Not A One & Done Kinda Trip
June 15, 2019
I know MANY people think of certain vacations are a “one and done” trip. I MAY have been under that impression myself. I have also been guilty of thinking I needed to wait for the right time and for my kids to be “old enough” to enjoy something.
**There may be some vacations that aren’t on your list at all. THAT is OK. You do you and I’ll do me.
Let me just tell you right now, throw those two thoughts right out the window. For real! Don’t live life that way. You just never know how much you are going to enjoy something before you experience it so don’t take away the possibility of doing it again before you’ve even done it the first time.
I have four children. The oldest and youngest are a whole fourteen and a half years apart! That’s a lot. I have two boys spread out in those 14 years. Only my two youngest children are close in age, only two and a half years apart. When my two oldest children were little we had very little money and didn’t go on vacations, at all. When the younger kids started coming along, I put off the BIG trips I wanted to do like WDW because I THOUGHT “if we only get to go once I want all of my kids to be old enough”. I have grown to hate those words…old enough.
And let me be very clear, I had a husband who felt like “certain” vacations were a waste of money and he had no desire to go, ever. Striving to be a good wife, I shoved the thoughts of that BIG trip out of my head. But they kept coming back because the kids and I really wanted to go! REALLY!
I am the vacation planner in our family. I plan EVERY vacation and trip we take. So, I take full responsibility for NOT going when my older kids were young or older and not going when my younger kids were young! My older two have never been and my younger two didn’t get to go until they were at the end of high school. That was a major mom-fail in my mind.
Don’t get me wrong. I am NOT saying if you don’t take your kids to WDW that you are a failure. I am saying that I personally missed out on some amazing memories with MY kids by not taking them on several trips throughout their childhood years. I had NO clue what a wonderful adventure it would be. Despite the fact that I had MANY friends who told me how great it was, I just didn’t make it happen.
After years of planning and executing great vacations, I decided it was time. I saw more and more friends who were taking trips there. I saw their smiling faces and those of their kids. I also found a friend from church was a planner. Two years ago this coming December we had the vacation that changed my mind about a lot of things.
My youngest was 16 and my next to youngest had graduated high school. I had two grands at the time, 16 months and barely 3. The urge to go before my younger two grew up was so strong that I finally made it happen. I wanted my oldest two children to go but money didn’t work out for that for this trip. My graduate’s girl friend was able to come. We were a party of 7 this trip.
I know what you are thinking. Wait a minute, you mean you took two kids under 4? You bet, I did! And it was a “magical” time. Things weren’t perfect. But they sure were grand. The whole experience was great. Part of that was because our attitudes were to have a good time and we knew there would be things that came up that we would have to deal with. We were prepared to just handle them with grace and a calmness. That made a huge difference.
There was no way we could do everything while we were there. We had five park days and while that was a good amount of time, it wasn’t enough. Even if we had stayed longer, I’m not sure we would have had time to do it all. That is the beauty of it, we don’t HAVE to do it ALL in one trip. If you try and do too much that will mess up the whole thing. We planned out certain things. Some we missed and others we added. But because we weren’t stressing about it, we had a blast doing everything we were able to do.
Here is the WHY it’s not a “one and done” kinda trip. There are so many MORE things we WANT to do and see. And we want to do them in the same relaxed way we did on our first trip, and each trip after that. I plan on taking my grands regularly as they grow older and as more come along.
Check out the picture I shared. See those smiled on EVERYONE’S faces? THAT is my why! I got to see how happy my family was. THAT is magical! I’m not talking some kind of mystical whatever. I’m just talking about the definition that says magical: beautiful or delightful in such a way as to seem removed from the everyday life. So when I say our trip was magical, you will know what I’m talking about. If you still aren’t sure, look it up and see the huge number of synonyms for it.
When I plan a trip for myself, my husband and/or my family, it is important to me that we have the best time possible with the least amount of frustration. Notice I didn’t say zero amount. That would be impossible. This imperfect world filled with imperfect people doesn’t provide a problem free life. That is OK! It grows us to learn how to live successfully and happily THROUGH those difficult times.
My point to the whole post…DON’T WAIT for the perfect time and the perfect age and think “since I’m only going once everything has to be just right” because you just might love it so much you will be like me and want to go back multiple times. If you wait then you will miss out on the special moments you could have had in that moment with the people at THAT time at the age they were then, like I did. I allowed my children to miss out on some fabulous childhood memories.
Make no mistake. It takes planning and money. BUT, plan it right and save up a little at a time so that everything is in place and it will make all the difference in the world. I had a planner who helped me find the best deals, recommended the best resort for our needs, helped us pick food to go along with our likes and dislikes, and even gave us a tentative schedule to go by so that we didn’t try to cram everything in at once and we weren’t trying to go from one end of a park to another over and over like chickens with their heads cut off. We got the dining plan, which means our food was already paid for, except table service tips, so we just went and enjoyed ourselves. We didn’t have to drive anywhere once we got to the resort. We used the free buses to all the WDW parks, resorts and the outdoor mall.
If your excuse for NOT going is money, consider the cost of a different trip with the same type of attractions and accommodations. Add up the cost of the hotel (make sure to pick one that measures up to the one you would stay at here), add the food costs (remember, you are on vacation so don’t starve yourself just to save a few bucks. You don’t have to over eat, either), add the cost of theme parks and other attractions or places you would go, plus gas traveling to all those places and parking at those theme parks, etc. I added up the costs and to really enjoy your time and do a lot of fun things, it evens out in cost, unless you have decided that you are ONLY going to eat PBJs and poptarts. Then it will go over when it comes to food costs. But I personally don’t want to eat that way on vacation.
When we went, we ate foods from all over the world. It was like traveling the world, in a sense. We didn’t like everything we tried but there was usually a wide variety that we could get a plate of different things and give them a try. We are a pretty adventuresome bunch. That was one of the things that made the trip super special. At home, we have a certain number of places that we will go out to eat at. We don’t venture out of the norm unless we are on vacation.
We enjoyed the character meals because of the kids. Truth be told, the teens and adults in our group enjoyed it just as much. Plus, seeing how happy the kids were made US even MORE happy. The interactions with the cast members there is top notch. They go above and beyond to make sure your trip is “magical”!
If your excuse is the kids are too young to remember or enjoy it, keep in mind that part of the fun is seeing your children enjoy things even if they don’t remember it perfectly. I can tell you from experience that having photos to look at over and over, because they LOVE doing that after the trip, they WILL remember things about it. They will have those photos to keep the memories alive in their minds.
When you take children you will have to take into account their ages, how you want to do naps and how long you can stay at a certain park. How many rides they can ride and what you will do while those who want to ride the big rides do that. Plan extra snacks and activities for waiting in lines. Plan down time or a pool day in the middle just to rest. LEARN from each day and plan accordingly. AND use everything you learn the first trip to make the second one EVEN BETTER!
Also, kids 2 and under are FREE! That is a plus in and of itself. I think a good age to take them is at least 15 months, we took a 16 month old and it was great. He was past the “stranger danger” stage that my one year old grandson is going through at the moment. He had a wonderful time and as you can see in the photo, he loved the characters. He ran up to them with no problem. But on the other hand, some kids never have that intense of a stranger danger so they can go earlier. As long as YOU will have fun, they will have fun.
They can’t wait to go again. We did watch WDW videos on TV and computer to get them excited. We watched parades and fireworks and the rides so we could see what we wanted to do. They are already doing that again and planning the next big trip. They are now fixing to turn 3 and 5. We had planned to go this fall but we had to change our plans and move it to a later date. We aren’t canceling it, just moving the date. It is our hope that more of our family will be able to go since we moved the day to 2020. We will have a couple more grands that might have a chance to go that haven’t been plus we hope our older children can go next time. (**Thanks to the shut downs all over, our plans for a trip have been put on hold until everything is opened back up and no masks are required anywhere.)
My advice, again, take the trip. Plan for it. But take it. And plan another one because you will have so much more fun knowing that it isn’t the last time you get to come back so you don’t have to worry about missing something. If you really want to do it, make it happen. Ride that ride or see that show. Put it at the top of your list. But don’t stress over things. Just have fun. Enjoy the magical vacation that it can surely be.
If you want to know more about our first trip, check out the blog posts I did on it. Those are dated the beginning of 2018.
I know MANY people think of certain vacations are a “one and done” trip. I MAY have been under that impression myself. I have also been guilty of thinking I needed to wait for the right time and for my kids to be “old enough” to enjoy something.
**There may be some vacations that aren’t on your list at all. THAT is OK. You do you and I’ll do me.
Let me just tell you right now, throw those two thoughts right out the window. For real! Don’t live life that way. You just never know how much you are going to enjoy something before you experience it so don’t take away the possibility of doing it again before you’ve even done it the first time.
I have four children. The oldest and youngest are a whole fourteen and a half years apart! That’s a lot. I have two boys spread out in those 14 years. Only my two youngest children are close in age, only two and a half years apart. When my two oldest children were little we had very little money and didn’t go on vacations, at all. When the younger kids started coming along, I put off the BIG trips I wanted to do like WDW because I THOUGHT “if we only get to go once I want all of my kids to be old enough”. I have grown to hate those words…old enough.
And let me be very clear, I had a husband who felt like “certain” vacations were a waste of money and he had no desire to go, ever. Striving to be a good wife, I shoved the thoughts of that BIG trip out of my head. But they kept coming back because the kids and I really wanted to go! REALLY!
I am the vacation planner in our family. I plan EVERY vacation and trip we take. So, I take full responsibility for NOT going when my older kids were young or older and not going when my younger kids were young! My older two have never been and my younger two didn’t get to go until they were at the end of high school. That was a major mom-fail in my mind.
Don’t get me wrong. I am NOT saying if you don’t take your kids to WDW that you are a failure. I am saying that I personally missed out on some amazing memories with MY kids by not taking them on several trips throughout their childhood years. I had NO clue what a wonderful adventure it would be. Despite the fact that I had MANY friends who told me how great it was, I just didn’t make it happen.
After years of planning and executing great vacations, I decided it was time. I saw more and more friends who were taking trips there. I saw their smiling faces and those of their kids. I also found a friend from church was a planner. Two years ago this coming December we had the vacation that changed my mind about a lot of things.
My youngest was 16 and my next to youngest had graduated high school. I had two grands at the time, 16 months and barely 3. The urge to go before my younger two grew up was so strong that I finally made it happen. I wanted my oldest two children to go but money didn’t work out for that for this trip. My graduate’s girl friend was able to come. We were a party of 7 this trip.
I know what you are thinking. Wait a minute, you mean you took two kids under 4? You bet, I did! And it was a “magical” time. Things weren’t perfect. But they sure were grand. The whole experience was great. Part of that was because our attitudes were to have a good time and we knew there would be things that came up that we would have to deal with. We were prepared to just handle them with grace and a calmness. That made a huge difference.
There was no way we could do everything while we were there. We had five park days and while that was a good amount of time, it wasn’t enough. Even if we had stayed longer, I’m not sure we would have had time to do it all. That is the beauty of it, we don’t HAVE to do it ALL in one trip. If you try and do too much that will mess up the whole thing. We planned out certain things. Some we missed and others we added. But because we weren’t stressing about it, we had a blast doing everything we were able to do.
Here is the WHY it’s not a “one and done” kinda trip. There are so many MORE things we WANT to do and see. And we want to do them in the same relaxed way we did on our first trip, and each trip after that. I plan on taking my grands regularly as they grow older and as more come along.
Check out the picture I shared. See those smiled on EVERYONE’S faces? THAT is my why! I got to see how happy my family was. THAT is magical! I’m not talking some kind of mystical whatever. I’m just talking about the definition that says magical: beautiful or delightful in such a way as to seem removed from the everyday life. So when I say our trip was magical, you will know what I’m talking about. If you still aren’t sure, look it up and see the huge number of synonyms for it.
When I plan a trip for myself, my husband and/or my family, it is important to me that we have the best time possible with the least amount of frustration. Notice I didn’t say zero amount. That would be impossible. This imperfect world filled with imperfect people doesn’t provide a problem free life. That is OK! It grows us to learn how to live successfully and happily THROUGH those difficult times.
My point to the whole post…DON’T WAIT for the perfect time and the perfect age and think “since I’m only going once everything has to be just right” because you just might love it so much you will be like me and want to go back multiple times. If you wait then you will miss out on the special moments you could have had in that moment with the people at THAT time at the age they were then, like I did. I allowed my children to miss out on some fabulous childhood memories.
Make no mistake. It takes planning and money. BUT, plan it right and save up a little at a time so that everything is in place and it will make all the difference in the world. I had a planner who helped me find the best deals, recommended the best resort for our needs, helped us pick food to go along with our likes and dislikes, and even gave us a tentative schedule to go by so that we didn’t try to cram everything in at once and we weren’t trying to go from one end of a park to another over and over like chickens with their heads cut off. We got the dining plan, which means our food was already paid for, except table service tips, so we just went and enjoyed ourselves. We didn’t have to drive anywhere once we got to the resort. We used the free buses to all the WDW parks, resorts and the outdoor mall.
If your excuse for NOT going is money, consider the cost of a different trip with the same type of attractions and accommodations. Add up the cost of the hotel (make sure to pick one that measures up to the one you would stay at here), add the food costs (remember, you are on vacation so don’t starve yourself just to save a few bucks. You don’t have to over eat, either), add the cost of theme parks and other attractions or places you would go, plus gas traveling to all those places and parking at those theme parks, etc. I added up the costs and to really enjoy your time and do a lot of fun things, it evens out in cost, unless you have decided that you are ONLY going to eat PBJs and poptarts. Then it will go over when it comes to food costs. But I personally don’t want to eat that way on vacation.
When we went, we ate foods from all over the world. It was like traveling the world, in a sense. We didn’t like everything we tried but there was usually a wide variety that we could get a plate of different things and give them a try. We are a pretty adventuresome bunch. That was one of the things that made the trip super special. At home, we have a certain number of places that we will go out to eat at. We don’t venture out of the norm unless we are on vacation.
We enjoyed the character meals because of the kids. Truth be told, the teens and adults in our group enjoyed it just as much. Plus, seeing how happy the kids were made US even MORE happy. The interactions with the cast members there is top notch. They go above and beyond to make sure your trip is “magical”!
If your excuse is the kids are too young to remember or enjoy it, keep in mind that part of the fun is seeing your children enjoy things even if they don’t remember it perfectly. I can tell you from experience that having photos to look at over and over, because they LOVE doing that after the trip, they WILL remember things about it. They will have those photos to keep the memories alive in their minds.
When you take children you will have to take into account their ages, how you want to do naps and how long you can stay at a certain park. How many rides they can ride and what you will do while those who want to ride the big rides do that. Plan extra snacks and activities for waiting in lines. Plan down time or a pool day in the middle just to rest. LEARN from each day and plan accordingly. AND use everything you learn the first trip to make the second one EVEN BETTER!
Also, kids 2 and under are FREE! That is a plus in and of itself. I think a good age to take them is at least 15 months, we took a 16 month old and it was great. He was past the “stranger danger” stage that my one year old grandson is going through at the moment. He had a wonderful time and as you can see in the photo, he loved the characters. He ran up to them with no problem. But on the other hand, some kids never have that intense of a stranger danger so they can go earlier. As long as YOU will have fun, they will have fun.
They can’t wait to go again. We did watch WDW videos on TV and computer to get them excited. We watched parades and fireworks and the rides so we could see what we wanted to do. They are already doing that again and planning the next big trip. They are now fixing to turn 3 and 5. We had planned to go this fall but we had to change our plans and move it to a later date. We aren’t canceling it, just moving the date. It is our hope that more of our family will be able to go since we moved the day to 2020. We will have a couple more grands that might have a chance to go that haven’t been plus we hope our older children can go next time. (**Thanks to the shut downs all over, our plans for a trip have been put on hold until everything is opened back up and no masks are required anywhere.)
My advice, again, take the trip. Plan for it. But take it. And plan another one because you will have so much more fun knowing that it isn’t the last time you get to come back so you don’t have to worry about missing something. If you really want to do it, make it happen. Ride that ride or see that show. Put it at the top of your list. But don’t stress over things. Just have fun. Enjoy the magical vacation that it can surely be.
If you want to know more about our first trip, check out the blog posts I did on it. Those are dated the beginning of 2018.
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