where else to go for vacation other than Disney?

[lillygator]

we are trying to decide our vacation as well....hard to choose!

 

[jnfr2424]

Philadelphia PA - the Franklin Institute
another vote for Boston
NewYork City
Ocean City MD
another vote for Williamsburg VA

 

[baboo800]

Saudi Arabia has some beautiful ancient ruins if you're family enjoys historical buildings


Posted from DISboards.com App for Android

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

Saudi Arabia has some beautiful ancient ruins if you're family enjoys historical buildings


Posted from DISboards.com App for Android

Hmmmm, might want to check the state department website before traveling out of country.

Would love to see the pyramids in Egypt but not wanting to get killed is more important to me.

 

[mjmartin01]

trinchick- what timeshare did you rent from? I''m thinking Williamsburg area is where we may end up going if we don't go back to WDW.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

We spent a few days in Chattanooga last year and enjoyed it. The aquarium there was fantastic! My kids also enjoyed the children's museum. We did Rock City, Ruby Falls and the Incline Railway, too. I'm sure we could have spent more time in the area, but had tacked the trip onto a visit to my in-laws, so we worked with what we had.

 

[iheartwalt]

We like the Florida Keys We rent a house (from VRBO) on Big Pine Key and then just have short drives to Key West, Sombrero Beach, Dolphin Center, etc. Great deep sea fishing, sea food eating, nature, cute shops...all and all a great time!
I like the island feel without actually leaving the US. Plus I am not a big city person so I enjoy that everything is really small and easy to navigate (Key West being a bit more difficult).

 

[littlezar]

trinchick- what timeshare did you rent from? I''m thinking Williamsburg area is where we may end up going if we don't go back to WDW.

If you go with Williamsburg and want to take a 60-90 minute drive depending on destination and traffic:

Virginia Beach Happenings

Norfolk Happenings

Virginia Zoo in Norfolk

Children's Museum of Virginia in Portsmouth

Norfolk Tides Baseball

Virginia Aquarium in Virginia Beach

 

[StephMK]

If you go with Williamsburg and want to take a 60-90 minute drive depending on destination and traffic:

Virginia Beach Happenings

Norfolk Happenings

Virginia Zoo in Norfolk

Children's Museum of Virginia in Portsmouth

Norfolk Tides Baseball

There is also a science museum in VA Beach that my kids love. There are big aquarium exhibits, a touch tank, nature walk, etc.

 

[Robbi]

We love Williamsburg. When our kids were younger, we'd do the history part for the first few days and then we'd go to Busch Gardens which is a beautiful theme park for a day. Then we'd take them to the water park. After Williamsburg, we'd go to Washington DC and tour the museums, Ford's Theater, etc. One of their favorites was the Spy Museum.
We've been 3 or 4 times and could go back every year.

 

[DisneyWalle]

My family and I love Wakulla Springs at Edward Ball State Lodge in Florida. Beautiful springs for kayaking, the park offers boat rides (sometimes glass bottom boat tours), huge diving platform over the spring, exquiste lodge (no tvs, except for the main reception room), fun soda fountain and overall quiet getaway. For us its perfect, we are all avid readers and love the water.

Our other favorite is the beach at Port St Joe, Fl. Beautiful beach, great surf fishing, wonderful afternoon horse rides on the beach, and inexpensive charter trips.

 

[Pier60]

A nice short break from Disney would be a trip over to Cocoa Beach. You can get a room right on the beach that wont be too expensive. Kids can learn to surf and you can relax!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We spent a few days in Chattanooga last year and enjoyed it. The aquarium there was fantastic! My kids also enjoyed the children's museum. We did Rock City, Ruby Falls and the Incline Railway, too. I'm sure we could have spent more time in the area, but had tacked the trip onto a visit to my in-laws, so we worked with what we had.

Chattanooga is a lot of fun. We've never spent more than a day there. (always on the way to some other destination), but lots of things to do

 

[ColoradoK]

I didn't see where you said you're from but our family has really enjoyed some lower cost vacations to the Mount Rushmore area of South Dakota (a 6 hour road trip for us) and also had a blast in Kansas City with our young children.

South Dakota offers sooooooooo much more than just the mountain with the president heads. We stayed at the Palmer Gulch KOA campground in a cabin and the campground is a fun destination all on its own http://koa.com/campgrounds/mount-rushmore/ 2 pools, a water slide, a splash pad, mini golf, movies, ice cream, pancake tent, restaurants, horseback riding, paddle boating, one of those giant jumping pillow thingies.....

In that area of South Dakota there are some cool state parks with nature stuff to drive through check out. There is an alpine slide we enjoyed http://www.rushmorealpineslide.com/, a fun petting zoo type farm with pig races http://www.oldmacsfarm.blackhills.com/Homex.html a nifty drive-trhough wildlife park (with lots of adorable baby bears) http://www.bearcountryusa.com/ You could do 4 wheeling (we didn't, we have 3 kids and none could drive themselves). We stayed one night in nearby Hot Springs and did the uber cool Mammoth Site which our wanna-be-palentologist loved http://www.mammothsite.com/

Then there was Kansas City. We stayed at the indoor water park place Great Wolf Lodge http://www.greatwolf.com/kansascity/waterpark which is very close to the Legends shopping area (home of the original TRex Cafe) http://www.legendsshopping.com/ We loved the FREE Deana Rose Farmstead http://www.opkansas.org/Things-to-See-And-Do/Deanna-Rose-Childrens-Farmstead/ Crown Center fountains Science City http://www.sciencecity.com/ There's a Zoo. A Children's Museum. Paradise Park was some fun http://paradise-park.com/ The Hallmark Kaleidescope in Crown Center was also free and a fun family art time http://www.hallmarkkaleidoscope.com/ This fun little restaurant with a train around the ceiling which delivers your food! http://www.fritzskc.com/ The Crayola Cafe and store also in Crown Center http://crayolacafe.com/

 

[Crystal Brewer]

The East Coast all ya gotta do is close your eyes whirl the finger and point lol It's beautiful with everything from history to amusement from quiet&secluded to entertainment&overpacked tourist areas I myself found Crystal Coast quaint& beautiful while hubby luvs Myrtle Beach tho my 2 boys choose mtns of Tn&NC as fave!! Good Luck on choosing as I'm sure it will lead to great memories

 

[TX Momof2]

trinchick-Love your ideas of combining history and family vacations! I also have an older daughter (9) and younger son (4). My daughter loves period novels and learning about history. I can't wait for my son to get into it! We vacationed in Navarre Beach (vrbo rental) last summer and had a blast! We played on the beach and relaxed. Also, the national naval museum is nearby in Pensacola.

 

[mjmartin01]

We are from IL.

We stopped in Chattanooga last summer while we drove down to WDW. It was fun.


I've never been out west either. We've been to Branson, San Antonio TX, the Dells.

Thanks everyone for the great ideas!!

 

[trinchick]

trinchick- what timeshare did you rent from? I''m thinking Williamsburg area is where we may end up going if we don't go back to WDW.

We stayed at the Wyndham Patriot Place and it was very nice. We got a great rate through www.getravelop.com ; it's for gov't employees and friends of gov't employees, so even if you know a teacher or policeman, you can use the service.

If Wyndham Kingsgate is available and the rate is similar, go for that one. I think it's a bit more modern than Patriot Place (which was still fine). We couldn't justify the additional expense based on availability when we were booking, but keep checking; rates always seem so variable.

trinchick-Love your ideas of combining history and family vacations! I also have an older daughter (9) and younger son (4). My daughter loves period novels and learning about history. I can't wait for my son to get into it! We vacationed in Navarre Beach (vrbo rental) last summer and had a blast! We played on the beach and relaxed. Also, the national naval museum is nearby in Pensacola.

Thanks TXMomof2! We've had some great trips! We're very fortunate that our dd is interested in history and culture. She has been BEGGING to go to Washington, DC. We hate to disappoint, but this really isn't the best year for it with DS being a terrible 2. Maybe next April.

When we go to Prince Edward Island this summer, I think we may stop at Campobello on the way home (FDR's summer house). So in April, we'll visit his main home and then in August we'll see his summer home. I see some FDR reading in our future... plus all the Anne of Green Gables books. We'll be busy!

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Your kids are at the age we took ours to Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, Monticello and Busch Gardens in Williamsburg.

They had a blast. In Colonial Williamsburg, we made sure to eat at places where there was renactments for the kids, they played with old fashioned toys, learned how kids were supposed to act in the past including how to properly curtsy and bow to their elders. Saw the horses on the big square.

In Jamestown there was an archelolgical dig going on with a museum setup of everything that was pulled from it. My 5 year old DD was fascinated. The 8 year old thought the setup was cool.

We also did the renactment Jamestown Village which was ok. The kids loved the ships there.

Busch Gardens was a blast. There was plenty to do for their ages at that time and we had a great time.

Monticello was kind of boring for them until we found the section with the animals. They liked that part.

That's about all I remember......

 

[3boymthr]

Another vote for Outer Banks of NC. We loved it when we went a couple of years ago. We also like Ocean City Maryland or Delaware Beaches. DH's mom lives in Del so we will head down for a day when we visit. Lots to do in Rehoboth and OC. Boardwalks and amusements and shopping. Not a lot of historical stuff in Delaware or OC but there is a Coast Guard Shack that you could visit in the Delaware Seashore State Park (about 20 minutes north of OC and about 5 minutes from a great beach).

Depending upon timing Outer Banks can either be more or less expensive than OC or the Delaware Beaches. We're going to the Outer Banks again this year because our school is starting back after Labor Day and we were able to save 50% on a rental by going the last week of August.

The Outer Banks also have an aquarium but I believe it is more geared to the younger set than what you will find in say Baltimore. We are hoping to also take the ferry to Ocracoke this year and to drive to the northerly beaches see the wild horses.

DC is also great but depending upon the attention span of your kids may not be the best. My kids are older and still not ready for that many museums.

New England is also good if you are into museums and zoos and aquariums and the beaches (and the beaches, while nice are not as fancy as more southerly beaches) but not a lot of amusement type attractions on the actual coast.