Week 3 - #52weekchallenge Vacations...

It is hard to post about my best vacation. 

We have been fortunate to go on many of them. Mostly to the same place, a lot! 

Disney World is a place we have been to many times. Sometimes twice a year. Not recently, but it has been known to happen. 

We have been to Disneyland in California as well. Most recently to Vero Beach. Coming up though we have our first return Disney World since August of 2011. 

So, how do we get to go so often, and how have we not needed to remortgage our home to do so? 

Well, we plan way ahead. 

The best way to visit Disney at a lower cost to you is to prepare ahead. One of the best things we ever did was purchase points in the Disney Vacation Club. 

We pay monthly for this. Our payments will last  approximately 10 years for 50 years of vacations. This is huge because we can stay at any Disney hotel on Disney property, and use our points. Each hotel has a different point value, but we get a vacation no matter where we stay! 

Tickets!!!! Disney theme park tickets are expensive. There is no easy way around paying to go into the parks. Remember, those tickets pay for ride repairs, employees, and much else in the park. (And I know, it is not nearly their only source of revenue...). When we were going every year we would purchase 10 day park hoppers with no expiration. This meant we would have 10 total days to go into the parks, but normally we would us 5 a trip. They are good forever, so it didn't matter when our next trip was. We still have 1-2 days in a few tickets. This is the least "cost per day" option, but it is a huge investment up front. When we went twice a year, or close to it with our annual trips, we would buy annual passes! About the same cost as the ten day, but it is unlimited for one year of access. I believe one year our marathon trip overlapped and we got three trips on one annual pass! With the annual pass you get discounts as well on shopping. It varies by year. 

But the plane costs more than the tickets!?!? This is the part where you are going to tell me how crazy I am...

We don't fly

We travel from Rhode Island to Florida by car. We drive our family to Florida and probably crazy, but we drive. As a child, my parents would take us cross country in the car. I learned to drive in a road trip. 

So we drive. We pay for gas, and three meals on the road, and we get there at the cost of less than one plane ticket. And I love it because flying is horrible for me. The anxiety of packing to fit in a plane and not having an exit plan...too much! So we drive! 

Now food, food in the park can be expensive, but head out for a night at the movies and you will pay close to the same. And why do you pay that much? Because they have employees to pay. But, you don't have to eat every meal in the park. We drive, and stay in a room with a kitchen. So we get the benefit of prepping breakfast, packing snacks and refrigeration. All very important. So we buy supplies at a local Target and out cost is lower. 

To relax, well, we ride rides, swim, and go window shopping. We try to pack a few board games and talk ahead of time about what is important and what we should skip. We askake it a point to spend time just sitting in the park for even a few minutes and taking in the fact that we are there! You CAN NOT see everything at WDW in one trip. EVER! So don't try. Know you will miss things, plan to go again, and just enjoy the people you are with! 

I know this was a detour from my assignment, but the last family vacation I took was not a pleasant one for reason I won't mention here.  I pray that the one coming up will be something  to write about! In fact I know it will!

So what is your favorite vacation? 

Why? 

And would you recommend it to others?

And it is never too late to join the 52 week challenge from http://aisforadelaide.com