OP, there is nothing wrong with Disney. We love it! I’ve found that for my kids their favorite and most memorable vacations involve a lot of time in nature - beaches and mountains. They also love water and boating. Kids are really easy to please and my kids have wonderful memories of vacations even if they couldn’t tell you where we were.

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.

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.

My favorite as a kid was riding a mule down the Grand Canyon and spending the night at Phantom Ranch.

My kids favorites are Costa Rica and Iceland (Ring Road).

Generally, camping. My kids love camping. As for specific locations… almost anywhere can be cool & interesting to a kid. Wherever you plan to go, read a lot of books about the place in advance to get your kid(s) familiar with & excited about what you will see.

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

We went camping at Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. Loved it so much I went again with my family (although we stayed in cabins this time) a few years ago.

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?

National Parks!
Olympic in Washington
Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce, Zion in Utah
Yosemite, Muir Woods, Sequoia, Joshua Tree in California
Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado
Yellowstone in Wyoming
Hawaii Volcanoes in Hawaii

And so many more

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.

National Parks. Road trips. Start with Yosemite.

Anonymous wrote:We did Morocco and Egypt at 9 and that trip was a blast. My son never stopped asking the guides questions.

We've also done Italy, Croatia, Paris, Rome at various ages (3 to 5) and he loved it all.

One more, Istanbul was also very cool for him.

We did Morocco and Egypt at 9 and that trip was a blast. My son never stopped asking the guides questions.

We've also done Italy, Croatia, Paris, Rome at various ages (3 to 5) and he loved it all.

Something he wants to do.

Besides Disney, what are some amazing travel experiences for elementary school kids?

My kid is 7, and I want to start taking him on fun, enriching trips with the family.

The trips don’t have to be expensive, just something that will leave him full of memories and good times.