<p>We have our annual road trip to a family friends house. We have our annual trip to Disney World for the winter shows. We have our annual trip where we try something or go somewhere new. </p>
<p>Then we also go back to our home country. It’s great to explore and go back to the set ones’ “stomping grounds” since the youngest generation is mainly US-born. </p>
<p>When we travel to different countries or attraction based states, we tend to go to hotels or rent out homes so we can all wake up together and go to sleep together. One place to return to and it’s fairly easy to keep track of everyone. </p>
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Meh, Disney World is ok. I’ve been there a god amount of times. I dislike the wait for rides and I dislike the large amount of people that are ALWAYS there. It’s the best to get passes and to go when no one wants to go. </p>
<p>I think I’ll really enjoy taking my kids there. It will be stressful since I will have to deal with a kid in an amusement park, for entire day, in the hot Florida sun, BUT I would really enjoy having them meet the Disney characters and go on the special story rides and the like. </p>
<p>Tiredalready – I don’t know where you’re located (haven’t read the whole thread) but Wild Dunes near Charleston SC might fit your description. We had two nice trips there. It is a gated community, essentially, with great beaches, golf, pools, tennis, a hotel, and privately owned homes and condos for rent. There must be rentals on vrbo, etc., but we booked through the Wild Dunes main reservations and it included daily maid and linen service, so it feels more like a vacation. The region has Charleston, the aquarium and historic sites – especially if you have a rainy day. There are great other beaches outside Wild Dunes, such as Bull Island. Great seafood restaurants on Shem Creek. Our rental units had Monopoly, etc. for fun during afternoon thunderstorms. You could go out for a morning bike ride, or to the beach, and tell your daughter where to find you after she sleeps a bit later. Breakfasts and lunches are quick and easy with a rental unit. Your husband and son could be out exploring the area or playing golf anywhere in the region. They could even drive south, about an hour, to Kiawah. Baseball fans could take in a minor league game one evening, while the non-fans take a sunset sailing yacht cruise in the harbor. We liked it. We only returned there once, because we love to explore different regions of the country. But it was a nice location, for what you’ve described. Their airport was small and very quick to navigate.</p>
<p>Best times to go is when the kids are in school and you’re some time away from holidays. </p>
<p>January/February is good and also Fall. March and April depending in the weeks is crowded because of the Spring Breaks in the area. Thanksgiving and December is busy because of the holiday season.</p>
<p>It’s really up to you what times you go and people’s tolerances of crowded theme parks vary. Personally, I am a fan of the holiday season so it’s worth it to me. </p>
<p>^^^I’ve been to WDW once with the kids but didn’t make it to Epcot or any of the other parks. I’d love to go, but don’t want to deal with the tired, the weary, the huddled masses. :)</p>
<p>I went to Disneyland in early December several times when our kids were young. It was lovely–peaceful, short lines, cooler, garbed, costumed periodic Christmas carolers and decorations. I highly recommend that time. They tended to have one or more attractions under renovation, but the shorter lines and smaller crowds definitely offset any disappointment of the few closed attractions.</p>
<p>Have still never made it to Orlando with any of its attractions–one day, perhaps. I’m more interested in the national parks than amusement parks. It’s tough to do these parks when neither kids nor H like most rides. Fortunately, we all like national parks, so we do a lot of those.</p>
<p>We went to WDW in early Dec twice when my kids were younger. It was a great time to go. Weather was cooler than in summer, but we could still go swimming most of the time. It wasn’t very crowded either.</p>
<p>I had yearly passes for a few years, being a FL resident. We learned our favorite places to visit and where to eat. We got to park early and went straight to favorite ride/show. We skipped lots of the evening shows to relax back at hotel, with hot tubs and pools and pizza delivered to rooms. At Mrder She Wrote, my FA and son were called on stage as participants. </p>
<p>Honestly, best time to go is rainy days. A little drizzle scares away all but the natives. </p>
<p>Don’t want crowds at WDW? Go in July. Seriously. I was there and when we walked into the park I asked my SIL “is it open?”.</p>
<p>We were there the first week of December two years ago and it was spectacular. Cooler temps, and not crowded. We only did a one day pass to Epcot…just DH and me.</p>
<p>I take my grown kids to Orlando for Disney World and Universal Studios and we have a blast! The last trip was for 10 days in December of 2012 and we have another planned for fall of 2015 or spring of 2016. As much as I love staying on property, I’ve found that it’s much nicer to rent a 3BR condo where we have a full kitchen and laundry and resort amenities, yet are 5 minutes from WDW and 15 from US, and the place- after my AAA discounts, etc, ended up costing about $75/night. Of course, we are a bit “Disney Addicted” in our household, and the addition of the Hogsmeade (and now Diagon Alley) to US has made it all perfection!</p>
<p>Our family always goes in December, as well. Cool temperatures…it’s in the dry season, plus the holiday shows and decorations. :)</p>
<p>It’d take me a lot to go to Disney World in July. Hot temperatures and it’s the “wet” season. I’d only go if it was a group event and even then I’d hesitate. </p>
This is good advice. Although it may seem counterintuitive, a visit to WDW benefits tremendously from advance planning. If you just show up at the park at 10:30 after a leisurely breakfast, you will spend the rest of the day in lines at three rides. If it fits in your budget, staying in one of the on-property hotels gets you early entry on certain days at the parks, and that is a big benefit (I assume they still do that).</p>