Besides Disneyworld where does your family vacation?

[xipetotec]

After our upcoming disney trip this October we are trying to plan for a spring break vacation. Disney has been the only place our kids have gone (besides little day trips) and we wanted to expand a bit. So where else do you recommend going with young kids, coming from the Midwest? We'd like to stay stateside and spend around $4000 or less, seven days max. We are considering hilton head- but wanted other options as well!

Well we're Canadian, but spend a lot of time in the states for sure. We only go to Disney every two years, the alternating year is usually something else. Sometimes it's a cruise. A couple of years ago, we did a California road trip. Arrived in LA, checked out Hollywood. Also did Universal and DL ( of course ), then drove up route 1 to San Francisco and saw the sights there. ( Beautiful city ). There's virginia beach, Cocoa Beach. And if you are willing to cross the boarder, the caribbean is always nice ( and not expensive! )

 

[DawnM]

We have done a lot with them in the US and Canada.

Washington, D.C.
Montreal
Hershey, PA
Niagara Falls
Outer Banks
Lakes all around, canoeing, hiking, camping
Pigeon Forge, TN

We used to live on the West Coast and there we did:

San Diego often
Everything around LA as we lived there.
Seattle
Portland
Bryce Canyon
Grand Canyon
Las Vegas
Colorado Springs
Denver
Phoenix
Many, many beaches
British Columbia

My husband and oldest just got back from a 12 day hiking trip in the mountains of New Mexico.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

From Ohio it is not that long a ride to Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin home of the largest water park in the US (Noah's Ark). I would recommend you stay at the Wilderness resort which has 2 indoor and 2 outdoor water parks that are free when you stay there.

We stayed at Great Wolf Lodge when we went, but I'll definitely second Noah's Ark. Best water park we've ever been to by far!

 

[crisi]

Its a good age to try skiing if you aren't a skiing family already - wait much longer and it gets much harder. There are lots of small resorts around the Midwest that don't involve the commitment of a mountain (for instance, Afton Alps in St. Paul Minnesota - your hotel won't be on site, but the bunny hills are very small for beginner bunnies).

My kids really enjoyed San Francisco and down to Monterrey at around that age. Monterrey Aquarium is amazing. The Boardwalk in Santa Cruz is a lot of fun. Whales should be out in force in the bay at that time of year.

 

[4kids4karen]

We have taken a family vacation to New Orleans once a year for the past four years. The first few years because of business trip requirements we tagged on the vacation days. The last year and this year is because my daughter has a cheer competition there. New Orleans is great for kids. It can be educational and fun all in one spot. What we haven't done yet is a swamp tour. My husband's father passed two days before the trip last year, so he couldn't make it leaving me in New Orleans with the kids by myself so we skipped the swamp tour and hung out with the other cheer families. It is at the top of our list of "to do" this year. I like to stay in the French Quarter boutique hotels with the quaint courtyards, however, the cheer gym requires we all stay a hotel together which ends up being a larger hotel near the convention center. Luckily we stayed in hotels of our choice on past trips. My kids (all ages) loved the ghost tour as well. Not all as scary as others.

If you go, you must download the "Stray Boots" walking tour. My kids loved it. We even ran into other groups playing along. We didn't finish it all the way but plan to do it again this year. It really is a fun way to explore.

https://www.strayboots.com/locations/new-orleans/tours/

 

[Magalex]

We are from Pittsburgh, PA and we had a lovely first time trip to Southern California in July. Yes DL was included but we got to sample some beaches too. The weather is so much nicer in the summer compare to summers in Florida. In the past we enjoyed Pigeon Forge TN, and Williamsburg/Virginia Beach.

Next year we decided to try a Sea World/Aquatica Orlando package. Now that Sea World has developed a similar approach to their packages/waterpark/official hotels to WDW. We are visiting during their start of "Summer Nights" at Sea World.

 

[tadamom]

The only place we vacation other than Disney World is at the beach -- Orange Beach, AL. We live in Atlanta, so we can always do the touristy things here.

 

[old lady]

I Like to go Universal Studios, Busch Gardens and Sea World. The beach and gator world are fun.

 

[dminnie]

Coming from the midwest, I'm assuming you may want to go somewhere warm for spring break. I love all the suggestions here. Many of them, I'd save for summertime. If you go to any national parks, be sure to check on the Jr. Ranger program. They really do a great job of engaging the kids to get them interested in learning more about the parks. You can look up hundreds of NPS sites that have Jr. Ranger programs. It's free and your kids earn a badge for completing the workbooks.

That being said, for spring break, I'd recommend Florida for a reliably warm place to go at that time of year! There really is a lot to do there, without going to Disney or even other theme parks. On the east coast, Cape Canaveral if your kids are into space. The west coast has some wonderful beaches, Thomas Edison home(Ft. Meyers), Salvador Dali museum(St. Petersburg), a great zoo in Tampa (also an aquarium in Tampa). Corkscrew swamp is a great nature preserve near Naples and there are wonderful beaches in Naples as well.

You could go someplace in the Southwest, but the extra transportation costs may put you above the $4,000 budget.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

Our kids are still pretty young so we haven't really had the opportunity to go too many places. The only family vacations we've been on (besides Disney) have been to New England. I wouldn't recommend New England for spring break, though!

Other than Disney World, I'm not a big fan of Florida, but I'd probably consider a spring break trip there based on your parameters. It's very cost-effective to go to the Caribbean, and that's probably where we'll take our first family beach vacation, possibly next year. I've had several friends take their kids to family-friendly all-inclusives (Beaches, I think) and have raved about it.

Southern California/San Diego would be another possible destination for you.

Good luck deciding! There really are so many places to see, I can't wait for our youngest to get a little older so we travel a bit more freely. Until then, Disney will have to do!

 

[pigletto]

Travel is very important to our family. We've been quite a few places. We've gone on several Caribbean cruises so there's quite a few islands we have been too. We've gone to the Maritimes, and Boston as a family. Dd went to Chile with her grandmother, we went yearly to Lake Placid for Thanksgiving. Now we have a family cottage in Northern Ontario that we will go to often, so likely won't be back to the Adirondacks for quite some time.
The last few years have been Disney, Disney and more Disney. My kids are 7 years apart and Disney is the one place where everyone has a blast. Now that my youngest is older, we'll go back to taking other trips. It just made no sense to take him on an Alaskan cruise or to the Rockies when he was too little to appreciate it and we knew we'd all have fun at Disney.
We budget for two trips a year, but some years may be a big trip (like Alaska or Banff) and weeks and weekends at the cottage. The vacation budget is set in stone..it's what my husband and I feel is a fair number and have agreed to not go over. So if I want to spend the whole thing on a more expensive vacation Disney will be out that year. We still love Disney but it's time to see some of the many other places on that very long must-see list.

 

[emma'smom]

For 4K, you can book a cruise!

 

[DisneyArmyFam]

Florida Keys- Islamorada to be a little more specific. Love to fish, snorkel, watch the live music on the ocean or bay side, water sports etc.

Utah- Wonderful skiing, it's not as commercialized as Colorado so that was the plus side. Plus its beautiful.

Colorado- Also wonderful skiing