Truly amazing childhood travel experiences

[Anonymous]

I agree the parks are all so memorable in their own ways. My family wasn’t super outdoorsy (no camping) and we still enjoyed them growing up. Yellowstone and Acadia are my picks. Also SW Colorado — Durango area. We rode a train to an area inaccessible by car, did a high ropes course, explored Mesa Verde.

I think a dude ranch somewhere out west would be really fun, although I haven’t done one. I remember skiing in Aspen and we took a sleigh ride in the snow to a hoedown… I’m sure it was super touristy but I still recall a lot of it, 30 years later!

Hawaii

More locally:
Luray caverns
Gettysburg (there’s a new children’s museum)
Amish country, maybe a farm stay—I still have memories of eating at one of the family style smorgasbords, although that particular one closed.

[Anonymous]

Hawaii
Australia
New Zealand
London

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:You say “besides Disney” as if Disney is even a top 20 travel experience. It’s not. It’s a park. That is marketing.

I think most people have to travel to Disney.

It is a fake (plastic/mechanical) experience.

My kid white water rafted for excitement, and hiked where there were bears. Saw boiling geysers. She took cable cars to the tops of alps. Castles and crepes. Monet's garden. Seeing a whale skeleton and holding a koala on Kangaroo Island. Hiking the great wall of China.

I am not bragging (though we are lucky to have enough money for such adventures). Disney is very expensive.

I am just saying that my kid has amazing memories of the world, not some manufactured place designed to put cash in the coffers.

You are so articulate.

Sorry. I was at a loss for words for how utterly insufferable this post comes across as, that all I could muster was an eye roll PP.

NP. ITA. She's like a bad parody of herself. "Castles and crepes..."

Disney also has castles and crepes.

[Anonymous]

My DS loves transportation and so I am always surprised that he is also captivated by animals and aquatic life. Maybe it's more about moving objects and moving organisms.

We did spend ALOT of time at the Smithsonian zoo when he was small. A lot of walks and talking about animals, observing their behavior.

We went twice to Montreux Switzerland for the jazz fest and the second time we took a train up the mountain and there was a marmot farm. He LOVED feeding the marmots and observing them. He still remembers them to this day.

But those marmots could have been anywhere. I love travel but it's not just the target destination that's the appeal. It's getting there, navigating different transit systems, language, food, culture and seeing and exploring new things.

But I would visit Montreux again. We stayed in an old villa that we had to get to taking the funicular, which was part of the public transit system. There was a view of the mountains and the lake from our room and we had breakfast on the balcony every morning with this view.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You say “besides Disney” as if Disney is even a top 20 travel experience. It’s not. It’s a park. That is marketing.

What a snotty response. And I'm no Disney fan. But for a lot of people, it's their happy place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You say “besides Disney” as if Disney is even a top 20 travel experience. It’s not. It’s a park. That is marketing.

I think most people have to travel to Disney.

It is a fake (plastic/mechanical) experience.

My kid white water rafted for excitement, and hiked where there were bears. Saw boiling geysers. She took cable cars to the tops of alps. Castles and crepes. Monet's garden. Seeing a whale skeleton and holding a koala on Kangaroo Island. Hiking the great wall of China.

I am not bragging (though we are lucky to have enough money for such adventures). Disney is very expensive.

I am just saying that my kid has amazing memories of the world, not some manufactured place designed to put cash in the coffers.

I have taken my kid to see boiling geysers and castles and hot springs and sloths and caves like the next DCUM ahole, and her favorite is still Disney. Disney is magical and memorable for kids.

Lol!

[Anonymous]

So many. We love to travel and try to go to a few new places every year. Kids are now 13, 11 & 8.

National parks are awesome - our favorites so far have been Yellowstone, Arches & Canyonlands, Grand Canyon & Volcano National Park.
Hawaii was fab with kids
Kids loved UK, Italy, France, Scandinavia (all different trips) - we spent time and went all over and really tried to slow down and enjoy a more relaxed pace, not just all the tourist stuff in a hurry. We did the classic things too but not in a rush. Rented a house in Provence for a week and either did day trips or went to the beach, markets etc.
Vietnam, Cambodia and Singapore was an amazing first visit to Asia - they had the best time and loved learning about the history, food, culture. Truly world-opening.
Heading to Costa Rica next month. Later this year we are going to the Galapagos and Machu Picchu

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Camping.
Raise a contributor, not a consumer.

I love to take my family camping, and am a former park ranger still working in public lands. But camping is consumption too. It just looks different (drive in your car to the park, take out your reusable camping equipment, set up on the campsite that was probably built with heavy equipment in the 1950s-1970s....)

[Anonymous]

Money aside, I just wish I had the time to take off work to take my kids to these places. I am only allowed one week off in the summer and it really limits where I can go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also think there is a mentality about wanting to delegate or farm out decisions. Whether it is asking a consultant to help your kid identify the right college or asking someone else to figure out how to enjoy a week off with your family.

Kind of a hands off approach, where you have money but not really ideas or energy. So, you just take the easy path of going to Disney.

Are you serious? Nothing about Disney is easy!

[Anonymous]

I think my best trip was age 14 I went on a teen group trip to Kenya without parents (but with chaperones) for 4 wks. It was amazing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also think there is a mentality about wanting to delegate or farm out decisions. Whether it is asking a consultant to help your kid identify the right college or asking someone else to figure out how to enjoy a week off with your family.

Kind of a hands off approach, where you have money but not really ideas or energy. So, you just take the easy path of going to Disney.

Are you serious? Nothing about Disney is easy!

Yeah, this. Part of the reason we’ve never taken our kids to Disney is that it sounds way too stressful!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just did Costa Rica with 8 year old. Favorite was zip lining thru the cloud forest. We hiked hanging bridges, saw waterfalls, tons of animals. We did a very cool night hike. We did hot springs. We also did a calm rafting and saw tons of animals.

Where did you stay?
Did the resort organize the activities for you?

Arenal - Baldi hot springs hotel
Monteverde - Mounteverde Country Lodge
Guanacaste- JW Marriott

We booked tours in Arenal and Monteverde and it was easy. In Arenal we did private boat on the lake to get close to the volcano. We did a calm rafting tour that was great to see animals. DH did not want to do any rapids with DS yet, even milder ones.

The children’s rainforest night hike we booked directly thru them. In Monteverde we booked Selvatura park all day pass that included zip lining, hanging bridges, sloth, butterflies so did a lot in 1 day. They also will pick up and drop off right at your hotel. We think Selvatura was the best zip lining with an 8 year old. There is another one but not geared towards for younger kids.

I’ve done a number of zip lining in other countries but the zip lining thru the Monteverde cloud forest is by far the best IMO. You are actually zip lining thru the clouds above the rainforest. It’s a can’t miss activity if you are in CR. It was DS 1st zip lining, and they were great with kids. We also felt they had great safety demos and very professional. Since he has gone on the best one, hard to experience anything better.

Guanacaste we booked private 1/2 day boat tour and went snorkeling by very secluded beach, fishing, paddle boarding. It was great. JW is great too because it’s a resort, has huge winding pool like a lazy river that ends in an infinity pool, kids clubs and does roasting marshmallows on the beach for the kids, etc…. They also have great family friendly buffets so easy to drop in and eat when you want, etc…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just did Costa Rica with 8 year old. Favorite was zip lining thru the cloud forest. We hiked hanging bridges, saw waterfalls, tons of animals. We did a very cool night hike. We did hot springs. We also did a calm rafting and saw tons of animals.

Where did you stay?
Did the resort organize the activities for you?

Arenal - Baldi hot springs hotel
Monteverde - Mounteverde Country Lodge
Guanacaste- JW Marriott

We booked tours in Arenal and Monteverde and it was easy. In Arenal we did private boat on the lake to get close to the volcano. We did a calm rafting tour that was great to see animals. DH did not want to do any rapids with DS yet, even milder ones.

The children’s rainforest night hike we booked directly thru them. In Monteverde we booked Selvatura park all day pass that included zip lining, hanging bridges, sloth, butterflies so did a lot in 1 day. They also will pick up and drop off right at your hotel. We think Selvatura was the best zip lining with an 8 year old. There is another one but not geared towards for younger kids.

I’ve done a number of zip lining in other countries but the zip lining thru the Monteverde cloud forest is by far the best IMO. You are actually zip lining thru the clouds above the rainforest. It’s a can’t miss activity if you are in CR. It was DS 1st zip lining, and they were great with kids. We also felt they had great safety demos and very professional. Since he has gone on the best one, hard to experience anything better.

Guanacaste we booked private 1/2 day boat tour and went snorkeling by very secluded beach, fishing, paddle boarding. It was great. JW is great too because it’s a resort, has huge winding pool like a lazy river that ends in an infinity pool, kids clubs and does roasting marshmallows on the beach for the kids, etc…. They also have great family friendly buffets so easy to drop in and eat when you want, etc…

PP again, forgot, hike to the La Fortuna waterfall in Arenal. It’s an easy hike. I’ve seen a lot of waterfalls and it’s the best one, huge and powerful. Go early because it gets crowded.

[Anonymous]

Belize! Jungles, ruins, monkeys, beaches, iguanas, horseback riding. My kids loved it!