Our Military-family lifestyle has always made many small family trips throughout the year possible, and usually unpredictable. For the past few years we have finally been able to take BIG well-planned family vacations. We went Disney World for 6 days Dec 2003 with my husband, three children, my mom and dad, college-age brother and two sisters. It was awesome! It was a dream vacation for all of us and it was made possible by a military special discount. I am so thankful for that! My parents also paid for alot of it. We stayed on- site at the All Star Music resort. It was truly magical. My husband and I are Florida residents so we purchased the Florida REsident seasonal passes which are good for a year from purchase date. Just my husband, children and I went back again October 2004 for 9 days and 10 nights. We stayed at Shades of Green military resort hotel on site. IT is a hotel paid for by military donations and non-profit organizations and patrons etc. it is not funded by tax dollars or anything. We had such a great time! We went to a polynesian Luau at the Polynesian resort (I dont’ recommend this, I wish we had spent the money on something else) and teh Halloween party. We dressed like pirates and princesses. It was a blast. We could see the Magic Kingdom fireworks from our balcony on the few nights we turned in early! We went to Mass at “Mary, Queen of the Universe Shrine.” Another trip we took this year was to Colonial Williamsburg and Busch Gardens. My children are 2, 4, and 7 so we had a really good time. They dont’ have as much for children on weekdays during the off- season at Col. Williamsburg so my children were not as impressed. Kids learn from Hand’s -on experiences so by the end my poor 4 yr old son was trudging along whining “OH *why *do we have to keep going into all these boring houses???” It was a little disappointing and we felt like it was alot of money wasted on a day of very little interest for our children. I wish we had gone when there are alot of child- friendly activities. My nieces and nephew of the same ages always have a great time there (they have gone 2 years in a row) but they go during the summer.
We are planning a trip to Hawaii this winter, There is a military resort called the Hale Koa on the beach run by the same group as the one at Disney, we are trying to decide whether to fly commercial or take a “hop” on a military plane into CA and then HI. It will be much cheaper but more unprecitable with delays and such.
We love the outdoors so we usually take lots of day trips hiking, fishing, alpine skiing and weekend camping trips. We live near DC, Philly and NYC so there is always something to do or see that we haven’t seen or done yet. We love museums and cultural attractions. We live 20 min from the beach so we like to camp on the beach at Cape Henlopen etc. My husband has been “sitting on alert” alot this summer so we haven’t bee able to go on as many mini-trips as we normally do.
I think that that Disney World resorts are awesome for families, they are experts at customer service and there is something for everyone, golf courses, waterparks, themeparks, night life, night clubs, dining. I recommend doing some research first, to save time and money. Time is most literally money at Disney. Also, keep it fun and know when to take a break. When everyone starts getting tired, hot and cranky, we go back to the hotel for a nap and a dip in the pool. It’s vacation, not a marathon, which is why taking a few extra days at a Disney resort is such a luxury. When I was a kid we went to Magic Kingdom twice for only a day, it left us exhausted and frustrated because you simply can’t do it all in one day. WE also went during the hottest, busiest part of the summer! I researched for months before we took our first big family trip to Disney.
Very awkward sometimes…
