Must do in Charlotte? Hotel recommendation?

[pantherlj]

We are going to do Great Wolf Lodge, Carowinds and a Panthers game in the fall. I am thinking Thursday night for GWL (so Thurs/Fri and GWL), Carowinds on Sat and Panthers on Sunday. That doesn't give us much down time so I might add on another night (push GWL to Wed/Thurs) and have Friday as a relaxing day.

Any must do things we should do in Charlotte on a Friday? I don't want to commit to anything that would be more than 2-3 hours and don't want to spend much money. Not NASCAR fans so not interested in the new hall of fame.

The girls are 11 and 8.

Oh, would love a hotel with an indoor pool for the 2-3 nights after GWL. Leaning toward Embassy Suites right now - anyone have any better suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[DisneyLover83]

There is Discovery Place ( http://www.discoveryplace.org/ ) they have an IMAX dome theater and a museum. Off the top of my head that is all I can think off, maybe someone else will come along with more.

 

[Disneyhay]

We were just there in July. We stayed at the Embassy Suites that is actually in Concord (which is 10 min from downtown Charlotte which btw is nothing to see) because it was only $107 a night. And it was beautiful and clean and in a really nice area. It is literally a block away from Concord Mills mall which the girls would like. Be warned though, you go through a not so nice area to get to the area where the hotel is. But it is far enough away that you are fine.

 

[Disneyhay]

Oh also dont go the weekend of the Oct 16. There is a huge Nascar race and you wont be able to get a hotel w/o payin an arm and a leg! Just fyi!

 

[CoolDisneyCat]

The Embassy Suites mentioned above is about a block from GWL. I have no idea "what not so nice area" is referring to. It's a very nice place and area. Staying there, you would be an hour north of Carowinds and 30 min. north of the stadium.

Concord Mills for shopping on Friday may be just the thing for your girls. Just the right thing for only 2-3 hours.

Discovery Place is in uptown Charlotte, about 30 min. from the Concord Mills area. It is a really fun yet educational thing for kids. But this is more than just a few hours.

 

[pantherlj]

We were just there in July. We stayed at the Embassy Suites that is actually in Concord (which is 10 min from downtown Charlotte which btw is nothing to see) because it was only $107 a night. And it was beautiful and clean and in a really nice area. It is literally a block away from Concord Mills mall which the girls would like. Be warned though, you go through a not so nice area to get to the area where the hotel is. But it is far enough away that you are fine.

Hmmm, it's showing almost $70 more a night over the Charlotte location for when I am going! Must be something going on there that weekend (not Nascar) I think I'll stick with the Charlotte location - it's close to the stadium and Carowinds. Thanks for the suggestion though!

Oh also dont go the weekend of the Oct 16. There is a huge Nascar race and you wont be able to get a hotel w/o payin an arm and a leg! Just fyi!

Oh man, when I planned our trip/got the panther tickets, I didn't even THINK to make sure the game wasn't the same weekend as a race. I bet they try to avoid a race and a panther game on the same weekend? If not, they should It's not the weekend I am going - phew! Of course, I have seen them schedule a NC State football game AND a Carolina Hurricanes game the same weekend ALONG with the state fair. What a mess that was!

 

[tar heel]

We were just there in July. We stayed at the Embassy Suites that is actually in Concord (which is 10 min from downtown Charlotte which btw is nothing to see) because it was only $107 a night. And it was beautiful and clean and in a really nice area. It is literally a block away from Concord Mills mall which the girls would like. Be warned though, you go through a not so nice area to get to the area where the hotel is. But it is far enough away that you are fine.

The "block" between Embassy Suites and Concord Mills is about a mile on a busy highway.

I also am puzzled about the "not so nice area" comment and really puzzled about the 10 minutes from uptown Charlotte (it would be impossible to get there that fast). Did you mean downtown Concord? If the latter, what did you want to see? There's good art, quaint shops and Victorian architecture in downtown Concord.

Charlotte has a couple of really good art museums and a nice history musuem. There are several historic sites in the area including Reed Gold Mine where gold was first discovered in the United States.

 

[DawnM]

The Billy Graham Library is free and close to that side of town.

 

[my3sons77]

I was going to mention Discovery Place as well. Concord Mills Mall is like most outlet malls you go to. It's nice though and something to occupy your time.

Is the Embassy Suites you are looking at off of Tryon and Billy Graham Pkwy? If so it is a very nice one and a straight shot down Tryon St to Downtown Charlotte.

Have a great time.

I used to live in Monroe, now live in TX.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

My girls (11 and 7) LOVED Discovery Place! We went a few weeks ago and all had a great time (we spent about four hours there, but didn't even do the Imax - we only had one afternoon and DP closed at 5:00). The exhibits are great - my kids loved lying on a bed of nails (really!), playing tug a war with a pendulum and pulling themselves up with a pulley. I loved the frog exhibit. Lots of hands-on science exhibits. Even my 7-year old, who didn't get some of the science behind the fun, had a blast playing.

 

[DawnM]

BTW:

Instead of buying a one time Discovery Place pass, for the price of one day admission, you can get a pass that lets you in to lots of places, including Discovery Place.

http://www.wildwnc.org/

You will need to get going on it and order it though as it takes about 2 weeks to get.

Dawn