So when dh and I decided not to vacation this year the biggest surrounding reason was due to “certain things” we were saving money for. Well, house aside, we aren’t saving for “those things” anymore, and the more I looked at our upcoming savings budget, the more I realized there was no reason we couldn’t afford at least a small vacation (i.e. Disney is unlikely but a short road trip could be ever so in). I also realized that this is the last year that MLM will get in free to some of the places we’ve had on our wish list, namely Storyland in NH (So vacationing this year could save us money? Huh?).

So I went about pricing the trip to see what it would come to (because if I don’t have something major to plan at all times I start feeling useless and boring). Originally I was looking in the fall, say October, thinking it would be cheaper than the summer and less crowded with OPC (Other People’s Children), but in the White Mountains Area it seems that fall is actually more expensive than summer for lodging (maybe for cost of heating reasons?) and reminded myself that MLM might enjoy OPC. Crazy, I know.

So anyway, the area we were looking at in NH is supremely expensive so I started looking into campgrounds that have cabins (I’m not up  for tenting it with a two year old, sorry) since I had no idea if that would be a cheaper option or not and I came across this: The prices for their motel were very inexpensive compared to everything else I’d looked at in the area and it looks FUN. See: new awesome looking pool, family friendly events all the freaking time, picture perfect vacation for camp loving husband and playground loving toddler (and “activities loving nerdy momma”). This “resort” as they call it looks like a vacation in and of itself.

Then looking at the price range throughout the year I realized that the October rates (and major weekends throughout the year) were twice as expensive as even September or August. Given that the rates at Storyland are $24 per person all year, there is no other major advantage to going in October now. August may even be prefferable because Storyland at least will be open all week in August, but weekends only starting in September (Are you all asleep yet? WAKE UP! hehe j/k you can go back to snoozin’ sleep heads).

Another drool worthy feature of this area is Santa’s Village, where, again, the rates are around $25 per person and again Michael would be free this year (we’re just cashing in with this 2 year old) – so in amusement park tickets alone we’ll save $50 going this year and by going in late summer / early fall we’ll save half the cost of lodging. So I’m starting to come to the conclusion that a trip this year might be a good idea and that waiting until October might not make any sense whatsoever. Word.

Anyone else taking a vacation this year? If so, where are you headed?