Need budget non-disney vacation ideas

[Nik's Mom]

Hi,
Normally we go to WDW every other year. This would be our WDW year, but we are having second thoughts and want to look at other options. We have 2 sons age 9 and 11. We are looking at a road trip that would involve some amusement park and/or museum. We live in Kansas City, but have only lived here 3 years. So far, we have seen St Louis and Chicago. We wouldn't mind driving for a day to get to our destination. We drove to WDW and really enjoyed the drive.

Ok, people. Give me your ideas.

 

[VAfamily1998]

The Smoky Mountains National park would be approx. 13 hours drive from Kansas City. It is beautiful there. There is Dollywood there, since you would like an amusement park.

 

[Nik's Mom]

The Smoky Mountains National park would be approx. 13 hours drive from Kansas City. It is beautiful there. There is Dollywood there, since you would like an amusement park.

You know, I hadn't thought of Dollywood. Thanks, I'll have to check on it. Thanks!

 

[HeatherC]

Destin, Florida? Myrtle Beach, SC?

 

[Nik's Mom]

Destin, Florida? Myrtle Beach, SC?

I wouldn't mind a beach vacation. The kids would love to play on the beach for a few days. We've already driven to Florida, so I know what to expect there. I know Destin is suppost to be beautiful. I'd love to see it. I'll have to mapquest Myrtle Beach and see what we pass on the way. Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[tonilea]

The Ozarks. Branson, MO and Eureka Springs, AR. Table Rock Lake and Beaver Lake are both great lakes with lots to do. Tulsa is nice. St. Louis.

Branson has Silver Dollar City.
St. Louis has Six Flags
Tulsa has a theme park, but I can't quite remember what it is called. The Aquarium there is pretty interesting. Oh, and a pretty nice zoo.

 

[apennel]

Hi Neighbor!

We're in Lenexa, enjoying the snow day!

We have two boys also, ages 11 and 5. There are several fun places within driving distance from our area.

Last summer, we drove to Colorado and spent a week in the Colorado Springs/Denver area. There was a lot to do - took the train up Pikes Peak, visited Cliff Dwelling Museum, Colorado Springs Zoo, Garden of the Gods, Denver Aquarium, US Mint in Denver, Dinosaur Ridge, an Alpine Slide, and some other places. We were on the go the whole week. There is an amusement park downtown in Denver called Elitch Gardens, I don't know anything about it, but it looked like fun. The drive was about 9-10 hours.

We've driven to Dallas before too. It's about an 8 hour drive. We were only there over a weekend for a wedding, so didn't get to do a lot, but we did visit the JFK Museum which was interesting. There is also a Six Flags park near there.

Omaha is a good place for a long weekend. It's only a three hour drive and their zoo is one of the best I've seen. We've also gone to the Children's Museum there, an indoor water park, and an Omaha Royals baseball game.

Hope this helps give you some ideas!

 

[adventure_woman]

It's not really budget, but you said Amusement Park. For us, the best amusement park for roller coasters is hands down Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH.

 

[mrsklamc]

If you it fits your route, Holiday World in southern IN is a great amusement park.

 

[aandjmama]

How about Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota?

 

[Aunt Flancy]

The Ozarks. Branson, MO and Eureka Springs, AR. Table Rock Lake and Beaver Lake are both great lakes with lots to do. Tulsa is nice. St. Louis.

Branson has Silver Dollar City.
St. Louis has Six Flags
Tulsa has a theme park, but I can't quite remember what it is called. The Aquarium there is pretty interesting. Oh, and a pretty nice zoo.

No theme park in Tulsa anymore. The zoo and aquarium are nice though. We have an air and space museum too. Very nice art museums also.

 

[rusty4]

Nik's Mom,

We have been in KC just over 3 years ourselves. Moved from MD. We have traveled alot since moving here. Mostly with DH while he works.

We had a fun time in Wichita for a long weekend. No amusement park but a nice science center and zoo. They have Old Cowtown Museum which I would love to go back for. We ran out of time on our trip.

Des Moines, Iowa has a nice science center and they have a amusement park which we did not get to go to. We were there in the winter. http://www.adventureland-usa.com/

Omaha is another place we would like to go. Their Zoo is suppose to be fantastic.

We drove to Minneapolis to the Mall of America. That is a trip that our DS still talks about. We went in the Winter again so not sure about outdoor amusements.

Innsbrook in MO (about 45 minutes before St. Louis) is a resort with a few rentals on VRBO. They have horseback riding, lake, swimming and things like that. I would love to go there for about 4 nights or so.

Branson is alot of fun if you have not been there before. Stop at the Lambert's Cafe where they throw the rolls on the way there or way home. They have minor league baseball near the restaurant in Ozark. Rent a cabin or condo. http://www.throwedrolls.com/ Go to Dogwood Canyon. Our oldest Son went there this Fall and says it is beautiful. http://dogwoodcanyon.com/Default.aspx

Colorado is a great place to go to though we have not made it yet. My neighbor rented a cabin there this past Summer and their family had a blast. All kinds of things to do there.

We love Pigeon Forge but that would be a long drive from here.

 

[tonilea]

Nik's Mom,

Branson is alot of fun if you have not been there before. Stop at the Lambert's Cafe where they throw the rolls on the way there or way home. They have minor league baseball near the restaurant in Ozark. Rent a cabin or condo. http://www.throwedrolls.com/ Go to Dogwood Canyon. Our oldest Son went there this Fall and says it is beautiful. http://dogwoodcanyon.com/Default.aspx

The Ducks in Ozark are gone. But, the Springfield Cardinals (minor league) play in Springfield.

Springfield also has Bass Pro (they also own Dogwood Canyon and Big Cedar Lodge in the Branson area) - The store is amazing and they have a museum. In fact, we plan on going to Springfield in the next couple of weeks and going to the Bass Pro Museum.

ETA: I just got my news letter from Silver Dollar City - we don't usually do it, but they have a water park (White Water) in Branson. You can buy season passes for $120 plus tax for adults and $110 for kids - 4 to 11. SDC only season passes are $75a/65c.

 

[D&DDisney]

How about Wisconsin Dells? Many resort hotels, waterparks, mini golf, and and amusement park. That should only be about 9hrs for you. wisdells.com

 

[Nik's Mom]

Wow! You guys gave me loads of suggestions. Boy, it's going to be hard to pick a destination now! I'm going to have to look at a map and see if we can do more than one of those suggestions. There goes the budget, but it sounds fun to do more than one location!

Appenel, we are originally from California so we are loving the snow!

Thanks again, everyone!

 

[dblr]

We will got to Cedar Point on a non Disney year for theme parks it is the greatest for roller coasters, this year we are going to try Holiday World in In. I would 2nd the Dells but plan on traffic there and also Pigoen Forge area in Tn. very nice place but lots of traffic. We took our rv there a few years ago and toured ther area from it we liked the Gattlinburg area the most.
Another thought would be a trip to the Upper Pennislua in Michigan you could tour around the great lakes region.

 

[gillenkl]

We will got to Cedar Point on a non Disney year for theme parks it is the greatest for roller coasters, this year we are going to try Holiday World in In. I would 2nd the Dells but plan on traffic there and also Pigoen Forge area in Tn. very nice place but lots of traffic. We took our rv there a few years ago and toured ther area from it we liked the Gattlinburg area the most.
Another thought would be a trip to the Upper Pennislua in Michigan you could tour around the great lakes region.

We are considering the Pigeon Forge/Gaitlinburg area this summer and are campers - can you tell me the campgrounds you stayed at. We're from DE too.

 

[EcbLovesMickey]

We had the BEST time last summer visiting the Great Wolf Lodge. It is a resort with an indoor water park and some wonderful other ammenities. The best part was being able to hit a water park and not have to spend 1/2 an hour applying sun screen!

 

[MickeyBA]

Also from KC! We just got back from a great trip to San Antonio. The drive was about 11 hours I think (although I should call it the ride because I did zero driving!) and it was pretty easy. We stayed right on the riverwalk and did a day at Sea World and of course did the Alamo. We had a rainy and cold day so we did all of the Ripley's, guiness stuff one day but I would happily leave that out to do more nice weather exploring. We also stopped at the Stock Yards in Fort Worth on the way back and that was really fun too!

I have two girls (13 & 8) who love to shop and we've spent a lot of time in Minneapolis over the last year because my fiance works up there from time to time. I drive there myself and it's easy. There is an amusement park called Valley Fair that is fun and much cleaner than World's of fun. I can see boys enjoying the mall too with the rides. It makes a fun back to school shopping trip!

We also spend time at the lake. We have family that have lake homes, but I know a lot of people rent them too. That is just around 2 hours from OP.

 

[MickeyBA]

I've also always wanted to do Colonial Williamsburg. Lots of fun stuff to do around there!