San Antonio TX Family Vacation! Help

[Magalex]

I am thinking of maybe a family vacation to San Antonio in May. I need any tips,suggestions, and info about everything about San Antonio. It will be me, my DH and our 5 yr old DS. We would like to stay in the middle of all the typical tourism attractions? Please any comments would be appreciated. What would the weather be like? Any tourism websites I could order pamphlets/free tourism video?

Thanks
Magalex

 

[Chris2597]

Hi
I live in San Antonio....I recommend staying at a Riverwalk Hotel and doing all of the downtown things and then moving for a few days to a hotel near SeaWorld and Fiesta Tx....
Not to miss downtown....
Riverwalk
Alamo
Institute of Texas Cultures
Hemisphere Plaza
Market Place
Gunther House for breakfast
LaVillita

Another fun thing in the area is Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels....#1 waterpark in the US...yes rated even better than Disney....You can rent a cabin on the river and have access to the park....They have a great children's area and many rides that your child could go on. Johnson City is also fun....touring LBJ park....
If you need any restaurant and/or hotel info I would be happy to help. Chris

 

[Michie]

It will be fairly warm, in the 90's and humid.

 

[Planogirl]

The weather will be similar to that in Orlando, maybe just a bit hotter but not nearly as humid. It should be great weather for pools and waterparks.

If I were you, I would plan to stay downtown on or near the Riverwalk. The Hilton and the Hyatt both have nice highrises on the river in the best locations but they do tend to be pricey. Another great area to stay is on Alamo Plaza by the Alamo and just across from entrances into the Riverwalk. The Menger Hotel is a personal favorite there but I do not recommend the Crocket because of parking problems.

There are tours that involve Sea World, Six Flags Fiesta Texas and so on but it is definitely easier to have a car. I would try to get to the Schlitterbahn in nearby New Braunfels simply because it's the best waterpark anywhere! There's also caves, wildlife parks, neat old towns and so on; it just depends on what you're looking for.

This website might be helpful: http://www.sanantoniocvb.com/

 

[AFMom]

Oh fun! We love SA.... Weather will be nice, probably some rain. I'd say warm enough to swim, especially if it's a heated pool.
Sea World there is quite nice, and as far as we've seen - it's the best Six Flags out there (we've been to 5 of them). Those two are definate must sees!
The River Walk is gorgeous, lots of shopping and eating, and the ambiance for a dinner there is a must. There is also a boat tour that is fun and informative. The mall nearby the River Walk is nice and large, a good way to kill some time. La Villita is also a must see - it's the original settlement - very historical - and also has shopping.
The Zoo is only so-so as zoos go. If you've been to some nice zoos - you can skip this one.
The Alamo - of course - gotta do that!
There is one of the worlds best water parks there also - Schliterbahn (sp?) Don't know what the hours will be like in May - but you might want to check that out.
There is also a drive through animal park which is very nice - Natural Bridge Wildlife something...... Can't remember the name.
Natural Bridge Caverns is closeby - right by that animal park - kids really liked it!
There are many museums. There is the San Antonio Childrens Museum - great hands on fun for the kids. We really enjoyed the Witte Museum - also has hands on activities for kids mixed in with a more classic style museum.
Hope those help. Can't really comment on the hotels as we are military and were staying on the base there. But we were able to get pretty much anywhere in the city in less than 30 minutes. If you stay somewhere near downtown - you'll be closer to the museums, River Walk, etc, but Sea World and Six Flags will be further away. Really, though - nothing is very far away.
Have fun!

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

What Chris said, but I want to add a few more things:

San Antonio is surrounded by other cities with lots to do.

Gruene (which is really in New Braunfels) is a neat place to visit. Make sure you eat at The Grist Mill and ask for a river view. Gruene Hall is also right in front and has some history behind it. It's a very easy walk to the river and you might even want to go tubing. The Rockin R is right there if you decide to do so.

All of the Highland Lakes (Travis, Marble Falls, etc.) are beautiful to boat on, if you have one, that is. Lake Buchanan even has several waterfalls at the mouth of the Colorado River.

There are several caverns in the surrounding areas as well. Inner Space is outside of Austin and Longhorn and Natural Bridge caverns are also nearby.

The whole area is ripe with things to do! We Houstonians definitely got the short end of the recreation stick.

 

[Magalex]

Thanks for the quick replies. About The hotels I probably would want a child friendly hotel 3/4 star. Any suggestions? Popular with families

Magalex

 

[Planogirl]

We Houstonians definitely got the short end of the recreation stick.

I know what you mean. Dallas is even worse!

I wanted to add that if you think you'd enjoy seeing old missions, check out the Mission Trail. Many of them are still in use and I think that they're more interesting from that perspective than the Alamo itself. Even though the Alamo has a very nice museum if you're interested in Texas history.

Mission Concepcion and Mission San Jose are particularly fascinating IMO. You explore on your own which was a big hit with my son when he was small.

Popular with families? I'll say The Menger on Alamo Plaza or the Palacio del Rio on the river. There's also a Holiday Inn highrise on the river that seems to be popular with families but I have no idea how nice it is. If you like being attached to the Riverwalk mall, there are the two Marriotts (yes two) that are nice in a convention hotel sort of way. They are regularly inundated with families.

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

What they said.

Also, just to toss in a small fact about historic Gruene (pronounced Green, like the color) Hall...remember the dance scene in the bar in the movie "Micheal" starring John Travolta? That was shot in Gruene Hall.

Oh..and SA is in Bexar (pronounced Bayer, like the aspirin)county. Just a bit of info.

I have nothing else to add, really. They've said it all.

Hope you enjoy your vacation!

TOV

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

One other thing that I'd like to add - while the Riverwalk is beautiful (especially at Christmas-time!), it really isn't child-friendly in the evening.

There are several clubs up and down the river and the walkways can get pretty crowded. For the most part, the river has no railing and it can be a challenge when you're on the outer edges of the walkway. Your chances might be better during the week, in a non-holiday time period.

I've actually seen people fall in. An adult could stand up (in that section only - it gets very deep in the natural portion of the river), but it could be over a child's head. Plus that, it's dirty.

Do make sure you do the Riverwalk tour on the boats. You may luck out and see someone getting married on them!

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

But it's pricey. Check this one out: http://hillcountry.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp

 

[Planogirl]

One other thing that I'd like to add - while the Riverwalk is beautiful (especially at Christmas-time!), it really isn't child-friendly in the evening.

There are several clubs up and down the river and the walkways can get pretty crowded. For the most part, the river has no railing and it can be a challenge when you're on the outer edges of the walkway. Your chances might be better during the week, in a non-holiday time period.

I've actually seen people fall in. An adult could stand up (in that section only - it gets very deep in the natural portion of the river), but it could be over a child's head. Plus that, it's dirty.

Do make sure you do the Riverwalk tour on the boats. You may luck out and see someone getting married on them!

Excellent point! Keep the child on the inside away from the river side. A small child could get jostled by accident particularly when it's crowded.

Oh by the way, there's also a Ripley's/wax museum on Alamo Plaza. Our son got into those places big time when he was about 5 so I just thought that I'd mention them.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Oh by the way, there's also a Ripley's/wax museum on Alamo Plaza. Our son got into those places big time when he was about 5 so I just thought that I'd mention them.

I may have sissy girls, but the first time I brought my oldest (Who's now 20! Yikes!), she was only two. We went to the wax museum and she was terrified, because at the entrance you had three doors to choose from. Only one entered the museum. The others had a nasty surprise behind them.

I don't want to give too much away, but let's just say that we opened two wrong doors before we got the right one. She spent the rest of the time on her dad's shoulders, with her face buried in his hair.

Just another warning!

 

[Kirby]

San Antonio is a nice place to visit. For a hotel spot not in downtown, try the Homewood Suites or AmeriSuites on west I10. I've gone down to SA the last two years with my daughter's girl scout troop and we stayed at both of them. They are just a hop, skip and a jump from Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Sea World is just a little bit farther. They were great places to stay with kids.

Fiesta Texas is a really nice amusement park. It has stuff for all ages. It also has a water park that is included in the admission. It's easily done in one day if the hours are normal ones. I've been a couple of times and it's never seemed crowded.

Schlitterbaun is the greatest! If you can make a stop there, do so.

 

[pkasbohm]

We are planning a family vacation this summer in SA as well! Thank you for all the great info.

I don't know if this helps but the people I have talked to told me not to miss:

Alamo
Riverwalk
Slitterbaun
and Sea World

So those are going to be our must sees and we will probably add Six Flags in there as well!

 

[DisneyArk]

We went to San Antonio last May and my sons were 5 and 7. We had a lot of fun! We went the week before Memorial Day and the water parks at both Sea World and Fiesta Texas (Six Flags) were not open yet (just FYI).

We decided to move hotels every few days in order to be close to the area we were touring.

First we went to Schlitterbaun. It was awesome and both boys LOVED it!! It has 3 water parks. The oldest one has lots of white water rafting type rides that were really fun. We stayed on site and were able to actually ride the lazy river to our room!! Much different than staying on-site at WDW. We had a suite which had a full kitchen and worked nicely for us, but it was very old and worn looking.

When we went to Sea World and stayed at the Radisson Hill Country (Hyatt Hill Country was full). SW had a special that was 2 days for the price of 1, so it was very nice to be so close and able to go back easily. Both the Radisson and the Hyatt have shuttles to Sea World that run every 30 minutes. Plus the driver said he would come anytime we called him.

The last place we stayed was on the River walk. We didn't book this until very late and most of the hotels were full. We stayed at the Amerisuites and it was ok. My boys were not thrilled with the River walk itself. Eating out and shopping are not big on their list. We toured the Alamo. Their favorite part of that was watching the I-MAX movie about the Alamo. If you are not into westerns and some violence, then you might skip that. There were parts when I was a little worried, but the boys loved it.

We did go to Fiesta Texas (Six Flags) and it was just ok. I guess it all depends on what you look for in an amusement park. The Scooby Doo ride was a joke - I was expecting something like Buzz Lightyear. There were quite a few kiddie rides, so that was good.

All in all we really liked San Antonio.

 

[Chris2597]

I would stay at the Marriott Rivercenter....The Alamo, Hemisphere Plaza, Riverwalk are all within walking distance. I agree...the Riverwalk is more adult oriented at night but it is fun during the day especially the boat ride. The Marriott is connected to the Rivercenter Mall, which offers good shopping and a nice food court. There is a stage in the middle of where the boats turn at the mall that has different performers...the acts I have seen range from dancers, choirs, magicians. The trolleys are good for getting to places downtown that are too far to walk to....Downtown is pretty easy to navigate if you have a car.
I agree....The Hyatt Hillcountry Resort is great....They have a lazy river that you can float on....The kids love it there.
Schiltterbahn's resort is worn...but I think it is sort of part of the charm of the area. The cabins were old houses (look like farm houses). The condos and other buildings look to be built on site....
Gruene is fun....The shopping and restaurants are very good.