St Louis Vacation coupons, discounts, itinerary?

[Small Town Princess]

We are leaving for St Louis in a few days for a short/cheap vacation. I have researched some really great information from previous posts and helpful Dis'ers. Thanks so much!

I found the Drury and the St Louis Family Attraction Card coupons. Does anyone have any other helpful sites/coupons/ discounts?

I am really hoping for some kind of savings at the City Museum, Six Flags PARKING ($15- ouch!) and food, Safari Pass at the Zoo.

Some of the restaurants we hope to visit: Old Spaghetti Factory, Hard Rock Cafe, Fitz's, Ted Drewes. Is Gooey Louie worth the trip? Should we try any other great family themed places?

If you have any itinerary to share from your vacation I would love to hear!!

ANY helpful ideas are very much appreciated. Thanks again!

 

[uk_wildcat]

We did a short trip to St. Louis a couple of weeks ago and stayed in the Drury near the Arch. It was great because of they free breakfast and snacks/drinks.
We went to the Zoo and because we belong to our local museum, we were able to get the Safari Pass for $5/person, which is how much it costs just to ride the train. We saw the sea lion show, rode the train, did the children's play area and rode the carousel.
We also ate at Fitz's and my kids enjoyed it. We all hated the Old Spaghetti Factory, but it seems to be a big hit with everyone else, so maybe you will enjoy it. I just thought the food had no flavor whatsoever.
We also visited the St. Louis Science Center and got in free with our local museum membership. Since it was late in the day, we couldn't really take advantage of any of the other discounts offered for members.
I would highly recommend looking into getting a membership to a local participating museum. Ours is only $69/year and by using it on vacation, we save at least that much and can still visit locally all year long.

 

[LizinSTL]

We are leaving for St Louis in a few days for a short/cheap vacation. I have researched some really great information from previous posts and helpful Dis'ers. Thanks so much!

I found the Drury and the St Louis Family Attraction Card coupons. Does anyone have any other helpful sites/coupons/ discounts?

I am really hoping for some kind of savings at the City Museum, Six Flags PARKING ($15- ouch!) and food, Safari Pass at the Zoo.

Some of the restaurants we hope to visit: Old Spaghetti Factory, Hard Rock Cafe, Fitz's, Ted Drewes. Is Gooey Louie worth the trip? Should we try any other great family themed places?

If you have any itinerary to share from your vacation I would love to hear!!

ANY helpful ideas are very much appreciated. Thanks again!

No discounts at city museum or for six flags parking. You can get a discount on the safari pass if you belong to your local zoo but you don't really need that if you go at 8am. Seriously, you can park free in the lots as soon as they open for about the first hour. You can do the stingrays, the carousel and then go to the children's zoo just before 9 am. After you spend all the time you want in the children's zoo, you can visit all the other animals and exhibits. The Sea Lion show is nice but not really worth the $$. The train is fun but there's a long wait usually and it's pricey. No discounts on food at the zoo, but you can bring in your own and eat at the tables around the lake in the center. There are also benches all around.

Gooey Louie's is great and just down the street from Ted Drewes. You may as well get some gooey butter cake to go after you have some Ted Drewes. I recommend the Terramizzou sundae. YUM!

I'd skip Hard Rock unless you love it and try O'Connell's Pub near the Hill (Kingshighway and 44). Great burgers. I'm also not sold on Fitz's - great rootbeer and floats but the food was just ok. I'd say grab a pizza at Pi and then walk down to Fitz's for dessert.

My family loves the Old Spaghetti Factory but it's a chain and if you like Italian food, try to visit the Hill between Kingshighway and Hampton along the Hwy 44 corridor. There are a number of great little family places that have good food. We like Zia's and Favazza's. Both are closed on Sundays though.

Dont' forget to use the Family Attractions coupon for Ted Drewes. I've never known them to require those flavors of concretes!

 

[ajh88]

I'm going to pretty much 2nd everything Liz said. We like Fitz's, but I don't know if I would go out of my way to go there - the Loop is cool though and the food is alright. I'd go to the Hill too (over Spaghetti Factory) - we like Zia's and Rigazzi's.

I'm a fan of Crown Candy Kitchen - the neighborhood looks a bit sketchy, but the place is great. The BLT is my favorite...

http://crowncandykitchen.net/

If you don't make it to the zoo early, I'll just say that we have never paid extra for any of the attractions (that require $$) and DD has always been satisfied just walking through the zoo and seeing the free stuff. I'm not sure she has ever even realized there were activities we didn't do because it cost!

The Science Center is actually free, unless you want to do the IMAX or planetarium. The majority of stuff is free anyway. You might also look at the Magic House (if you're just looking for things to do) - I think they may offer coupons from time to time - it may be a bit out of your way depending on where you're staying.

We had to get a pizza from Pointer's Pizza too - the Pointersaurus. Seriously, it was on an episode of Man vs. Food and it was so big, my sister had to put it in her trunk. It is a kick for the kids - my DD and nephew still talk about it (he nailed the top of the box to his bedroom wall!).

http://www.pointersdelivery.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

I'd also skip Hard Rock and Union Station altogether (I've never been a big fan) - parking is expensive and it's really just a mall (and not a very good one at that). But, if you love Hard Rock or have never been to one you might keep it in (I think everyone should go to one at least once. ).

Ah, Ted Drewes' - my personal favorite is the Dottie.

Have a great trip - I love St. Louis!

 

[disney*mom*82]

Everyone is giving great advice. Ill second the stay at Drury, all Drury hotels do the evening snacks (which always have salad, baked potato, chips, snack mix and everyday has atleast one extra thing like chicken tenders, meatballs, hotdogs and chilli, eggrolls, etc) Also breakfast is good, biscuits and gravy, french toast, waffles, eggs, muffins, fruit, juice, milk, etc. This is everyday. I reccomend Drury Forest park (close to zoo science center, ted drewes, not far from downtown.) and At the arch, right next to the arch.

As a pp said, science center is free, zoo is free except parking, you can park along the street, may have a little walk, but better than paying for parking. Usually in the Drury hotel booklets there is a coupon for BOGO zoo safari passes, we did it for the first time in May, it was cool, but not necessary unless you are set on doing the extras. It is a good value. Union station IMO is boring, no good shopping in that area. OSF is a must do and you can google a slip for their kids reading program and your kids can get free kids meals. It is very inexpensive and we all love the food. It can be a wait to get in and check the hours, they are weird sometimes. Ted Drewes, mmmmmm, soooo good!

Have a great time. St Louis is a nice area

 

[southern_redhead]

We stayed in STL this summer - from end of May until a couple of weeks ago. My husband is there for work and we "lived with him" We had lived there years ago so I had some idea of what I wanted to do/see....

We did the STL Zoo but we also did Grant's Farm. IMO if you can only do one make it Grant's Farm. It isn't as big or as gosh awful hot, lots of shade. They were selling Fun Passes when we went. $5 a person and you got 2 bottles of goat milk for the baby goats, a snocone and a ride on the carousel. You save $1 per person this way. Parking is $11 I think. We really, really love Grant's Farm. More access to the animals and the tram ride around the park is nice and relaxing.

Science Center - the kids enjoyed it. You pay to park, free admission. This is a great RAINY day activity as well

Magic House - this one my 6 year old could have lived at. Seriously. All three enjoyed it but he LOVED it. Very interactive and educational. Free parking but you pay like $8.50 per person. Go early, they close at like 5:30 if I remember right and you will need lots of time to do both wings. Another good spot to hit if the weather isn't nice.

If you do the Arch do it at night - buy your tickets online for free parking and get the last tram up that night. It is sooo cool to see the lights at night. We did this as a suprise the night of DD's 8th bday because she had begged and begged to go up all summer.

Botanical Gardens DinoQuest. DO IT! So much fun, this was my favorite experience of the summer and I'm not even a nature girl LOL It is just so pretty and the Dinosaurs are a neat addition. I think the parking was free but we paid an entrance fee. It wasn't bad something like $23 for me and three kids. That also gets you into the rest of the botanical gardens. They have a children's play area that is awesome too. $5 per kid and free to the adults with them. Was well worth the $15 we paid to get into it (except I dropped my phone in the stream and it's gone so I paid a bit more in the end LOL) They do DinoQuest "Jurassic Dark" at night that involves some mists and lighting. I wanted to do that but we ran out of time!

Have fun, we all cried when it was time to come home (of course we were leaving DH behind and coming home to start school so.....)

 

[skip323]

We did STL for a cheap spring break. Had a blast!!! We stayed at the Drury by the Arch. My kids are 9 and 10 so we did the free breakfast and the appetizers at night we used as dinner (didn't eat a lot...they don't need a lot).

We did eat at Fitz's....o.k. and we went on the hill and ate (cannot remember what restaurant). We visted Crown Candy Kitchen...at the time I didn't realize they had food...we went for the candy - great. We also had one lunch at the city museum.

Attractions: we did City museum (loved, loved, LOVED it), the zoo (went early...parked on the street and got there on time to go into the children's zoo for free), the Arch (walked from the hotel) - loved the free museum there- and the courthouse across the street (where the Dred Scott case was argued) beautiful courthouse and free. Also allowed us to include a bit of history into the trip (never hurts). Also did the Missouri Botanical Gardens - beautiful and one of our favorite places! We had to park on one of the side streets when we got there....be wary of the signs that list what side of the street you can park on for street cleaning days...lots of folks ignored and had tickets when they returned to their cars.

We are in Indiana so stopped shortly after crossing the Mississippi into Illinois on our way back to go to the Cahokia Mounds...pretty neat!

 

[Small Town Princess]

Thanks for the great advice. I think we will skip the Safari Pass at the Zoo. Really re-thinking Hard Rock Cafe too. So glad I asked.

I now have my B1g1 half price coupon for Ted Drewes!!

Keep those great ideas coming!!!!

 

[danacath]

DH and I love St Louis for all of the FREE stuff there is to do. I'm not sure what the ages of your kids are, but we took DS-19, DD-14 and DD-11 to the art museum in Forest Park (free!) and they all liked it. We also went to Cathedral Basilica (free!) to see the beautiful mosaics inside. (It really is spectacular.) We did the Science Center (free!) and were able to park there for free, too. Tons to do there. At the zoo, I really think it's worth it to get there early, so you can take advantage of petting the stingrays, riding the carousel and visiting the children's zoo for free during the first hour. Definitely use the street parking for free, too. You can also check the schedule for any free evening concerts in Forest Park. I do most of my travel research on Trip Advisor. You can visit the forums for the St Louis area and read about the top rated things to do in St Louis. I LOVE that website-- almost as much as the DIS, but not quite.

DH and I stayed at Union Station, but when we took the family we stayed at the Parkway Hotel one time and Hampton Inn-Forest Park the other. Union Station was interesting to see, but I wouldn't go out of my way to go there. This Hampton was excellent, but Drury will be nice for you, too, with the snacks, etc. We chose to stay near Forest Park since that was where we were going to be spending most of our time, having already done the arch in the past.

Okay, so our family LOVES Fitz's. I get the bison burger with sweet potato fries-- yum! Best root beer DH has ever had, and he doesn't even like root beer. lol Went to Ted Drewes this summer and liked that too, but my "concrete" was all melted. Not sure what happened, but it was still yummy. For "soul food" we tried out Sweetie Pie's. Great southern down home cookin' served cafeteria style in big portions. If you go here or Crown Candy Kitchen, go during daylight hours. Both neighborhoods are a bit "intimidating" after dark.

Have a great trip!

 

[FoundMyPrince]

http://www.familyattractionscard.com/pdfs/FAC_Coupons.pdf

 

[KAYLI'S DAD]

We go to STL at least once a year to the childrens hospital and stay a couple of nights to do things around the area. We have stayed at the parkway hotel a couple of times that is attached to the hospital just for convenience. Now we usually go on priceline and name your own price for a 4 star hotel in the area and I think you can usually get it for about $60-$70 a night. Last time we stayed at the marriot in the union station. It was neat to look at but that was it. Drury Inn is also pretty decent and it usually has a indoor pool (we usually go when its cold).

We have not been to Spaghetti factory in probably 10 years. I agree with others that I would skip Hard Rock. We went there on our last trip and was not impressed with the theming or the food. I would recommend some of the places around the hill. I think one we went to was called Mama Campisi's. Now we make it a point to go to the Cheesecake factory at the Galleria Mall. I have not heard of any of the other restaurants you listed.

I dont think anyone has mentioned the magic house. It might depend on the age of the kids if it is interesting for them. Its kind of pricey but I think there are coupons on that card. The zoo is great to see also and it is free. Someone might have mentioned this also about the zoo but if you get there early, I think within the first hour all the extras are free like the carousel and train.

 

[danacath]

I'm not sure when you're leaving, but I've got a flyer with coupons in it. PM me if you want me to mail it to you. Maybe you've already got some of these deals: One is for $15 off Drury Hotel, there's a buy one, get one 1/2 off for Ted Drewes, a free kids admission with paying adult for Magic House, free kids tram ticket with purchase of an adult ticket at the Arch, BOGO Safari Passes (good for 2 free passes), and a couple of others.

Also, we checked the brochure rack at our hotel and found coupons for Fitz's, Ted Drewes, etc. so you can be watching for those at your hotel, as well.

At the zoo, we did choose to pay for the train, but with a discount of course. What we liked about it was that the tickets allowed us to take the train to multiple areas of the zoo, get off to tour each area and then get back on and ride to the next area. I think our tickets let us disembark 3 times. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong.) It's a fairly big zoo, and when we were there it was a hot day, so it was great to rest our feet a bit and enjoy the ride to each area of the zoo.

 

[mjejj]

I think a PP mentioned Grant's Farm and I have to second that. When we went (about 7 years ago) it was free and it was really fun. Definately feed the goats, I think my DH,BIL, and I had more fun doing this than the kids did. We still laugh about it. It is where they keep the Budweiser Clydesdales and that was very interesting. Ted Drews (sp) was good and I just saw something about it on the Food Network, so you have to go there.
A word of caution about the little cars that go up in the Arch. They are VERY small and if you are clausterphobic (like me) it may be a little uncomfortable but push through it because being at the top of the Arch was worth it. Have a good trip!!

 

[LizinSTL]

"Like" the Magic House on Facebook and print some $3 after 3pm coupons. They are good throughout August. I think for 3 people it'll work out to be cheaper than a B1G1 coupon.

I know that you can spend hours and hours at the Magic House but my kids are speed tourers and can fly through their favorites quickly if necessary.

 

[nchulka]

We live in the St. Louis area, there are tons of free things to do Here is an example of a completely free day. Get to the Zoo by 8:00, bring a sack lunch. For the first hour, 8:00-9:00 everything is free, ride the carosuel, pet the stingrays, and get into the children's zoo. After that walk around seeing all the other animals. When you're getting hot, head over to the Science Center. What you want to do is stay in Forest Park and park at the Planetarium. You could walk to it from the zoo, but I would drive. Once inside the Planetarium there is a covered walkway over the highway directly into the Science center. Spend the afternoon cooling off inside and check out the exhibits. Around 5:00 head to the Muny, also in Forest Park. It is kind of in between the Planetarium and the Zoo, they are all in walking distance, but it is better to drive. The Muny is an open air theater where musicals are performed nightly. They are great! We just saw the Sound of Music last week. About 5:00 you want to line up for the free seats. Bring a blanket and picnic dinner, sometimes we even pick up a pizza and have a pizza picnic. We eat and then play board games or just relax while the kids run around with other kids and play. About 7:00 they let you in the theater and the show starts at 8:15.

When using the family attractions card get as many as you want. The Magic House cost like 8.00 per person and the card has a coupon for B1G1 free. If you have 6 people bring 3 cards and you can get 3 in for free.

Not much in discounts for Six Flags. They charge insane prices and nickle and dime you for everything. I wouldn't bring anything into the park. On several rides they will not allow you to carry any items through the lines and will make you pay 1.00 for a 1 time use locker while you ride. Everytime you want to ride one of those rides it will cost you a dollar. I just leave everything in the car now except my keys that go in my pocket. Again bring a picnic lunch. All the concession stands will give you free cups of water. You may get lucky and run into a person with a season pass that has extra bring friends for free tickets that they will give out at the entrance. Don't count on it but it does happen. I've done it several times, next week I have bring a friend for 9.99 tickets that expire Sat. and I'll be bringing them and giving them to someone, or else they will just go to waste.

The best piece of advice I have for you is go to the City Museum If you do nothing else in St. Louis you must go here! It is absolutely the best place I have ever gone. ALL ages love it, kids, adults, teens, it is awesome. No discounts unless you have a group, but 12.00 is not bad considering it will be the best day of your life