Hey Texans!!! Need some advice...

[mjrich73]

I will be in Dallas for vacation so opinions needed! Fort Worth Zoo or Dallas Zoo? What things should I try to not miss while I am there? I will be there for a week, with my husband and 2 kids (9&7). So, I need ideas of things to do!!

Thanks

 

[MistyD]

I will be in Dallas for vacation so opinions needed! Fort Worth Zoo or Dallas Zoo? What things should I try to not miss while I am there? I will be there for a week, with my husband and 2 kids (9&7). So, I need ideas of things to do!!

Thanks

Not sure when you will be here but these are some of my fave things!

The Fort Worth Zoo is hands down the better zoo! It's sooo much better than the Dallas one, IMO. Dallas does have a wonderful Aquarium downtown, The Dallas World Aquarium. It's a lot of fun.

We also have The Galleria, a HUGE mall in North Dallas and Grapevine Mills Mall in Grapevine, a suburb, if shopping is something you are interested in. The Galleria has a new American Girl store if you have girls they might like that, There's an ice rink there too. Grapevine Mills is an outlet mall and has Gymboree, Old Navy, Carters, Osh Kosh, Disney Outlet(can you tell I like shopping for kids?!) among lots of other stores and a GameWorks with video games and all for the kids.

There are lots of great restaurants, be sure to get some BBQ! Sonny Bryan's BBQ is fantastic! There are a couple of locations, one in the West End in downtown Dallas.

In Grand Prairie, which is where I live in between Dallas and Fort Worth, we have The Palace of Wax and Ripley's Believe it or Not. Also horse races at Lone Star Park. In Arlington, also between Dallas and FW, we have Six Flags Over Texas and Hurricane Harbor. Definitely not up to Dis standards but still fun parks. In Fort Worth the historic Stockyards are fun too.

Feel free to PM me with any questions! If you tell me when you'll be here I can give you more specifics!

 

[mjrich73]

I will be there June 14-21! Thanks for your input!
How is Medievil Times? What about Magic Time Machine?

 

[katmiller79]

How is Medievil Times?

This place is awesome the show is SO worth it We took the kids last month and had a blast. We definately felt we got our moneys worth

 

[tinkerjess]

we did medievil times when my sons baseball team when to the state championship in dallas. the boys were 6yo and loved it. i also brought my son to the skateboard park inside grapevine mills mall. he had a blast!!!

 

[Snow Shoe]

Both zoos are wonderful. The Dallas zoo is my favorate, but is very hilly, so be perpared. Our favorate mall is Northpark Mall. Take US 75 South off of LBJ, like your going downtown Dallas, and get off on the Northwest Hwy exit. Keep right and you can then pull right into the mall by the Neimn Marcus store and park there. Northpark reciently, last year, just opened a hugh new addition to the mall and it is really great.

The Galleria is a good mall, 3 floores, it's located off of LBJ, Loop 635 North, at exit 22B. It also has an ice skating rink. The Grapevine Mills Outlet mall is HUHG! Another place you can walk, and walk, and walk, get the idea. It's another good place to shop. It has a Rainforest Cafe' in it also down by the Neimn Marcus outlet store. Outlet mall and Neimn Marcus store in the same sentence, thats got to be an oxymoran.

If you and you family like outdoors stuff, thers's a Bass Pro Shop right near the Grapevine Mall. Interesting place.

As far as Medievil Times, it's been 5 years since we've been there. It was ok then.

 

[maleficent esq.]

I believe Fort Worth zoo is one of the top five zoos in the country. The city to the east of us has a zoo but,
I'm not sure there are any animals in it.

One of my favorite things to do around here (about 1 hour south of Fort Worth) is Fossil Rim. It is a drive through animal park unlike any you have ever seen. You can feed zebras and giraffes right out of your hand. When Disney built Animal Kingdom they came to Fossil Rim to see how Fossil Rim did it. I know this to be true as I was down there on business the same day Disney-people were at Fossil Rim. It is amazing.

There is also wet and wild and six flags ( neither do much for me.) The Texas Ranger baseball field is in the area. There is even a Ripley's wax musuem in Grand Prairie. Hope you have a great trip to the Fort Worth/Dallas Area
Mal

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

Ft. Worth has a good art museum (Kimbell) and downtown Dallas has some cool outdoor art. Don't forget to eat some great Tex-Mex!

 

[MistyD]

I will be there June 14-21! Thanks for your input!
How is Medievil Times? What about Magic Time Machine?

Medieval Times for me is just...ehhh, I can take it or leave it. Magic Time Machine is a LOT of fun, especially for the kids. I've been there several times and always enjoyed it! Keep in mind that during the time you will be here it is likely to be very warm, summers usually start early here!

Do you know where you are staying? A lot of these ideas are great but geographically speaking all over the place! For example you'd be looking at at least an hours drive if you wanted to go to the FW Zoo and Magic Time Machine.

Let me know if I can help!

 

[mjrich73]

Medieval Times for me is just...ehhh, I can take it or leave it. Magic Time Machine is a LOT of fun, especially for the kids. I've been there several times and always enjoyed it! Keep in mind that during the time you will be here it is likely to be very warm, summers usually start early here!

Do you know where you are staying? A lot of these ideas are great but geographically speaking all over the place! For example you'd be looking at at least an hours drive if you wanted to go to the FW Zoo and Magic Time Machine.

Let me know if I can help!

We are staying the first two nights at Prava Suites by the Galleria and the other 5 at Great Wolf Lodge.

 

[MistyD]

If you are staying near the Galleria you will be very close to Magic Time Machine! It's just up the Tollway a couple of exits. And you will be close to the Galleria Mall too! I have heard good things about Great Wolf Lodge, it looks like a lot of fun. And that is very close to Grapevine Mills Mall. You picked great shopping places to stay near! I think Great Wolf probably even has a shuttle that runs to the mall, most hotels near there do.

You wouldn't be too far from Six Flags and Hurricane Harbor either when you are in Grapevine and the FW Zoo wouldn't be too far of a drive.

I'm jealous you are going to Great Wolf, it looks like a blast!

 

[Snow Shoe]

I forgot to memtion another place to visit, it's more adult oriented then kids though. It's the 6th Floor Museum in the old Texas School Book Depository building. There's lots to see and for your own opinion on wheather Oswald did assinate President Kennedy.

 

[mjrich73]

I know we definetly want to do...

1. Medieval Times
2. Zoo
3. Aquarium
4. Six Flags
5. Ripley's
6. Ice Skating at Galleria
7. American Girl Bistro
8. Magic Time Machine

I am also surprising my husband with the Mario Andretti and Jeff Gordon Champ Rides for Father's Day!

Any opinions and comments will be greatly appreciated.

Also, if you know of any discounts to any of these places, please let me know.

 

[cjl]

Also, if you know of any discounts to any of these places, please let me know.

I like the Ft. Worth Zoo as well; Wednesdays are 1/2 price admission days.

 

[mjrich73]

I like the Ft. Worth Zoo as well; Wednesdays are 1/2 price admission days.

Thanks, that's the kind of info I need!!!
How much time to I need to set aside for the zoo? Is it an all day thing?

 

[ballle_98]

We really love The Science Place and that hasn't been mentioned. http://www.natureandscience.org/
Our most favorite is the Dallas World Aquarium.
You will have a great time. My DH's parents live there and we go a few times a year to visit. Great places to eat.. great activities for the kids.. a great city for sure!

 

[KibbyCat]

Someone on the Budget Board posted a thread about a discount code for Great Wolf Lodge. If you use the code EDGE, you can get weekday stays for only $99. (Fridays and Saturdays are slightly higher).

Across the street from Great Wolf Lodge is the Gaylord Texan. They have a free shuttle there from Grapevine Mills. It runs every hour, and stops in front of Neiman Marcus for loading. It looks like an old-fashioned trolley, and you can take it to the Gaylord to walk through and look around. The same trolley-bus also takes free shuttles to downtown Grapevine's historic district. There is an authentic log cabin and some quaint shops. The bus driver gives you a schedule when you get on, so you can know when to catch the bus back to the mall. But generally it is:

Leaves the hotel on the hour to the mall. Leaves the mall on the 0:15 to return to the hotel. Leaves the hotel on the half-hour to the historic district. Leaves the historic district on the :45 to return to the hotel.

Inside of Grapevine Mills, the food court is so-so. There is a Chili's Too, Corner Bakery and Gameworks grill, along with many normal-type mall fare (overpriced). But all along the front there are many restaurants. There's a Chuck-E-Cheese for the kids (I have LOTS of coupons for pizza and FREE tokens - just PM me), Chick-Fil-A (again, lots of free/discount coupons), Ritzy's (hot dogs), Steak-n-Shake (burgers & shakes), Cozymel's (yummy Tex-mex), Saltwater Willy's (seafood), Love & War in Texas (authentic Texas), and Bennigan's (Irish pub & grill). Across the street by the Bass Pro shops is Fuddrucker's (the world's best hamburgers), Whataburger, and Big Buck's. Across the opposite way is a dine-in Sonic, and every Tuesday is half-price burger night after 5pm!

Oh, and the middle of the food court has a really cool carousel. I think it is $1 per child (1 parent per kid rides free).

And don't forget to visit The Disney Store while you're there!

 

[mjrich73]

Any reviews on the Grapevine Vintage Railroad??

 

[KibbyCat]

Oh, duh...I almost forgot Rainforest Cafe and the AMC theater at Grapevine Mills (which shows movies in Disney Digital 3-D).

Don't know about the train from personal experience, but my aunt and uncle took their grandson on it and loved it. They said it was well worth the price. Here's a link to some info:
http://www.guidelive.com/portal/page?_pageid=33,97375&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL&item_id=15567

 

[mjrich73]

Oh, duh...I almost forgot Rainforest Cafe and the AMC theater at Grapevine Mills (which shows movies in Disney Digital 3-D).

Don't know about the train from personal experience, but my aunt and uncle took their grandson on it and loved it. They said it was well worth the price. Here's a link to some info:
http://www.guidelive.com/portal/page?_pageid=33,97375&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL&item_id=15567

How is Rainforest Cafe? We wanted to go to the one at Downtown Disney last year but didn't get to, so I really don't know much about it.