Who doesn’t love going on holiday? The planning on where you are going to visit, the booking, the counting down the days and then finally getting to enjoy the break away you have had in your mind for so long. Whether you are getting away for a few days or indulging in a week or two somewhere new it is still worth looking forward to.
FloridaTix is the UK’s biggest seller of Florida park tickets, are keen to help their customers and other families make their family holiday’s that bit more special! Therefore they are devising a mathematical formula (think e=mc2) for working out what makes the perfect family holiday and they have asked us to share what makes the perfect family holiday.
With the school summer holidays starting next week it was about time that we got organised for the weeks ahead. With only one week when we are all together this summer I sat down this morning planning what we will be getting up to and how to make the perfect family holiday.
Planning the perfect family holiday
Planning the perfect family holiday all starts with the preparation, we discuss ideas of where we think the children would like to visit, whether it be a theme park, a new attraction that we have yet to enjoy or returning to a family favourite.
1. Accommodation – Once we have an idea of the places we’d like to visit my first port of call is accommodation. Whilst I’d love to relax in a 5 star luxury hotel with all the trimmings it might not necessarily be the most family friendly option. So for us it is about a comfortable room, clean facilities, either an on-site restaurant or within easy distance of family restaurants and also close by to local amenities as there is always something we have forgotten, ran out of or suddenly need to buy (usually Calpol for one of the children).
2. Travel – We are the kind of family who are happy to hop into the car and head off on a 3 or 4 hour drive to get to somewhere we want to visit. The children have always been happy to chill out in the back of the car watching their favourite film, playing games or more often than not enjoying a power nap. It is only within the last year that we have thought about hiring a car rather than taking our family MPV – partly due to additional wear and tear on our car but partly due to wanting a little slice of luxury in a new car when we will be sitting in it for a number of hours.
3. Admission costs – Like any family we want to make our money go further, so looking out for special offers on cereal boxes, via family and friends and of course the internet. Buying annual passes to our favourite attractions has saved us a small fortune which has in turn meant that we can enjoy them more often and try new places with the money we have saved.
4. Packing – I’m not sure anyone really enjoys packing for a holiday (although I quite enjoy shopping for all the new clothes), however over the years we have really cut down on what we take with us. As someone who used to pack for every weather occasion I have now realised that a good rain mac, a hoodie, sun hat is much better than cramming half of our wardrobe into the boot.
5. Weather – Being a northerner at heart I tend to suffer badly in the hot weather so for me I want the weather to be warm but with a cooling breeze rather than full on heat with no relief.
6. Have fun – After all that planning, booking, packing etc it can sometimes be easy to forget why you are on holiday in the first place. It’s time for kicking back, enjoying time as a family and having fun. Forget the small stuff, so what if they spill ice cream down their t-shirts, if hubby decides it’s funny to splash you on the water ride etc just roll with it, laugh and enjoy the time away.
What makes your perfect family holiday?
In case your wondering what makes the perfect family holiday take a look at the results of the Florida Tix survey HERE
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