As a mom to 3 young kids (8, 6, and 3), I know where you are coming from. We did the seasonal rental thing for the first time last year, and it was awesome! So awesome, that we are buying a place up north, but that's not what you asked. Here are my thoughts on some things to think about:
1. Location - you will pay a premium for being on the mountain. Get a locker instead.
2. Drive time - we would head up on Friday night after work and dinner (usually leaving around 6:30 to let the traffic die down). 2.5 hour drive time would put us at the house around 9, giving us time to have a glass of wine or a beer and make lunches for the next day and still get to bed relatively early.
3. Mountain daycare - We spent most of last season at Bretton Woods, where daycare is expensive and they don't do "real" lessons until 4. Therefore, my 3-year-old learned to ski with me. I was lucky he was amenable to it, and after spending all of December on the bunny slope, he was ready for the "big mountain." By the end of the season he was skiing almost all the trails on the mountain. However, had we had the option to pay for "seasonal daycare" like at Cannon or even Attitash, we probably would have done that. He was often done by 1 or 2pm.
4. The kids are tired at the end of the day, so you don't need much else to do, but having a space where they can sled or burn some additional energy before/after dinner is useful.
5. Skiing any 1 mountain for the season gets old. By the end of the season we were (paying) to mix it up a bit, and decided to get the White Mountain pass for next year.
6. I found our rental by looking at VRBO homes and contacting the owners about seasonal rentals. We paid much less than their published rate to rent for the whole season (Dec-April).
1. Location - you will pay a premium for being on the mountain. Get a locker instead.
2. Drive time - we would head up on Friday night after work and dinner (usually leaving around 6:30 to let the traffic die down). 2.5 hour drive time would put us at the house around 9, giving us time to have a glass of wine or a beer and make lunches for the next day and still get to bed relatively early.
3. Mountain daycare - We spent most of last season at Bretton Woods, where daycare is expensive and they don't do "real" lessons until 4. Therefore, my 3-year-old learned to ski with me. I was lucky he was amenable to it, and after spending all of December on the bunny slope, he was ready for the "big mountain." By the end of the season he was skiing almost all the trails on the mountain. However, had we had the option to pay for "seasonal daycare" like at Cannon or even Attitash, we probably would have done that. He was often done by 1 or 2pm.
4. The kids are tired at the end of the day, so you don't need much else to do, but having a space where they can sled or burn some additional energy before/after dinner is useful.
5. Skiing any 1 mountain for the season gets old. By the end of the season we were (paying) to mix it up a bit, and decided to get the White Mountain pass for next year.
6. I found our rental by looking at VRBO homes and contacting the owners about seasonal rentals. We paid much less than their published rate to rent for the whole season (Dec-April).
