When you vacation is it always Disney?

[North of Mouse]

We had such an amazing vacation last October at WDW. We surprised the kids and truly had a magical week that we will remember forever. So, naturally I want to go back When I told my friends/coworkers/family that we wanted to start saving to go back their reactions were all the same.... "AGAIN?!? Why not Hawaii or a road trip to the coast, why not give them a new experience". I understand what they're saying that it's good to show them new things... but we truly loved Disney and grew closer as a family. I feel like maybe one day when they are all older we can vacation by the beach... but right now we all love it! I wish we could afford two vacations a year... but that's not in the cards anytime soon. Do you ever get this reaction from people you know or ever feel like maybe you should vacation somewhere else to give the kids different memories?

Yes, we do, but not because we go to Disney every year. There are so many other places that we enjoy. Even though it may be a few years in between our WDW trips there are always people that say 'again'???? We could not go to Disney exclusively though, experiencing other places are very important to us - completely different in relaxation.

 

[Pesky]

We don't but it's more that is how things work out. I have a friend who goes once or twice a year with her DH and tween daughters and yes they do get that. Heck, I just went once so far and am planning another and I still get those comments. It's just a "do what works for you" kind of thing. We enjoy our vacations at other destinations as well and even our staycations so I don't see those stopping either.

 

[Planogirl]

DS has been to WDW 19 times and once to DL and he is 22 now. We also explored southern California and quite a bit of Florida and visited Philadelphia and also spent quite a bit of time in San Antonio and the Ozarks. I think that we should have gone to more places but we sure had a nice time.

 

[Gena001]

We just returned yesterday from WDW. It was my 7 year old's 25th vacation to WDW. Each one was different and unique because of how she has changed since her first trip at 10 months. Also as a PP said, different times of the year=different vacations. We travel Easter, late August and Nov. we stay from 5 days to 2 weeks. We stay offsite to Beach Club.

I live about 40 minutes from the NJ shore and can not imagine spending a whole week there! Last summer we paid about $1500 for the Beach Club for the week. Several times I thought how much nicer that was than renting a house at the shore for $3000 for the week. My kid played in the sand, pool with lifeguards. There were recreational activities, nightly movies, water sports, etc. all this without going into the park. But we do have APs so walking to France for an afternoon pastry was a bonus!

Now, DD has also been on 16 cruises with her grandparents, plus many cities on the east coast. So she isn't exactly "deprived" of seeing other places. I would love to visit Hawaii and Australia again, but those trips would equal easy 4-5 Disney vacations for me. And I would like to travel more often than that!

DCbride: Could you adopt me, please?

 

[lauraleh]

We went last September and are going again this September. I really think it is an ideal place because of the age of our kids (4 & 1). I don't think we will do WDW every year in the future but for right now, it really provides a good bang for our buck and the memories of them seeing the characters they love and riding fun rides is priceless. I'm sure as they grow we will diversify our trips a bit. Before they came along we cruised frequently and we also enjoy National Parks and other road trips. We can maybe spend an afternoon at the beach. That's just not our thing. For cruises at this age, our youngest can't participate in the activities and we have to pay full price for him. That makes it a less attractive choice for us at the moment.

Also, I think a lot depends on where you live. For instance, we live in Texas. It takes forever to drive anywhere. Before kids, we lived in Las Vegas and we loved how relatively quickly we could drive to mountains, beaches, etc.

 

[KingofJapan]

We just go to Disney in the winter months up until April or so. When it gets hot, we stay away from Disney. We are spending a week in Barcelona then going to Italy for another week which then we will go on a Mediterranean cruise for 10 days. I can only take so much of Disney and I think the kids are burning out.

 

[justafigment27]

It's not always Disney now, but it was our major annual vacation for several years when our kids were younger. Sure we took shorter trips here & there (long weekends visiting out of state relatives, some camping close to home in the summer, a night or two at Great Wolf Lodge or Kalahari), but Disney was always THE BIG ONE. It's just a really easy vacation with kids - easy to plan, easy to execute and just plain fun.

As long as you are happy vacationing in WDW, I don't see a need to change or fret about the opinion of others. I think you will know if you are ready for a change. Plenty of people never have the desire or ability to go anywhere on vacation, so I see nothing wrong at all with enjoying the same vacation destination year after year if it makes you happy.

 

[RustManFan]

WDW is only one of the places where we make repeat visits.

1. lake cottage in NH where my parents started going when my mother was pregnant with me. now our 3rd generation is loving the place too
2. Scotland - we enjoy day car trips and staying at B&Bs so much
3. England - we enjoy day train trips while making London our headquarters
4. California - my DD and DSIL bought a house there in November 2013. I have made 2 trips there so far including DL during one.
5. Gettysburg - my whole family is very interested in history and we enjoy visiting the battlefield and "standing in the shoes"
6. North Carolina - my DS and I are big NASCAR fans so we enjoy visiting the race shops. And now my brother and family live in Charlotte area so we have even more reason to go!!

 

[BLAZEY]

This will be our first trip to WDW. We have done DL twice with our DD6. The first time was one day as we were in the area for a wedding and the Nov 2013 was a dedicated DL trip. DD and I did DL Paris while in Europe and in Paris for a few days. We also have been to Portland Oregon three times and annually go up to my Uncle's cabin at Sproat Lake. Disney provides a great holiday that all of us can enjoy. DH is not up to travelling much but I can convince him to do Disney! I would like to mix it up a bit and will likely take DD to Tokyo Disneyland when I take her to Japan in couple of years to visit friends. Neither my DH or I have any interest in a beach trip for more than a day. When I was in Australia, visiting my sister we did 2 beach days, one on Anzac day with her friends and another day we did Bondi Beach.

 

[amber_cntrygrl]

Nope. We also enjoy cruises and the beach. I'd like to go every other year, especially while the kids are still young, but DH says Disney every 3 years is enough. Wahhhh.
Oh well. I guess every 3 years is more than some can say, and I should be thankful.

 

[ilovebassets]

Doing Disney vacations doesn't always mean having to go to Disneyworld. There's always Disney cruises and non theme park resorts like Disney's Hilton Head resorts. Living in Atlanta means these things are only a day's drive away making them surprisingly economical vacation choices when compared to flying a family of four somewhere. Even my not so Disney husband has finally become a Disney convert after all these years. All these things--cruises, WDW, and Hilton Head--are just so wonderfully geared towards families. My kids have such a great time doing all of them, and when they're happy, we can by happy. That said, we do always do one non-Disney trip a year. Last year we split a week between Asheville, NC and Chattanooga, TN. We've spent long weekends in Alabama between Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, and Huntsville. And in June, we are going to Boston, MA and Portland, ME for a week.

We go on many vacations. Maybe it's my European upbringing, but vacationing is incredibly important to my family. Our vacation budget is probably north of $15k a year divided between 3 to 5 different trips.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

Doing Disney vacations doesn't always mean having to go to Disneyworld. There's always Disney cruises and non theme park resorts like Disney's Hilton Head resorts. Living in Atlanta means these things are only a day's drive away making them surprisingly economical vacation choices when compared to flying a family of four somewhere. Even my not so Disney husband has finally become a Disney convert after all these years. All these things--cruises, WDW, and Hilton Head--are just so wonderfully geared towards families. My kids have such a great time doing all of them, and when they're happy, we can by happy. That said, we do always do one non-Disney trip a year. Last year we split a week between Asheville, NC and Chattanooga, TN. We've spent long weekends in Alabama between Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, and Huntsville. And in June, we are going to Boston, MA and Portland, ME for a week.

We go on many vacations. Maybe it's my European upbringing, but vacationing is incredibly important to my family. Our vacation budget is probably north of $15k a year divided between 3 to 5 different trips.

I was just going to say just about everything you said! Except I'm not European. And I'm not going to MA or ME for a week in June. And I do not have a $15k a year vacation budget.

But everything else, Yeah! My husband cares little for Disney parks, but he has come to realize, after the many vacations I have dragged him on over the years, that you can't beat Disney quality. We've done a Disney cruise, Hilton Head, Vero Beach, and several trips to WDW, and DH is happy to go anywhere with the Disney name and enjoy the resorts. One of these days we will do Aulani. Like you, we live in the Atlanta area and find that Disney-related vacations are so much cheaper than trying to deal with airfare for our family of four to just about anywhere else.

I laugh when people comment that going to Disney is doing the same thing. For us, a Disney vacation is never the same twice. We have been to Africa (AKL), a resort of the future (CR), New Orleans (POR and POFQ), an animator's paradise (AoA), and the wilderness (FORT Wilderness, that is). There are still so many other places for us to go! Caribbean Beach, Coronado Springs, Polynesia, Saratoga Springs, Key West . . . these are all places yet to be stamped in our Disney passports. As many times as we have been, there is still so much left to do. No way is this the same old vacation every year.

We like other places, too, of course. We just got back from Asheville and Pigeon Forge, and we go to Chattanooga, too. We are actually doing Universal this year for the first time. But anything Disney is still the favorite.

 

[ilovebassets]

But everything else, Yeah! My husband cares little for Disney parks, but he has come to realize, after the many vacations I have dragged him on over the years, that you can't beat Disney quality. We've done a Disney cruise, Hilton Head, Vero Beach, and several trips to WDW, and DH is happy to go anywhere with the Disney name and enjoy the resorts. One of these days we will do Aulani. Like you, we live in the Atlanta area and find that Disney-related vacations are so much cheaper than trying to deal with airfare for our family of four to just about anywhere else.

I feel pretty lucky to live in Atlanta from a travel standpoint. There are lots of amazing places within a days drive from here that are way under 8 hours drive. If you can stomach a slightly longer drive (12 hrs), you can get as far south as Miami or as far north as DC in one day. We have mountains, beaches, theme parks, etc, all at reasonable prices. The only thing that's not readily accessible is snow and skiing, but I hate cold weather so that doesn't bother me one bit!

And on the rare occasion that we do fly, we have Hartsfield-Jackson at our doorstep and direct flights to almost everywhere. Hawaii will be a bit of a stretch to reach. When I look at those Aulani prices, they make me shudder a little bit. Not sure we'll make it out there, but maybe one day. I think an Adventures by Disney trip would be neat to try one day, too, but wow, are they pricey.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

I feel pretty lucky to live in Atlanta from a travel standpoint. There are lots of amazing places within a days drive from here that are way under 8 hours drive. If you can stomach a slightly longer drive (12 hrs), you can get as far south as Miami or as far north as DC in one day. We have mountains, beaches, theme parks, etc, all at reasonable prices. The only thing that's not readily accessible is snow and skiing, but I hate cold weather so that doesn't bother me one bit!

And on the rare occasion that we do fly, we have Hartsfield-Jackson at our doorstep and direct flights to almost everywhere. Hawaii will be a bit of a stretch to reach. When I look at those Aulani prices, they make me shudder a little bit. Not sure we'll make it out there, but maybe one day. I think an Adventures by Disney trip would be neat to try one day, too, but wow, are they pricey.

My husband has suggested moving to Charlotte and I am not keen on that. It would be much harder to get my Disney fix - and to travel to the other places you mentioned. BTW, you actually can ski at Ober Gatlinburg, which is less than a 4 hour drive from Atlanta. And for a 9 hour drive, you can ski at Snowshoe, WV (in case you ever decide you like cold weather).

DH says that when I get older and the kids are grown, he doesn't think I will want to go to Disney any more. I am not so sure. Adventures by Disney would be an awesome way to have a Disney vacation without going to WDW. For our family to go on an ABD long weekend in Nashville, it would cost us about $10,000.

I think we may stick with WDW for a while.

 

[MandiC]

Nope, dh and I are strong believers in couple time for a healthy marriage so what has been every other year we do a vacation just me and him. We do small vacations to Wisconsin Dells as a family frequently. And we just like to see other places. Disney will probably be an every 2-4 year thing, less frequent once the kids are grown.

 

[Sgt Mickey]

It's not the only place we vacation at but it is the most popular. I say do with what makes you happy.

 

[bartleby1]

Different strokes for different folks! I gave up listening to what others think about my vacations a long time ago, lol!

When our kids were really little, we did disney every year. It was the easiest, and one of the cheaper trips to take at the time.

When the kids were 11, 9, and 6 we did a 2 week road trip from nj to south dakota and loved it so much that we did a longer 3 week road trip the following year from nj to california! We did sneak a few days at disneyLAND in on that trip though.

We also did a road trip to Williamsburg, Myrtle Beach, and Gatlinburg last summer. This year we're heading back to disneyworld.

We love our disney trips, but we also love our road trips. I wouldn't want to give either of them up. I have heard, from many people, the whole "Disney AGAIN?" line. Yup, because we love it. I have also heard, from many people, "There's no WAY I would ever drive all the way to California - "you must be crazy", "that's not a a vacation - that's torture". But, I wouldn't give that trip up for ANYTHING. It was such a great experience for us and my kids got to see so much of the country.

Many of our friends like to go to an all-inclusive tropical island resort for vacation. That's not my cup of tea, but I do understand that others might enjoy it. Bottom line is, you go where your family likes to go! And, that may or may not change at some point as the kids get older but as long as everyone is happy, who cares what others think!

 

[twinz]

Disney is our number one choice. We have also been to Cuba (yup we are allowed there), Mexico, California (DisneyLand), Massachusetts (we have a friend who lives in Boston). My sister has been to Europe as well. We have also been on a few cruises. Now that I have a little one, it may be Disney for many years to come, which I am ok with.

 

[senadler]

We bought DVC five years ago and have been every year since. With our kids age ranges, 14, 10, and 4, we find that Disney has something for everyone. My husband has taken the older two on a couple of road trips over the past few years to the national parks, but the youngest isn't ready for that yet. For now, Disney works well for all of us as a family.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Different strokes for different folks! I gave up listening to what others think about my vacations a long time ago, lol!

When our kids were really little, we did disney every year. It was the easiest, and one of the cheaper trips to take at the time.

When the kids were 11, 9, and 6 we did a 2 week road trip from nj to south dakota and loved it so much that we did a longer 3 week road trip the following year from nj to california! We did sneak a few days at disneyLAND in on that trip though.

We also did a road trip to Williamsburg, Myrtle Beach, and Gatlinburg last summer. This year we're heading back to disneyworld.

We love our disney trips, but we also love our road trips. I wouldn't want to give either of them up. I have heard, from many people, the whole "Disney AGAIN?" line. Yup, because we love it. I have also heard, from many people, "There's no WAY I would ever drive all the way to California - "you must be crazy", "that's not a a vacation - that's torture". But, I wouldn't give that trip up for ANYTHING. It was such a great experience for us and my kids got to see so much of the country.

Many of our friends like to go to an all-inclusive tropical island resort for vacation. That's not my cup of tea, but I do understand that others might enjoy it. Bottom line is, you go where your family likes to go! And, that may or may not change at some point as the kids get older but as long as everyone is happy, who cares what others think!

Road trips are awesome! The greatest memory of my youth was a 6-week, 7,500 mile road trip we took when I was 10. And that was 1977

Oh, and we did do 2 days at Disneyland that trip, but I don't even count that among the highlights.