posted 10-10-2004 23:47            

I am currently writing this note from the Westin Kierland Villas in Scottsdale. It's very nice, and the seperate family pool is really wonderful. I think that this can be a very comfortable place for a family vacation, and the short, cheap Southwest flight is a cinch from the Bay Area.....

I signed up to go through the sales tour on Wednesday and asked the woman reserving tours if there was any news on Mexico. She said something to the effect of "when you meet with our sales people on Wednesday, they may have a formal announcement about Mexico to share at that time...." so who knows???

Cheers,

posted 10-11-2004 06:03            

Have you considered other non-starwood places like Williamsburg, VA and Orlando, FL. We've traveled extensively since my kids were born so, they are pretty much use to traveling. We went to Williamsburg, VA this past summer and my kids ages (3 and 6) had a blast. This was the first trip where they were wiped out from the travel but I think, it had more to do with the resort. When traveling from West to East we always use the first day as a down day. No more commando tours like when we were childless. The resort was so relaxing and the weather was so rainy that the first day the kids slept until 10 am. Also, we've done the Disney Cruise twice from Florida and it was so much FUN. The only down side is that you must arrive the night before. But we stayed at the Hyatt in the airport and it wasn't a problem. Also, we've done Disneyworld once and my kids had a lot of fun there too. They definitely didn't get jag lag there but that could be because of where they were.

posted 10-11-2004 06:32               

I look at the travel time as part of the adventure (I know, I'm nuts!). My favorite thing to do when going back east is to take the red-eye (usually out of SF). Mostly fly through Miami. Going through Atlanta in 2 weeks on our way to Turks & Caicos. Usually arrive around 5:30am-6:30am. Get a giant Starbucks and a bite to eat at airport. Take a mid-morning connecting flight to whatever island. Kids usually doze or sleep on the plane. Then, like Ciscogizmo1, we use the first day at the resort to just sleep in and laze around at the pool or beach (I start my liquid diet of rum punches ;-)). By the second day, everyone's back on track and we can do whatever, if any activities.

posted 10-11-2004 13:38            

We own one week at Mission Hills in the prime season. We used our staroptions to stay one week at Harborside followed by one week in Orlando at one of the Sheraton timeshares. Therefore, it was two weeks before we repeated the trip back home.

Harborside was really fun. My son was not tall enough to go on the big slides, but it didn't matter. He loved all the pools, the lazy river ride, the beaches and he even snorkled for the first time at a place where he could snorkel from the beach.