Pop-up camping is definitely cheaper. We haven't noticed much of a difference in gas mileage. Set up and take down is a little work, but we've learned to work together to get it done quickly. We bought our '85 Coleman for $850. Then doubled our investment when we replaced the canvas for $900 and I made new cushions & foam mattresses for about $100.
Another vote for Disney...It CAN be affordable! My family loves Disney, too. We haven't been 10 times like Mouseketeer but we've taken the kids at least 6 or 7 times. And while my kids love staying on-site at the Polynesian, or most recent Disney trip this past October was probably our most ECONOMICAL trip to see the mouse! We were able to get rooms at one of the value resorts (All-Star Music) for $65 a night. I was really nervous because we'd never stayed at their value resorts before, but I was so pleasantly surprised and wouldn't hesitate to stay there again. We also attended one of the workshops through the Disney Youth Education program, which allowed us to purchase greatly reduced park passes. And, the class we took on marine biology and aquatic conservation gave us a chance to get a peek backstage a little bit at Epcot. I signed up for the Cirque du Soleil club online before we left and purchased discounted tickets for La Nouba, and restaurant.com had House of Blues vouchers that we used for dinner before the show. We did fly to Orlando, but our tickets with Southwest weren't that expensive, and I rented a car using coupons from the Entertainment Book which kept that cost down. Disney takes a little planning, but it can be done affordably. I LOVE saving money, and I am always on the lookout for deals and discounts. Another favorite vacation is Quebec. My kids love that we can drive a few hours and feel as though we are on another continent. They love the European flavor of the city.
okay , ifyou can do this for under a hundred dollars thats not expensive but anything over that puts you into the expensive catagory to me> Talking about flying, most tickets are over a hundred dollars for one way at this point ( thanks to gas prices)Here in CA its near 5 dollars a gallon right now. If you save for a year, maybe you can afford it if you cut corners. I would think that would be something that a family of say five people would need at least 500 just to see more than one day of Disney. That includes food, gas and getting into the park at 50 dollars a pop. Sorry to pop anyone's bubbles, but that's a LOT of money in my book.
We had a sick trip too about 5 years ago that started during the fireworks! We thought that my youngest son was covering his ears because the noise and crowds were so loud (it was the 4th of July and we were at the Magic Kingdom). Turns out it was an ear infection and respiratory infection. He spent the next day at the hospital in Celebration. We did stay the rest of the week since we wanted to give him time for the medication to start clearing up the infections before getting on the plane home ...that would have been painful with the ear infection. But DS and I hung out at the hotel a lot while DH and the other kids enjoyed Disney.
ShellChelle, I LOVED Quebec!!! My bff and I stayed at a youth hostel in the middle of the Old City. It's the closest you can get to Europe on this continent!!! And that was the year after I had been in France, so my French was still pretty good. Montreal, however, was another story. Been there twice, got lost both times. And if you're going, take the extra time to go to Nova Scotia. We had such an awesome time there, too!
Here are some of my best memories: 1. Camping with Girl Scouts- I was such an outdoor girl back then. 2. Going to the 4 corner states with my family- we visited something cool in each state and went to the place where all the borders met. We went to Carlsbad Caverns, the Grand Canyon, a petrified forest (I think), and a place with a bunch of cacti. I know we also did some horseback riding.
We went to Camp Redcloud in Lake city Colorado. We went when they were doing the Creation Camp with Alpha and Omega. It was so awesome. We learned a ton! We played a ton! They had somebody there to help take care of the little kids. Like an assigned babysitter for each family with little kids! It totally rocked. All we had to do was stand in line for meals and snacks. It is like summer camp for families. During the creation week they have teachings for both adults and the kids and then after that you go and do camp things like ropes courses, repelling, and horseback riding. You can go as a family or they will take you kids to do activities without you. I totally love my kids but it was so nice to have a wonderful break from being a mom for a few hours during the vacation. We will go back again.
Aggie, that's kinda what Sandy Cove was like. I'd love to do one of those Creation Digs or something. It sound like so much fun!!!
We actually had a super vacation , mine are usually going to see relatives and camping on the way, my favs were family reunion at Lake Shushswap ( SP) in BC, and up to the Mile 0 of the Alaskan highway, as a young teen with my dads family, and going to SD with my hubby and kids several times, its always fun when family gets together and camping out together is my kind of enjoyment, probably why I work camps in the summer eh?
Answers in Genesis has some. I'd start there. I grew up camping on our vacation, and we've taken the kids. And I'm blessed that my kids are happy spending a day at the library. When we went to New England, we had two VERY WET days; no fun in a camper!!! We loaded up the kids in the car and went to the local library. Carl and I were able to catch up on emails, and the kids spent several hours there with the books!!! Also, we had a membership that year at a science museum. It got us in at other museums around the country. So we visited one in Portland, Maine, on another rainy day.
http://www.campredcloud.org/rc.php?p=143 Here is the one we went too! I loved it, my kids learned a ton and had a great time too.
Jackie another idea when rain stops your fun is to walk the malls , give the kids a scavenger hunt of either stores or letters, to spell out a word clue to something, but they have to find it in the names of the stores... Just some malls dont like scavenger hunts so don't mention that you are doing that to the customer service desk when you get a map! lol
A bunch of Rachael's friends did a Where's Waldo at one of the malls around here, and were asked to leave. They weren't being disruptive, and the people they talked with thought it sounded like great fun, but you know security!!!
We have taken all sorts of different types of vacations from very expensive to very cheap. One of the cheapest and most fun vacations we went on several years ago. We went tent camping at Lake Catherine SP in Arkansas and had a blast! The campsite cost $17 per night and we stayed 5 nights. We spent about $60 riding horses and $20 on canoe rental for a day but other than that we only spent the cost of food and gas. I don't really count food when we camp because we buy all the groceries before we leave and I look at it as just shopping for the week. I'd spend about the same amount on groceries if we stayed home. We hiked, swam, rode horses, canoed, played games and enjoyed a campfire each evening. Oh we even boarded our dog back home and with everything included we spent no more than $500. The most expensive we took was last August. Including, hotel stays, gas, food, souveniers, and attractions (jeep rental, white water rafting, etc..) and boarding three dogs we spent right at $2500. We went to Ouray, CO from Houston, TX and it was certainly a splurge but oh so worth it and we made so many wonderful memories. We've also done everything in between from cabin rental in the Smokies (which was surprisingly affordable - cheaper than a hotel and included a hot tub) to driving to MN to stay with friends for Christmas.
