Worst and Favorite places you've visited with your kids

[Anonymous]

Best:

Overall Hawaii. We stayed long enough (2 weeks) such that jet lag was not an issue. For me, it was 4 days of work trip, followed by vacation. On those four days DW and 6yo DD did things I would not want to do. When work was done, we headed over to Kauai for 1 week...

Theme Park: Disney at 9 yo. We decided to spend enough time at the parks such that we were not over tired. We had gone before and tried to go on the cheap. That was miserable. This time, I did not worry about what things would cost. Plus we did not go at a busy time (we went the last week in Jan when FCPS had a 4 day weekend, and we added three days to that. Ok to do in 4th grade; would not do it in HS.

Family: We met my sister and her family in Coastal Oregon, and spent a week with the magnificent vistas. It was August, and highs around 70 were magical.


Worst:
Disney, when we tried to do it on the cheap

[Anonymous]

Best Hawaii we go every year, its a special place for our family

Worst Disney just because it tries our every last nerve (but they loved it in the day)

[Anonymous]

This has been a great post. Giving me lots of ideas! Thank you, OP!

[Anonymous]

I have a travel-loving kid, and nearly all of our trips have been excellent. If you were to ask him, DS (now nearly 12) would say he wishes he could go back to Atlantis. We did the whole thing: swimming in the big tank with a manta ray, dolphin experience, etc. DS is an only, so having a million kids around was a blast for him. But Costa Rica, Acadia and playgrounds all over Europe were fun when he was a little kid. On each one, we made sure to include kid-centered activities and a lot of downtime.

More recent trips tend to be activity based: skiing in Chamonix, ice skating at the Munich Xmas markets. He'll do a diving course this summer to prep for an excursion in Thailand this winter.

For me, the most challenging vacations were ones we had with adults who were difficult to be around. For example, we stayed with friends in Napa whose house contained millions of $ in art & collectible furniture that looked fun but could not be touched. With a toddler that was painful. Our latest was Lisbon & Seville with my parents. My mom has health issues and hated the cobblestones and crowds. I hadn't realized how much she has come to hate traveling, tbh, and couldn't resist complaining about everything. We footed their entire bill and drove everywhere, so the complaints were doubly annoying. Lessons learned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Had a blast in Puerto Rico! Kids enjoyed exploring different beaches, the rainforest (with waterfalls), and Old San Juan. We will definitely go back. Great seafood, fun music. Easy to navigate the island.

I've heard mixed reviews of PR. Where did you stay? What time of the year?

Spring break. Stayed at Embassy Suites in Dorado. Kids had a blast! It's not the kind of place you go if you just want to hunker down at a resort. It's a great place to visit if you rent a car and explore the beaches, towns, etc. Kids are dying to go back. Next time we will split the trip between one of the smaller islands and the main island (the beaches on the smaller islands are calmer with white sand).

[Anonymous]

The PP who mentioned Lancaster, PA - do you have any specific recommendations? We're thinking of visiting with our 3yo this summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Had a blast in Puerto Rico! Kids enjoyed exploring different beaches, the rainforest (with waterfalls), and Old San Juan. We will definitely go back. Great seafood, fun music. Easy to navigate the island.

I've heard mixed reviews of PR. Where did you stay? What time of the year?

NP. My kids were 7 and 9 when we went to PR. They loved it. We went for Spring break last April. It was a blast. My kids like hanging by the pool and hiking around Old San Juan in the old fortresses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Best Hawaii we go every year, its a special place for our family

Worst Disney just because it tries our every last nerve (but they loved it in the day)

My kids hated Disney. The lines are too long and make the rides not worth it. Mind you, we had special fast-passes because the Disney Hotel screwed up our reservation.

[Anonymous]

I wish more of you hated disney world so crowds would be lower.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish more of you hated disney world so crowds would be lower.

Lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Had a blast in Puerto Rico! Kids enjoyed exploring different beaches, the rainforest (with waterfalls), and Old San Juan. We will definitely go back. Great seafood, fun music. Easy to navigate the island.

I've heard mixed reviews of PR. Where did you stay? What time of the year?

NP. My kids were 7 and 9 when we went to PR. They loved it. We went for Spring break last April. It was a blast. My kids like hanging by the pool and hiking around Old San Juan in the old fortresses.

Thanks. Thinking about PR as a quick getaway for 2018.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish more of you hated disney world so crowds would be lower.

Lol

+ 2

Haha!
Excellent point PP.

Worst. Trip. Ever.

Went in last week of March of last year.
Yep, Spring Break.

Hot, humid, crowded, long lines, could barely walk from Point A -----> Point B, etc.

Best to stay in A/C hotel room, order room service & watch T.V.

Or sit around the pool all day.

Best trip?
San Diego, CA.

Zoo, Wild Animal Park, Sea World, Legoland, Hotel del Coronado, La Jolla, beaches, Balboa Park, museums, fish tacos, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Bummer! Iceland was high up on our list to go soon with the kids. But I can see what you are saying just from our previous European trips. They won't look out of a car, eyes glued to their Kindles, only care about getting to wherever we are going and exploring outside the vehicle.

Revisit the Iceland plan would make my top 4 and i we only spent 2 days there

I really think the Iceland trip depends on who your kids are and it also depends on what your itinerary is. A day in Reykjavík and its immediate surroundings is a good idea. But I think the PP was talking about a week (or more) trip out to through the remote countryside where you're doing A LOT of driving. My kid would be into the scenery but I recognize she's unusual and most of her friends are the "tune out until we're there" types.

This is embarassing but the first time we did a long driving trip with a rental car we realized that our kids had never had to sit three abreast in a standard car before. We had always been in a mini-van. The first two days of our Grand Canyon adventure consisted of people fighting in the backseat, complaining that someone was touching them, breathing too loud, etc. Might have occurred anywhere in the world, but I think the complaining had more to do with the car than where we were. Maybe something to consider?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, your Bronx trip barfing experience reminds me of my son (age 5) barfing all over me on a shuttle bus at WDW. He nailed me. Oh, gee. That was 8 years ago and it's still referenced every so often in our house....

It was August, it was hot as heck, it was crowded, and it was about 7:30 AM. Another woman (I'm sure a mom) was across the aisle on the bus and gave handed over a tiny pack of wipes.

It was a long, long day....

I got barfed on at the beginning of a flight to Europe. Strangely enough I had packed extra t-shirts but she managed to barf on my jeans only. Oh, and the seat. And of course the flight was fully booked and there was no other seat to move us to. THat was one long day!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Had a blast in Puerto Rico! Kids enjoyed exploring different beaches, the rainforest (with waterfalls), and Old San Juan. We will definitely go back. Great seafood, fun music. Easy to navigate the island.

I've heard mixed reviews of PR. Where did you stay? What time of the year?

NP. My kids were 7 and 9 when we went to PR. They loved it. We went for Spring break last April. It was a blast. My kids like hanging by the pool and hiking around Old San Juan in the old fortresses.

Thanks. Thinking about PR as a quick getaway for 2018.

We also went for the Spring break this year and had a blast.

We enjoyed going to Old San Juan and the trip to El Yunque rain forest was awesome. Overall, the food, people and music were awesome.
We stayed at the Marriott resort close to Condado (about 10-15 uber drive from OSJ) and it's right on the beach. Very family friendly resort and kids enjoyed hanging at the pool/ beach.