Family vacation ideas

[laughinplace199]

Our favorite non-WDW trips have included:

California - LA/Hollywood area, Disneyland, & San Diego
Washington DC
Turks & Caicos
Ireland & England

 

[HeatherC]

With that age I would suggest a cruise or an all inclusive in February. Or possibly Costa Rica?

 

[easyas123]

My parents did this. I got burnt out on Disney and didn’t return as an adult until my 30s. I now go to National Parks.

We are guilty of the same thing, our kids haven't set foot on Disney soil since they were in their mid-teens and now 10 years later they still aren't interested!!

If you are looking for warm:

West coast of Florida - Sanibel/Captiva area or maybe the Keys?
BVI's - you can rent a house or charter a boat if you are boaters
Abacos or Turks & Caicos - same thing, rent a house or charter a boat.


or how about Quebec? A taste of Europe, maybe do some skiing or other winter type sport?

 

[sam_gordon]

You don't mention budget, but I would *LOVE* to go to one of these places (and I think it would be more fun with more people):
https://greatescapelakeside.com/ ($2000/night) Sleeps 45
https://greatescapeparkside.com/ ($2000/night) Sleeps 54
https://theeverafterestate.com/ ($2400/night) Sleeps 40+
https://sweetescapehouse.com/ ($1750/night) Sleeps 52

That being said, assuming they're available, I'd say a cruise or an AI.

 

[RamblingMad]

We are guilty of the same thing, our kids haven't set foot on Disney soil since they were in their mid-teens and now 10 years later they still aren't interested!!

The 10 years later thing is not surprising. I didn't go back until I was almost mid 30s. And now I'm strictly a DL person. I can hit it over a weekend and not plan like crazy. I can't imagine the kids who have parents that own DVC that go multiple times a year. By the time they're adults, they probably want to do anything but Disney.

Too much repetition burns you out. I have to wait long enough for new rides to come out between trips. We did do some educational trips to the capital and museums as a kid. But those were pretty boring. I now will only go to a museum if they have some special exhibit. And the capital was super boring and a dump.

My last two experiences at WDW haven't been great because I'm not a super planner. I miss what it was like during the 80s and 90s. This is why I default to DL now.

As a kid I would have preferred variety in my vacations. Disney became a default vacation. It lost its magic through repetition. And I learned to hate FL humidity.

I do want to go back to DL to check out the Star Wars stuff. That was my plan for this year. I wanted to go in October for the Halloween stuff.

 

[Wayland10]

I get the sense that you’re looking to stay in the US? If not, there are literally infinite options and with teens I’d suggest starting with London or Paris. If you do want to stay in the States, and are traveling in winter, I’d look at New Orleans, San Francisco, or Austin. Quebec City is a great cold weather winter choice, but definitely pack WARMLY.

 

[sk!mom]

Favorite nonDisney trips with teen/young adult children...
SoCal/Hawaii- they loved surf lessons, hiking Diamond Head, catamaran sunset cruise, Luau, Pearl Harbor.
We flew to LA a Couple of days early and spent some time in Hollywood- Price is Right taping for the son who loved that show as a kid, Rodeo Drive and the Grove for fashion obsessed DD. Venice Beach, Santa Monica Pier, Walk of Fame.

That was probably everyone’s favorite family trip.

Niagra Falls/NYC was another fun one. We have been to NYC a few times and all enjoy shows, museums, etc. but on one trip we started off with a couple of days at the Falls.

If you really love amusement parks and haven’t done Harry Potter. That was a must do for DD but we did pair it with WDW.

Skiing is another but not really an overall fave for us since 2 of the 4 of us don’t enjoy the cold or the actual skiing. But it’s a good slow down time of sitting around a fire, playing cards, cooking together. We all enjoy tubing.

 

[JimMIA]

We find national parks trips amazing. There is so much variety and every one has something unique to offer.

Many of them are just spectacularly beautiful. It's really hard to beat the raw beauty of places like Yosemite, Glacier, Grand Teton, etc, etc, etc.

You can go to nps.gov and use the search-by-state feature and find lots of hidden treasures.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Whales are in Hawaii in February! If you can travel there, I really think it would be an amazing family vacation. We were in Maui one February and there are so many roadside viewing areas and they are all well placed for viewing!!

 

[lilia78]

We did two larger family trips the first to Cuba and the second to Mexico. We loved both, but loved Mexico more. We stayed at a 5 star all-inclusive resort and it was the best! We’d go again in a moment, if it was the time it was, and hope to go back again!

 

[cjlong88]

So many great options for a family vacation!

Hawaii is hands down of of my favorite places to visit in the United States. Could go back over and over again. There is so much to do and see besides sitting on a beach (which I like doing too!). Something a lot families really enjoy, especially with older teens/young adults, is an all-inclusive trip to somewhere like Mexico or the Caribbean. I took a skiing trip in Colorado when I was a teen and had an absolute blast. Going to the lake (Table Rock, Lake of the Ozarks) for two weeks was a family tradition, and I would gladly repeat those vacations. Water skiing, tubing, fishing, fire pits, laying out on the boat. So many different activities that get you away from the hustle and bustle of society, and that made for some excellent family bonding.

Whatever you do, enjoy your time with family and enjoy making those memories!

 

[Suprize2017]

Thank you for all of these suggestions! There are a few I really liked!

There were a few questions in a lot of the responses that I’ll try to answer in just this post. First, my kids are the driving force in returning to Florida and Disney. Three of our family vacations have been there. My husband and I went once on our own, my twins went once on their own, and my daughter once on her own. (My aunt and uncle live in the area, so the kids flew to them and went to Disney with them). So each of us have been four times, but only three as true family vacations. I was trying to be brief, so didn’t think it needed to be explained in more detail in my original post.

We live in Montana and have been to Yellowstone National Park too many times to count. We’ve done day trips, overnight trips, and camping trips to YNP. We’ve also been to a Glacier National Park a handful of times, the Grand Tetons, and Teddy Roosevelt National Park.

We love skiing and three of the five of us have season passes, so go quite a bit. The other two go when they feel like it. I am not at all interested in a skiing vacation as larger resorts can get crazy expensive and I don’t feel their terrain is any better than what we have locally. I’ve been to many of them in this region.

I felt a bit of judgement about wanting to return to Disney and Florida and one even stated they hoped my kids would get a little more adventurous as they got older. I didn’t feel I gave enough information in my original post to warrant any judgement against my kids or our choices. All three kids have been to DC, Boston, and Philadelphia. I wouldn’t mind going back, but that’s a pretty busy vacation. Almost a bit busier than I’d prefer for possibly a last family vacation. (At least the last one before all three are out of the house) My boys love hiking, camping, hunting, and mountain biking and play competitive sports. They’re plenty “adventurous” and I have no interest in telling them to be more so. My daughter is a bit more into academia, but is involved in quite a few activities and will be going to Mexico next summer. Since our kids were babies, we’ve taken them to many museums, ghost towns, many different types of historical points, etc in this region (for us, that means Washington to North Dakota and down to Colorado).

Thanks again for the suggestions. A couple favorites are Hawaii (Pearl Harbor and the volcanos have long been something my husband and I have been interested in seeing) and a trip to CA, doing Disneyland, then heading north and seeing quite a few things on the way. We already plan a road trip to the Grand Canyon, so that isn’t on the list for what I’m looking for. I appreciate the suggestions and look forward to throwing a few of those ideas their way and seeing what they say.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Given what you’ve said, I’d say Hawaii or Europe. If you could change the time to the summer, I’d suggest an Alaskan cruise. But if time is set, that’s off the table.

 

[SaintsManiac]

We are going to DC in spring of 2022. It’s a reschedule from this past May. I am so excited about it, but we are all into American history. It’s such a fun city and so much to do and see.

 

[cjlong88]

I felt a bit of judgement about wanting to return to Disney and Florida and one even stated they hoped my kids would get a little more adventurous as they got older. I didn’t feel I gave enough information in my original post to warrant any judgement against my kids or our choices.

Whatever you choose, I’m sure you and your family will have a great time. Sometimes people see asking for advice or suggestions on the boards as an opportunity to be critical or judgmental in a way that doesn’t help you make a decision, whether intentional or not. I’ve definitely felt that more than once on these boards.

Vacationing is such a personal endeavor. Going back to WDW over and over doesn’t make us any less adventurous. And it sounds like your kids have already had some incredible experiences all over the states already. You do you and enjoy every moment of it.

Keep us posted on what you decide!

 

[Colleen27]

The 10 years later thing is not surprising. I didn't go back until I was almost mid 30s. And now I'm strictly a DL person. I can hit it over a weekend and not plan like crazy. I can't imagine the kids who have parents that own DVC that go multiple times a year. By the time they're adults, they probably want to do anything but Disney.

Too much repetition burns you out. I have to wait long enough for new rides to come out between trips. We did do some educational trips to the capital and museums as a kid. But those were pretty boring. I now will only go to a museum if they have some special exhibit. And the capital was super boring and a dump.

I think it is as much a matter of personality as anything. It sounds like there just wasn't much overlap between your interests/personality when it comes to travel and those of your parents.

My three have all been to WDW about a dozen times. My 22yo son would probably be fine with never going again; as he's gotten older, he's come to really dislike crowds and anything he perceives as touristy or overly commercial, and he really doesn't enjoy traveling in general. He camps with his friends sometimes but that's about it. My daughters both love all things Disney and the 19yo has started planning trips without me. She was really disappointed to cancel her spring break plans for this year - she and some friends who have never been to a Disney park were going to hit DLR together, but she's looking forward to Food & Wine at WDW with her BFF for their 21st birthdays. And as we start traveling to the global parks, she's made it very clear that she wants to be included if it is at all possible, no matter how old she gets.

 

[VandVsmama]

We have taken our last four big family vacations to Disney World and are talking about one last big vacation before the kids have all graduated. I’m hoping to get some ideas that are NOT Disney, as crazy as that is. When we go, our boys will be 17 years old and our daughter will be 18. Any time I try to think of ideas, I just go back to Disney, and we might end up there anyway. It just seems to be our thing, and we are all happy with that. But I feel we should at least have other options to be considered. We would go the last week of February, in two more years (so I’m hoping COVID will be a distant memory by then), just to give a frame of reference for the time of year we would be traveling. I’d love to hear ideas from all of you!

Go to CA. You could...

• spend a couple of days in San Diego. Spend a day at the San Diego Zoo. Go tour through the aircraft carrier museum that's on Mission Bay.
• Spend a day doing the Hollywood thing. Take a studio tour of Warner Bros studio. Have dinner at the Tam O'Shanter, which is where Walt Disney used to dine regularly with imagineers & animation artists after a long day at work.
• Spend 2-3 days at Disneyland. Save your $$ and don't stay on site. Stay across the street on Harbor Blvd.
• Spend a couple of days in Santa Barbara.
• Then drive 101 up to Monterey Bay to go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Stop in Solvang just north of Santa Barbara along the way. Do NOT drive Hwy 1 in Feb. Kind of a nightmare in Feb.
• If you want, end the trip in SF. You could visit the Walt Disney Family Museum, go see Alcatraz, have dim sum in Chinatown, visit some of the cool museums in Golden Gate Park, etc., etc.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Washington DC and the Smithsonians are great too.

This is the "other" vacation we took when DS was in high school, and we all loved it! (But if you've already been, I can see it being off the list.)

...A couple favorites are Hawaii (Pearl Harbor and the volcanos have long been something my husband and I have been interested in seeing) and a trip to CA, doing Disneyland, then heading north and seeing quite a few things on the way...

I think both of those are great ideas, too, and they are on our "maybe someday" list as well.


All that said, though, if Disney memories are kind of why you want to take one more trip, there's nothing wrong with continuing the tradition!

 

[RogueX]

My daughter is 14 and one of her favorite trips was cross country road trip through Scotland.

Japan is a great country to visit and I would recommend it.

 

[Donnainnj]

To me Hawaii seems perfect for your group. We are also big Disney Fans, usually going to Disneyworld on average at least once a year. We went to Hawaii when our girls were 7 and 11, and again when they were 17 and 21 and their little brother was 6. It is an amazing trip that can be as relaxing or as active as you want. We found transportation the most expensive part of the trip. We mostly rented condos. Coming from the east coast we wouldn't go for less then two weeks. Our last trip was 23 nights and we still weren't really ready to come home...Always said that if airfare was the same to Hawaii as Florida, Hawaii would be our most frequent vacation. If you do end up planning Hawaii look into the Revealed book series for the Island(s) you visit. Wonderful resource.