Atlanta Vacation, what do I need to know??

We have family that lives in Atlanta and now have many friends up there so we've been going forever!

Back in the day, Six Flags was awesome!! I loved it and my uncle would ask what was wrong and I'd say my parents wouldn't take me so he'd give his teenage kids some money to take me :) (spoiled???) Would I go there now? Most likely not!

Varsity--Don't miss it! Totally worth the Tums! The man that was so awesome there died probably about a year ago. Got the Tshirts and the paper hats.:thumbsup2

Braves--an awesome game! We went every trip to ATL when I was little. DB loved it!!

Zoo--loved it back in the day!

Aquarium--awesome fun!!

Discover Mills was great! Lots of places to eat, a theater (where I laughed my butt off at Wild Hogs), and shopping. It use to have Jillians, but now it's changed over to Dave and Buster's. :confused3

Where to stay--I would say either around Buford (there's a Hampton Inn close to the mall there and they have awesome beds!!!), Cumberland/Galleria, Lawrenceville, or Alpharetta areas.
 
Thanks for the drive in tip! I have searched and searched for a drive in and the only one I have ever found is a couple of hours away. No idea why that one never came up in searches. For anyone that has gone, do you feel it is safe?

Wish I could help out with the hotel part. I know that is always the hardest to make sure you get a decent hotel in a good area but I have no idea about the hotels downtown.

We haven't gone yet but quite a few of my dh's coworkers have. 1 said it's a bad area and he goes but be careful. The other two said it's fine. Granted the other two live in that general area and I don't like the area but they may be more used to those sort of things because they live in the area. KWIM? We haven't gone because it's about the same cost per person as the local cinema and we can use coupons/movie passes there and it's much closer to my house.

Everyone has a different level of comfort or "safety". I am probably in the minority here but I felt much safer in DC then I ever do in Atlanta. I don't particularly care for the city here. :scared1:
 
Here is another discount ticket site. http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/atl/ticketing/combo_deal.jsp If you do mycokerewards.com they have tickets for world of coke on there. For your family it would only be 800 points for 3 tickets

Thanks!! My kids want to go and my husband is free (active duty is always free) but I didn't want to pay $45 for the rest of us. I only saw youth tickets so I at least grabbed 3 of those. I have to keep looking to see if there are adult tickets.
 

I live just outside of Atlanta and like every other major city - it has its good and its bad points. One thing to keep in mind is that downtown Atlanta is a working area.....not really made for travel and tourists.
The recommendation to stay in the Buckhead area is a great one. You do have 2 MARTA stops in that area. I would not compare MARTA to METRO, it is a different "animal" in Atlanta, manly to move people within the city limits.
Lots of "Atlanta" things are considered "OTP" or outside the perimeter - that is 285, the highway that runs a circle around Atlanta.
Highly recomment renting a car.
the aquarium is AWESOME! Make sure to purchase your tickets ahead of time and get an early entry time - it can get crowded starting around lunch time! The World of Coke is on the same property - this is a nice place to see once or twice. Our Botanical Gardens have expanded recently and have a nice kids area as well as a new tree walk (elevated walk area) that is really nice.
Our zoo, while kinda small, is really cute and has lots of great animal areas - I love our Pandas!!! But don't skip Fernbank! They have great Imax movies and some great exhibits. I am not a big fan of The high museum of art - only for special exhibits.
Dante's Down the Hatch is a wonderful place - but mainly for adults. You have to order the chocolate fondue a couple days in advance - so you might want to call and make reservations!
We have wonderful shopping in the area - especially in Buckhead where you have 2 malls right accross from each other - Phipps and Lenox. Mall of GA is great, but might take you awhile to get there up 85 north.
Be ware of traffic and everything called Peachtree Street - I think we have no less than 35 Peachtree Streets in Atlanta!!
The Center for Puppetry Arts is a lot of fun and if you are just going out with your significant other - The Whole World Theatre is a lot of fun - an improv type show!
the Fox Theatre has summer movies - check their schedule. This is great to go to as they have singalongs with the grand piano before the shows!

Check out http://www.atlanta.net/50fun/ for some other ideas!

Oh, and if you go to The Varsity - make sure to read the menu and know what you want to order before you get up to the counter - trust me! Oh and a naked dog walking - just a plain hotdog to go! Oh and to congeal the grease you will intake - a large FO is just what the doctor ordered - a frosted orange is so yummy! Check out the car hops in the parking lot too!

As for Atlantic Station - a GREAT place to shop....during the day. It becomes quite the "hang out" during the night time hours as it has many restaurants with bars there....

Most of all - enjoy your visit!
And if you need a Disney fix......let me know, I will point you in the right direction - OTP!!!
:rotfl2:
 
Buckhead/Lenox are would be a great place to stay that wouldn't be too far. Although, I just stayed in the area for a 4 day swim meet at GA Tech. I stayed in the Norcross area, at my parents house. And drove to Tech every day (in the heart of mid town) and not once did I encounter bad traffic. Coming from area DC, I hit worse traffic going to the grocery store! I think you'd be fine staying farther out if you feel safer there.
 
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Again you guys rock!! I'm going to let my DH read this. He was approached three times at his hotel not Turner Field, sorry was not clear on that.

I will take ya'll advice and use it thank you!

I did look into going to Disney instead but we have been so many time ( did I just say that ) I'd like for our DD to see other parts of our great nation.

We are driving so we will have a car. It only 4-5 hr drive from our house depending on my DH's driving.

I'm sure I'll have more questions! I will report back and tell you guys how it was.

Thanks!!!:hug:
 
Okay - i agree with this dude!!! Background - I live in Atlanta suburbs and work in Atlanta proper. Have been here about 6 years. My husband is a native.

:thumbsup2 I love people that agree with me!

We love the mall of Georgia - again, kinda far out. Buford, GA is probably 20-30 from midtown. Medieval times is really awesome. I didn't realize that they had a D&B at discover mills now!! :)


The D&B at the Discover Mills is the old Jillians. D&B bought them out and made the place better. It still has the bowling alley and dance floor area I think, but it is def much cooler now. And they have D&B's great food!

You could spend the whole day at Discover Mills essentially. Lunch at D&B, some shopping- then Medieval Times dinner show! Sounds good to me! :goodvibes
 
Back from the movies, Toy Story 3 was Awsome!


Here are the resturant's I picked from Resturant.com:

$10.00 Doc Green's Gourmet Salad & Grill
$10.00 Flying Biscuit Cafe
$25.00 Fox Sports Grill
$25.00 Jack's Pizza & Wings
$25.00 Rockfish Grille
$25.00 The Sycamore Grill


Plus I won a Dinner for two at Danta's Down the Hatch. That one had a lot of mixed reviews. Is it an Adult only or is it ok for an 11 year old?

Michelle

The only 2 that I know are the Flying Biscuit (yum!) and Dante's. We've been to Dante's twice -- once was a miss and once was a hit. :) It's fondue, so your kids may have more fun than you'd think.... cooking your food in pots of bubbling oil (or cheese).... pretty cool!

Ginny
 
I live in the Gwinnett area and it only takes me probably 30-40 minutes to get to the zoo, 30 minutes to the World of Coke and the aquarium. Its not a bad drive if you time it right (like don't try to get to the opening of the aquarium in the morning- save it for the mid-day activity). Its not a bad drive at all- usually- and my kids love to look at the buildings anyway and point out their favorites. And if you stay in Gwinnett- you can go North to lots of other places too- like the Malls we have all talked about and the gold panning day trips. And the hotels are cheaper around here too!:goodvibes

You can miss all the traffic if you plan around rush hours and make sure there isn't a Braves game or something.... we were late to the airport to pick up DD9 on her first solo flight to her mother's house due to a game last summer... ooops! She was fine- watching a movie in the kids area..

You just have to decide the basic activities you want to do and then see what area is closest to the majority of those places. You can stay in Atlanta downtown, but I wouldn't. I wouldn't feel safe walking around with my kids. If it was just me and DH- sure, but not my kiddos. And I know- I went to Georgia State Univ downtown. I took some night classes and parked in scary parking buildings and walked by myself....:scared1: not too secure in most lots. Daytime- all good. You may get asked for change, but you're in a big city- happens all the time.
 
Try Whitewater Water Park and Kennesaw National Battlefield. There is also the cyclorama near the Zoo.
 
problem is that everything in atlanta is too spaced out!!!
midtown can be scary, especially at night. I agree with whoever said the drive though is in a rough part of town - it is! There is a prison down the road too. I wouldn't go there.

I would stay in buckhead, and drive short distances to lenox/phipps and eat at the great restaurants. Buckhead is close enough to midtown that you could do the aquarium and zoo without too much traffic. I wouldn't stay in any of the suburbs except buford and only do that if you plan on spending most of your time at the mall of georgia. You don't want to drive in the traffic that I curse on a daily basis!! :)

I truely wish they'd make midtown a little more comforting. It would bring many more tourists here. have fun, whatever you do.
 
Don't mean to hijack OP's thread, but we're heading to Atlanta next month, too. DS16 is getting a service dog :cool1: and we'll be spending two weeks near Alpharetta. After graduation, we're planning to go into Atlanta for a quick visit before we head home.

We have reservations at the Embassy Suites Centennial Park. DS is in a power wheelchair and we'll have the dog, so we need to have fairly easy access to our room. We won't be doing a ton of things, as DS tires easily - World of Coke, Aquarium, The Varsity and DH wants to do the CNN tour. We likely won't be out past dark.

Will we be OK at that location? Any suggestions?
 
Don't mean to hijack OP's thread, but we're heading to Atlanta next month, too. DS16 is getting a service dog :cool1: and we'll be spending two weeks near Alpharetta. After graduation, we're planning to go into Atlanta for a quick visit before we head home.

We have reservations at the Embassy Suites Centennial Park. DS is in a power wheelchair and we'll have the dog, so we need to have fairly easy access to our room. We won't be doing a ton of things, as DS tires easily - World of Coke, Aquarium, The Varsity and DH wants to do the CNN tour. We likely won't be out past dark.

Will we be OK at that location? Any suggestions?

I'm pretty sure some of my friends that I was with for my swim meet last month stayed at the Embassy. If not, they were in near by hotels and they were all fine. There were almost 2000 swimmers with a lot staying in hotels right in the area that you are talking about and no one had any issues that I heard about (I stayed at my parents but did go to one hotel with some friends - even walked there from Tech and then walked to dinner). Sounds like you have a good plan of fun things to do, too. Enjoy.
 
carymomof3- you should be fine! I have been everywhere in ATL and I have never really had any problems. Yes, someone may ask you for change, but chances are- they are not going to kill you. They just want a hand out. :confused3 Beggars are part of life in ATL.

That being said- I still wouldn't walk through downtown at night by myself or with just my kids. If DH was there- sure! I don't want to downplay the yucky areas, but you also can't just hide in your hotel room- nor should you! Atl has some great sites- go visit them and don't sweat the small stuff! :goodvibes

PS- if you guys decide to go to the zoo- try to get there early! Their parking is minimal at best. If you can't find a space, park on the road and walk. It's all in the park and you can stroll through or even stop at the play grounds too on your way!
 
Don't mean to hijack OP's thread, but we're heading to Atlanta next month, too. DS16 is getting a service dog :cool1: and we'll be spending two weeks near Alpharetta. After graduation, we're planning to go into Atlanta for a quick visit before we head home.

We have reservations at the Embassy Suites Centennial Park. DS is in a power wheelchair and we'll have the dog, so we need to have fairly easy access to our room. We won't be doing a ton of things, as DS tires easily - World of Coke, Aquarium, The Varsity and DH wants to do the CNN tour. We likely won't be out past dark.

Will we be OK at that location? Any suggestions?

We are staying at Embassy Suites @ Centennial Park coming up this next week. I will let you know how it was!
 
Have to disagree with recs to stay in norcross, Gwinnett etc.
I absolutely agree! If you stay farther out of the city you'll be spending a LOT of time in a car. Also, Norcross (especially right around I-85) is not a nice place. It's dirty and not particularly safe.

I don't know if it's been mentioned, but you might want to venture into Decatur. They have some great restaurants around the square and Your Dekalb Farmer's Market is there. It is truly awesome-my kids LOVE it!

My husband and I are both native Atlantans and these are the things we do frequently:
Zoo
Fernbank
Chattahoochee Nature Center
Atlanta Botanical Gardens (beautiful-my kids love it!)
Ikea (not sure if you have one where you live, if not, it's worth checking out and getting $1 cinnamon rolls or ice cream-and it has free parking)
High Museum
We love heading to Helen and going tubing!
We also love heading south of the city to Pine Mountain-the kids love the Wild Animal Safari and we all enjoy Callaway Gardens. Callaway is especially good in the summer because the FSU High Flying Circus performs there. It's about an hour south of the city and totally worth the drive and a great escape of the crowds.

I can't remember who mentioned it, but the Fox Theatre really is worth seeing. They do movies in the summer and get the huge organ out and do sing-alongs before the movie. It's great!

Don't plan on being able to use Marta for much more than a novelty. We live in Alpharetta and can get into midtown faster and park cheaper than taking the whole family on Marta.

Definitely eat at The Varsity and The Flying Biscuit (they have gift certificates on Restaurant.com right now).
 

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