Family Vacation - old favorite destination or explore something new?

[Kari C in SC]

It seems I always come here and ask about family vacations. You all have great wisdom. So, same old, same old or something new?

 

ETA... I should say the same place again is a place we have enjoyed tremendously.

[AK_Mom4]

Oh dear...I posed this to DD12 and DS18 and they voted "other"

 

They want both, I think.

[milovany]

Ask your kids. Whenever I propose a new idea, which I *know* they'd enjoy, they always ask, "But we'll still go to the beach house, right?" and a lot of times the answer is "Well, no, it's either/or." They choose the beach house. That's been our tradition once a summer for 17 years now (we missed three of those years, I think, because we moved out of state); they just love it. It is a great place, right on Puget Sound, but a lot of it is the tradition and familiarity too.

 

I'm torn like you, though, because I think going somewhere new would create just as fabulous of memories. And I know if they could do both, they certainly would.

[Pawz4me]

Obligatory other -- We do both.  Which one depends on the kind of mood we're in when doing the planning.

[Luckymama]

We've been trying to alternate years. Our old favorite is WDW :) We've been to local-ish beaches twice (rented houses w my sister's family), California twice (I have relatives all.over.the.state :lol:), and have visited non-California national parks like Yellowstone, Tetons, Mesa Verde, and Grand Canyon. This year we're going to China!!!!!!!

[DawnM]

Hmmmm.....we like both.

 

Disney is our go-to.  We go yearly.

 

But we like other places too.

 

Since moving to the East Coast, we have visited:

 

D.C. a few times

Old Salem

Jamestown/Williamsburg

Hershey, PA

Niagara Falls

Montreal

Myrtle

Charleston (Yorktown)

Walton's Mountain

Asheville

and many camping location.

 

In addition to W. Coast travel, this year we also did Seattle, Grand Canyon/Phoenix, and New Mexico.

 

On the West Coast we traveled a lot when we lived there.  The weather is always so nice to get out and explore.  I won't bore you with the list.

 

Dawn

[Farrar]

We've never done the same thing twice.  This fall, we're planning on going back to Great Wolf, but it will be a different Great Wolf.  I think my kids would be confused if I was like, and now we'll go to the same vacation again.

 

But that's just us.  If you're looking for balance, I like the idea of alternating years mentioned above.

[Kari C in SC]

We've been trying to alternate years. Our old favorite is WDW :) We've been to local-ish beaches twice (rented houses w my sister's family), California twice (I have relatives all.over.the.state :lol:), and have visited non-California national parks like Yellowstone, Tetons, Mesa Verde, and Grand Canyon. This year we're going to China!!!!!!!

Did you love California? That is one of our maybes as a destination. Fly from SC and take about 10 days to road trip around to different areas.

[Kari C in SC]

Hmmmm.....we like both.

 

Disney is our go-to.  We go yearly.

 

But we like other places too.

 

Since moving to the East Coast, we have visited:

 

D.C. a few times

Old Salem

Jamestown/Williamsburg

Hershey, PA

Niagara Falls

Montreal

Myrtle

Charleston (Yorktown)

Walton's Mountain

Asheville

and many camping location.

 

In addition to W. Coast travel, this year we also did Seattle, Grand Canyon/Phoenix, and New Mexico.

 

On the West Coast we traveled a lot when we lived there.  The weather is always so nice to get out and explore.  I won't bore you with the list.

 

Dawn

  

 

I would love to hear what your favorites are on the west coast!

 

Ask your kids. Whenever I propose a new idea, which I *know* they'd enjoy, they always ask, "But we'll still go to the beach house, right?" and a lot of times the answer is "Well, no, it's either/or." They choose the beach house. That's been our tradition once a summer for 17 years now (we missed three of those years, I think, because we moved out of state); they just love it. It is a great place, right on Puget Sound, but a lot of it is the tradition and familiarity too.

I'm torn like you, though, because I think going somewhere new would create just as fabulous of memories. And I know if they could do both, they certainly would.

I did ask my kids. My youngest always says Disney and we are going there in the fall without dh and with homeschool friends. My dd wants to go back to St. John USVI. We took them there 3 years ago sorta as a one time only trip, but every time I ask her that is where she wants to go.

 

I am more of a lets go see something new person. My dh is up for most anything.

[DawnM]

West Coast:  Well, we lived there for over 20 years so we are quite familiar, Los Angeles Area so I won't mention that as having visited because it was home.

 

We love:

 

Anacortes

Seattle

Oregon Coast

Tahoe

Monterey 

San Diego

Mexico

Sequoia National Park

Yosemite

 

Then if you go inland a bit:  Bryce Canyon, Colorado Springs (this was a trip to Colorado, it was FAR to go, but we had a reunion in Colorado so we visited some places on the way.)

[katilac]

My teens riot at the idea of trying something new if it comes at the expense of not going to Disney World (for the 9th time, lol). I always thought we would be 'try something new' people, but we all have a great time at Disney, so we roll with it.  We only have another 2 years before the first one heads off to college and family vacations become much harder, *sigh*.  

 

We have done a few other trips that we enjoyed. older dd will turn 16 this summer, and this board gave me the idea of letting her pick a trip rather than have a big party and gift, so that might add in another one. 

[Camelfeet]

Something new.  There is so much to do.  

 

I would go camping to the same spot though.  I'd go to the same amusement park twice.  Not the same vacation though...

[Spryte]

Something new.  If you can do both, then great, otherwise I vote for something new.  

 

There's something to be said for a traditional family vacation, but our family has too much wanderlust for that.  :)

[MissKNG]

For a longer vacation, I would go somewhere new. We do have a camping spot that we return to yearly for the weekend. Same spot too.

[bettyandbob]

I think it's good to see new things, but the same old favorite can be one more piece of stability for a family--even it's just 4 day weekend at beach or campground. People do look back at their childhood and remember going one place that became their special place regularly. 

 

The best of both might be  an old favorite that isn't a big to do (short camping trip at a park 3 hours from home) annually and doing something new. 

[lynn]

Growing up we always took the same summer vacation and we always looked forward to it.  Great memories.    Now I am older I prefer to see something new and different.  So much to see.

[Miss Mousie]

DH and I take turns choosing.  For the first several years, I always chose someplace new, and DH always chose a place familiar to his family.  Now he is just as likely to choose someplace new, and I often choose whatever location is hosting a conference we like to attend.

 

Sometimes, "new" means "same city/state but see different things." 

 

As for Disney ... we have made it clear to DS that we will not go.  He knows he is free to visit Disney and Chuck E. Cheese any time after he turns 30.

 

 

[MariannNOVA]

Hi, Kari, and ((((((hugs))))) to you all!

 

This is the first year I actually was ready to plan something new and different. Vacation is usually a week or two in the outer banks, but I was looking forward to trying something new.

 

I was researching Disney cruises to Europe, Disney cruises to Alaska, a Disney cruises to the caribbean.......all dates, etc., hinging on last day of school dates and moving dates.

 

THEN, dd14 gets invited to a 10 day Law School seminar at Stanford Law School.........everything paid except transportation. It is the middle of July.

 

SO, we are all going to San Francisco and while dd is at her seminar (which does include sightseeing and field trips), we will vacation there and see the sights.

 

How do I feel about it? No offense to San Francisco (my parents lived there years ago and adored it) but I am "meh" about it. I had really wrapped my brain around a cruise.......to Europe or the Catibbean.

 

But we are thrilled for M and certainly want her to have this amazing experience........and I have always wanted to go to Fisherman's Wharf. I guess it's time for me to step out of my comfort zone.

[Tap]

If you are tired/stressed and need to decompress, go with what you know so you can relax.

 

If you are bored and would like a bit of variety in life, go with something new. 

[J-rap]

We did/do both, but when our kids were younger, it was a lot more of going to the same place every year.  (Grandparents' cabin and a nearby town that we loved.)  As they got loader, we broadened our horizons a lot and went somewhere new much more often.

[Kari C in SC]

Hi, Kari, and ((((((hugs))))) to you all!

 

This is the first year I actually was ready to plan something new and different. Vacation is usually a week or two in the outer banks, but I was looking forward to trying something new.

 

I was researching Disney cruises to Europe, Disney cruises to Alaska, a Disney cruises to the caribbean.......all dates, etc., hinging on last day of school dates and moving dates.

 

THEN, dd14 gets invited to a 10 day Law School seminar at Stanford Law School.........everything paid except transportation. It is the middle of July.

 

SO, we are all going to San Francisco and while dd is at her seminar (which does include sightseeing and field trips), we will vacation there and see the sights.

 

How do I feel about it? No offense to San Francisco (my parents lived there years ago and adored it) but I am "meh" about it. I had really wrapped my brain around a cruise.......to Europe or the Catibbean.

 

But we are thrilled for M and certainly want her to have this amazing experience........and I have always wanted to go to Fisherman's Wharf. I guess it's time for me to step out of my comfort zone.

San Francisco is one our maybes. I was thinking of flying into there and then flying out of somewhere else in California. If we need passports, I really need to decide too. I also had my heart set on Europe, but my kids just don't seem excited about that so... I can't see spending a huge amount of money. Some day, I will go there.

[creekland]

We're a somewhere new family - even the kids - even the kids from a young age.  We will go back to places like Disney or Yellowstone, and it's fun, but there's a completely different "high" when experiencing something new.  This may only apply to travel junkies though... 

 

We could never do Disney (or anywhere) every year... actually, by the time mine had hit their teens they were "over" Disney and could be overheard making snarky remarks comparing Disney versions of places to their real counterparts (same at Las Vegas actually).

 

The places we do go every year - like to see family in different states - often don't really rank as "vacations" for my guys.  At some point in elementary school (ps) my oldest actually told his class that one couldn't count a trip as a vacation unless you spent at least one night away from home and NOT with relatives.  We never said that ourselves or coached him on it - actually we'd have coached him NOT to say it if we had any inkling (we heard about it in the parent/teacher conference)... our travel preferences are just genetic I suppose.

 

My guys get wistful when we watch travel shows where people have been to every country or continent or things like that...

 

YMMV

[leeannpal]

I'm in the same boat, so I can't really give you advice. We moved to central Florida last summer and have now decided it is time to get annual passes, but we are having trouble deciding where. We have done a couple of Disney trips before, and the annual passes are just too expensive for now. We have narrowed it down to Universal passes or Busch Gardens/Sea World passes. There are benefits to both and the prices are similar. Universal is not a new destination but the other two are. So, familiar or new? Good luck deciding. I guess once we pick, at least part of our vacation will be to the same place for a while.

[kroe1]

Other.

 

We found a resort island we liked and moved there. Then we have been to Disney 100 times and the surrounding theme parks 30 times because we live so close. Then we like to try new trips with Adventures by Disney. Skiing and bike trips we try on our own.

 

p.s. We are shift workers so we can bundle up the shifts close together and then have quite a few days off each month.

[creekland]

I'm in the same boat, so I can't really give you advice. We moved to central Florida last summer and have now decided it is time to get annual passes, but we are having trouble deciding where. We have done a couple of Disney trips before, and the annual passes are just too expensive for now. We have narrowed it down to Universal passes or Busch Gardens/Sea World passes. There are benefits to both and the prices are similar. Universal is not a new destination but the other two are. So, familiar or new? Good luck deciding. I guess once we pick, at least part of our vacation will be to the same place for a while.

 

When we lived in FL we preferred the Busch Gardens/Sea World option as Busch has better roller coasters and a nicer zoo in our opinion.  With season passes we could go there for just a few hours just for fun and not feel we had to get our money's worth.  My oldest as a preschooler actually knew all the critters by name (type) in the zoo and would impress other visitors pointing out the different types (Thompson's Gazelle, etc).  My mom then got a kick out of how he didn't have a clue what a Holstein was when we went to grandpa's farm... quite possibly the only 3 - 4 year old who could recognize a Watusi, but not a Holstein.

 

[KrissiK]

We go to the same place every year, but that's because it's convenient and inexpensive. DH's family has friends who own a beach house and they rent it cheap, so we've been vacationing there since we've been married and it's nice. There's always lots to do and we love the beach, and we don't have to eat out every meal like you would in a hotel. However, this fall they are selling it (we'd love to buy it, but don't have close to that kind of money), so after this year (we have 2 long weekends planned) we're gong to have to try something new. For me, there's something comforting in going to the same place year after year, and it certainly builds good solid memories for the kids. Going some place different all the time the kids might forget where they've been unless it really made an impression.

[plansrme]

There is no wrong answer.

 

We went to WDW at least once, occasionally a couple of times, a year for about 10 years straight, on the grounds that we love active vacations (no lying around on a beach for us, and when we do WDW, we DO WDW--I am possibly the only person who loses weight on a Disney vacation), but the kids were too young to do anything active other than WDW.  When my youngest was 8, however, we went to Yellowstone/Grand Tetons, and dragged those kiddos up and down mountains, into the Yellowstone back country, rafting, kayaking, you name it.  And we LOVED it.  We went to Colorado last summer, also loved.  But they're now hinting about going back to WDW.  I don't know, though; there are so many more national parks to see, and we want to go to Costa Rica, so we'll probably take another non-WDW trip this summer and maybe just sneak back to WDW for a long weekend.

[creekland]

Going some place different all the time the kids might forget where they've been unless it really made an impression.

 

(scuffling feet and looking down)  Well... in our family it's the adults that sometimes forget where things happened/were and turn to the kids asking for clarification.  My memory is just NOT as good as it used to be.  Fortunately, pics are easy to take - and label - and put on our screensaver.  But those still aren't as good as merely asking middle son... he can tell you where/what we ate and all sorts of details I'd NEVER think to store in memory. ;)   Do NOT, however, ask him to be your trail guide... unless you REALLY like the trail and want to be on it for a really long time.  Ditto that for caves.

 

I agree that there is no wrong answer.  It's all up to the individual and what they like.  I just got a kick out of thinking the KIDS might forget... (super young kids perhaps - ours were 11, 9, and 8 when we started really hitting different areas.)

 

[Kari C in SC]

I'm in the same boat, so I can't really give you advice. We moved to central Florida last summer and have now decided it is time to get annual passes, but we are having trouble deciding where. We have done a couple of Disney trips before, and the annual passes are just too expensive for now. We have narrowed it down to Universal passes or Busch Gardens/Sea World passes. There are benefits to both and the prices are similar. Universal is not a new destination but the other two are. So, familiar or new? Good luck deciding. I guess once we pick, at least part of our vacation will be to the same place for a while.

You can get Florida resident weekday season passes for $220. That is what we have and why we will be going back in November. We live in SC, but still own our house there. We get the season passes every other year and go a couple times per pass.

[Chris in VA]

I think I'd ask what happens on the vacation and can you duplicate that in different places? Is it being together and experiencing a certain ritual that is tied to a place, or is it the ritual of being together itself?

 

I spent 4 or 5 summers in Nag's Head at the same hotel (which, sadly, is gone now-- The Sand Dollar will always live in my memory!!). It shaped the way I see vacations, esp beach vacations. It provided a setting that was dependable--I knew what would happen and how it would happen--we'd go out to dinner twice, we'd spend all day on the beach, we'd visit the same shell shop every time where they had the same things for sale every year, Dad would relax, I would see and hear the ocean and feel its waves every night, etc. I loved the routine and the ritual. 

 

But as an adult, we really didn't go to the same places very much. There was an icky cabin in Colorado we visited twice, but that was more of a chore than a vacation to me. 

 

About 7 years ago, mil moved to the mountains of NC, and we have gone there for about 5 days every single year. Dd in particular grew up going there. I love it there--and so does she. This summer we did not go, because we were in Israel for 3 months (talk about a new place for us!). We loved Israel, but hated to miss going to NC!

 

It just depends--sometimes I think kids enjoy ritual and rhythm more than parents--but YMMV. 

 

Bottom line--try to do both! 

[katilac]

Other.

 

We found a resort island we liked and moved there. Then we have been to Disney 100 times and the surrounding theme parks 30 times because we live so close. Then we like to try new trips with Adventures by Disney. Skiing and bike trips we try on our own.

 

p.s. We are shift workers so we can bundle up the shifts close together and then have quite a few days off each month.

 

 

The Adventures by Disney trips look amazing. Which ones have you done? 

[*lifeoftheparty*]

I have the same problem! We love Disney World and go every few years- sometimes every year. Last time we added in Sea World. We'll be going in March and adding in Legoland and Universal.

 

I love going new places, but I also enjoy going back to places where we've had a great time. We'll be going back to Williamsburg, Va this fall, for the 4th time, for that very reason. Once I've gone (and made great memories) somewhere more than once- I get all "nostalgic" about it- and that leads to repeats.

 

We had a wonderful time on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls and I keep wanting to go back- but I also want to do new stuff!

 

The next "new places" I wanna go are- 1) Beaches Resort Turks & Caicos, 2) Road trip to Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone and 3) Puerto Rico