Would you rather...?

Take two shorter trips or one really long trip and one mini trip over the course of two years??

I’ve currently booked 6 nights at Copper Creek (our home DVC resort) mid-May 2020. I’m hoping to switch my stay next month over to Beach Club (although I’m expecting it to be full so hoping for just some Epcot resort). Then we’d probably make a May trip an annual thing and stay another 6 nights May 2021.

The other option would be to skip a trip with my kids in 2020 altogether and take my mom on an adult only, short 3 day/2 night trip in September 2020 for her birthday. Then I would plan an epic family trip for May 2021 over the course of 2 weeks with a couple of days at Universal and 12 nights at WDW potentially doing a triple split stay (currently thinking 5 nights BCV, 5 nights at Copper Creek and 2 nights at GF) with at least 2-3 resort/water park days and lots of leisurely park hopping.

So, if you could choose either and assuming budget isn’t a huge factor, which would you choose and why??

I would choose the second option. For one, a childless trip just sounds amazing. Also, I’m very close with my mom, so I would love to do a trip just the two of us (though she doesn’t like any of the rides that have height requirements, so we’d have to work that out!). And I prefer longer trips. I think it would be so much fun to do a triple split. And the trip would be so much more relaxing. In fact, both trips would be so much more relaxing. No kids on the first one, and not trying to cram it all into 7 days on the second one. So yeah, option 2 for me.

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If budget was no factor, I’d do the two May trips AND take Mom in September! Probably would depend on the age and interest level of the kids, two weeks can be a long time and you’d end up repeating things (as my DS15 complained when I hijacked him away from his GF for a week at Disney!). Would your kids be upset if their trip got postponed and you went without them?

I don’t think so. I actually haven’t told any of my family we have May 2020 booked as my DH had asked me to skip WDW next year anyway. We took two trips in 2018 and have gone twice this year so I think the kids would be good with a break. Plus it gives Disney some time to complete a few new things before they go back. PLUS my youngest is 3 and short so I kind of doubt she’ll be 40 inches come next May (our trip is currently scheduled over her 4th birthday) so it’d be nice to wait until she’s tall enough to ride more rides.

Also true. We were gone two weeks this July - a week at the beach and a week at Disney and we were ready to be home. But it wasn’t too terribly long. Sketched out a rough plan of 2 weeks and think we wouldn’t do a terrible lot over and over. At least 3 resort days. 2 at Universal. Maybe 8 or 9 park days which we’ve done before and is a good number for us. My kids would be 10, 8, 6 and 5 in May ‘21.

OMG doesn’t it?!? Especially after all of these solo trip reports lately. Last October my mom and I took the kids for 3 days and ran into a group of ladies there for a girls’ weekend and she had a comment then on how fun it’d be to do that some day. My mom loves Disney and I think it’d be so fun to do with just her! I would invite my two sisters to come with us as well I think.

Our 2nd trip to WDW in 2018 was 9 nights, 10 days… it was awesome!! We didn’t feel rushed, we could take in all the special moments, everyone was able to do what was important to them, we loved it. If we could do that again, I would.
So my choice would be a long WDW visit with a shorter visit with your mom… priceless!!

I love plan 2! A trip with just your mom will make priceless memories, and the “epic” two week trip will be just that - epic! You can go at a slower pace and enjoy things you would have missed and feel less rushed. I think the split stay will help it feel like mini vacations, too, which may help with it feeling potentially too long. You could even do a day trip to the Kennedy Space Center or a beach, or just explore the Orlando area (my kids are young but we had a great time at the Crayola Experience).

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Thank you!! I think it would mean a lot to my mom. Her and I don’t get a lot of time together just us and her mama took her to Disney when it first opened so that mother/daughter trip would just have all kinds of sweet memories I think. And you’re totally right about exploring outside of the world! Great idea.

In my case, my kids are teens. They’ve been to WDW many times. If I had a chance to take my mom, I’d do it, because she might not be around the next time I have a chance. That said, my mom would most love to go with the kids, so she’d spend the time saying she wished they were there too.

So…

How about a mini trip with Mom AND kids? Then a big one with the kids later?

I guess I should clarify trip details a tad more. The big trip in ‘21 will likely include my parents (God willing) as well as my kids and DH. And she’s taken the kids with us twice now so hopefully she’ll still have at least one more trip to enjoy WDW with her grands.

I suppose I could give her the option. If she chooses to bring the kids it would affect our lodging choices. I can probably squeeze 2 nights out of my DVC points without having to borrow any if it’s my sisters, my mom and I (4 people). I don’t know if that would be the case with them as well as my kids (8 people) and would perhaps push us to look into off site accommodations.

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Those all sound like good reasons to wait and go big in 2021 then. Sounds familiar…wanting to go more often despite family having had their fill…booking trips quietly just in case…looking for different groups of people to go with to provide me more opportunities to go…there must be a diagnosis - Lineritis?

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I’m a big fan of kid-free trips, and taking a trip just with your mom sounds so lovely! I could never do a two-week vacation, though, even at the most magical place on earth. After about a week I’m sick of eating out and being away from my own bed and shower, and I just want to get home and have some normal life for a while. I’d also be sick of being with my family 24/7 and would have to be restrained from bodily harming someone. :slight_smile:

Bahaha! :laughing:

Lol! I totally get that. We did a 2 week trip this summer and that’s probably about my limit. I enjoyed it all!! :heartpulse: