Vacations other than Disney

[jdb in AZ]

Watch (re-watch) the movie "Somewhere in Time" then visit Mackinac Island in Michigan where it was filmed. The Grand Hotel is pricey but it includes wonderful meals, and the service is amazing!

 

[OhMari]

Thanks, we had a close call with a crummy resort in ‘09, but wound up happy at Great Wolf Lodge

Yes, that is one of the better resorts, The Wilderness is one of the best resorts too.

 

[Oliviaxxx]

We vacation in the Outerbanks of NC. We rent a beachfront property for a week. We love it. We are definitely beach people.

 

[SueInBoston]

just back and had a wonderful relaxing time in Puerto Rico.

 

[BadgerGirl84]

After visiting WDW 4 times on our Annual Passes that just expired, we are taking a break for a year. We are going to take our 3 young kids (and nanny for extra help) on a road trip to the Smoky Mountains this summer. It's about a 12 hour drive and we plan on stopping at the ARK Encounter and Creation Museum on the way there and back. We don't plan on doing tons of hikes in the national park given the ages of our kids, but we look forward to doing the Cades Cove drive, a couple small hikes, visiting Dollywood etc. We enjoy staying at 3-4 bedroom home rentals or timeshares on vacation, and there appears to be tons of options in the area.

 

[Klayfish]

Have you been to Myrtle Beach? It seems like a good fit for your family. You can spend a couple hours on the beach, then spend the rest of the day enjoying the entertainment. If you're not in the mood for a couple hours at the beach, there are plenty of places to visit on a day trip. Renting a home & preparing your own food isn't a problem. There are plenty of homes or condos to rent. I have to admit I'm not a fan of the water there. I lived near the Gulf in Southwest Florida for many years & now live very close to the Atlantic in South Florida. The water isn't clear enough for us, but our extended family, who live in NC, visit MB every year & love playing in the ocean. Although we're not a fan of the water, there's no denying that MB has plenty of things to keep you entertained for a couple weeks.

Considering where you live, Gatlinburg & Pigeon also seem like a good choice for your family. You could rent a cabin that allowed you to prepare your own meals. There's Dollywood, Splash Country, shows, mini-golf, zip-lining, etc. You can also explore the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, visiting Cherokee & take other day trips. Asheville is a great small city that's driveable from there. Near there you have a wide variety of lakes & outdoor activities.

You may have already looked into these options. If not, I thought I'd throw them out there. Considering what you've shared about your family & where you live, these areas seem like good destinations for you. Just a thought.

Thanks!! I've been to Myrtle many times when I was a kid/teen, but not in decades. You've nailed it exactly for us...in fact the two options you mentioned are the two that DW and I most consider other than WDW on a "budget". Myrtle is the leading candidate. From what we've seen on VRBO, the rental house costs would be fairly close to what we pay in central FL, maybe a bit more. We'd have plenty to do, but would probably spend a good amount on entertainment off the beach. Our current summer 2019 vacation plan is to go to Disney for 2 weeks, but only buy tickets to the water parks, not the theme parks. We love them and could easily spend 3 or 4 days in each one. We'd spend the rest of the time doing other things around central FL...a few day trips to Daytona Beach, go to a Tampa Bay Rays game, spend a few days relaxing around the rental house, Disney Springs, do a few activities at on property resorts, and do a bunch of activities off property (mini golf, movies, go karting, maybe air boat rides, etc...). Our best guess is that we'd spend nearly identical money doing that as we would spending the same time in Myrtle, so we're sort of debating.

Tennessee is something we want to do too. That would probably be a bit of a shorter trip, maybe a week. It would certainly cost less if we did that. We will definitely do it at some point, as it is of interest to us.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Thanks!! I've been to Myrtle many times when I was a kid/teen, but not in decades. You've nailed it exactly for us...in fact the two options you mentioned are the two that DW and I most consider other than WDW on a "budget". Myrtle is the leading candidate. From what we've seen on VRBO, the rental house costs would be fairly close to what we pay in central FL, maybe a bit more. We'd have plenty to do, but would probably spend a good amount on entertainment off the beach. Our current summer 2019 vacation plan is to go to Disney for 2 weeks, but only buy tickets to the water parks, not the theme parks. We love them and could easily spend 3 or 4 days in each one. We'd spend the rest of the time doing other things around central FL...a few day trips to Daytona Beach, go to a Tampa Bay Rays game, spend a few days relaxing around the rental house, Disney Springs, do a few activities at on property resorts, and do a bunch of activities off property (mini golf, movies, go karting, maybe air boat rides, etc...). Our best guess is that we'd spend nearly identical money doing that as we would spending the same time in Myrtle, so we're sort of debating.

Tennessee is something we want to do too. That would probably be a bit of a shorter trip, maybe a week. It would certainly cost less if we did that. We will definitely do it at some point, as it is of interest to us.

We're Rays fans. I'm in total support of a game at Tropicana Field, as long as you at least pretend to support the Rays while you're there.

 

[GreatLakes]

We love our Disney vacations but we also add in other trips. After having our son the first few non-Disney vacations, and the next few planned ones, are all to visit friends and family in other locations that don't get back here often. We did have the discussion about what we should do once he is a little older (school aged) and we are planning to visit national parks. We want to instill a love of nature in our son and take him to our local parks but feel visiting places like Yellowstone, Acadia, Joshua Tree, and the Grand Canyon are ways to not only encourage a love of nature but see beautiful places that look nothing like our home landscape.

That being said if we didn't have a child we would do a lot more international travel. Personally I could never run out of places in Europe to see and short of conflict areas like Transnistria or South Ossetia I would go anywhere in Europe.

 

[BethID]

National parks tour. I would recommend to pick a particular area to really explore. You can't do the entire West in one week. Glacier Park is our favorite. We have done Yellowstone and Great Tetons for a week. We did Washington national parks, Mt. Ranier, North Cascades, and Olympic. On that trip, we also spent a day at Mt. St Helens, which was my favorite day of the trip.

One of my favorites was a trip to North and South Dakota. We did Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, and Theodore Roosevelt National Parks. Also Custer State Park. There was a ton of stuff to see and do.

We have done Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon in California. Another year, we did Crater Lake in Oregon and Redwoods and Lassen Volcanic Parks.

Use Las Vegas as a base. Spend some time there and do day trips to Death Valley in California and Zion in Utah.

I am planning a trip from Denver to Mesa Verde, Santa Fe, and Four Corners.

Yes, we love national parks

 

[georgina]

just back and had a wonderful relaxing time in Puerto Rico.

My DD just got back from Puerto Rico also. She said there were so few tourists in the area they were in (about 2 hours away from San Juan) and people were very appreciative that they were there.

 

[Poohlove]

North Conway NH, Bar Harbor, ME, St John USVI

 

[Snowysmom]

We love North Conway, NH. Also, San Diego, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, and Bermuda. Next year is Canadian Rockies and Glacier National Park.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We are just coming home from Dollywood and the Smoky Mountain NP area.

That’s our second most visited area.

 

[AustinTink]

We've been all over, but the one place my 19-year old is dying to return to is Atlantis in the Bahamas. It was fabulous in every way. And when traveling as you are with a 20 and a 10-year old, you can be assured there is plenty for both of them to enjoy.

 

[lovewdwdvc]

The usuals
DC
San Francisco
New Orleans
Badlands. South Dakota
Yellowstone
And a wonderful resort in Minnesota called Grandview Lodge

 

[Planogirl]

My favorites -
Washington DC
Rockies, Ozarks, Smokies (love mountains)
San Diego
St Augustine
Amsterdam and the surrounding areas

I'd love to go to England and Italy. Also, Mallorca.

 

[monarchsfan16]

I firmly believe every child (and adult) should see as many of our national parks as possible. Some of our favorites (we still have many that we haven't been to yet) are Acadia National Park (and Bar Harbor Maine is WONDERFUL) and Rocky Mountain National Park (Estes Park, CO is another great town). Gatlinburg and Smokey Mountain National Park is very kid friendly, but I can't say that I loved Gatlinburg. You can easily combine a trip to a national park with lots of other things to do in the area. When we went to RMNP, we also spent a few days in Colorado Springs, visiting Garden of the Gods, Pikes Peak, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, etc.

 

[North of Mouse]

What are some of your favorite vacations besides Disney?? I'm trying to plan next year's vacation and want some good options. There will be 4 of us - 2 adults, a 20 yr old and a 10 yr old....

We love the Smoky Mtns. and other national parks, especially Acadia. We have gone to the Smokies every year for the last 50 yrs. We camp inside the park in our motor home and hike to various places, also ride our bikes within the campground. Our DD was only 8 months old our first trip there. It's like a homecoming when we go, sometimes meeting our grown children and families.

Actually, after going to Disney since '72, we are phasing them out - too many changes that we don't like, plus the continual rise in prices and too many hard tickets are taking away a lot of our desire to be there.