2008 on one pass. Our next trips will be May 2009, December 2009, May 2010 on another pass.

I anticipate going twice a year for a little while yet until the kiddo is older and starts expressing an interest in going elsewhere. We are not really beach/nature type people so WDW is a great fit for us. We live pretty close to the Jersey Shore and major metropolitan areas (Philly, NYC, Washington DC) so those are more like weekend trips to us.

I would love to go to Vegas (w/o kids). I also would like to do some type of Europe trip but I would wait til the kids were older. So, WDW is a great fit for us right now and really an affordable option for us.

 

[DawnM]

We go at least once a year. This year we are going 5 times due to an error on my part with purchasing condo weeks and not looking closely at the expiration date. But even with 5 weeks I will be spending what many families spend in 1 week on a Disney trip.

We go other places too. This year DH had conferences in Montreal and Chicago and we tagged along on the trips! We had a blast and most of it was on his company's dime! We went to Niagara Falls on the way and Hershey, PA on the way back for a minimal additional cost to us.

Other years we have gone other places.

We are very frugal in our travel. We use priceline, skyauction, that sort of thing, and we travel with a large cooler in the car and eat in when we can.

Dawn

 

[Darcy03231]

When the kids were little we went every year to every other year. I found it was the perfect vacation destination for our family. Once the youngest turned 9 (which meant the oldest was 18) we started branching out and doing other vacations (beach, cruises, NYC, Washington DC, San Diego, all inclusive resorts, etc.). The last three trips were in 2000, 2002 and then 2008. In 2008 I didn't take anyone in my family (no one was interested - my children are now 15, 17, 20 and 24). I took my 4 y.o. niece for her first trip and we had a blast! I'm the disney nut in my family.

 

[barnaby1]

We started off as once a year people (in 1998) but for the last 4 years we have moved to every 6 months. We travel from the UK and do 2 - 3 weeks at a time. We usually split between WDW and Universal. My dd is 3 in March and we are about to leave for her 6th trip!