What to do in Dayton, OH?

[JoiseyMom]

Hey guys, we are going to go be visiting in Dayton. DS lives there. What is there to do/see in the area? I have a to make DS11 and DD16 semi happy! We do plan on going to the Air Force Musuem, which takes up one day...but anything else they might like?

Anything nearby Dayton (an hour drive, nothing really more then that)??

Thanks

[Mammaz]

Will you be there on a weekend? The Ohio Renisance festivle is going on until the end of October just south of Dayton. It is a fun thing to do. There are also a couple of museums that are fun.

[JennaDeeDooDah]

Paging Smitch!

[Kies99]

You are between 1 and 1.5 hours to either Cincinnati or Columbus. There is a lot to do in both cities. What kind of things do your kids like?

[I married a king]

Omg there is so much to do in Dayton. First is Wright Patt which you are already going to, then how about the National parks that are close by. You could see one of the original Wright brothers bike shop, the Dunbar house(he was a poet who was friends with the brothers), there is also the field can't remember the name but thats were wright brothers used to fly planes and then opened up a pilot school there. You can find out about all the national park sites by going to nps.com Columbus is about an hour or so away and we have the Columbus Zoo, and Cosi is downtown ( Cosi is a science center). King island is close by also and they are having Halloween haunts this time of year.

[DisFam11]

Well, there is not much going on in Dayton. I would do some day trips to Columbus or Cincinnati. In Columbus you can do the zoo, COSI, walk around the OSU campus or do some shopping (Easton or Polaris). Cincinnati has a zoo, the museum center, and an aquarium across the river in Kentucky. You could also attend a Red's or Bengal's game. As far as Dayton, you can visit the Airforce Museum and Carillon Historical Park. Dayton has an Aviation Places Passport Program, basically you collect stamps at hisorical places around Dayton and once you collect so many you get a stuffed bear, "WilBear". Here's the link http://www.wright-dunbar.org/passport-program/. If your trip is soon, there are plenty of fall festivals in Ohio to attend (just google). Have fun!

[JoiseyMom]

We are going the second week of November. We won't be there over a weekend, unless I decide to travel on Sunday instead of Saturday. We have a 10 hour drive to get there..

DS and DD don't have alot of likes in common these days. Would we need more then one day for the Air Force museum? There are lots of things there that I know both will be interested in.

GOtta do some more research. Keep the ideas coming, thanks guys .

[Frantasmic]

Never mind, wrong city.

[smitch425]

Originally Posted by JennaDeeDooDah

Paging Smitch!

Here I am!

The USAF museum is great and as PP mentioned, the Presidential Hanger is great, but spots fill early for the buses, so sign up early in the day. We have never had to take the bus because DH works at the base, so we have always driven our own car to that particular hangar. It is a short drive, though, so you shouldn't be on the bus very long. It would take one day tops. There are lots of restaurants near the base, too. Fairfield Commons Mall area is what you would search to find those. That area is known as Beavercreek, OH.

As for other things to do, there is a University of Dayton basketball game on the 10th, and those are always fun. I could potentially get you some free tickets if you are interested in that. Also, the Cincinnati Premium outlets are between Dayton and Cincy (closer to Dayton) on I-75 and they have great stores, including a Disney Outlet Store (which I spend way too much money at ). The Dayton Art Institute might have something your kids would like, and if you want to hit Cincinnati, they have a great Museum Center that has 4 or 5 museums built into one large building. There is also an IKEA 20 miles south of the outlet mall that is a great place to go to (I spend too much money there, too! )

If you come across something you have a question about, do not hesitate to ask!

ETA: The Cincy Zoo is nice, but I would not bother with the Newport Aquarium. It is very small and for older kids, it would likely be boring. Another great shopping area is the Kenwood Mall. It is down towards Cincy off of I-71. Very easy to get to taking I-75 to I-275, though. It is a very big mall (like huge!). They have a newly designed Disney Store, too. Oh and there is a shopping center not far from WPAFB called The Greene. I can't believe I didn't think of that earlier! It is very nice as well. It is kinda like it's own little city of shops. It is right off of I-675. I seriously cannot believe I left out The Greene. Duh me!

[focusondisney]

We just went to the Neil Armstrong Air & Space museum in Wapakoneta a few weeks ago. It is close to Dayton but I am not sure exactly how far of a ride. It was pretty interesting, if your family likes space stuff. Not much else in that area tho.

[Mammaz]

Originally Posted by smitch425

Here I am

ETA: The Cincy Zoo is nice, but I would not bother with the Newport Aquarium. It is very small and for older kids, it would likely be boring. Another great shopping area is the Kenwood Mall. It is down towards Cincy off of I-71. Very easy to get to taking I-75 to I-275, though. It is a very big mall (like huge!). They have a newly designed Disney Store, too. Oh and there is a shopping center not far from WPAFB called The Greene. I can't believe I didn't think of that earlier! It is very nice as well. It is kinda like it's own little city of shops. It is right off of I-675. I seriously cannot believe I left out The Greene. Duh me!

Have to disagree! We love the aquarium and travel from Indianapolis several times a year to visit! There is also a beer garden across the street and you can ride the ducks on the Ohio river. We hate the zoo finding it small and poorly maintained.

[Familyof4lovesDW]

Originally Posted by smitch425

Here I am!

The USAF museum is great and as PP mentioned, the Presidential Hanger is great, but spots fill early for the buses, so sign up early in the day. We have never had to take the bus because DH works at the base, so we have always driven our own car to that particular hangar. It is a short drive, though, so you shouldn't be on the bus very long. It would take one day tops. There are lots of restaurants near the base, too. Fairfield Commons Mall area is what you would search to find those. That area is known as Beavercreek, OH.

As for other things to do, there is a University of Dayton basketball game on the 10th, and those are always fun. I could potentially get you some free tickets if you are interested in that. Also, the Cincinnati Premium outlets are between Dayton and Cincy (closer to Dayton) on I-75 and they have great stores, including a Disney Outlet Store (which I spend way too much money at ). The Dayton Art Institute might have something your kids would like, and if you want to hit Cincinnati, they have a great Museum Center that has 4 or 5 museums built into one large building. There is also an IKEA 20 miles south of the outlet mall that is a great place to go to (I spend too much money there, too! )

If you come across something you have a question about, do not hesitate to ask!

ETA: The Cincy Zoo is nice, but I would not bother with the Newport Aquarium. It is very small and for older kids, it would likely be boring. Another great shopping area is the Kenwood Mall. It is down towards Cincy off of I-71. Very easy to get to taking I-75 to I-275, though. It is a very big mall (like huge!). They have a newly designed Disney Store, too. Oh and there is a shopping center not far from WPAFB called The Greene. I can't believe I didn't think of that earlier! It is very nice as well. It is kinda like it's own little city of shops. It is right off of I-675. I seriously cannot believe I left out The Greene. Duh me!

And that wraps it up folks! This is what Dayton has to offer lol. Also, it may be 60 degrees or 20.

I just looked I had no idea the Cincy zoo was open during the week.

There is another outlet mall in jeffersonville, oh, which is Tanger outlet mall. It has different stores than the one in Cincy, but no Disney store It may be to far depending where you are at. It is about 40 minutes from the Fairfield commons mall or the Greene. It's more of a rural drive, unlike Cincy premium outlet, it's 75 all the way. I agree about the Newport aquarium as well.

If you were coming on the weekend, I would suggest kings island.

[jen1977]

I agree that the aquarium isn't worth your time. Two hours tops, and you are done. We live in a south suburb of Dayton, and spend more time in Cincy doing things than Dayton. We love the Natural History Museum there, and will sometimes go to the IMAX there. We love to go to the Kenwood mall. if you are in Cincy, there's Ikea, and Jungle Jim's. our boys could spend an entire afternoon there walking around there, even though it's a huge grocery/international market. I wouldn't consider the Air Force Museum an all day deal for most people, unless you will want to read about most of the planes.

[JoiseyMom]

Originally Posted by smitch425

Here I am!

The USAF museum is great and as PP mentioned, the Presidential Hanger is great, but spots fill early for the buses, so sign up early in the day. We have never had to take the bus because DH works at the base, so we have always driven our own car to that particular hangar. It is a short drive, though, so you shouldn't be on the bus very long. It would take one day tops. There are lots of restaurants near the base, too. Fairfield Commons Mall area is what you would search to find those. That area is known as Beavercreek, OH.

As for other things to do, there is a University of Dayton basketball game on the 10th, and those are always fun. I could potentially get you some free tickets if you are interested in that. Also, the Cincinnati Premium outlets are between Dayton and Cincy (closer to Dayton) on I-75 and they have great stores, including a Disney Outlet Store (which I spend way too much money at ). The Dayton Art Institute might have something your kids would like, and if you want to hit Cincinnati, they have a great Museum Center that has 4 or 5 museums built into one large building. There is also an IKEA 20 miles south of the outlet mall that is a great place to go to (I spend too much money there, too! )

If you come across something you have a question about, do not hesitate to ask!

ETA: The Cincy Zoo is nice, but I would not bother with the Newport Aquarium. It is very small and for older kids, it would likely be boring. Another great shopping area is the Kenwood Mall. It is down towards Cincy off of I-71. Very easy to get to taking I-75 to I-275, though. It is a very big mall (like huge!). They have a newly designed Disney Store, too. Oh and there is a shopping center not far from WPAFB called The Greene. I can't believe I didn't think of that earlier! It is very nice as well. It is kinda like it's own little city of shops. It is right off of I-675. I seriously cannot believe I left out The Greene. Duh me!

Thanks for the advice! I don't have to worry about the bus, since DS works on base also! He also lives in Beavercreek so he will be good with the restaurants. Thanks for the basketball offer, but the kids are not really into that sport. Living in NJ, I am surrounded by outlets..but it may keep the kids busy depending on what is going on. What is the sales tax in Ohio these days? NJ has no tax on clothing...

[JoiseyMom]

Originally Posted by focusondisney

We just went to the Neil Armstrong Air & Space museum in Wapakoneta a few weeks ago. It is close to Dayton but I am not sure exactly how far of a ride. It was pretty interesting, if your family likes space stuff. Not much else in that area tho.

Wow..a blast from the past. I spent the last 6 months of my first marriage in that town (not a good memory). And I actually went to that museum back in 85... Yup...nada in that town. Hmmm....all I remember was that the few fast food restaurants were right near the museum...