Favorite vacation locations with kids

Cruise! We did a cousin meet up cruise a couple years back and the kiddos had a blast.

Definitely beach. 

We've gone to Disney so many times that the kids know exactly what they want to do before we get there (5 and 4 year olds).  It's a great time too, but a lot of standing in lines if you go on the wrong days.

Beach is a consistent fun activity for them.

We did Summit County, CO when the boys were 3 & 6.  Spent a full week doing small hikes (I was 3-4 wks out ACL replacement), story time and ice skating in Breck (and downtown Breck).  Old western village in Frisco, old train rides, farmer's market in Vail, Betty Ford gardens (has children's area).  You can also rent boats on Dillon Lake.  Biggest help in planning was checkign the chamber of commerce pages, recreation center events, and library calendars.  We saw two different presentations w/ raptors from the same organization but with different birds b/t the farmer's market and the library.

Great flights into Denver, but you'd have to rent a car.
Could also do a day trip into Denver.

You can get some great condo deals up there for the summertime!!!

Thanks everyone!

We did San Diego with one cousin a year ago and loved it!

Disney is out since my SIL already called that for her 2015 trip choice.

We live in Colorado, but love it here so have been leaning towards just having everyone meet us here.

I don't think a cruise is in the budget - In Laws pick up a condo rental and everyone pays the rest.  

Great thread,

I would like to meet up at an all inclusive somewhere next winter, with as many family members that can attend. Anyone done anything like this and have any tips for organizing this?

Was about to suggest SD.  Lots of kid activities that many might not have thought about (beach, aquarium, legoland, all sorts of other stuff).  Glad you had fun.

I'm partial to beaches, and salt...  Winter is a bit tougher, as it's limited (for warm weather) to Florida, SD and perhaps the gulf coast (about which I confess to only knowing New Orleans - and not for beach vacations! - so can't really advise on).  

I would have thought the West coast of FL to be terrible (having spent way more time on the East side), until my mother in law started renting a place and we brought the kids.  For a low key vacation, there are some stunning beaches/islands and such, plus some nice inland ecosystem-type attractions (not just swamps!) - national parks, conservancy areas and such that are small and great for a 1/2 day when the kids are beached out...  So, we're actually going down to Bonita Bay (or Springs or something) in a couple weeks, and I'm psyched (plus, I can finish up my HM taper in the sun, then get back to Boston and run the race in the cold!).  

Plus, the rental rates on the W coast of FL are crazy low (got waaaaaaaay overbuilt at the peak of the bubble and then **POP** all the rates dropped through the floor).  Not any less nice an area for it - just crazy oversupply.

This time of year, anywhere north of the middle of FL can be dicey for warm weather.  Some beautiful places (St. Augustine comes to mind, though it's been some time since I've been there and am not sure if it's remained nice - and I was there pre-kids...), but the weather can get cold.  Not much worse than a beach vacation in the cold or the rain!  

We're actually looking at taking the kids (8, 10, 12) to Ireland for April vacation.  They're really psyched for it and are pushing for that as either tied with or BEATING Hawaii.  Can you imagine?  

Later in Spring through Summer, and it opens up a whole lot more options, of course, but I'm guessing this is for a winter/early spring break.

Good luck and have fun!

Matt

I didn't see it mentioned, but if you fly into Phoenix and go up to the Grand Canyon, you can do the out-doorsy thing up there. 

Around Flagstaff you have Meteor Crater, Flagstaff has a cool Observatory (that discovered Pluto), they have Mt Humphreys that is pretty cool, Bearizona (a wildlife park with Bears, Wolves, Elk, etc where you drive through the habitat), a Train from Williams, AZ to the south rim of the GC, Then of course, the Grand Canyon itself where you could take a raft trip down the canyon, go trout fishing, or go hiking. 

It's 7000 feet above sea level so the weather in the summer is beautiful. 

The drive from Phoenix Airport is 2.5 hours to Flagstaff.

You can go from Vegas, but the drive from there is 4 hours.  Although you do get to see the Hoover Dam on that ride.

Just a change from the Cruise, Beach, Theme Park approach.

So many options.  Grand Canyon is gorgeous but OMG I'd have a heart attack trying to keep a bunch of little kids away from the rim.   lol
The last time we were there I seriously couldn't even go near the rim because of all the kids running around.  I was just waiting for one of them to go over.

For outdoorsy type stuff there are a ton of options with an emphasis on national parks.  If you're looking winter time frame then a ski resort would be awesome. (I love steamboat).

If you just stick to the south rim, they have rails around the edge. 

I'd be comfortable with my kids going out there.  I'd probably hold their hand while we walked.  But I wouldn't take them to Horseshoe Bend...

http://horseshoebend.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Horseshoe-bend-grad-400-.jpg

There's no rail there...

It's been a few years, but I only remember there being rails right in the village.  I know just about everywhere we went there were no rails and my heart was jumping out of my chest watching teenagers screw around at the rim and unsupervised kids running around. 

No that's true.  But you wouldn't take a young kindergarden-aged kid for longer than 1 mile.  There's rails for about that much in the village.

But the rafts of course leave from Lee's Ferry.  No worries there. 

We take our kid everywhere.  

Went to France and rented a house in the south with a pool.  We'd go to a nearby town and tour while she snoozed in her stroller, then come back and spend the afternoon in the pool.  As she got older though Europe got harder - just not enough to keep her interested.  Architecture and churches don't do it go figure.

All inclusive beach resorts are good - you can move from pool to beach, lots of snacks etc.

We've done Disney and it was a blast though expensive and she remembers none of it now.

I liked Chicago - it has a big aquarium, planetarium and museum for rainy day fun.

Just last summer we did a road trip down the coast of Oregon and that was good.  We would pull over to spend a day exploring a beach, or a short walk in the woods, visiting a lighthouse.  We went whale watching in one village which she loved.  We saw a wild pack of elk and stopped to watch them.  So long as you time it right so there aren't huge stretches in the car - it works out pretty good.  Going south down the coast is set up perfectly to pull over often.