Where else do you vacation?

[TravelinMommy]

And if you don't have a passport, that's quite an expensive if you just do it once.

just recently (this summer) have they required passports...we cruised 4 times without one...so didnt have that extra expense...



we will be getting them this year though, since we plan on cruising at least once a year

 

[anty30]

We go to Myrtle Beach every summer for 2 weeks. (Actually, we go to North Myrtle.) The kids love it. There is so much to do. The beaches are clean and beautiful. We fly out of NYC and it is only a 1 hour flight. You cant get better than that! Plus, you can take a day trip from there to Charleston, SC. It is a great city with big beautiful southern mansions and plantations. It is just 2 hours south of Myrtle.
Have fun no matter what you do.

 

[RMulieri]

My backyard pool in the summer, and 2x a year Dh and I go to NYC for weekend theater trips/Museum touring/Dining.

 

[3boymthr]

I second Rehoboth Beach & Bethany Beach. We live in MA and go there almost every year - MIL lives in Dover, Del. We also like the White Mtns, in NH.

Another nice place - not a lot of amusement parks but really beautiful is Cape Cod National Sea Shore. We go there once a year either camping at the Highlands in Truro or renting a cottage in Eastham. We can get a cottage in Eastham for the five of us for $1100 or less for the week and $45 for a season pass to the National Seashore which gets you access to about 6 or 7 different beaches stretching through four towns Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro & Provincetown (an experience unto itself - lots of shopping). You can go on whale watches, see seals on the beach & more.

ETA - I forgot to include that Cape Cod or the White Mtns are probably about a 1 day drive for you. We live in South Eastern MA right off of Rt 495 and near Rhode Island. It takes us 8 hours to drive to Dover and two hours to drive to either the Cape or the White Mtns.

 

[tr-ray]

Hands down Ocean City, MD! Much better than the Jersey shore...PM me and I can give you more details. We go there every year and this year the kids are looking forward to that more than Disney. Go figure...

I agree whole heartedly! I grew up in Jersey, and while we used to vacation at the Wildwoods, I would love the years when my parents would splurge and take us down to Ocean City, MD!

I now live in Massachusetts, and can't quite hack a 9 or 10 hour drive to Ocean City, but maybe some day!

 

[jen3003]

There's actually other places to go besides WDW. I never would have imagined.

 

[collcass]

White Mountains NH........Storyland, Santas Village, Clarks Trading post, there is so much to do in this area

Your kids are the perfect age for this one. ALong the way you could stop @ mystic seaport and the village of Stonington (CT), maybe Misquamicut and/or Newport RI or Hampton Beach, NH

 

[SAMANDEM]

The Outer Banks, NC.

Nothing like it!

 

[stepnut]

We tent camp. No airplane ride, really inexpensive and a ton of fun.

 

[lntsmom]

When my kids were little it was our favorite place to go. Hotels there are fairly cheap. They have a wonderful children's museum, riverboat rides, Funplex (a water park), Omaha Royal's games, and the Henry Doorly Zoo.

The Zoo is amazing. It has an indoor jungle...you can go through all 3 levels. It also has the Desert Dome/Kingdom of the Night. The upstairs in the dome is all desert animals. Downstairs it is dark...a bayou, an area with bats, etc. Then there's the Mutual of Omaha building with all it's hand's-on exhibits. Oh, and a building that has puffins, penguins, a walk-through tunnel aquarium, and lots of sea-life. Those are just the indoors exhibits...they also have a newwer gorilla house, bears, a carousel, an aviary, African animals, and a petting zoo. It's my favorite zoo ever...including the one in San Diego!

Our second favorite spot was the Twin Cities. St. Paul has a great children's museum, too. There's also Como park, the Paddleford riverboat rides (see a theme, lol?), the Minnesota State Zoo (moose, anyone?), and the Mall of America. My kids LOVED the Cheerio exhibit there...a whole hand's-on area devoted to breakfast cereal, lol! Last time we were there they had a play area where you could pay to have them watch your kids while you shop. There's a Rainforest Cafe there, bowling, movies, and hotels. All in the mall.
If you go, be sure to eat at Mickey's Diner...across the street from the children's museum. It's a classic!

 

[sndfan]

Love Ocean City MD...love to swim in the ocean, play mini golf (SO MANY mini golf places) fish, and eat crabs. Utopia.

 

[Tam1067]

Have you thought about Michigan? Lake Michigan's eastern shore is really beautiful; there are sandy beaches. Traverse City is one of my favorite cities; it even has a Great Wolf Lodge my kids like. If you wanted a vacation with some driving, you could make your way down the lake and come to Chicago where we have excellent museums, theatre (including Mary Poppins with the original Broadway stars coming this spring) and fun things for kids (American Girl Place, Navy Pier and a huge Harry Potter exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry spring and summer).