Anonymous wrote:For a bigger splurge / trip, what about the Disney resort in Hawaii? I think it's all the amenities / support / kid friendliness of Disney but with beaches and pools instead of a Disney park. And you can easily do road trips around the island while you're there. My sister (single mom) took her 6 yo son there last year and had an incredible time.

There is no way I’m getting on a plane for that many hours with my 18 month old.

For a bigger splurge / trip, what about the Disney resort in Hawaii? I think it's all the amenities / support / kid friendliness of Disney but with beaches and pools instead of a Disney park. And you can easily do road trips around the island while you're there. My sister (single mom) took her 6 yo son there last year and had an incredible time.

Anonymous wrote:If you liked Disney, try Disney Hilton Head or any other disney resorts. I loved all the activities in Disney's Hilton Head with biking, smores on the beach and such.

Omg I didn’t know this exists! This is perfect! We actually had a good trip to Savannah but DD was much littler and not so fussy.

Anonymous wrote:If you liked Disney, try Disney Hilton Head or any other disney resorts. I loved all the activities in Disney's Hilton Head with biking, smores on the beach and such.

This hotel always seems to be booked up. How did you get a room?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’ve done Disney and just skipped the parks. We stay at a Deluxe resort, where the pools are nicer and have slides, and poolside activities for the kids. DH and I park it on a chaise, order drinks and snacks, I read and watch the kids, DH sleeps, we trade. We spend the evenings in Disney Springs. We visit the water parks, play mini golf. Last time I even ran a pop-up fun run at the resort. The resort had child care so we did that and spent an evening at Epcot alone.

You know what, this is good advice. DH liked the park hotel just not the park. Limiting park time to one partial day, maybe just me and DD alone, could be the ticket.

the animal kingdom lodge (get the room with the balcony and view of the animals) or the beach club hotel would be great for this, because they are like their own mini resorts.

If you liked Disney, try Disney Hilton Head or any other disney resorts. I loved all the activities in Disney's Hilton Head with biking, smores on the beach and such.

Places we have been that went poorly: Portland/PacNW, Colorado, NYC.

isn't there a resort in the Caribbean where a family gets assigned their own nanny?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’ve done Disney and just skipped the parks. We stay at a Deluxe resort, where the pools are nicer and have slides, and poolside activities for the kids. DH and I park it on a chaise, order drinks and snacks, I read and watch the kids, DH sleeps, we trade. We spend the evenings in Disney Springs. We visit the water parks, play mini golf. Last time I even ran a pop-up fun run at the resort. The resort had child care so we did that and spent an evening at Epcot alone.

You know what, this is good advice. DH liked the park hotel just not the park. Limiting park time to one partial day, maybe just me and DD alone, could be the ticket.

ha, I thought we were the only people who loved the Disney hotel but hated the parks.

We did a great vacation once that was two days at Legoland and a lego hotel and then a few days at a Disney resort, but renting the car and the drive back and forth from Orland to Legoland was the main downside (it was maybe an hour or an hour and a half away-out in the middle of nowhere!)

Anonymous wrote:Where have you been that sucked? What were your sleeping arrangements? I agree Disney is great with young kids.... there’s a reason people keep going back! What about a Disney Cruise?

DH gets seasick so I don’t want to roll the dice on a cruise ship. Even if it’s unlikely, if he does get seasick, it’s just not worth the chance.

We have gone to some nice Caribbean all-inclusive resorts that have good children's programs. Our kids love them. They go and make new friends, do some fun activities and burn off some energy for a few hours in the morning and then we spend the rest of the day together and they are quite content. They also can go to the children's dinner and then do a performance for the parents after. They love it and we can have a relaxing dinner 2 or 3 nights during the trip. Obviously the 18 month old won't be doing this, but your 7 year old might love it. I'm all for spending a lot of family time during vacation but it's nice for everyone to have a mix.

Where have you been that sucked? What were your sleeping arrangements? I agree Disney is great with young kids.... there’s a reason people keep going back! What about a Disney Cruise?

Anonymous wrote:We’ve done Disney and just skipped the parks. We stay at a Deluxe resort, where the pools are nicer and have slides, and poolside activities for the kids. DH and I park it on a chaise, order drinks and snacks, I read and watch the kids, DH sleeps, we trade. We spend the evenings in Disney Springs. We visit the water parks, play mini golf. Last time I even ran a pop-up fun run at the resort. The resort had child care so we did that and spent an evening at Epcot alone.

You know what, this is good advice. DH liked the park hotel just not the park. Limiting park time to one partial day, maybe just me and DD alone, could be the ticket.

We’ve done Disney and just skipped the parks. We stay at a Deluxe resort, where the pools are nicer and have slides, and poolside activities for the kids. DH and I park it on a chaise, order drinks and snacks, I read and watch the kids, DH sleeps, we trade. We spend the evenings in Disney Springs. We visit the water parks, play mini golf. Last time I even ran a pop-up fun run at the resort. The resort had child care so we did that and spent an evening at Epcot alone.

The last couple trips with my 7 yr old and rambunctious now 18 month old DS have been miserable with lots of whining about food choices, sleeping arrangements, etc. The best trip we have had TBH was Disney but DH doesn’t really want to go back. At this point I want to bag the entire concept of family vacations. Any advice?