What is your best family vacation besides Disney?

[starry_solo]

My best memories of family vacations are the national parks.

Grand Canyon mule ride (was only able to go halfway down due to age of kids). Would like to go all the way down to the bottom. Lake Powell, Grand Teton, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Yosemite, Yellowstone

 

[nesser1981]

We love The Smoky Mountains.

 

[friedela]

Where has your best family vacation been besides Disney?

Family Camp in BC (British Columbia). We've met lots of families who say they gave up Disney to go to family camp that year.

 

[cubed]

The boys (6 and almost 3) have loved NYC, Southern CA/Los Angeles area, DC, Hilton Head, and even Minneapolis. I really wanted to go to Hawaii this summer but then we decided to have a third kid and I am due early August. So Hawaii will have to wait maybe a year or two (depends on baby’s personality).

 

[Tattylou]

We rent a house on a lake in the white mountains of New Hampshire every summer. It is gorgeous in those mountains and the air is so clean.

I also really like the Gulf coast of Florida, Arizona (especially Sedona), and Maui.

 

[robinb]

We spent 3 weeks in Asia 10 years ago and it was wonderful! We have also gone on 2 cruises in the last few years that were great.

 

[tabrizia]

Mine all love Williamsburg and Great Wolf Lodge.

 

[stsomewhere]

Cruising

 

[Macprincess]

Our family loves Disney cruises. We are trying Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas this summer to the Easter Caribbean as it was less expensive and since my youngest is now in High School we thought we would change it up a bit. We also enjoy the Mountains in TN because we live in a beach community in Florida so the mountains are a nice change for us.

 

[MommyinHonduras]

I'm partial to the island of Roatan. Best snorkeling, you can swim with dolphins, play with sloths, swim at the most amazing beaches.

 

[larissawbb]

We also love Hilton Head.

 

[quandrea]

New York City. There is so much to do. We love being busy. The hotel we usually stay at is great—well located, great service. Fantastic restaurants abound, Broadway, Central Park. I could go on. We make sure to get there at least twice a year.

 

[siestakeys04]

My family really enjoys cruising. Haven’t been on a Disney one yet. It’s very affordable for us.

 

[ktjdisneymom]

Beaches Turks and Caicos! We’re going next year for the 4th time. This is our first family trip to WDW

 

[100AcreWood]

We rent a house on a lake in the white mountains of New Hampshire every summer. It is gorgeous in those mountains and the air is so clean.

I also really like the Gulf coast of Florida, Arizona (especially Sedona), and Maui.

Arizona is on my list. What did you do there?

 

[Tattylou]

Arizona is on my list. What did you do there?

I went to Arizona a lot in my 20s and it is obviously a huge state, so the places I will list were not necessarily all in the same trip. In Sedona, we just hiked a bit and went in shops. We also have been to the Grand Canyon a couple of times - we stayed at the lodge there and got up to see the sunrise over the canyon. We've driven out to the painted desert. We've also gone to Lake Powell and Antelope Canyon. Antelope canyon is super cool to see. We also drove out to Monument Valley (I think that might technically be Utah). I have to say Monument Valley is one of the most amazing places I have ever seen. We have also been in the Tuscan area, but just once and only driving through. I love the southwest and Arizona is one of my favorite places. We did a lot of driving on those trips. I'm pretty happy to just take in the beautiful scenery and eat good Mexican food! The landscape is so different than anything back east - I just love it.

 

[ajwolfe]

We have loved trips to Hilton Head - by far our favorite beach trip, Smokey Mountains and amazingly enough my kids really loved NOLA.

Would love to go out West next year, so the info about Arizona is right up my alley!

 

[ajwolfe]

I went to Arizona a lot in my 20s and it is obviously a huge state, so the places I will list were not necessarily all in the same trip. In Sedona, we just hiked a bit and went in shops. We also have been to the Grand Canyon a couple of times - we stayed at the lodge there and got up to see the sunrise over the canyon. We've driven out to the painted desert. We've also gone to Lake Powell and Antelope Canyon. Antelope canyon is super cool to see. We also drove out to Monument Valley (I think that might technically be Utah). I have to say Monument Valley is one of the most amazing places I have ever seen. We have also been in the Tuscan area, but just once and only driving through. I love the southwest and Arizona is one of my favorite places. We did a lot of driving on those trips. I'm pretty happy to just take in the beautiful scenery and eat good Mexican food! The landscape is so different than anything back east - I just love it.

So I'm loving this idea for a trip. What time of summer would be best weather wise? Right after school gets out okay?

 

[juxtapose]

My kids are 5 and 2. We really enjoy all inclusives in Mexico with kids clubs. We also have had some good trips in the Colorado mountains, Estes Park, Glenwood Sprungs, and Steamboat Springs.

Back when we had 1 kid we did Chicago and Northern California. Loved Chicago with kids. Lake Tahoe was good too. San Diego is another good option

 

[Tattylou]

So I'm loving this idea for a trip. What time of summer would be best weather wise? Right after school gets out okay?

Every time I went it was mid-summer, end of July into August. I would say you just have to really map out where you want to go, how many days in each place, drive time between, etc. You may not be able to do all that I said in one trip if you only have a week. I think you would need closer to 2 weeks to really do it right and see all those places.
I am not sure if you have kids, but we did not have kids when we did our Arizona trips. So, there maybe other activities that would appeal to kids that I did not know of or do. I want to go back again, but I was waiting for my boys to be a little older to appreciate that kind of trip (and not complain about all the time driving lol). Monument valley should not be missed. It is basically far from everywhere, but so worth it. Amazing.