Penmac
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2017
- Messages
- 323
Background- I have been a lifelong Disney fan. We visited the parks just a couple times when I was a teen (and Disneyland for a day when I was 9), so it's really not something I grew up doing regularly. Because of that, it never occurred to me to travel there when I was single. But, I always loved the music and movies. I even owned the box set of the music of Disney. In 8th grade, I knew every word to every classic Disney song! My husband grew up with zero Disney influence and could care less about it, one way or the other.
We didn't start taking our kids there until 4 years ago, and we have gone once a year since. My husband, although indifferent to the Disney culture, actually really loves his time at the parks. He is usually the happiest person in our family when we are there! But, he constantly moans and groans when I inevitably mention vacationing there, yet again. Each time we go, he declares that we aren't going back for 3 more years, but he always caves. We do have plans to take the kids again in maybe late 2019 and he has agreed to that. Mainly, because the family has a 1 day pass that expires on 12/31/19 that we haven't used. We are undecided on when to go, but we will figure it out.
We are both turning 40 within two weeks of each other at end of November/early December 2018. He has mentioned possibly taking a trip away without the kids. This would be the first time away from them since my almost 10 year old was born. We have 5 kids. We went to Chicago for a weekend in 2012 when I was a bridesmaid in my best friend's wedding, and that's it. It was a busy weekend and we barely saw each other. We do not have grandparents we can ask to babysit for more than an hour or two. In fact, my mother lives with me and I am her full time caretaker. This is why we never travel without the kids. Asking anyone to watch 5 kids is an enormous ask, and we just don't go there with family. But, this is a big birthday year for both of us and I know my amazing SIL would love to help us get away for a couple nights.
We want:
1. to go someplace warmer than here (we live in the Northeast and are not into winter sports so a ski weekend is out of the question).
2. Direct flight less than 3.5 hours
3. Be able to swim if the weather happens to cooperate.
He wants to go to a Caribbean island. Believe me- I would LOVE this. I love the beach. But- Airfare/hotel will be high, and we can't get to any island without less than a 10 hour travel day with layovers etc. Since my sister in law will likely be watching my kids, and my brother taking my mom, and my 3 year old (and sometimes also my 4 year old) still refuses to sleep through the night, we can't do more than 3 nights away. I would even be more comfortable with 2 nights, truthfully. I feel as though he is subconsciously suggesting an unattainable vacation because he knows it's logistically impossible. He won't get stuck with me saying he wasn't willing to do anything to celebrate our milestone birthdays . See where I am coming from? Spending thousands to get just 2 beach days and hours of long travel seems unreasonable to me. And since he is super smart, I know he has to see the flaw in this plan.
I suggested traveling to Orlando for 2 nights without the kids. We can take a 6am direct flight and be there by 9am. Stay 2 nights and fly home morning or mid-afternoon third day. I said we could even skip Disney and do a day at Universal. I am also HP obsessed and have never been because we felt some of our kids were not old enough on past trips to justify the expense of Universal. I would also really love to see Disney decorated for the holidays because I love Christmas!!!
He thinks the whole idea is madness. He can't imagine being there without our kids. He said the fun for him there is seeing how much they enjoy themselves. I think it would be really enjoyable, for both of us. But, I don't want to be selfish. It's his birthday too. But, Florida is really the only place we can fly that meets our above guidelines for a weekend away. I did say we could do Fort Lauderdale, but if the weather is cool, we won't be able to do too much besides go out to eat and relax at the hotel. Maybe not a bad thing, but he agreed he wouldn't want to be stuck there for a weekend in blah weather.
OK, lots of rambling here. Thanks in advance!
We didn't start taking our kids there until 4 years ago, and we have gone once a year since. My husband, although indifferent to the Disney culture, actually really loves his time at the parks. He is usually the happiest person in our family when we are there! But, he constantly moans and groans when I inevitably mention vacationing there, yet again. Each time we go, he declares that we aren't going back for 3 more years, but he always caves. We do have plans to take the kids again in maybe late 2019 and he has agreed to that. Mainly, because the family has a 1 day pass that expires on 12/31/19 that we haven't used. We are undecided on when to go, but we will figure it out.
We are both turning 40 within two weeks of each other at end of November/early December 2018. He has mentioned possibly taking a trip away without the kids. This would be the first time away from them since my almost 10 year old was born. We have 5 kids. We went to Chicago for a weekend in 2012 when I was a bridesmaid in my best friend's wedding, and that's it. It was a busy weekend and we barely saw each other. We do not have grandparents we can ask to babysit for more than an hour or two. In fact, my mother lives with me and I am her full time caretaker. This is why we never travel without the kids. Asking anyone to watch 5 kids is an enormous ask, and we just don't go there with family. But, this is a big birthday year for both of us and I know my amazing SIL would love to help us get away for a couple nights.
We want:
1. to go someplace warmer than here (we live in the Northeast and are not into winter sports so a ski weekend is out of the question).
2. Direct flight less than 3.5 hours
3. Be able to swim if the weather happens to cooperate.
He wants to go to a Caribbean island. Believe me- I would LOVE this. I love the beach. But- Airfare/hotel will be high, and we can't get to any island without less than a 10 hour travel day with layovers etc. Since my sister in law will likely be watching my kids, and my brother taking my mom, and my 3 year old (and sometimes also my 4 year old) still refuses to sleep through the night, we can't do more than 3 nights away. I would even be more comfortable with 2 nights, truthfully. I feel as though he is subconsciously suggesting an unattainable vacation because he knows it's logistically impossible. He won't get stuck with me saying he wasn't willing to do anything to celebrate our milestone birthdays . See where I am coming from? Spending thousands to get just 2 beach days and hours of long travel seems unreasonable to me. And since he is super smart, I know he has to see the flaw in this plan.
I suggested traveling to Orlando for 2 nights without the kids. We can take a 6am direct flight and be there by 9am. Stay 2 nights and fly home morning or mid-afternoon third day. I said we could even skip Disney and do a day at Universal. I am also HP obsessed and have never been because we felt some of our kids were not old enough on past trips to justify the expense of Universal. I would also really love to see Disney decorated for the holidays because I love Christmas!!!
He thinks the whole idea is madness. He can't imagine being there without our kids. He said the fun for him there is seeing how much they enjoy themselves. I think it would be really enjoyable, for both of us. But, I don't want to be selfish. It's his birthday too. But, Florida is really the only place we can fly that meets our above guidelines for a weekend away. I did say we could do Fort Lauderdale, but if the weather is cool, we won't be able to do too much besides go out to eat and relax at the hotel. Maybe not a bad thing, but he agreed he wouldn't want to be stuck there for a weekend in blah weather.
OK, lots of rambling here. Thanks in advance!
Last edited: