Disney - two years in a row

I know some people go to Disney several times a year. Every year growing up my family would go to Disney. I literally went over 25 times.

Anyways, last year we went to Disney in August, stayed on site and got the "free" dining plan. My 5 year old LOVED it. I found it to be a great (but tiring) experience. My DH didn't really care either way - lol - he was just happy I did all the planning. We also got a really good deal - Around 3500 for the entire trip. We didn't do any fancy dining so I didn't have to worry about reservations for any of that and just booked the fast passes 60 days out.

This year they ran the free dining deal again so I booked it. I know my soon to be 6 year old will LOVE it again and that my DH and I will have a good time. I like that the food is included and we don't need to rent a car and we have something to do each day.

Even knowing all of this, I am wondering if we should go a different vacation. Should my son be experiencing other things? I feel like he is at that "magical" age where he really appreciates Disney and I know that will wear off soon.

Sorry for the long post.

Re: Disney - two years in a row

My family got in that rut for 5 years in a row lol...we went when the kids were 3 and 5 for the first time, they are now 8 and 10-not sure if we are going again this summer, but it's a great trip, my kids love it...and I do think about trying somewhere else every year, and every year we end up going there. I don't know if it's because they haven't been other places or if they just love Disney that much, but anytime I ask them where they want to go that's the place. I don't think they would love a relaxing beach vacation as much at this point.

Disney - two years in a row

LOL in the past 5.5 years, we've been to Disney 4 times and on 4 Disney Cruises (with another trip to WDW booked, AND another Disney cruise booked for this year too HAHA) so i'm not one to talk HAHA
my boys are 9 and 6, and i feel exactly like you said. that while they're young enough to really be into the whole Disney thing and really enjoy it, thats where we're gonna go. I really feel like aside from the characters and the kid rides and all that... Disney really does always seem to give you a very good vacation experience- you know what to expect, you know what you're going to get, you know you're gonna have a good time. so we keep going back
BUT that being said, we're also lucky that DH has a lot of vacation time at his job, so we've also been able to do other trips in there, too- a week road trip up to Maine, vermont....we did a couple days in Boston. we've rented an RV a couple times and did upstate NY and Niagara Falls (canadian side, too...), in november, we did 2 days out in Disneyland but while we were out there we saw Yosemite National Park, Seqioia National Park, San Francisco, etc.... we've been to the outer banks in NC.
And on our Disney Cruises are great because they give you the Disney "feeling" and service, while you get to see other places!! we did one to Alaska this summer which was incredible! (also stayed in vancouver a couple days before the cruise to see that, too...) And one of other cruises went to Mexico...
SOOOO we find a way to do Disney AND see some other places, too! But Disney is still super special for us in fact, my parents offered to watch our kids for a few days this spring so we could go away alone... and DH and i are doing Disney HAHAHA can't wait to do a monorail pub crawl, and sit by the pool without hearing "MOM!! watch me!!!" and ride the rides WE want to ride without the kids getting antsy in line, and stopping to watch the shows in EPCOT without the kids getting bored.
SO... maybe find ways to do other short trips to different places for long weekends or whatever or do a Disney cruise instead and get the Disney while seeing someplace new!

Message edited 1/10/2020 8:50:50 AM.

Disney - two years in a row

We went to Disney exclusively for the last 5 years because of how amazing it is for those ages! I truly felt like it was the perfect vaca when they are little.. it is extremely centered around kids, there is always something to do, everyone there is in same boat (has kids).. I don't think you need to feel bad at all. Plus the best thing about Disney is that there is soooo much to do that every trip can be different. This passed August was our 5th trip in 6 years and we still did new things. Every trip we took was different. We stayed at a different hotel, we went on different rides (our 2nd time especially was good bc we had time to do all the rides we passed over the 1st trip), we ate at different restaurants, saw different shows...

You said you didn't do any dining the first time - maybe this time make a few character meals to get a different experience!

Re: Disney - two years in a row

Re: Disney - two years in a row

You are only going to get pro-Disney responses here.

It’s really a personal choice based on your style and preference.

You won’t have a bad experience at Disney, the question is what would you do instead and would you get more out of that?

Re: Disney - two years in a row

Re: Disney - two years in a row

I think Disney is soooo magical between the ages of 2-8 as a parent...... but as a kid myself, I enjoyed it differently at every age.

I took my DD at 3 and that was my favorite trip. We took her back at 6 and that was also nice. We will probably take her back at age 9 (my husband hates Disney and wants her to have varied experiences and we agreed to no sooner than every 3 years). But honestly, I'm thinking how different she is going to be at age 9.... and how I wish we went more between ages 2-8. That's like prime time. I wish I took her every single year between 3-8 years of age.

But anyway... San Diego was a great trip at that age. We did her 5th birthday there. There are many other great places you can go that would be a compromise. Maybe try disneyland instead of disney world.

Re: Disney - two years in a row

No harm in going 2 years in a row! Sounds like it’s easy and your kid loves it. True that it’s fun to see the kids grow and their experience change with time.

When your kid gets a little older, you can hit up other places. My kids loved all the places we have traveled!!! They love seeing and trying new things and they can do exponentially more each year... so don’t limit yourself... but no shame in doing something twice!

Disney - two years in a row

We go to Disney a lot. In fact, last year did Disneyland twice, and Disneyworld once. Going again this February to world, and land in April. It's a guaranteed good time for us. My kids like it, my autistic son especially. We also love the Disney cruise, doing that in February (I think..my room is on a hold). We also go other places though. We went to Banff last Summer (amazing), we've been to Yellowstone, the Bahamas, 7 other cruises, Florida and not Disney, etc. If you only have one vacation a year, I don't know if I would pick Disney though.

Disney - two years in a row

My DH and I were having this same discussion recently! This year would be our 3rd Disney trip with our 5 year old DS. He looooves it! He's not a beach type kid so resorts and beach trips are out, unless my DH and I want to drive ourselves nuts for a week. We'd like to do something else but don't know what. Good points about having time to do other types of trips. We don't have to do Disney forever. We also booked Free Dining again so it's a relatively good deal. Also, my DS has Celiac disease and eating gluten free is so easy at Disney. I go a little nuts with reservations but I sorta enjoy that. I wouldn't call ourselves Disney nuts but we all have fun. I went a lot as kid too, and it's awesome seeing it through my son's eyes. Plus I got him into Star Wars now, so he's excited about Galaxy's Edge.

Re: Disney - two years in a row

I say why not if you can afford it? So far we went in 2017, 2019 and hopefully going again in 2021. If we could afford to go every year we probably would.

Re: Disney - two years in a row

I like to mix it up, but also go a few times to Disney when they are small enough to appreciate the character aspect of it. Then we'll go when they are older for the big rides.

We went just for 2 days last winter and are planning again for next winter, so 2 years apart. We're doing a bunch of other vacations in the middle (2 cruises, Hershey, etc.) to give them other experiences before we go back again. Our trip next winter will be a full week at the parks. Then we plan on taking a few years off and going elsewhere.

Re: Disney - two years in a row

The first time we went was May 2017, then Feb. 2019 and now we are playing a Disney Land trip for July 2020 . So we have gone about every year and a half. That is also our big vacation for the year and we trying to get in a long weekend somewhere close by Hershey, Maryland, DC. My son will be 9 this next trip. I think I might take a break from Disney after this trip. The next time we would go he would be 10 almost 11 probably.

Disney - two years in a row

This is our 3rd year in a row going... my kids are little and love it!
When mine are a bit older ill explore other "big" trips. But Disney is sooooo easy at their age (3 and 4).

Disney - two years in a row

We have gone on a lot of small, local trips as well - Fingerlakes, Boston, RI, NJ,= & DE beaches, Dutch Wonderland. We've also been to OKC. And we travel to LI (we live near Albany), probably 10 times a year and my son considers that a vacation - LOL.

If we don't do Disney World this year, I was thinking of doing Southern California since there is a lot of child friendly things to do there.

In the future I would like to do Europe, but I want him to be a little bit older.

Re: Disney - two years in a row

Disney - two years in a row

We did Disney 2 yers in a row, then took a year off, then are going back this year.
I had this conversation with my wife recently. On one hand I have always thought that families who go on the same disney or other vacation every year and didn't see the world or the counrty were kind of boring. However, I really do like Disney. I could see us going threre every year until the kids get older as long as we did some other things.

The other one we have been doing for the last 3-4 years is Lake George. The opposite of Disney in that once you have the place booked, you don't have to go crazy planning, its low key, relaxing, no flying etc.

Re: Disney - two years in a row

Re: Disney - two years in a row

Disney - two years in a row

My kid is 12. We are vacation club members so we go every year, sometimes twice. This year we are going in the summer, then taking a Disney cruise, then hubby and I are going back in the fall for the Food and Wine Festival. As soon as my kid says "let's go someplace other than Disney" we will - but until then, it's all Disney all the time.

Disney - two years in a row

Thanks everyone!

For now, we are probably going to Disney this year and will switch it up next year. We haven't told our son yet, but he mentions almost every day that he wants to go back so I figure why not!