What are you spending on vacation next year..

[kathy884]

So far all we have in the books for next year is

Puerto Vallarta in April 2018
Disneyland in December 2018

Puerto Vallarta is my all time favorite tropical destination. The place has so much charm and I love it that lots of Mexican families vacation there too, not just Americans and Canadians, giving it a real international feel. And the food there is to die for. Have a wonderful trip.

We did Disneyland for the first time this year too, and I was really surprised how much I adored the Disneyland park in particular -- I love the Magic Kingdom, but I actually liked Disneyland even more (a more storybook type feel). They are very similar, though, so it would be unusual for me to go again, as for me it's so much cheaper and easier to get to Orlando and I have relative in the Orlando and Tampa area too.

 

[kathy884]

I think our trip to Europe is going to get more expensive! The problem now is, DS20 isn't sure he wants to go! Before you all recoil in horror (what kind of idiot would turn down a trip to Europe.

I can relate. When I was 20 and in college, I had a four day trip planned to drive/camp with my boyfriend -- go toMinnesota and visit his great aunt who lived on a farm. Then my aunt who I adore (one of the most fun people in the world to travel with) and was a travel agent called me about a wonderful deal for that very same week for travel agents and their families: $40 to fly to Amsterdam to fill some charter plane seats last minute. I had had a blast on other vacations before with her and she asked me if I would like to join her, as she knew my college semester would not have started yet. / And silly me, I told her that it really sounded like fun, but that I had other plans. If I would do it over, I would have blown the boyfriend off for sure for an adventure like that with her. Come on Minnesota with a boyfriend that I even broke up with not that long after that or Europe with my wonderful aunt, one of my favorite people in the world (She has passed on now too.). The boyfriend would have understood my changing plans for that too and I think would have been fine with it (really nice considerate guy - great person, but just not my forever soulmate). But who knows what kind of priorities you have when you are 20. lol

 

[mpadilla89]

Puerto Vallarta is my all time favorite tropical destination. The place has so much charm and I love it that lots of Mexican families vacation there too, not just Americans and Canadians, giving it a real international feel. And the food there is to die for. Have a wonderful trip.

We did Disneyland for the first time this year too, and I was really surprised how much I adored the Disneyland park in particular -- I love the Magic Kingdom, but I actually liked Disneyland even more (a more storybook type feel). They are very similar, though, so it would be unusual for me to go again, as for me it's so much cheaper and easier to get to Orlando and I have relative in the Orlando and Tampa area too.

This will be our first time in Puerto Vallarta. We are definitely very excited. We have been to Mexico many times to visit family but not to a tourist place(except Mexico City, which we looooved.)

I have never been to WDW, but I am almost sure Disneyland would still be my fav. It is our go to family place. We are going this December just us(DD,DH, and I) and we are going in 2018 with about 15 people.

 

[wendow]

We are going to Disneyland in may to celebrate my dd17's graduation. We are driving from the Denver area, staying on points and so we just have to pay for tickets and food. I am using some credit card rewards for tickets and so only about $500 will be OOP. Still figuring out the food budget.

After that we are heading to Lego Land and maybe Sea World.

I think our total budget will be about $2500.

Also, we are planning on moving next year...maybe back home to TX or maybe somewhere else. All up in the air but vacation time will be minimal for my dh so the one trip to CA will most likely be it for us.

 

[QueenIsabella]

OK, back to our regular (high) price for the Europe trip. DS20 told me yesterday that he really doesn't want to go. Too far out of his comfort zone, too hot and crowded, he can listen to his siblings bicker at home for free. I'm disappointed--I wanted to the whole family to be there and enjoy it (I can save for retirement later, ha ha!). But, I respect DS20's opinion, certainly I'm not going to FORCE him to go. I do hope he makes a future trip to Italy/Europe, maybe in the off-season when it's calmer and cooler. It took a lot of guts on his part to articulate why he didn't want to go.

 

[grumpy28]

For those of you that have been to DL, what did it cost you? I know its different for each scenario of couse, just trying to get a ballpark. We are a family of 5 flying from NC. No points, no rewards. We want to stay at DL some and venture into Los Angeles some. And maybe San Diego. DL hotels are $$$. Anyone have a recommendation for the good neighbor hotel? Also, anyone know of a safe, clean hotel in LA? And San Diego?

 

[kymom99]

For those of you that have been to DL, what did it cost you? I know its different for each scenario of couse, just trying to get a ballpark. We are a family of 5 flying from NC. No points, no rewards. We want to stay at DL some and venture into Los Angeles some. And maybe San Diego. DL hotels are $$$. Anyone have a recommendation for the good neighbor hotel? Also, anyone know of a safe, clean hotel in LA? And San Diego?

We stayed at the HoJo which comes highly recommended on Mousesavers. It was 5 years ago but I don't think you can go wrong with it. At the time, parking was free which is a rarity for somewhere as close to DL as it is. It's an older hotel but clean and the rooms are pretty big. The cost was about $130 a night.

I've never gone to LA but I spent a week in San Diego. We stayed at the Best Western Island Palms. Loved it. I specifically booked the Casa Del Mar building in a Junior Suite. It was huge! The place has 2 lovely pools overlooking the marina. You can look across to Coronado Island from the front. It's kind of an out of the way location but that can be a very good thing. In this case it was. I think I paid $189 a night average in July. Keep in mind these were 2012 prices.

 

[grumpy28]

We stayed at the HoJo which comes highly recommended on Mousesavers. It was 5 years ago but I don't think you can go wrong with it. At the time, parking was free which is a rarity for somewhere as close to DL as it is. It's an older hotel but clean and the rooms are pretty big. The cost was about $130 a night.

I've never gone to LA but I spent a week in San Diego. We stayed at the Best Western Island Palms. Loved it. I specifically booked the Casa Del Mar building in a Junior Suite. It was huge! The place has 2 lovely pools overlooking the marina. You can look across to Coronado Island from the front. It's kind of an out of the way location but that can be a very good thing. In this case it was. I think I paid $189 a night average in July. Keep in mind these were 2012 prices.

Thank you for the info! I will look into these hotels.

 

[verleniahall]

Well - we WERE going to Vegas - kinda rethinking that right now

 

[wendow]

For those of you that have been to DL, what did it cost you? I know its different for each scenario of couse, just trying to get a ballpark. We are a family of 5 flying from NC. No points, no rewards. We want to stay at DL some and venture into Los Angeles some. And maybe San Diego. DL hotels are $$$. Anyone have a recommendation for the good neighbor hotel? Also, anyone know of a safe, clean hotel in LA? And San Diego?

We are currently booked at the Best Western Park Place Inn, which I understand is directly across the street from the DL entrance. We are paying with points so I'm not sure on the cash price of the room but I think it's about $160'ish per night. They have a free breakfast and the room we have sleeps 6 (2 queens and a sofa bed). The hotel seems to get pretty consistently good reviews.

We'll also be heading down to the San Diego area but I have not even begun to look at hotels there yet. Sounds like your family is doing the same trip we are

 

[grumpy28]

We are currently booked at the Best Western Park Place Inn, which I understand is directly across the street from the DL entrance. We are paying with points so I'm not sure on the cash price of the room but I think it's about $160'ish per night. They have a free breakfast and the room we have sleeps 6 (2 queens and a sofa bed). The hotel seems to get pretty consistently good reviews.

We'll also be heading down to the San Diego area but I have not even begun to look at hotels there yet. Sounds like your family is doing the same trip we are

Thanks for the hotel info! I will check it out. Yep, sounds like we are planning similar trips! We are just beginning to look into it, but I really want to make it happen. I'm hoping to get some figures and crunch some numbers. Airfare is scaring me. Hoping to find a good deal on that.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Thanks for the hotel info! I will check it out. Yep, sounds like we are planning similar trips! We are just beginning to look into it, but I really want to make it happen. I'm hoping to get some figures and crunch some numbers. Airfare is scaring me. Hoping to find a good deal on that.

Keep in mind that there are SEVERAL airports in the Disneyland/L.A./San Diego area. If you start your trip in Los Angeles, you can fly into as far north as Burbank but keep in mind that there is some distance from this airport to Disneyland so I don't advise flying into it unless you start your vacation in L.A. Then there's of course LAX, Long Beach (Southwest just recently started flying into this airport along with 2 or 3 other airlines - it's my favorite local airport because it's so small and quick/easy to get in and out of), SNA (John Wayne - Orange County - the closest to Disneyland), Ontario (make sure you're looking at Ontario, California and not Ontario, Canada lol) and lastly the San Diego Airport.

It can be a lot of research but you may find that there are more convenient or cheaper flights going into a different airport than LAX.

 

[kymom99]

When we went to DL we flew into San Diego and drove straight to Anaheim. After we spent our time there we drove down the coast and ended up back in San Diego. Flying into SD was the least expensive option

 

[grumpy28]

Keep in mind that there are SEVERAL airports in the Disneyland/L.A./San Diego area. If you start your trip in Los Angeles, you can fly into as far north as Burbank but keep in mind that there is some distance from this airport to Disneyland so I don't advise flying into it unless you start your vacation in L.A. Then there's of course LAX, Long Beach (Southwest just recently started flying into this airport along with 2 or 3 other airlines - it's my favorite local airport because it's so small and quick/easy to get in and out of), SNA (John Wayne - Orange County - the closest to Disneyland), Ontario (make sure you're looking at Ontario, California and not Ontario, Canada lol) and lastly the San Diego Airport.

It can be a lot of research but you may find that there are more convenient or cheaper flights going into a different airport than LAX.

When we went to DL we flew into San Diego and drove straight to Anaheim. After we spent our time there we drove down the coast and ended up back in San Diego. Flying into SD was the least expensive option

Thank you both for the info!

 

[grumpy28]

Finally have a tentative plan. Do not have prices yet, but working on it!

March- WDW for a week (using APs)
May- Washington DC for 5-6 days
June-DL and southern CA for 7-10 days (assuming I can find some deals)
Sept- WDW (booked a BB offer last month) for a week
Dec- WDW for a week (not sure if we will renew APs or not. If not we will still go, assuming I can find a deal).

*Also will throw in a few long weekends to Great Wolf Lodge, the beach and the mountains.

 

[grumpy28]

We are staying at the Springhill Suites Alexandria Old town Southwest next summer. It sleeps 5 and includes free breakfast and free parking. It's about 20 minutes driving (depending on traffic) from the Mall. I think rates start at about $100 a night (we're staying on points).

For 4 nights in May, its coming to $1,075! Does that sound right for 4 nights in the DC area? I was hoping/thinking for less than $200 a night. Maybe I am way off.....

 

[neatokimmo]

For 4 nights in May, its coming to $1,075! Does that sound right for 4 nights in the DC area? I was hoping/thinking for less than $200 a night. Maybe I am way off.....

That seems really high to me. Weekends are cheaper, when are you going?

 

[neatokimmo]

For 4 nights in May, its coming to $1,075! Does that sound right for 4 nights in the DC area? I was hoping/thinking for less than $200 a night. Maybe I am way off.....

 

[grumpy28]

That seems really high to me. Weekends are cheaper, when are you going?

2 weekend night and 2 weekday nights (18-22). I thought it sounded high too, but I don't know anything about DC prices.

 

[grumpy28]

View attachment 275084

Off to Hotwire I go... Thank you.