best family vacation place????

[palmtreegirl]

We love the Smokey Mountains, Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area.

 

[lukenick1]

I'm pretty interested in the National Parks but dont know where to begin. We will be travelling 2 families with 5 kids all together ranging in age from 8-16. 3 girls, 2 boys. Some of us are into hiking, some of us are into the beach. Is there a place that will satisfy all of us?? Is Grand Canyon way too hot in July??

 

[mookie]

We LOVE to cruise!! We also like Topsail Island North Carolina, Southern Utah and San Diego CA.

We went to Topsail this past May and LOVED it. I miss it so much I can't wait to go back!

 

[LAH LAH]

Hilton Head, SC

A very nice secluded (with everything you need) island.

 

[ccgirl]

We love the Smokey Mountains, Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area.

This is what I was going to suggest. We ended up buying a timeshare there site unseen so weren't sure what to expect. We were getting tired of ORlando. We were more than pleasantly surprised. There was so much to do! We actually drove from MA. It was a beautiful drive. We wanted to keep the cost down but you could certainly drive too. There was so much to do. My DD actually asked if we could go there next year instead of Disney. It was very inexpensive but just an awesome time. Dolly Parton's amusement park is there. The scenery is very much like the WHite MOuntains in NH. But, we found the people just delightful. LOVE IT!!!

 

[bdkane]

Atlantis Bahamas, we refer to it as the Disney of the carribean, we also refer to it as the Vegas of the carribean - awsome for kids and adults

 

[mclemore102]

A Disney cruise

 

[DisneyMomma81]

I'm pretty interested in the National Parks but dont know where to begin. We will be travelling 2 families with 5 kids all together ranging in age from 8-16. 3 girls, 2 boys. Some of us are into hiking, some of us are into the beach. Is there a place that will satisfy all of us?? Is Grand Canyon way too hot in July??

Depends on where you're coming from. It's a dry heat ~ I couldn't believe the humidity in Orlando/WDW last early Oct. AZ and the rest of the west is hot in the summer. I visited the Grand Canyon early Sept. this year - it was warm but pleasant.

 

[rusty4]

We love the Smokey Mountains, Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area.

We love the smokies too. But it is great at Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is very hot is the Summer. If you stay at a place with a pool it won't be too bad. We usually rent a cabin there.

 

[ccgirl]

We love the smokies too. But it is great at Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is very hot is the Summer. If you stay at a place with a pool it won't be too bad. We usually rent a cabin there.

Good to know. Will check it out around the holidays. As far as it being hot; the OP is from MA. I found the heat the same as MA in July. Maybe a bit less humid actually.

 

[FLAngie]

We love the smokies too. But it is great at Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is very hot is the Summer. If you stay at a place with a pool it won't be too bad. We usually rent a cabin there.

Where did you rent a cabin from? Would you rent from them again? We are looking at staying someplace for a month and need high speed internet and pet friendly and a pool would be great. Did the place have any of these?

 

[barbarabini]

Maybe captiva island, south seas island resort -- has a lot of family things to do. Also, Winnetu on Martha's vineyard. great for young families.

 

[rusty4]

Where did you rent a cabin from? Would you rent from them again? We are looking at staying someplace for a month and need high speed internet and pet friendly and a pool would be great. Did the place have any of these?

I would take some research for me to recall the name. I will try tomorrow. But no, we did not have a pool. One of them allowed pets that we rented from. I believe that we have rented from 3 different places. So honestly we are not loyal to anyone of them. One other was a private owner from VRBO.com.

I honestly cannot remember if they had internet. I don't think we had a laptop then so it would not of been a issue for us. Though one did have 2 baskets waiting for us for our anniversary. DH paid for them I am sure. One was with bath salts and romantic things and the other was in the fridge with breakfast fixins.

The ones that we rented all had jacuzzi tubs, hot tubs on the deck, covered porch or deck and full kitchen. One had a pool table and one had a fishing pond. One even came with scorpions!!

We have been happy with all 4 that we have stayed at.

 

[superme80]

Outer Banks! I love it!!!! In California Donner Lake up by Truckee. It has a wonderful state park for camping a tons to do at the lake and Truckee is a cute little town. Tahoe is gorgeous too, but it can get expensive.

 

[azlaura]

Yellowstone Beautiful, tons to do for all ages. You can rent homes or cabins near by and make trips into the park so easily. I love it there. I would save the Grand Canyon for fall or spring

 

[Halloweenqueen]

Hawaii!

 

[MagicalMawMaw]

We love National parks too. Our last two trips have been to some of them.

This last summer we flew into Rapid City & we saw the Badlands & then Mt. Rushmore. We drove the needles highway & wildlife loop road & saw lots of neat things in that area.
Then we drove towards Yellowstone & saw Devils Tower along the way.
We drove the entire outer loop at Yellowstone & dined at Old Faithful Inn. Then we drove thru the Tetons & flew out at Jackson Hole.
Looks of scenery & lots of National Parks. It was awesome!

However, the most beautiful area I've seen so far is the Or. Wa & Ca. coastline. Love it. We've done this two times. Start by flying in at Seattle, Wa. & drove down the coastline. There is Mt Rushmore & Mt. Rainer. Crater Lake & the boatride on it is tops & one of the best things we have ever done. The sealion caves are neat. And Tidal pools are wow! We found tidal charts & went to the tidal pools. The ones at Newport were unreal with the starfish & urchins. There are lighthouses all along the way & just so much to see.

Both times we went at San Francisco & toured fishermans wharf which is so fun. Ride the double decker bus & walk though China town. Awesome city to visit.

 

[luckey-lasvegas]

http://www.zionponderosa.com/index.htm

 

[apnep]

Besides the obvious Disney....what was your favorite family vacation destination??? I'm looking for ideas for next July.
TIA

Yellowstone and Grand Teton NPs! Cruising is also fun. We took our kids this summer and they loved it!

 

[SharonC2010]

I would totally second (or third) the Great Smokey Mountains. I live about 1 hour away in Knoxville, TN and seem to spend almost every other weekend in Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area. We take all of our out of town guests to TGSM. The smokies are great for hiking, camping, history seekers, nature lovers, picnickers. There are waterfalls and cades cove is great to nature watch and see some old cabins and cemetaries. So cool. There are tons of cabin rentals. I could suggest some if any are interested. Also, there are waterparks and amuesment parks and lots of shows and other attractions.

My second choice would be Washington DC. A trip to our Nation's Capital is one that should be on everyone's list. We took a train ride to Philadelphia to see the liberty bell, Independance Hall and Benjamin Franklin's House. We have made this trip two Summers in a row and will likely return next year in the Fall.

If you would like any information on either of these destinations just let me know.