Spoiled by Disney, can't think of another vacations spot!

[FreshTressa]

Our family takes one 'big' vacation every year. I keep looking and looking and nothing seems to compare to disney, but DH refuses to make that our big one since we just went in october and we are going to disneyland in july.

Any suggestions of fun vacation spots for a family with a 5 and 6 year old??

We like to keep buys and sight see, not really the relax on the beach with corona's types.

 

[Jenn Lynn]

I love San Antonio, Texas! I have been there twice. There is the Riverwalk, the Alamo, Tours of old churches, and Market Square. There is a Sea World close by. It is a beautiful place to visit.

 

[Meriweather]

Yellowstone.
San Francisco area.

I'm going to DL in July too!

 

[debster812]

Tressa,

One of our favorite vacations was a few years ago, but we went to Banff Nat'l Park for a week, and then spent 3 days on Vancouver Island out in Tofino (we flew into SeaTac and drove to Banff, and then headed back). Being from the east coast, I thought both places were spectacular. They might be old hat to you, but we LOVED it, and are hoping to get back in another year or two.

Debbie

 

[Mishetta]

Hilton Head Island, SC!!! You could have the best of both worlds if you stay at the Disney Resort on HHI!!

We just went there for the first time last month on our way home from FL. We only stayed 2 days so we didn't get to do much BUT there is lots to do on the Island & it is soooooo beautiful. We did stay at the Disney Resort & it was beautiful. The best way I can describe it would be a condo in the woods! We had a 2 bedroom suite (which was over 1200 sq ft), with it's own private balcony & once we opened the kitchen (or master bedroom suite) door out onto our balcony, we just stepped right into the forest! There was a big picnic table & rocking chairs out there. The actual suite we stayed in had every thing your home would have in it ~ a home away from home. Just staying at that resort was a vacation in itself!! So peaceful & relaxing.

You can rent bikes & check out the island. The resort is set right on a marina, so you can walk along the beautiful marina. There are lots of shops to visit & lots of wonderful restaurants to eat at. You can go to the beach & collect sea shells if it's too cold to swim when you go. (That's what we did last month.) You can go up the Lighthouse & check out the view....in other words, you can stay busy or do NOTHING.

The Disney Resort has daily planned activities too. You could just stay busy following their schedule. It's lots of fun for all. We can't wait to return.

 

[Pam]

I agree with Jenn Lynn - San Antonio is one of my all time favorite vacation spots. Yellowstone/Grand Tetons/Mr. Rushmore is also wonderful, as is the Grand Canyon. New England is another great spot - the lighthouses, Acadia National Park!

 

[mcnuss]

Originally posted by FreshTressa
Our family takes one 'big' vacation every year. I keep looking and looking and nothing seems to compare to disney, but DH refuses to make that our big one since we just went in october and we are going to disneyland in july.

Any suggestions of fun vacation spots for a family with a 5 and 6 year old??

We like to keep buys and sight see, not really the relax on the beach with corona's types.

I am not 100% sure what you mean by "Keep buys" but sightsee I get! You might like to try Cape Cod, a beautiful place and very different from where you live. Take a look at the Chatham Bars Inn in Chatham, MA. You could fly into Boston, do a couple of days in the city, then go out to the Cape. There is spectacular scenery, boating, fishing, golf, etc... something for everyone.

If you like a more resort type vacation, you might try one of the all inclusive resorts like Club Med. We have friends who liked them, but they are more beachy vacations.

Not sure if you've done a cruise, but our all time best vacation with a child was the Disney cruise. It was as magical as people say. We have friends who took their 6 & 7 yo's on an Alaska cruise with Celebrity last year, and the girls are still talking about the whales and the sea kayaking.

Hope this helps!

 

[dvcfamily41801]

I totally agree with Mishetta, that is exactly what I was going to post. We went last year and LOVED it and we are not beach people, in fact we spent less than an hour on the beach and we are not golfers, so I was totally worried what we were going to do. We had the greatest time.

Your children will LOVE B'Lou Crabbe and Shadow

 

[Lebjwb]

Check out the Mohonk Mountain House in Up State NY at:

www.mohonk.com

 

[gshoemate]

My very first big trip was to Yellowstone and I fell in love with it. We drove from Michigan but made lots of stops on the way. It depends on when you want to go also. Most of the roads, campgrounds, shops and resturants don't open until after the first week in June. And there could still be snow in the park.

 

[clh2]

When our DD was 5, we went to San Francisco. DD had a fabulous time. There is a lot of things to do with children.

According to my DD, who is now 9, the Exploratorium is a must-do attraction. It is a hands on science museum with 2 rules: Kids can touch anything, and parents can't tell them not to.

There is also a cable car musuem, where you can see the actual cables running.

There is a Sony Metroplex - which had some fun stuff to do.

She also liked the Golden Gate Bridge.

We stayed out by the Wharf - which gave us many places to eat, was close to the cable cars.

We had a great time out there!

 

[Melann]

What about a Busch Gardens Themepark? I went to the one in Williamsburg about two summers ago, and we absolutely loved it! Or what about visting Philadelphia? We have some great museums...Franklin Institute has a bunch of hands on science stuff, and a giant walk through heart (my fav attraction there) and the Please Touch Museum is also good for little kids. Also, there is the Philadelphia Zoo which is really cool (you can ride in a hot air balloon over the city for $$$), and has a lot to see and do there! Happy Planning!

 

[FreshTressa]

Wow, thanks for all the great suggestions!!

I really really want to go to Williamsburg, but I think we are going to wait until the kids can appreciate history a little more. It is exactly the kind of vacation I like.

And we love Yellowstone, but we also want to wait on that. It is SOOO spectacular and amazing I want to wait until the kids are old enough to be impressed by water of different colors. Right now, they still get impressed by regular old lakes. I want the to have that blows your socks of feeling like I got when I first saw it.

We are definately not Club Med types , but maybe when we get older. And we did the cruise thing a little over a year ago. Loved it, but want to wait a while before doing it again.

I am going to research Hilton Head, Mohonk Mountain and Pennsylvania a little more.

I think we might actually wind up going to both San Francisco and Banff. I have been before, but we have never brought the kids, so it will be fun to show them. Because they are both drivable, we save the money of airfare, and can actually do both. Then, with Disney in July, we should booked!!

Anyone know if the SW, Arizona, New Mexico is intolerable in the summer?? That might be another place.

Thanks again! I knew I could get some good suggestions here. You guys are all vacation junkies like I am

 

[disykat]

One of my favorite summer vacations was also Vancouver Island, BC. We wanted to stay close to home since we had done Hawaii at Christmas for my brother's wedding. My kids were about 5 and 7 at the time, so we wanted the drives to be fairly short. We went to Victoria, saw the sights and Buchart Gardens for two days then spent a week in the Qualicum Beach-Parksville area. Although it is pretty low key, there was plenty to do. The beach there is famous for it's large WARM tidal flats. The water warms up really well due to the length of the flats and feels like bath water. It's sort of like having a football field sized wading pool that extends for miles. We visited some water falls etc. in the area that had short little hikes, went miniature golfing, and to a great public pool. We stayed in a place where the kids could play in the sand and we could just watch from our little patio. We never even got around to driving to the Tofino side. We came home via Horseshoe Bay and stayed in Vancouver a few days to do the Capilano Bridge, Stanley Park etc. We stayed in the outskirts and took the Sky Tram into town -that turned out to be my youngest's favorite part of the trip, go figure!