Best Way To Get Out Of A Disney Vacation
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What?!
I can already hear it now.
You wanted to GET OUT of a DISNEY vacation?!?!
The answer to that is a simple: “Yes, yes I did.”
Months ago my husband started telling our youngest: “If you start walking, we will go to Disney World to see Mickey Mouse!”
Let it be known that there was no consultation with me beforehand. For the record, he also said it in front of our 4 year old.
Bad move. Baaaaad move.
The thing is, we did Disney once. That time was when the baby was two months old. Our daughter was almost three and really into Mickey Mouse. Granted, I found it to be fun, just not tons of fun. Partly it was due to it being really hot, because we went at the end of July. Like idiots.
I’m not ready for all that again. Not yet. Someday I will be. But that someday is not this summer.
So, I did what any educated, smart, conniving mother would do to get out of a Disney vacation.
I went online, created a cute little postcard from Santa Claus and sent it in the mail to my kids.
It said:
“I know that your parents (I should have said DAD) told you that you could go see Mickey if Connor learned to walk and Parker learned to write her name, but would you like to come see me at the North Pole instead? Not many children get to do that, and Blitzen loves company!”
Coincidentally, that’s when I also got an email that my Mother of the Year trophy had been shipped.
Also, the postcard worked like a charm. My daughter was freaking out and the talk of Disney went away.
And my husband was informed to never pull a stunt like that again.
So on our excursion to Vermont (after Ben and Jerry’s and the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory) we also went to North Pole, New York. This is the most adorable place! When you walk in there is a post office that sends items postmarked from the North Pole. And inside there are about a dozen little cottages, each for a different purpose. We visited their candy shop, their toy store, Santa’s house, a bakery, a chapel and a museum.
Some things that I really liked about North Pole, NY:
- It’s adorable
- If you don’t see everything the first day, they validate your ticket to come back again the next day
- It’s not over-priced by any means ($30 per person for entrance, but snacks and meals are very reasonable compared to the Mouse House)
- It wasn’t busy – this may just be because we went on a Monday, but there were no lines and no huge crowds.
- Santa – he was awesome. He plays the part perfectly and spent plenty of time with one of our children (the other was busy trying to open the gifts under Santa’s tree).
Some things I didn’t care for:
- The rides. Oh my gosh, I found them terrifying. They were quite old and I hated every second of it. But I also don’t allow my kids to go near fair rides, just for reference.
- Pictures with Santa. Now to be fair, I didn’t even ask the price to purchase, and they may have even let me take my own. But because they had their own set-up I didn’t question it.
- The hills. Taking a stroller up the hills definitely gets you activity minutes.
In conclusion, you should go here if you are looking to avoid another Disney trip and want to visit somewhere in the beautiful mountains of New York. Most definitely consider North Pole, NY. You will not be disappointed!
