Hi,
We decided to take a break from WDW this year and try a "road trip" type of vacation. We were going to test the waters with Texas since it's a relatively short ride for us (we're in LA). We're looking at June and our kids (all boys) will (then) be ages 3, 6, and 10. We're flexible on time but I'm thinking 7-10 days. There are a few common tourist attractions that I want to hit, but I'd also like this vacation to have a good deal of nature oriented, relaxing activities also. I have the tourist booklet from the state visitor's center and I've done quite a bit of online research, so looking for opinions, budget tips, and advice on what's worth seeing/paying for and what isn't, and hopefully some ideas for budget things to do that I haven't found.
My original plan was to visit Houston, San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas/Ft. Worth. I'd also like to do a brief stop in McKinney to visit family, maybe just half a day there.
So Houston would be the first stop, and the must see for us there is the Museum of Natural Science. Are there any ways to get discounted tickets?
The Children's museum also looked great, but we've been to some really good children's museums in other states... is this one worth the $40 it would cost us? Any discounts available?
I think I would be interested in Hermann Park/Japanese gardens, looks like most of this is free?
The aquarium sounds neat, is it worth going to if we've already seen other nice ones (Like Chattanooga and Atlanta?)
The underground tunnels and Port of Houston appear to be free, would they be worth the time? I would think DH and the boys would enjoy watching the boats/ships, if there will be activity there.
My DH would probably like the Battleship Texas, and it seems very affordable... any thoughts on it?
I would really like to keep the houston stay to about 3-4 days, so any help you have on pairing that down would be great!
From there, the plan would be to go to Austin (with a stop at Bluebell Creamery on the way!) I'd like to see the bats' flight. Is Jordan Bachman Pioneer Farm worth a visit/admission? What about Zilker Metro Park/Austin Nature Science Center?And the Texas Memorial Museum seems to be great and free (!), but is it worth the time after seeing the large museum in Houston? If not, we may skip Austin altogether, unless I'm missing some other attractions that may be worth us going for a day or two.
I was then looking at San Antonio/New Braunfels. I went to San Antonio about 20 years ago and loved the riverwalk, but I'm not sure how my kids would enjoy it, so we could drop this area and save until they're older. Of course we'd go to the Alamo there. We just went to Seaworld in Orlando over thanksgiving, and loved it, but is this park much different to warrant another visit so soon? And I've heard wonderful things about Schlitterbahn there, so if we do go to this area we'll probably do a day there. I would love to see the Missions park area, but my two younger boys won't be riding bikes far or able to walk long distances, so I'm thinking that may be difficult. Tower of Americas and Japanese tea gardens sound nice too.
And then we'd go up to Dallas/Ft. Worth. My DH wants to cut this out, but I think the 6th floor museum and Lego Discovery Center would be great. Is there anything else in the Dallas area for kids?
In Fort Worth, it looks like there's the Museum of Science and history (same question as above... is this one worth it after the one in Houston?), and the Bureau of Engraving. Is the zoo there really spectactular? We go often to the Audubon zoo, so if it's not as great as that one, I'd rather skip this in the summer heat! Other things I made notes of were the Japanese garden, log cabin village, Stockyards museum/area, water gardens.
Any thoughts you have on what's worth the time and cost or not, any activities that I haven't come across, which cities I should add or skip with kids these ages, and of course, any tips on how to get the best deals for these attractions would be great!
Sorry for the long post, but this is a huge state!!! Thanks!
We decided to take a break from WDW this year and try a "road trip" type of vacation. We were going to test the waters with Texas since it's a relatively short ride for us (we're in LA). We're looking at June and our kids (all boys) will (then) be ages 3, 6, and 10. We're flexible on time but I'm thinking 7-10 days. There are a few common tourist attractions that I want to hit, but I'd also like this vacation to have a good deal of nature oriented, relaxing activities also. I have the tourist booklet from the state visitor's center and I've done quite a bit of online research, so looking for opinions, budget tips, and advice on what's worth seeing/paying for and what isn't, and hopefully some ideas for budget things to do that I haven't found.
My original plan was to visit Houston, San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas/Ft. Worth. I'd also like to do a brief stop in McKinney to visit family, maybe just half a day there.
So Houston would be the first stop, and the must see for us there is the Museum of Natural Science. Are there any ways to get discounted tickets?
The Children's museum also looked great, but we've been to some really good children's museums in other states... is this one worth the $40 it would cost us? Any discounts available?
I think I would be interested in Hermann Park/Japanese gardens, looks like most of this is free?
The aquarium sounds neat, is it worth going to if we've already seen other nice ones (Like Chattanooga and Atlanta?)
The underground tunnels and Port of Houston appear to be free, would they be worth the time? I would think DH and the boys would enjoy watching the boats/ships, if there will be activity there.
My DH would probably like the Battleship Texas, and it seems very affordable... any thoughts on it?
I would really like to keep the houston stay to about 3-4 days, so any help you have on pairing that down would be great!
From there, the plan would be to go to Austin (with a stop at Bluebell Creamery on the way!) I'd like to see the bats' flight. Is Jordan Bachman Pioneer Farm worth a visit/admission? What about Zilker Metro Park/Austin Nature Science Center?And the Texas Memorial Museum seems to be great and free (!), but is it worth the time after seeing the large museum in Houston? If not, we may skip Austin altogether, unless I'm missing some other attractions that may be worth us going for a day or two.
I was then looking at San Antonio/New Braunfels. I went to San Antonio about 20 years ago and loved the riverwalk, but I'm not sure how my kids would enjoy it, so we could drop this area and save until they're older. Of course we'd go to the Alamo there. We just went to Seaworld in Orlando over thanksgiving, and loved it, but is this park much different to warrant another visit so soon? And I've heard wonderful things about Schlitterbahn there, so if we do go to this area we'll probably do a day there. I would love to see the Missions park area, but my two younger boys won't be riding bikes far or able to walk long distances, so I'm thinking that may be difficult. Tower of Americas and Japanese tea gardens sound nice too.
And then we'd go up to Dallas/Ft. Worth. My DH wants to cut this out, but I think the 6th floor museum and Lego Discovery Center would be great. Is there anything else in the Dallas area for kids?
In Fort Worth, it looks like there's the Museum of Science and history (same question as above... is this one worth it after the one in Houston?), and the Bureau of Engraving. Is the zoo there really spectactular? We go often to the Audubon zoo, so if it's not as great as that one, I'd rather skip this in the summer heat! Other things I made notes of were the Japanese garden, log cabin village, Stockyards museum/area, water gardens.
Any thoughts you have on what's worth the time and cost or not, any activities that I haven't come across, which cities I should add or skip with kids these ages, and of course, any tips on how to get the best deals for these attractions would be great!
Sorry for the long post, but this is a huge state!!! Thanks!
The museums in Houston are great. The children's museum in particular. Battleship of Texas would probably be pretty interesting for the boys, certainly your oldest. Galveston is about 45 minutes from Houston, and is definately worth the trip. They have Moody Gardens which encompasses an aquarium, rainforest pyramid, and an Imax theatre. There is also a Rainforest cafe on the seawall that has a cute little ride inside. Kind of Disney-esque...
Austin is nice, but not sure of a whole lot of kid-friendly places. That being said, my family LOVES New Braunfels/San Antonio area. Schlitterbahn is an absolute must do. (I saw discounted tickets in our local Sam's club that were really nicely priced-it's worth a look). The river walk is great, and right next to the Alamo. Also, I never miss an opportunity to hit the outlet malls in San Marcos... 
. Hope this helps! Have a great time!
Howdy 
. There is also the town's pool right across the street from the creamery. It is sponsored by Blue Bell, so it has an ice cream theme (the water "mushrooms" look like ice cream sundaes, there is a banana split foam slide, etc).
Texas, and I hope you will, too 
I can't remember if you sign up for a time, or just arrive at opening, but this place is in high demand, even in the summer. Just like the ice cream. 
