Spring Break, Summer Vacation

[divanerd]

Have you figured this out or are you all late like me..well we do have spring break planned taking a cruise and visiting Disney since our parents live in FL.

husband wants to renew our vows this summer for our 15th anniversary. I can't imagine planning something 6 mos from now...

[2chatter]

Spring Break we are home except a weekend away at Family Camp (summer camp with the kids).

Summer...I think we are doing San Diego. If I get my way we will stay with friends who have a pretty big three story condo the first night, then at a beachfront hotel for three nights, then two nights at Disney and one last night with friends. My friends live in a different t reality though as they suggested the Universal VIP tour and a suite on property at Disney after I said the 7K house rental they sent wasn’t going to fit our budget. You guys, I have never been so stressed than I am trying to figure out this Disney thing. I feel like a moron. It’s like it’s written in Greek. Do we stay on property? Are there different parks with different tickets or are they just sections of Disneyland? Is three days (afternoon, full day, most of a full day) too much or too little?

[akafred]

Spring break no clue. There are no camps because it is a different week than the districts have. But after this week there is no way I will WFH with her. Shoot me!

[divanerd]

I think 2 days is enough..we are going to Disney this year and we will just go for 2 days. Have fun!

[waverly]

Ok so I've mostly only been to Disney World not Disney Land. I went to Disney Land once.

If you want to plan you definitely should/ can and for the price a lot of people do so especially if they want to meet characters over a meal or their special occasions. However, I think a lot of people forget or maybe didn't go as casually as I did as a kid don't realize you can always just roll up and go- no problem. Do a little reading on it and then show up.

My Grandparents lived in Florida and had the resident pass for several years. We never stayed onsite. I guess that's a thing, but totally not necessary. When we went to Disney Land, we stayed with friends. We went for just one afternoon- just a few hours. They must have had free passes or something. 2 days would be fine.

A lot of things have changed but if you want to get a fast pass or max pass or whatever I would buy them ahead of time. Because when we went the system was down and only the people who already had them could use them.

[polecat8]

There is no real spring break for my kids. They just get 2 or 3 days off around Easter weekend.
DH and I are going to Iceland in early March to celebrate our 15 year wedding anniversary, which was last July. We are so excited to explore a new country. The kids will be staying with my parents while we are gone.

In August, my whole family (parents, 3 brothers and their families) are going to Niagara Falls for a week.

[twinmomma]

Kids will just be home with DH for spring break, no special plans. It's only a week and I can't take time off at that time.

For summer, I think I just convinced our old nanny to cover the one week of care we need so I'm super excited about that! The girls will be super excited and the nanny is really excited too. Otherwise, they'll do two weeks of summer camp with DH and then just be at home with him for the rest of the time. One perk of DH's crazy teacher life - at least summer childcare is easy to figure out now that they're older.

[covergirl82]

2chatter, you should check out the Disney & Theme Parks board and ask questions. I've asked and answered some questions, and the regulars seem nice and helpful. Or feel free to ask me any questions. I actually enjoy planning our Disney trips.

I have only ever gone to Disney World, and I've been 5 times (I guess 6 if you count the time we went to Orlando for spring break (not a "Disney trip" and took the kids to Magic Kingdom for one day) in the last 11 years (DH likes Disney World too). We prefer to stay at a Disney resort because we don't mind taking the busses, and it feels more like a "whole" experience, but I know a lot of people like to stay at hotels or VRBOs close by because they feel it's cheaper. You may want to check into renting Disney Vacation Club points (Disney's version of a timeshare), because you can save a lot of money and it makes staying on site about the same as staying off-site. DH and I paid $540 for 3 nights for a standard room at Old Key West last Fall. We just booked 7 nights in a standard room at the Polynesian resort for $2000, and it's usually almost $600 a night for a standard room. (We used http://www.dvc-rental.com.)

I would think 3 days would be just fine. We are only doing 3 park days on our upcoming trip. We did 5 days last time, and it almost felt like too much. (Plus then DS got dehydrated and it triggered that confusional migraine that got him an ambulance ride from school and a couple days in the hospital.)

[covergirl82]

For Spring Break, we are going to the Ark Encounter in KY - we'll be gone 4 days, which works out well. I wanted some time to work on projects around the house too.

Summer will be mostly long-weekend camping trips. We will spend the week of the 4th of July camping in the lakeshore town my parents grew up in.

[kimberlybb]

My kids aren't in school yet so no designated spring break but we are going to Florida next month. I'm hoping to go to Colorado this summer but haven't convinced DH yet.

[justcheckingin73]

Typically we don’t do anything for Spring Break because it falls during tax season and DH is a CPA. But this year, I think I’m going to take my kids to see my parents in TX. Not sure if I’m going to take the whole week or just a long weekend.

In the summer we usually get together with my sister and her family and my parents in some mutual location. This year, I think we’re going to the Outer Banks. We haven’t been there in so long and I really miss it. Just trying to figure out what dates would work best and where we want to stay. We used to live on Hatteras Island and I’m partial to staying there and making day trips up the beach but the Nags Head/KDH area has more activities for the kids. Either way I can’t wait - I need some beach time!

[2chatter]

covergirl82 - I sent a request through the DVC club site. Great idea! I also read last night that Disneyland is less overwhelming that DW. I was relieved - we haven’t done a theme park with the kids —- beyond small things like the Pleasure Pier in Galveston. But I am taking one for the team if we can skip Florida for a year and do a CA vacation.

If anyone has stayed beach front in San Diego - I am also looking for hotel recs. Some of the hotels I’d like might not be family friendly (Mission/Pacific Beach). I haven’t even looked closer to La Jolla as I assume prices are insane. Tips for that too please! We always VRBO but I waited too long this time. So two hotel rooms it is....

[jlaok]

No plans for spring break because DD isn't old enough to do any camps.

We have no clue for summer vacation. No big trip this year because DH and I are each taking a trip with friends but we'll probably end up going to Galvaston or San Antonio because they are each a days drive from us.

[phdmomma]

We are doing Disney World over spring break, every three years the university's spring break aligns with the school district's, and this is one of those years. We are staying off site and renting a car, which I've never done before (always stayed on site), but after not being too impressed with our value resort and the busses last time, I think that this might be fun. Or at least we can eat food somewhere other than Disney.

Summer, nothing, maybe going up to the family cottage for a week, because DD's daycare is closed for the week of the 4th of July.

[erinshelley21]

No spring break for us. I don't want to travel with the masses down to FL or anywhere. We get a week off in October (was 2 weeks but they are changing to a week in October and the whole week of Thanksgiving) so we are hoping for that to be our vacation time since the rest of the country probably doesn't have a long fall break like that. Now if we ever win the lottery and DH gets to farm, that will change

DH and I are going to Charleston in May to celebrate 10 years together and get some us time before we begin this new chapter of me working somewhere else. I'm hoping to go on a girls trip with 2 HS bff's late summer/early fall.

I like to think about trips way in advance. It gives me something to look forward too!

[mommyatty]

I hit my 10 year anniversary with my company this year, so I get another week of vacation. Considering I already regularly gave back days, this doesn’t feel like a windfall! But I may try to do something for Spring Break to use some of those days.
Maybe someplace like Galveston or Hot Springs where we could drive.

This summer we just booked a week at Hilton Head. We loved it last year. We are taking my MIL this year, which DH and the kids are excited about. Me, not so much. But it’ll still be fun.

[2chatter]

mommyatty - I was on the fence about taking my mom to Galveston. It turned out to be awesome. The kids had another adult to talk to, they loved the experience of vacation with Mimi, she did things like flip laundry...overall it made the trip more laid back. I hope it’s the same with MIL!

And for Galveston we stayed in THE BEST house. Super kid oriented. Bar/marina down the street for quick dates. Super positive and helpful owners.

www.vrbo.com/801504

[sunbutter]

Spring Break for us this year is Disney World. Kid choice. Otherwise we would have returned to Turks and Caicos.

Summer trips are more low key. We will do a few long weekend tent camping trips. We also have a family reunion every July 4th week with Dh’s family. This year, growth in numbers has us considering an RV rental. Should make for an interesting adventure...

[k3am]

2chatter, I've only done Disneyland and never WDW, so I can't compare, but from what I can gather, Disneyland is much more mellow.

You don't need to stay on property. There's a whole slew of hotels across the street, some of which will actually take you less time to get into the park.

2 days is more than fine. There are two parks and you can buy park hopper tickets or just one or the other. We bought park hoppers for both days and only used them one day, so it was a waste of money.

[k3am]

No plans for us this year. We know we'll be moving at least one time in May, and potentially another time down the road depending on what housing looks like for us.

[leap]

2chatter, I don't think you need to stay on property. There are lots of hotels in the Disneyland area, and there aren't as many advantages to staying on property as there are for WDW. There are two parks - Disneyland and California Adventure. I think one day at each park would be enough.

So far, no plans for Spring Break. The kids will go to Spring Break Camp (or at least part of it) at our before/after care place.

And our only summer plans are a week at the family lake house around the 4th of July and then back again at the end of the month for family reunion. The girls will then spend an extra week at the lake with Grammy.

[supertrooper1]

Usually I've already booked a spring break trip by this time, but I have been feeling cheap and going somewhere warm is expensive. Last year we went to Maui and it seems like anything less won't be as fun. But I don't want to spend the money. I end up planning vacations because DH is always "too busy to think about it".

I have 3 weeks in July that I can take ALL or none of the time. I'm thinking about booking a cruise. At the end of my 3 weeks will be my parents anniversary party. It's turning into a lot of work so far, and I hope it goes well without too much work.

[2chatter]

It sounds like Disney will be less of a beat down than I thought. Thinking we will drive up to Anaheim on Wednesday and do the parks two days on Thursday and Friday based on the responses here. Spend Wednesday morning in SD with no rush and then maybe lunch in the packing food hall place in Anaheim. Maybe check out an OC beach, or will traffic make that hard to/from Anaheim?

And supertrooper1 - taking ALL of the time is totally on the agenda right? Or does that trade off with time later in the year?

[mustardseed2007]

Spring Break - 3 days camping in the Texas hill country, 3 days in San Antonio. I'm really looking forward to it.

[katrine05]

Spring Break - DD has over a week off, I've taken the time off but no clue what we'll do. No plans on taking another family vacation.

Summer - we might try doing some long weekend road trips. I really want to spend some time in the mountains this year.

[186momx]

Spring break is in the heart of tax season so I work crazy hours and don't sleep much. DD will be at aftercare "camp" 7-6 except on practice days my mom will take her to practice.

Summer...no plans. DH is thinking of hiking part of the PCT with friends for a week.

[k3am]

2chatter, if you need recommendations, we stayed at the Grand Legacy across the street last time. For our February trip, we're going to stay at Camelot Inn & Suites... mainly because they have suites, and if I have to be trapped in a hotel room for bedtime at 7/8, I want to be trapped with the ability to watch TV.

I think sandandsea stayed at the Hyatt? She's fancier than we are obviously, but it's further away.

[sandandsea]

Jan 18, 2018 12:23:44 GMT -5 k3am said:

2chatter, if you need recommendations, we stayed at the Grand Legacy across the street last time. For our February trip, we're going to stay at Camelot Inn & Suites... mainly because they have suites, and if I have to be trapped in a hotel room for bedtime at 7/8, I want to be trapped with the ability to watch TV.

I think sandandsea stayed at the Hyatt? She's fancier than we are obviously, but it's further away.

Haha. It was the Hilton. They have a Starbucks in the lobby so you can enjoy a mocha on the walk to the park. Or you can hop in the Disney parking shuttle across the street and ride to the park (I think this is technically not kosher but people do it). They also have an awesome kids water play area if it’s warm. It’s a little further than other hotels but what’s another 0.1 miles after DL all day?! There is also a food court which can be handy. Aside from distance the other issue is it’s connected to the convention center so it can be busy from non Disney people. But we have Hilton honors points and they often do stay 3 get 4th night free deals so it’s the same price as the crappier hotels that are closer.

I like it and we’ve done it twice and I’d do it again.

[sandandsea]

We aren’t doing anything for SB. Ds is signed up for the after school camps so he will do that. We are going to Tahoe for half of ski week in Feb though.

During the summer we are looking into Aulani in Hawaii for our family vacation. Dh and I also want to go to Europe at some point this year but we aren’t sure when it will work out yet.

[2chatter]

sandandsea - I was looking at the Hilton for the Starbucks and food court! I also like the Marriott right across the street. I haven’t seen a price difference between these and the other hotels - which is really weird. I pretty much get between 2k-2400 on property and at anything adjacent.

Does the Hilton have bunks/suites? I can’t remember...and DH wants to meet tomorrow to discuss options and book.