Alaska, Canada, Costa Rica or....??

[Tink&SquirtsMom]

Am I gonna get banned for planning a non-Disney trip?

We have our family trips lined up for this year (5 nights in Hawaii in June, 3 night at DL in Aug, 7 night DCL in Dec... my kids and dh are not coming with me to Kenya since that is not a vacation). And now I'm looking ahead to 2007. I know this is early but if I think we might cruise I should book sooner rather then later. Our kids will be 5 and 7 at that time, and will have already tackled both US Disney parks multiple times, the Bahamas, Grand Caymans, Cozumel, and Oahu. Looking for something new but still age appropriate. We plan to do a back east roadtrip when they are a bit older (DC, NY etc, etc) and Europe in 4 years when they are 8 and 10.

So my questions have you done any of these places with kids? Anyone know of a kid friendly Alaskan cruise, or good TA to help plan a kid friendly itinerary in Costa Rica? My uncle took my cousins to Costa Rica at that age and they had a fabulous trip (and I believe age 5 is minium for zip line), so i know it can be done, just not how to do it, lol. If we did Canada we would do Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper probably, never been... not sure how kid friendly that is (although Disney is offering it in their adventures by Disney, lol). Any other suggestions????

 

[Dan Murphy]

 

[DVCLiz]

I am drooling over those Adventures by Disney trips, aren't you?? I am trying to talk DD17 into the London one this summer, but she thinks we might have more fun by ourselves (and I think we could do it much more cheaply!!) Good luck with your decision!!

 

[princess pooh]

I went to Banff and Lake Louise last year and it was very kid friendly. There were lots of families and strollers everywhere! Banff is actually one of my favourite places in the world

 

[Ladyhawke10]

I'd vote for Canada...I haven't been to the places you've mentioned but I've taken my son to Quebec City and Montreal (we once spent a whole summer in Quebec City when he was 2). It was fabulous--excellent food, scenery and locals....we've also done many of the trips you've mentioned and were thinking of Tahiti or Japan with a stopover in Hawaii (my son is now six). I've also looked into an Alaskan cruise, like you mentioned, and that would be great, too--considering how beautiful the scenery is and all the wild life. My son would love the bears, eagles, baby seals out on the ice, and orca whales! I think the Celebrity cruise that does Glacier Bay out of Vancouver looks fantastic--I did some talking to people on message boards and got a lot of recommendations to not skip Glacier Bay and to do a lot of the land tours. There is great Native American country to explore and of course, glaciers to witness. I'd fly up to Vancouver, tour a little of Canada (you could see Whistler from there) and then do the Alaskan cruise...

My mom and sister were in Central America a few years back...but it sounds like you know more about Costa Rica for kids than I do. They had a fairly adventurous trip and it didn't sound very kid-like, but it sounds like you know more about it than I do

Have fun planning and deciding!

 

[disykat]

I would love to do an Alaska cruise but I'd tag a few days on Vancouver Island (Qualicum Beach/Parksville area) to play on the beach at the end. I love the beaches there, but they are not tropical! I'm partial because I went there twice as a child, and we took our kids there when they were 5 and 7. Of course, you'd want to spend a day or two in Victoria as well!

 

[Tink&SquirtsMom]

I am drooling over those Adventures by Disney trips, aren't you??

Yes, they look wonderful. They are soo expensive though!!! I bet with a 17 yo you guys would have a fabulous time alone. I would love to do that with my dd when shes that age. I would love to do a trip like that with my mom still.

Thanks for all the responses! I spent yesterday (for some reason my kids who don't nap both napped all day... must be the rainy weather) researching all the places and presnted them to my family last night. My kids seem to be leaning to Costa Rica. There are alot of kid friendly activities (for adventurous kids) and they can do most of the bridge/canopy tours of the rainforest that we would be interested in them. As I said my cousin did this at 5 and loved it, so that helps my comfort level and I've read repeatedly that they love kids there and its one of the places where its actually easier in some aspects to travel with kids then without (you get more help and less waiting and are less of a target for theives). It also seems to be very affordable.

I agree though that an Alaskan cruise would be wonderful and I've felt a big draw to the Banff area for awhile and still haven't made it there! Very glad to hear its kid friendly! I'll think I'll head over to cruise critic and look for reviews of child friendly cruises to Alaska, just so I can really show my family everything. A good thing about headin up there is we are within roadtrip range of Vancouver (with friends in Oregon and Seattle to stop and visit with) which would add to the fun.

LadyHawke10- I read your thread and thought both your trip ideas sounded wonderful. I've heard wonderful things about Tahiti and Japan both. Inspired by your thread I asked my dd what she thought about Japan (I would LOVE to go to DisneySea and actually had a trip to Japan planned when I got pg with her) and to my shock she picked Costa Rica over that. We will get there someday though!!

 

[missypie]

We did a summer trip to Quebec a few years back that was really nice. We spent half the time in Quebec City and half in a resort at Mt. St. Anne. It was especially nice coming from hot Texas. (They were having a "heat wave" - it was about 80 degrees.)

We are headed to Costa Rica in 10 days. We'll spend part of the time near Arenal (the volcano). That's where you can do the zip lines, hanging bridges, etc. Then we'll go to Manuel Antonio to the beach. If you go to the Latin America board on fodors.com, the folks there have a wealth of info.

 

[Tink&SquirtsMom]

You are going to have a great time! Please post a trip report. Arenal and Manuel Antonio are the main areas we would want to visit. Where are you staying? Are you bringing kids? I'll check out the fodor board. Thanks for the tip!

 

[megan4777]

Am I gonna get banned for planning a non-Disney trip?

We have our family trips lined up for this year (5 nights in Hawaii in June, 3 night at DL in Aug, 7 night DCL in Dec... my kids and dh are not coming with me to Kenya since that is not a vacation). And now I'm looking ahead to 2007. I know this is early but if I think we might cruise I should book sooner rather then later. Our kids will be 5 and 7 at that time, and will have already tackled both US Disney parks multiple times, the Bahamas, Grand Caymans, Cozumel, and Oahu. Looking for something new but still age appropriate. We plan to do a back east roadtrip when they are a bit older (DC, NY etc, etc) and Europe in 4 years when they are 8 and 10.

So my questions have you done any of these places with kids? Anyone know of a kid friendly Alaskan cruise, or good TA to help plan a kid friendly itinerary in Costa Rica? My uncle took my cousins to Costa Rica at that age and they had a fabulous trip (and I believe age 5 is minium for zip line), so i know it can be done, just not how to do it, lol. If we did Canada we would do Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper probably, never been... not sure how kid friendly that is (although Disney is offering it in their adventures by Disney, lol). Any other suggestions????

How do I sign up to be one of your children?

I've been to Banff (my ex fiancee worked at the chateau st. louise) and loved it. I would love to go back sometime in the future with our DD's (just flying over the Rockies was worth the trip!!). It's beautiful.

 

[Planogirl]

Is Costa Rica really all that child friendly? I was about to say Canada but then I read your original post and someone took small children and had a good time?

OK, then I vote for either Costa Rica or Canada. Banff looks so wonderful.

 

[Tink&SquirtsMom]

Yeah my Uncle took my cousins when they were that age (about 3 years ago) and they loved it and still talk about.

Banff does look wonderful. Megan- Pics of Chateau Lake Louise is what originally drew me to look into that area.

 

[CharlesTD]

Hands s down Banff would be my choice the kids would love it there so much to do and see plus it is Canada you can't beat that in and of itself is a bigger draw than anything else around.

 

[Tink33]

We went to Costa Rica last summer with kids, but they were 11 and 13 at the time. We did see other families traveling with younger kids at the swimming pools in Monteverde and Manuel Antonio.

We ziplined in Monteverde and the minimum age was 8. During the long ziplines, my DD was attached to another girl in our group because they were too light to go across on their own.

If you are planning for the summer, be aware that it is the green season. You have never seen rain until you have been in the rain forest during a thunderstorm.

Please pm me if you want more details and a link to our photos.

 

[Tink&SquirtsMom]

I would love to see some photos and hear about your itinerary. I'll pm you. I was aware that is is rainy season. But can't do any more time out of school in first grade (already doing a week for the Disney Cruise). I read good and bad experiences with the rainy season. Maybe I should see if I could condense the trip a bit and look at spring break time instead...

Yeah I think all the canopy tours I found in Monteverde are 8 and up. The ones in Arenal area where my cousins went seem to be 4 or 5 and up and there is one in Manuel Antonio (Canopy Safari) that I've read numerous good reviews on and doesn't have an age limit but kids under a certain size go tandem with an adult (probably what we would will do).