All-inclusive family vacation ideas (this is HARD!)

In My Humble Opinion
1

Here’s the deal. My mother is turning 60 next year and REALLY wants to spend a week at Disney (with a side trip to Sea World). In addition to her, there will also be my wife and my son (who will be 4, or close to it when we travel). ALSO, there may or may not be other people joining us, like my brother and his family of four, my aunt and her husband, a couple of my cousins, etc.

Planning a trip at Disney, I’ve found so far to be a real pain in the butt. I want to stay at one of the nicer resorts because most of them offer boat or monorail access right to the hotel from Epcot or the Magic Kingdom. On the other hand, they are not cheap ($200-$300/night not including park tickets of course) and while we can afford it, my wife is not keen on the idea.

With that in mind, I’ve been shopping around for various all-inclusives in the Caribbean and/or Florida area (but I’ve not ruled out other locations yet). The most important things to me are:

a) good for families - my wife and I stayed at a wonderful Beaches Swept Away resort a couple of years ago, but that is for couples only, and we now have a son and a mother joining us
b) good quality - I read www.tripadvisor.com off and of for their respectable reviews (they helped me choose the wonderful Beaches resort), but it has been a challenge using their site to find good family resorts
c) decent price - like I mentioned before, we don’t need to go supercheap, but on the other hand, $1000/day for just a room would be nuts. I think for an all-inclusive for four for seven days, I’d like it to be close to $5000. On the other hand, it doesn’t HAVE to be an all-inclusive as long as these three conditions are met.

That said, does anyone have any ideas or leads that I can follow? Perhaps someone has taken a WONDERFUL vacation somewhere and wants to share it to give me some idea (maybe a dude ranch?)?

Thanks!

2

To be honest Tommy - Disney Orlando is probably the best for the family. Let me just say that you are not confined to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. There’s airboats in the bayou to look at wild aligators, there’s the Gaterland Zoo. There’s Bush Gardens, Sea world, Night life for the parents (with babysitting services) there’d swiming and diving in the various natural springs of Florida. Don’t think you’d be confined to Mickey-Land. There is a plethora of things to do in that area. I’d just book it now, and plan, plan, plan… :slight_smile: Can you tell I’ve done this w/ family ?

3

If you don’t mind driving a bit, try some of the condotels or vacation homes/villas in the area. This is the off-season for them, so renting one of these might be an option.

4

We spent all last week at Disney (Orlando), we being the wife and I, our 4 1/2 year old, my 60 something in-laws and bro and sis in-law too. There definately was something for everyone there and it’s one of the better vacations we’ve ever enjoyed.

What worked for us, expense wise, was to bundle everything together into a package deal that was then discounted. We had unlimited access to the park for the entire time, stayed at the cushy Grand Floridian and had all you can eat and drink breakfast, snacks, even liquor laid out for us every night, etc. Separately, it would have bit but as a package for that many is was discounted to an acceptable level. It’s worth an inquiry.

One thing… if you get the chance head over to Daytona for a day. You can take a 170 mph ride in a 650 hp NASCAR around the track at the speedway driven by a pro. That was Daddy’s Disney!

5

Oops… my “60 something in-laws” is in reference to the parents in-law’s age and not some grotesque family gathering.

6

how about a Disney Cruise?

7

This sounds like my attempts to arrange a Christmas vacation for my entire spastic family.

We’re probably doing Vegas, god help me.

8

I suppose it’s what you’re used to, but… this past January fbmf, the little flodnaks, my parents (70-somethings), and I went to Disney. Our budget was not generous, so we stayed at All-Star Movies, one of the cheapest hotels “on property”, in connecting rooms that were $65 a night with discount. And we had a freakin’ BLAST. I want to go back sooooo bad :cool: Okay, the rooms are not huge, and we didn’t have the monorail or the other amenities of the fancier hotels… but most of the time we spent at the hotel was with our eyes closed. And if it’s too basic for you, there’s another level of on-property options well below $300 a night - and about a kajillion off-property options.

I wrote a web diary about our trip, if you’re interested.

9

No, no, that’s a very good idea.

'Cuz if you lose too much money, you can always sell the children!

:smiley:

10

Vegas would be PERFECT, unless you actually want to spend time with your family. The nice thing about here is no matter how good your intentions, everybody will be wandering off in 30 different directions two seconds after you all arrive and without cell phones, you will never meet up or see each other again the entire time you are here.

Sounds like an ideal vacation for many people I know with a large family.

Regarding the OP - I agree that DisneyWorld sounds like the ideal solution - and I would look into those package deals with nicer rooms and free admission to the park(s).

Otherwise, you could fly to Disneyland in California…there is the new California Adventure next door, and Knott’s Berry Farm practically across the street, then there is the gorgeous Laguna Beach area a few miles away. Laguna Beach is the California everybody wants to see, and expects to see. You could even take a boat over to Catalina Island for a day. Or drive down to Sea World and the Zoo in San Diego. Lots to do in the area, and excluding airfare, should be about the same price or cheaper than your original budget.

11

That would make the vacation planning here much more palatable. My question would be ‘how did you do it to set up a package like this’?

And flodnak, not knocking the ‘budget’ hotels and that may be where we end up. I just wanted something where it was superconvenient to get back to the room if our boy gets grumpy. The long bus ride would not be best here (but still MUCH better than walking out to the parking lot and driving back offsite).

12

There is more to do at Disney World than you could possibly imagine if you’ve never been there. There is truly something for everyone.

This is a good site for information. The message boards there are a good source for anything you might want to know. There is also a trip planning service called “Dreams Unlimited”. I’ve used them; they really know their stuff and can help you find the best deals.

I personally prefer the nicer resorts. I’ve stayed at one of the All Stars, and while it was okay, the rooms are small, and there was often a wait for transportation.

You said “Planning a trip at Disney, I’ve found so far to be a real pain in the butt.” Is there maybe someone else in your family who could take over the planning? Someone like me, who loves the planning as much a the trip.

13

Unfortunately, there is nobody else able to plan. I have a feeling that if we do Disney, family that attends will be staying at various locations based on their budget.

And as much as I would LOVE Vegas (I’m an online poker player), that would be right out as I would be too tempted to never see my family :smiley:

I’ll check the Dreams Unlimited because to be honest, I enjoy the planning bit and did that when we went three years ago (with no child or granny en tow then), but balancing what I want versus what the wife finds acceptable versus finding something convenient for both granny and the boy is making me nuts (and I still have a year give or take before we even leave for said trip!). The trickiest bit is finding a good rate as I hear of people getting really good deals ($170ish for a $300ish room) whereas the only source I’ve been to is Disney’s site itself.

Thanks again for the advice so far.

14

1-407-wdisney. They can help with all of your planning, coordinate with all your relatives and make all your airline reservations. I also highly recommend staying on the property. If you choose a hotel off property, you must rent a car, pay for parking, and don’t have the perks of staying at a Disney property (sending purchases back to your room, access to E ride nights, lot of other stuff). And it’s WAY harder to go to your room for an afternoon nap. If you think you would like the race car experience, no need to drive to Daytona. They have the Richard Petty Driving Experience right on the property, and you can either ride along or do the driving yourself.

You can get a planning DVD for free from the disney.go.com website.

I’ve been twice, and they have been the best vacations I have ever had. We stayed at the Fort Wilderness Cabins both times.

15

We did the trip to Mecca…errr…Disney, last summer.

We stayed at my BIL’s condo, Old Key West Resort, which is fabulous, clean and great pools. It is everything you would expect from a Disney property. Disney has a standard that is simply awesome. I wish they did a global chain of hotels.Old Key West It has a kitchette, allowing us to have breakfast and snacks readily available.

Because we were guests there we got parking passes that allowed us to enter any Disney park for free. We drove, rather than use the Disney bus system because it was WAY faster. And we had 12 people ( 6 kids under 6, one wheelchair person) and we got whatever park we were going to with loading, driving, parking, unloading and walking to the park gate faster than taking the bus.

So, bear this in mind. Either pay for the parking ( I don’t know how much it is) or see if the property you stay at has something similar. Standing around and waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting for the shuttle, monorail gets old real quick.
Also, for your little one, take a stroller and make them ride in it. Disney is a buttload of walking for kids. Our kids ( 6 & 4) were in umbrella strollers, happily so, and they were still exhausted by the time we left the park at about 1pm every day to go back to pass out at the condo. These are kids that haven’t done strollers since they were three.

A great place for hints and deals is Mouse Savers
The best peice of advice I will give you is: **Plan your rides like you are going to war. ** Don’t be lackidaisical about it or you will wait forever in a hot sweaty line of hot sweaty whiney people and kids.

Pick five or six of them that are a must do. Then run your little butt off ahead of the pack to go and get a **Fast Pass. ** You will get more of your money if you sacrifice yourself for the comfort of your wife, MIL and child.

The second best peice of advice you will get from me: Save Disney for your last day. That is THE amusement park. If you shoot your wad, so to speak, on the first day, everything else pales. Really.

16

Vegas rocks!

I loved booking Vegas when I was a travel agent. Just get quotes from four or five Big Hotels and a couple of the smaller ones, flash it before the travelers eyes and every time they go for the Strip hotels. Mirage, Cesear’s…The name there is everything.

17

My husband and mother and I would be staying at the Nugget. Who knows about the rest of the clowns. :smiley:

18

Dining at Disney World is a fabulous experience, but damned expensive. You can save a heap of money by staying in a Disney Vacation Club resort villa that has a kitchenette (such as Boardwalk Villas). Stock up at a local grocery store, and use the money you save on food to pay for the fabulous resort. You can save $20-40 per person per day by eating two meals a day in your villa.

Eating breakfast in your villa not only saves money, it saves time. You can get to the parks sooner if you don’t have to get everyone organized to go out for a time-consuming breakfast.
Eating lunch in your villa not only saves money, it gives you an opportunity to take a much-needed break in your hectic day. It’s a good time for the kids to nap or use the pool.
We usually allow ourself one meal a day at a Disney restaurant.

A couple of the Vacation Club resorts have 3-bedroom villas that will sleep 12. Put the adults in the bedrooms and the kids wherever they’ll fit. The villas are usually spacious.

19

When we were booking our trip, we kept hearing warm recommendations for a travel agency called Magical Journeys. They specialize in Orlando/Walt Disney World and know all the tricks. If any discount comes along that will apply to you, they will see to it that you get it, even after you’ve already booked. I woke up one morning to find an e-mail from one of their agents, saying we’d been secured the January room-only discount, which happened before I’d even known there was going to be a January room-only discount. Highly recommended.

As for packages… at the time we booked and with our plans, a package would have been more expensive, not less. We knew we’d be spending two days outside Disney World (Seaworld and Kennedy Space Center), and we were planning to stay in an inexpensive hotel and primarily eat at counter-service restaurants. However, since then a whole new set of vacation packages has been introduced and the ticket pricing structure has changed radically. I think even those of us travelling on the Cheapskate Plan may benefit now :smiley: You can get a “Dining Package” that includes two meals and a snack every day, or a “Premium Package” that includes three meals a day, use of the childcare centers, and lots of extra recreation and entertainment.

Whatever you do, if you can, go during the off-season! With a four-year-old you won’t have to worry about him missing school. Go when all the older kids are stuck in the classroom and enjoy the peace and quiet, not to mention the ability to walk right onto most of the rides!

20

I’ve been on three vacations to a dude ranch with my whole family- my parents, my three siblings, spouses and eight kids who this year ranged from 4-19. The one we picked was pretty much all inclusive (we paid for drinks and paintball), cost my family of 4 $1900 for five days, and also had an all day free snack bar. We originally went to the dude ranch because my sister and I got tired of our previous vacations, which consisted of staying at a hotel near one amusement park or another (not Disney), getting every one up in the morning, out to breakfast, to the park, figuring out who would stay with the kid who didnt want to ride one ride or another (there was always one) ,and finding some way to entertain them in the evenng after the park closed