Vacation or Staycation

[JoyG]

I'm not familiar with the Upstate Farms dairy tour either. I have heard of the product though.

If you're planning to do the Canadian side, the Butterfly Conservatory gets good reviews, but I haven't been there either.

The Canadian side is VERY expensive so keep that in mind. There is some interesting site seeing on that side, but if you do any of the activities on Clifton Hill, you'll spend an arm and a leg.

 

[vicb]

And keep in mind that to cross into Canada now you will need your passports or border id cards. I think that rule went into effect June 1. Somebody can correct me if I am off on this.

 

[andrews_dad]

Batlimore Aquarium is pretty nice, and the Zoo is not too bad. Washington Zoo is free. Balt Inner Harbor is just great. Tour the ships and submarine, duck paddleboats, MD Science Center, Port Discovery, Fells Point, etc. A really nice little trip. Plop yourself somewhere cheap near Balt/Wash, and do both cities. Maybe near a light rail station to the North of Balt and ride the light rail right down to the Harbor.

 

[mjkacmom]

My DH & are are trying to decide what to do. I booked a hotel in Niagara Falls NY. Cheapest decent place I could find for the 5 of us was $600.00 for 4 nights. Add to that gas & wear & tear on the car, food sightseeing costs etc. I am probably looking at a $1000.00 vacation.

I threw out an alternative to my hubby last night. We live in NJ, about an hour away from NYC. There are some things in the city we haven't done but want to. There are other things we have done (over a decade ago) but not with the kids.

I proposed a staycation. Stay at home, go one day to Ellis Island & Statue of Liberty (won't be open to go up yet). One day to Museum of Natural History, then go walk 5th ave & visit a few favorite stores like American Girl. On a third day, walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to Chinatown & Little Italy. Decide where else we want to go from there. Maybe get tickets to see the Lion King. Somewhere in the mix of things, a trip to see the Intrepid.

If we have a spare day, we can spend it at the jersey shore.

Lodging $0.00 stay at home
parking $0.00 (hubby works for triboro bridge & tunne authority & can park free at any of their facilities)
This frees up a lot of money to have fun & not feel completely frugal going out to eat & enjoying the sightseeing.

Which sounds more fun to you? Hubby would prefer to go NF. I am not sure I want to sit in the car that long (Id rather double the trip & go to Disney )

We're staycationing this year. We live 20 minutes from NYC, so we plan on a day at the Bronx Zoo (we're members), central park, statue of liberty (we'll take the ferry from NJ), we're an hour from the beach, so we're going to try once a week, Dorney Park, Camel Beach in PA - there really is so much to do in under 1 1/2 hours. It's sad - we go into the city only about once a year (and DH's company has a free pass to the museum of natural history).

 

[mjkacmom]

Thanks for the information about the aquarium. I had a feeling it may not be worth it since the website had so few pictures. We have a small aquarium in Pt Pleasant NJ. If you spend 2 hours there you could see it all twice! It was great when the kids were toddlers & had a 10 minute attention span, but now that they are older, its really not worth it, thought they do love the penguins.
....

Oh, this is another staycation day - I got the 1/2 price Jenkinson tickets, plus admission to the aquarium, mini-golf, etc.

 

[Leader of the Club]

Do the staycation this year. Save for a little nicer trip to the Falls next year.

We live about 5 hours from Chicago. We were going to go there for a vacation, then I realized that everything that we were going to do there, we could do right here at home. So, we stayed home, had a great time. No one missed Chicago.

 

[ekatiel]

Have you tried bidding on priceline? You can check out www.biddingfortravel.com (somehow this site won't let me post the direct link) and click on the New York/Niagra Falls section. It will show you some recent winning bids for hotels in the area from priceline. Have a fun trip! --Katie

 

[mc'smommy]

the Aquarium really isnt worth the money, it is fairly small...
Now Marineland in NF, Ontario is worth it....

 

[ChrisinNJ]

Have you tried bidding on priceline? You can check out www.biddingfortravel.com (somehow this site won't let me post the direct link) and click on the New York/Niagra Falls section. It will show you some recent winning bids for hotels in the area from priceline. Have a fun trip! --Katie

I have never tried priceline because you are bidding ona room with double occupancy, no guarantee that you will get a room with 2 beds. I wouldn't want to be stuck with 1 bed for 5 people. I would rather pay more & know that everyone will sleep comfortably.

 

[ChrisinNJ]

the Aquarium really isnt worth the money, it is fairly small...
Now Marineland in NF, Ontario is worth it....

How far is that from Niagara falls?

 

[ChrisinNJ]

We're staycationing this year. We live 20 minutes from NYC, so we plan on a day at the Bronx Zoo (we're members), central park, statue of liberty (we'll take the ferry from NJ), we're an hour from the beach, so we're going to try once a week, Dorney Park, Camel Beach in PA - there really is so much to do in under 1 1/2 hours. It's sad - we go into the city only about once a year (and DH's company has a free pass to the museum of natural history).

Where in NJ are you? We are near Red Bank in Monmouth county.

 

[ChrisinNJ]

Thanks for all the replies! We decided to go to Niagara Falls. DH really wants to get AWAY! One of the problems we have is he works 2 jobs. One is an at home business that I help him with. We have ben swamped & wroking crazy hours to get caught up. If we stay home, some customer of his will call with an "emergency" & he will feel compelled to work for a few hours (after all we need the $$$).

When we are away, work gets put completely on hold.

 

[mjkacmom]

Where in NJ are you? We are near Red Bank in Monmouth county.

Exit 151 off the GSP - LOL! Essex county.

 

[ChrisinNJ]

Exit 151 off the GSP - LOL! Essex county.

LOL!!! Exit 109

 

[LisaNJ25]

I've been looking into a trip to Niagara Falls this summer also. You might consider purchasing a USA Discovery pass. For $33 adults and $26 children 6-12 it gives you admission to:
The Maid of the mist
The Cave of the Winds
Niagara Adventure Theatre
Niagara Gorge Discovery Centre
Aquarium of Niagara
and 1 day of unlimited trolley rides

You can buy it online or at the visitors center when you get there. That would get you 5 attractions for less than $100 for all of you.

Another good one is
http://www.niagaraparks.com/nfgg/discountpass.php

We did this one a few years ago but it include the butterfly observatory. There should also be a AAA discount.

OP.. I have no problems with the little ones on the maids of the mist or the Journey behind the falls. Last time we went my daughter was 4 and had no problems. I would not hesitate to bring my now 3 & 4 yo.

She also did that ride that went across the water.. I don't remember the name of it.. it was red and on a cable.

I am hoping to make a trip there now that our family is larger. I just need to the the Passport cards.

 

[ADisneyQueen]

DO NOT go to the NF aquarium. It is such a rip off- dark, very small, nothing much to look at - you could be done in 15 minutes. There is a sign at the desk that says no refunds, we should have known better.

 

[Floridagal23]

I am really unsure as to whether 400 is enough for 4 days with all of you at NF. It is super expensive, especially on the canadian side. Even if you eat at the friday's, the chicken tender meal is almost 18 dollars without tax. I'd go to NYC, especially if you can get there easily, because they have so much free stuff going on (many of the museums are 'suggested donation' entry, which means you can definitely give less), and save the NF trip for another time.