It's been an odd year vacation-wise for us. Next year will be odd as well.
We didn't do a big family trip in 2017. We traveled - but not for "vacation." My husband travels for work a lot, and we sometimes get to tag along and/or go to help out. We RARELY get away without the kids, but it's happened three times this year, although for work trips each time. Minimal cost to us - mostly kenneling the dog, some food, and some childcare.
The kids and I also spent time at my parents' (where they also stayed during one of our trips). It's like going to "camp" to stay at my Mom & Dad's. Ha! But the trip to my parents' costs about $500 just in gas, eating on the road, and other misc. travel expenses (sometimes kenneling the dog).
Our 2017 vacation budget was funneled toward my son & husband's father/son trip for our son's 10th birthday "rite of passage" type of trip. Our son got to pick any destination he wanted, and he chose the Grand Canyon. They flew, rented a car, went on some spectacular tours, and spent a day riding roller coasters in Phoenix. It was a fabulous trip for them, and all included cost around $3200.
For 2018 - We're surprising the kids with a quick trip to Universal in January. We decided not to travel to our parents' for Thanksgiving or Christmas, so we're using that travel $ to put toward the trip. We're also giving the kids spending money as a gift at Christmas. We're surprising them with the entire trip on Christmas morning, so they'll get their spending $ and a t-shirt to wear in the parks along with the surprise. We were able to use CC points for most of the flights (making the flight and rental car the same out of pocket as driving - or less), CC points for a good portion of the hotel, and 3 days for the price of 2 at Universal. With kenneling the dog, food, etc, I'm planning on this trip costing around $3500 max. My son is now a "theme park adult", so that's a bit of sticker shock when it comes to buying tickets now.
It's also our 20th anniversary, so DH and I are taking an adults only trip to Disney. We're planning to fly, get a rental car, stay at Contemporary (RO discount, with POFQ or CSR as back ups if the budget just isn't there),
UT park hoppers, and will pay transportation for my Mom to come watch the kids. We're saving CC points and Disney CC Rewards, air miles, and rental car points. If we have to pay for everything out of pocket, we're looking at $6500, but I know we'll do better than that.