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  1. #21
    spanannie is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    I personally wouldn't take a 2 year old to WDW. We've been 3 times -- twice with a 2 year old -- and with child 3, I'm definitely waiting til she's 4 to go again. I know I'm in the minority on this thinking, but I think they get the most enjoyment 4+. It's a big ordeal and expense to do the WDW experience, so I think it's best to go when they can get the most enjoyment.
    Annie ~
    Mom three Junebugs: 9, 7 and 3

  2. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by AnnieW625 View Post
    honestly our kids haven't been anywhere cool and since we like regular Disneyland I think they'd like WDW; plus DH and I have never been, but we aren't Disney junkies either.
    It made me smile to see you write that your kids haven't been anywhere cool. My guess is that they get to go to the beach often, considering where you live. My kids consider the beach to be VERY cool! Your kids have also gotten to go to Disneyland, another place that kids consider cool. And you may have even taken advantage of other "cool" Southern CA places like Sea World or Legoland.

    So personally I'd be more focused on an enjoyable, relaxing vacation with DH without kids rather than worrying about the kids having a vacation that they probably won't remember anyways.

    As far as the WDW idea, that's not a place that I would spend a lot of money to go to. We were there last spring for my son's Make-a-Wish and we had special passes that allowed us to go to the front of the lines, and we still found it way too crowded. There's NO way that I would have wanted to wait in line 45+ minutes for a silly two-minute ride like Dumbo. And if you're already familiar with Disneyland, then your kids have already gotten to experience many of the same rides that are in Magic Kingdom (the WDW park that would be most interesting to kids your kids' ages).

  3. #23
    ahisma is offline Diamond level (5000+ posts)
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    I'd rent a cottage in Kauai. In a heartbeat. Hanalei or Princeville.

  4. #24
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    Melbel is online now Diamond level (5000+ posts)
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    We went to Barbados for our honeymoon and Turks & Caicos for our 10 year anniversary (without kids). Both were beautiful and relaxing. We have been to WDW many times (a couple hours away) and have taken family vacations on an Eastern Caribbean cruise (ship - Caribbean princess), Western Caribbean cruise (Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas) and Atlantis.

    Note that on most cruise ships, the kids need to be potty trained to go in the majority of pools, and supervised kids' clubs tend to be for kids over 2 as well. Our big kids loved both of our cruises, but we plan to wait until DD2 is 4 to take her on a cruise so that she can participate more. There are definitely other family friendly ships other than Disney that are much easier on the budget. There were literally hundreds of kids in our kids age groups on our cruises and the kids' programs were very well run. We liked using the kids' clubs at dinner time so that DH and I could have a peaceful meal together but we still had plenty of family time too. The kids would have loved more time in the kids' area. www.cruisecritic.com provides great info on the family friendly ships. Also note that most Western Caribbean itineraries tend to go to Mexico (Cozumel).

    For WDW, it is definitely crowded post Easter/spring break time and it can be very hot. It is not our favorite time of year to go, but it is not nearly as bad as the summer months IME. Given your experience with Disneyland, WDW would not be at the top of my list for a special trip.

    If Atlantis is in your price point, I would definitely recommend checking into it further. All three of our DC (10, 8 and 2 at the time) loved it there. We paid about $4,500 total travelling from Florida and staying in a junior suite in the Reef (with a family of 5, it was important to have more room).

    Turks and Caicos has a Beaches resort, but it is pricey (well above your budget when we have checked in the past).

    I would LOVE to take a family vacation to Hawaii, but dread the travel from the East coast.

  5. #25
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    For something special, I would shoot for Costa Rica!! I guess you have to decide some priorities--is lux lodging worth it or are you ok with decent lodging in an awesome place? I think you could get a condo in Hawaii for less than a lux villa in Disney.

    I can't stand Disney but that's me. I honestly would rather go where stuff is REAL vs. fake. And I have been to DL and WDW (I will never go to Florida again except Dec-Feb, waaaaaay too hot and humid for my family)

    I would look at cruising in Alaska during the summer--that is a dream vacation for me!
    Mom to:
    DS '02
    DS '05
    Percy--the wild furry child!!! 2022----
    Simon--the first King Charles cutie 2009-2022
    RIP Andy, the furry first child, 1996-2012

    "The task of any religion is not to tell us who we are entitled to hate but to teach us who we are required to love."

  6. #26
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    Oh, how about Yellowstone? I will not go with dd until she is older because I am paranoid about the geothermal features. But I love it.

    Catherine

  7. #27
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    AnnieW625 is offline Black Diamond level (25,000+ posts)
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    Thank you all for your suggestions.

    We do go to the beach quite a bit, but honestly the water quite dirty because there is a breakwater and the LA River flows into the ocean and then the breakwater kicks it back to the beach. So we usually don't go more than a few feet in the water, but it is fun to go down there. Once the girls can swim better we'll drive down to San Clemente or Carlsbad for a weekend or even the day.

    A Disney Cruise is definitely on the short list of things to do we have friends who have been on them and loved them. We have never cruised before, but I would definitely wait until DD2 is 3 or 4 to go so both girls could do the kids club. I agree that if we went I would want a balcony. If I could talk DH into doing one of the Mexican ones from Long Beach it would seriously save us some cash because all we'd need is a taxi ride to and from the port or a relative to drop us off and pick us up. DH's family however immigrated from Mexico in the 1910s and DH seriously has no urge to ever go there; he says they left for a reason.

    I have thought about Nantucket, and Cape Cod too. Our last vacation (where we didn't visit family for the entire trip) was in Oct., 2008 and we stayed in Boston and we had a great time. We went to wedding on the SE corner of MA and we had a great time. We did go to NY and see DH's grandma so we didn't have any extra time to spend in the area otherwise we would've probably checked out Cape Cod. That trip costs us just under $2,500 including airfare, car, meals, some light grocery shopping, and a VRBO rental (which we'd stay at again).

    A friend of mine's dad has a place to rent in the Outer Banks of North Carolina too so that would be another option and we've never been there before.

    My in laws live 90 minutes south of Jackson Hole (you pass right by their house getting there from most of the western US if you are going through SW Wyoming). We went to Yellowstone for the day in 2007 and it was nice, but crowded, and it was hot. Old Faithful was really cool as were the geothermal pools, DD1 stayed in her stroller the whole time because she wasn't walking yet. I am not much of a camper so I'd probably splurge and stay at the hotel overnight if we go again. I think we'll most likely end up in Wyoming next summer because it will have been 5 yrs. since we had last been there. My in laws say that September is a great time to go to Yellowstone, but we'll probably end up there again in June or early July.
    Annie
    WOHM to two wonderful little girls born in April
    DD E, 17
    DD L, 13,
    baby 2, 4-2009 (our Tri-18 baby)

  8. #28
    citymama is offline Pink Diamond level (15,000+ posts)
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    Kauai. Oh yeah.

    for Sandy Hook



  9. #29
    Tondi G is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    I would do Maui or Caribbean.

    My DH is hell bent on doing a caribbean cruise with our boys on RCCL Allure of the seas (we honeymooned on a southern caribbean route). We have done 2 mexican riviera cruises with our children and loved both of them. It was so convenient to leave right from San Pedro, no packing restrictions cause we didn't have to fly and no airfare costs! Bummer that Royal Caribbean pulled their ships from the west coast / mexican riviera. Don't miss out on other cruise lines besides Disney. We really enjoy RCCL. Their new ships Allure (and Oasis) are HUGE and have a ton onboard (zip line, H2O zone, flowrider, mini golf, carousel, rock climbing wall etc), great stuff for the kids and cruise the Caribbean. Oh and yeah, Balcony Cabins are the way to go!

    Other than that I would keep my eyes open for a great deal on the Beaches resort in Turks and Caicos. I have heard nothing but good things about it. Sounds like an amazing family vacation.

  10. #30
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    AnnieW625 is offline Black Diamond level (25,000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tondi G View Post
    Bummer that Royal Caribbean pulled their ships from the west coast / mexican riviera. Don't miss out on other cruise lines besides Disney. We really enjoy RCCL. Their new ships Allure (and Oasis) are HUGE and have a ton onboard (zip line, H2O zone, flowrider, mini golf, carousel, rock climbing wall etc), great stuff for the kids and cruise the Caribbean. Oh and yeah, Balcony Cabins are the way to go!

    Other than that I would keep my eyes open for a great deal on the Beaches resort in Turks and Caicos. I have heard nothing but good things about it. Sounds like an amazing family vacation.
    Really that is a bummer because we have heard great things about RCCL too, and yeah San Pedro is pretty darn convenient. My best friends did the 7 day Mexican Riviera cruise for their honeymoon in 2005 and loved it. I refuse to go on Carnival because of the recent issues with people getting stranded in 2009 so now I am not sure what else is out there. I do have caviar dreams (I would love to go on a Crystal Cruise, even though we'd be the youngest people or the only people on the boat with kids!) when it comes to traveling though. Now I have to find out what other lines are available in our area too.

    I would love to do an Alaska cruise too. I wanted to do this for our honeymoon, but DH didn't want to postpone the honeymoon to June or July, and we got married in February so that was a no go.
    Annie
    WOHM to two wonderful little girls born in April
    DD E, 17
    DD L, 13,
    baby 2, 4-2009 (our Tri-18 baby)

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