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I assume you are not wanting a winter sports/ski trip. And yes, Covid is a concern.
We used to have Disney passes and learned to avoid the time between Christmas and New Year's due to the crowds.
St Augustine is nice, not exactly "tropical" during that time, in fact, you may find some cool nights
IF you wanted to drive as far as Key West, that is always fun for adults.
I would consider Cozumel but would be certain to buy travel insurance that covers covid situations. I like COzumel though and would love to go back there myself.
The Beach towns in Florida do tend to fill up that week, mostly with the 75 and up crowd, which ten years ago, was the 65 and up crowd.... they keep coming back and multiplying somehow.
Mexico City meets your needs, excellent food, safer than most parts of Mexico, warm weather, plenty to do, BUT again, there is Covid.
I hope you find the right vacation for you and your kids. I can relate to needing a vacation, no need to explain. I understand needing drugs to survive the Winter. I sometimes need them to survive the Florida Summer, and that is the only time I envy the poor people at the nudist colony who cannot even afford clothes.
We have lots of those places in Florida too.
Have you done San Diego? The Decembers are mild, not hot steamy beach weather but that is a fun fun town with loads of things to do and I am pretty sure Southwest goes there from Charlotte. They do fly to Cozumel, not sure the cost , on Mexico City you would have to take one of the other carriers. I would avoid Cancun altogether, it is far from safe.
I'll see what else I can come up with and let you know.
I'm not so sure about that...with adult kids we have the flexibility to use the proven strategies for navigating the parks. Turn left instead of right, start at the back and work your way forwards, use height as an advantage to avoid clumps of unruly preschoolers, etc. We would have different priorities in Harry Potter World than people with small children, IMHO.
Doesn't mean it won't be awful. However, we've been putting this off for years. a few years ago we had the chance to do a winter break trip and opted to go to NYC instead. It happened to be freezing cold (although we were well dressed for the weather) and very crowded and I was miserable. Did not enjoy my trip very much.
So I don't know if there will ever be a good time for me and my adult kids to go to Universal that isn't super crowded...my daughter will always be at the mercy of the school calendar.
And there you have made your decision! Due to covid, I'll bet the crowds are a bit less this year (if only because grandma and grandpa stay home).
My daughter is in the Greensboro area so you have to add that to our trip...from Fayetteville to St. Augustine is 6.5 hours.
I like the looks of St. augustine, lots of sight seeing to do and the weather is reasonably warm.
Not really. It wouldn't matter where you're coming from. It's still only 90 minutes from St. Augustine to Orlando. Fairly negligible amount of time. You wouldn't refuse to go to Orlando but instead go to St. Augustine just over that amount of time. You could easily do both on this trip.
St. Augustine is nice. It has more of a romantic vibe, though. There are way more B&Bs than there are hotels. It's fun. I don't know if it's more than like 3 days worth of fun.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stagemomma
I'm not so sure about that...with adult kids we have the flexibility to use the proven strategies for navigating the parks. Turn left instead of right, start at the back and work your way forwards, use height as an advantage to avoid clumps of unruly preschoolers, etc. We would have different priorities in Harry Potter World than people with small children, IMHO.
Doesn't mean it won't be awful. However, we've been putting this off for years. a few years ago we had the chance to do a winter break trip and opted to go to NYC instead. It happened to be freezing cold (although we were well dressed for the weather) and very crowded and I was miserable. Did not enjoy my trip very much.
So I don't know if there will ever be a good time for me and my adult kids to go to Universal that isn't super crowded...my daughter will always be at the mercy of the school calendar.
Yeah, unfortunately there'll never be a perfect time for you to go. Summer sucks. Christmas break sucks. Spring Break sucks. Thanksgiving week might be your best bet.
Like I said we looked at going this summer and here's what I got from on-the-ground reports:
People leaving their hotels 2 hours before rope drop only to wait in a hour-long car line just to get into the parking garage. Then not even being anywhere close to the front of the security line, which is taking about twice as long as normal. Then once in the park: lines being closed intermittently due to excessive waits. 120+ minute waits on many of the rides. Only a fraction of food/beverage options being open, with a minimum of 30 minute lines for food. No ice to be found anywhere in the park after the first couple of hours. Etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jkgourmet
And there you have made your decision! Due to covid, I'll bet the crowds are a bit less this year (if only because grandma and grandpa stay home).
If the summertime crowds are any indication, it won't be. And Christmas week is usually as bad if not worse. Of course, when we looked at going mid/late July, Delta hadn't really started freaking people out again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stagemomma
Ai Yi Yi...one day ticket to Universal Studios is $248 per person.
And that's without Express Pass, which for that week would cost you: Unlimited $229 per day, One Use Express $199 per day. Your tricks might get a couple extra rides, but you're not seeing everything in one day without Express with those kinds of crowds.
Now, staying on property at one of the higher end hotels will get you free Unlimited Express including on both check-in and check-out days. But the cheapest, the Royal Pacific Resort, will start you at about $700 per night. But, free Unlimited Express and not have to wait in an hour long car line to park (plus the $25 per day to park).
So I don't know if there will ever be a good time for me and my adult kids to go to Universal that isn't super crowded...my daughter will always be at the mercy of the school calendar.
How much time does your daughter get for Thanksgiving break? If it's the whole week, would going to Universal that week work?
While I can't speak for Universal, I know Disney had less crowds than I would have thought when we took our kids about 10 years ago. The holiday decorations were up, so there was a nice festive atmosphere everywhere.
Last year, we arranged Thanksgiving and Christmas around our kids. This year, the kids are hours away from us and each other. It's going to be the first Thanksgiving without them in 30 years. My husband and I are making reservations at a great restaurant and we'll look forward to Christmas when we are all together.
Last year, we arranged Thanksgiving and Christmas around our kids. This year, the kids are hours away from us and each other. It's going to be the first Thanksgiving without them in 30 years. My husband and I are making reservations at a great restaurant and we'll look forward to Christmas when we are all together.
Oh, that's a good suggestion but their grandmother lives in Williamsburg so they are BTDT. Two years ago we went to Busch Gardens on December 23 and had a grand time. I highly recommend that.
Not really. It wouldn't matter where you're coming from. It's still only 90 minutes from St. Augustine to Orlando. Fairly negligible amount of time. You wouldn't refuse to go to Orlando but instead go to St. Augustine just over that amount of time. You could easily do both on this trip.
St. Augustine is nice. It has more of a romantic vibe, though. There are way more B&Bs than there are hotels. It's fun. I don't know if it's more than like 3 days worth of fun.
Yeah, unfortunately there'll never be a perfect time for you to go. Summer sucks. Christmas break sucks. Spring Break sucks. Thanksgiving week might be your best bet.
Like I said we looked at going this summer and here's what I got from on-the-ground reports:
People leaving their hotels 2 hours before rope drop only to wait in a hour-long car line just to get into the parking garage. Then not even being anywhere close to the front of the security line, which is taking about twice as long as normal. Then once in the park: lines being closed intermittently due to excessive waits. 120+ minute waits on many of the rides. Only a fraction of food/beverage options being open, with a minimum of 30 minute lines for food. No ice to be found anywhere in the park after the first couple of hours. Etc.
If the summertime crowds are any indication, it won't be. And Christmas week is usually as bad if not worse. Of course, when we looked at going mid/late July, Delta hadn't really started freaking people out again.
And that's without Express Pass, which for that week would cost you: Unlimited $229 per day, One Use Express $199 per day. Your tricks might get a couple extra rides, but you're not seeing everything in one day without Express with those kinds of crowds.
Now, staying on property at one of the higher end hotels will get you free Unlimited Express including on both check-in and check-out days. But the cheapest, the Royal Pacific Resort, will start you at about $700 per night. But, free Unlimited Express and not have to wait in an hour long car line to park (plus the $25 per day to park).
Yeah, I added up the total cost of the trip looking at options for accommodations and to be honest, we can go to Europe for what a trip to Universal will cost. And we are going to Europe, my daughter is leading a student tour in 2023 to London and I'm going with her.
Jacksonville/St Augustine have really nice beaches. Do know that it can get chilly during that time too. Keep an eye on the weather
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