Need to do some soul searching

[la79al]

I have hotel reservations for next February and have saved up some gift cards. I am ready to move forward with taking my 3 DDs (11, 9, 4) to DW next year. Except that we went to the beach last week (we go for a week every summer) and I made the mistake of asking whether they would rather do a week at DW or a week at the beach. The 2 older ones said beach rather quickly and gave reasons why (mostly revolving around the cost and wait times at DW). We could easily do an entire week at the beach under the DW budget. So now I need to decide which to do. We did a MNSSHP 2 years ago. And did a day at MK and a day at AK about 4 years ago. The last week long trip was about 7 years ago. Any advice or opinions?

 

[blf14]

I don’t know if this helps but... My oldest 2 are almost 10 and 9, and would tell you the same thing!. They’ve been to Disney several times, starting when they were 3 and 4... the thing is I, like you, have a younger one also . She’s going to be 4 this fall and, IMO, 3.5-5yo is about the most magical age you can be at Disney So what we’re doing is going “for” (not directly over, but you know what I mean) her 4th birthday! It’s definitely a family trip, but I’m trying to make it a bit more younger-child-centric. Do all the toddler/preschooler things we did when my older 2 were young... more character meals and things like that than we might otherwise. And the big kids know this and are actually being really sweet sports since we’re calling it her birthday party! After this... we’ll see what happens. We’ll likely start cutting back and not going quite as much in favor of other trips... but I’m excited to do it at this age with my youngest and have the same memories with her

 

[wasnotafan]

You asked their opinion, you aren't obligated to do what they said. However, if they have made their preference known don't expect them to be enthusiastic if you don't listen to what they have said they would prefer doing.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I have hotel reservations for next February and have saved up some gift cards. I am ready to move forward with taking my 3 DDs (11, 9, 4) to DW next year. Except that we went to the beach last week (we go for a week every summer) and I made the mistake of asking whether they would rather do a week at DW or a week at the beach. The 2 older ones said beach rather quickly and gave reasons why (mostly revolving around the cost and wait times at DW). We could easily do an entire week at the beach under the DW budget. So now I need to decide which to do. We did a MNSSHP 2 years ago. And did a day at MK and a day at AK about 4 years ago. The last week long trip was about 7 years ago. Any advice or opinions?

Guessing you can get most of your money back for the February trip although not sure about the gift cards.
This is the hard part about caring for children...you asked, so they answered. Good or bad, I believe that how a question is responded to is how I should follow up especially w/ the young.

Take them to the beach next year and bank the extra funds.

 

[stephk1981]

Can you do both? As in splitting the week, there a few great beaches near-ish to Orlando! Whatever you have bought in gift cards will be put to use at Disney, and the amount you spend will be right in the middle if you follow up 4/5 days at Disney with a few days at the beach. Have a great trip!

 

[sk!mom]

Why did you ask them if you didn’t want to know?

I don’t think that children should necessarily drive the family vacation decisions but you asked them so I would take their preference and alter the trip. I would shorten Disney and spend a few days at a Florida beach as part of that trip.

 

[QueenIsabella]

I like the idea of splitting up the trip. I'm sure visiting a beach in Feb. would be a real treat! I like using the angle of treating the youngest. Also, I would probably do WDW first, so the kids can then relax at the beach afterwards--you know, sleep in, be on "beach time", and not have to worry about rope drop or fast passes or anything. Added bonus, the shorter WDW portion would be cheaper, and then at Daytona Beach (or wherever), you could rent a house/condo and do beach stuff on the cheap. An additional thought on this--if you were flying, Daytona is a much, much easier airport to navigate than Orlando, and only about an hour away. You could get round-trip flights there, drive to WDW, and then be close to the airport for your return flight.

 

[katyjeka]

I'm mom of 4 daughters who would rather go elsewhere. The first year we switched and visited some National Parks I was surprised at how fun the trip was. If you ask my girls their favorite trip not one will say WDW. We did a road trip to Arizona and New Mexico one year and my youngest still talks about sliding down the sand dunes at White Sands.(My dh loves to remind me that the New Mexico/Arizona trip was CHEAP!!!) This is not to say that they don't enjoy WDW because we always manage to have a great time but as much as I hate to admit it fun can be found elsewhere. It's hard to believe but our Disney trip this year is more expensive than our trip to Hawaii. I never thought I'd see the day...… I'm sure your kids will enjoy your Disney trip and maybe you could take a day off and hit a beach close to Orlando and have the best of both.

 

[KenHutch]

Your youngest is at that magic age. I would not trade anything for the sight of my then 5 year old staring at the castle and saying It's Real. If your staying onsite they will have a nice pool. You might ask the other 2 what they liked about Disney and include that in your plans or start planning a beach vacation the year after and get them involved in planning both. Its easy in my case both girls adore Disney and my only issue is they have decided that they are deluxe girls. No more moderates.

 

[Pucks104]

You asked their opinion, you aren't obligated to do what they said. However, if they have made their preference known don't expect them to be enthusiastic if you don't listen to what they have said they would prefer doing.

With children, no matter the question, don’t ask it if you aren’t willing to accept their answer. In this instance, if you weren’t willing to give up trips to DW then you shouldn’t have asked which they preferred. Your older daughters answered that they preferred the beach. Now if you insist on DW, they will feel that you don’t care about their expressed preferences which you asked for.

 

[SG131]

Since your younger one has never had a long trip at disney I would 100% do disney for her benefit. And only the oldest probably really remembers the longest trip and even then probably not all that well. I don't know if they have the right frame of reference, they just know they liked the beach so want to go again. They may also just think its for little kids since they haven't been much. Wait times can be minimized with a good plan, and I'm surprised they are aware of the cost. That should be an adults reason why to consider elsewhere depending on the budget, but at 11 and 9 I doubt the actually understand the cost of any vacation.

 

[Miffy]

I have hotel reservations for next February and have saved up some gift cards. I am ready to move forward with taking my 3 DDs (11, 9, 4) to DW next year. Except that we went to the beach last week (we go for a week every summer) and I made the mistake of asking whether they would rather do a week at DW or a week at the beach. The 2 older ones said beach rather quickly and gave reasons why (mostly revolving around the cost and wait times at DW). We could easily do an entire week at the beach under the DW budget. So now I need to decide which to do. We did a MNSSHP 2 years ago. And did a day at MK and a day at AK about 4 years ago. The last week long trip was about 7 years ago. Any advice or opinions?

Your 11-year-old and 9-year-old are concerned about the cost? That certainly would've stopped me from wanting to go to WDW when I was 11. The coins in my piggy bank wouldn't've come close to covering the cost of breakfast.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Your 11-year-old and 9-year-old are concerned about the cost? That certainly would've stopped me from wanting to go to WDW when I was 11. The coins in my piggy bank wouldn't've come close to covering the cost of breakfast.

Some kids are more cognizant of money or costs.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

OP I would present it as a compromise with the kids--beach this year then WDW OR WDW this year beach next year. Another good compromise is what a PP mentioned with splitting the time between WDW and the beach--that would work if you're willing to shorten the WDW portion to accommodate some beach days unless you can simply add more days for a beach trip.

Note when I say compromise I'm not in any way shape or form saying the kids are running the show---but you did ask their opinions and they are at the age where they can understand what they are being asked; I would at least consider their opinions.

 

[Christine]

Since you go to the beach every year and the little one hasn't gone, I'd maybe just go to Disney. My coworker who has 4 kids, used to ask them all the time if they'd like to skip the beach and go to Disney one year and they always loved their beach vacations, so they never went to Disney. He says that he really regrets it now. I doubt your older kids hate Disney so they can have a good time both places. I like the idea of a split trip one year adding beach days on to your Disney trip.

It is time to let the little one go to Disney but you could also safely wait another year until they are 5, which really ensures that they are ready for all Disney has to offer height wise and maturity wise. So maybe do the beach again next year and put Disney off until 2021.

 

[Anchored]

I would do a split vacay - a few days at Disney and a few days at a Florida beach
Good luck!

 

[verleniahall]

I would agree with those who say do the WDW trip next year - maybe throw in a WaterPark day instead of a beach day and then in 2021, you can do a beach trip again

 

[rg35]

My kids are almost 11 and have been to Disney 6 times (we own DVC). This year will be their 7th, but we're also doing Universal Studios. I'm waiting for the inevitable burnout. There have been times on previous trips where we've asked them "do you want to do these attractions or go to the pool." They generally choose the pool. You have to just take it in stride. They say Disney is for kids, but in a lot of cases it's the adults deriving a lot of the enjoyment. I think the kids would be just as happy (or happier) to splash at the pool and do the waterslide all day long.

We went on a cruise last year, so I think the break has them looking forward to our trip this year.

Since you asked your kids what they thought, it would be wrong to be dismissive of their feelings at this point. I would go to Disney simply because your youngest hasn't had a full trip there. I would explain to the oldest two that you understand they'd prefer just going to the beach at this point, and you appreciate them being aware of the cost (our kids are definitely aware how much these trips cost) but that you wanted to take one big trip to WDW while DD4 is still in the magical age, and that you'll have plenty of time for fun beach trips in the future as they get older and aren't as interested in Disney.

 

[luvmy2babies]

They really can surprise you. For years I have been dreaming of doing a land and sea vacation in the form of 4 days at Disney, then a 4 night Disney cruise. My kids are Disney nuts; so now that I'm getting to the point where I can afford to book something like that, I brought it up. My teenager said, "Nope, that's too much."

I said okay how about 2 days in the parks before the cruise. Nope, still too much. This is the same child who asks when we're going back 2 weeks after we get home. Calls it her happy place and has been on 2 10 day trips that revolved around the parks. I couldn't believe it.

What I'm thinking is we'll likely do is a couple of days at Universal first. They've been asking to go there. Then spend a couple of days relaxing at a Disney resort after the cruise. Or 2 days at a resort on each end of the cruise and no parks.

If you can do the Disney trip in February and still do your usual beach trip in the summer or split the February trip I would do that. But like someone else said, you can still get your deposit back on the February trip and I don't think the gift cards will expire. Since you asked no matter what decision you come to, I would make sure the older children know you took their input into consideration and you appreciate them being concerned about the costs.

My children know about budgeting and the cost of things and have for a while. Sometimes I give my oldest a budget projection sheet before we go on a trip and we write down the actual costs and evaluate my pre-trip budgeting. My 16 year-old just this year mentioned feeling a bit guilty about the cost and it was because she was the one who initiated the idea of bringing my mom. I decided to foot the bill since we invited her and figured it would be nice for her first trip. Flight, room, park tickets and dining plan.

 

[Magical2017]

Disney cruise to Caribbean beaches?