Where do you take young children?

[Picklesthegreat]

We off to Orlando in October with our 1 & 2 year old. I appreciate they won't remember it but they will be lots of lovely memories and pictures but I was looking for inspiration for future holidays?

Thank you

When DD was little for main holidays we did:
9 months : Agriturismo in Tuscany. Self-catering, hired a car. Quite hard work
1 : City break to Washington DC. Airbnb. This was perfect, loads to do
2: Drove to Ile de Re, France This was nice when we got there, but quite a long way to go with a 2 year old. We stopped overnight on the way down, but was quite hard work.
3: Small hotel in Crete: This was amazing, very very easy and actually relaxing, so much so...
4: Small hotel in Crete we went back to the same place
5: Covid. Went to Cornwall.

The things that worked best were the small hotel in Crete, and Washington DC.

Tenerife is easy- 2hrs away, same time zone, nicer weather. I wouldn’t U.K. holiday it, with small children if the weather sucks you will feee trapped

More like 4 hours surely?

We like to go all inclusive in a hotel with a splash pad/shallow pool so I don't have to worry about meal planning, cleaning or losing my child in deep water!

In all honesty (and with the benefit of hindsight) holidays have been more enjoyable the older mine have got. I now have a 4 and 6yo and had a lovely week at center parcs where they could walk without moaning, properly join in with activities etc. they both love a pool and can spend hours in there. When they were younger villa holidays worked well as they could have a nap while we could relax for a few hours but I still found them pretty hard going compared to holidays at the age mine now are .

We did DLP when our youngest was 3 and it was probably a year too young. She had a lovely time but my older one got more out of it. I’m sure you’ll have a nice time in Florida but will need to just make sure your expectations of how much you’ll be able to do with tiny ones and how much it’ll knacker them out.

When ours were very young and up until they were 10-11 we did various Eurocamp sites in France a lot. It's great for young kids. We also did a couple of P&O cruises ( kids were 5 and 2 when we did the first one ) which are fantastic because of the Creche , night nursery and kids clubs.

Duinrell in Holland was so good we went twice.

We did do a Florida holiday when they were 5 and 8 and it was utterly exhausting! ( we had previously taken DS when he was 1 and it was far more relaxing with just a baby)

We discovered camping when they were 4/5 - a campsite with a play area close to your pitch allows you to watch the kids have fun with the other kids on the site while enjoying a glass of something nice.

Once they were older ( late primary school years ) we started flying again but only at Easter or October when it was cooler and then had our main two week summer holiday in our tent in Cornwall or Devon.

We have taken them many places since little including long haul to South America to visit family; but I would not have chosen Orlando at that age.

We took them twice when little to pepa pig park, there were 2 parks there and enjoyed it. We did Disneyland Paris when they were much older. Around 10 and 7 I think. The flights really affected my you youngest one until she was about 3. We drove to France.

I hated legoland, queues were massive and I carried you youngest one most of the time.

We did Menorca and Mayorca. They love Greece too.

We took our DC to Florida when they were 2 it was brilliant you'll have a great time and found the travel much easier than doing hours in the car to uk places because on a flight you can actively engage rather than just praying they won't start screaming when you're on the middle of the m25 and can't turn round to sort them out.

Duinrell looks good, bluestone in Wales, we do a lot of short breaks at UK theme parks too. Chessington is good for that age.

When dd was small we either did Eurocamp or gîte complexes in France so there were other kids to play with and lots of child friendly facilities. Day at beach or pool then bath and put her to bed whilst we sat on the terrace. A few days out here and there. Food a mixture of eating out, takeaway, making a salad and BBQing something. Even though we had the budget I never fancied the Sani resort model of shared rooms and limited food choices.

OP I know someone else is paying for your travel, but it’s also sooo expensive when you get there at the moment. We went at Easter and spent a few thousand on food and extras whilst we were there and I’m give frugal.

your children will love the hotel pool if they have a splash pool, or the little area at the water parks. But I don’t know if you remember from last time you went, the majority of 1 & 2 year olds we always see (and I’ve been about 10 times) are crying.. it’s too hot, they can’t queue, they’re terrified of the big characters and most times they don’t like the little rides as they’re scared.
could you not delay a couple of years (and then they’ll live it!)

Big fan of Holiday Villages - First Choice - when my were small. Single mum of 3 - first went when littlest was 2 - lots of entertainment and activities all day, kids clubs (controversial on MN but as a single parent I loved having 2 hours a day to relax - plus mine loved the evening parties), all inclusive so not worries about food shopping or cooking, eldest 2 loved football club - both girls who played for local teams, club had a female coach, youngest learned to swim there.

When they got older we did Eurocamp which was also amazing - now I just have the one who comes with me I'm planning 10 days in Ibiza next year!

We have about £10k for spending money as I appreciate it's really expensive over there!

We will take them again when they're older but hopefully we do enough research to avoid any discomfort (although I know its inevitable really). As mentioned grandparents don't want to spend all day everyday at the parks and are happy to have DC around the pool and stuff (kinda like a Spain holiday but much more expensive ) so DH and I can enjoy somethings together.

It is what it is and whatever will happen, will happen.

Going forward I'll be using some of the idea in this thread. I'll have to figure out UK holidays haha.

Oh that's good to know! Thank you I am a bit worried about it but my expectations are very low and I know it won't be like previous trips

We always just went where we wanted to go. Then choose child friendly accommodation and make sure there is a balance of activities/downtime to suit everyone. No way I’d be stopping travelling to interesting places just because I have children.