We did a weekend in the Harrisburg area for under $200 including the Best Western with a pool and tickets to several attractions like the Science Center. I booked all through Expedia. Plan to return for a week this summer for roughly $600.

For the future, like a PP mentioned, look at Hosteling International. You can get family rooms at some and kids up to 18 get free membership ( the rooms cost money tho). Also, if you are interested in meeting different kinds of people look into SERVAS.org

That's an international peace organization and members agree to open their homes to guests at no charge. At your current budget, it's a bit expensive to join , but maybe in the future. I've hosted visitors from Scotland and Spain and France and Germany and.... Alaska. The idea is to share time and conversation with people. Sometimes you can find a family with kids the same age as your.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pathetic budget, rather save for a few years and have a normal vacation. Rather than this penny pinching crap.

OP, ignore this kind of stuff. You sound like you are a doing a great job, and as you said about your vacation last year, just getting to go someplace new and staying in a hotel (or cabin, or tent etc) is exciting for a child.

OP here!!! I'm sorry you think my budget is pathetic. I don't earn a lot but I do have a retirement fund, a college fund for my child and I have savings. I pay a mortgage, I'm putting myself though college paying out of pocket and I do donate (a small sum ) to charity every month. While I can easily put a Disney vacation on my credit card, I choose to be debt free. In two years I will be in a position to take my child on vacations but right now a $500 vacation is very normal to us. There have been some great suggestions on this board and I appreciate every single person taking the time out to help my child have a vacation. He is 6 and when he goes back to school and everyone is talking about their vacations, he too will have memories to share and we will have memories to look back on. I know that he wont think of these as cheap $500 memories but special times we had together. I don't have a single relative here in the US and I do everything on my own since I am a single mom. Please don't make me feel bad about my pathetic budget! That $500 means so much more to me.

OP you sound smart and grounded and like a great mom. You will have many great memories with your child. Enjoy your time together, it's well-deserved.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here again,

Thank you all for your suggestions. We are going to Hershey park this weekend and will stay the night and stop at some of the museums in PA that you have suggested. I loved the campsite idea but not sure the weather will cooperate. I showed this thread to some friends and we are going to do some of the other things on this list. Disney is not on the cards this year but hopefully it will be next year or the year after.

OP - that sounds like a great time and you will make wonderful memories with your son!

I know you made up your mind but consider Seven Springs in the future too We've been going there the last two Memorial Days. They have a great Memorial Day package and kids are free! It would be well under $500 for you and your son for the long weekend. My two kids really enjoy it up there. Go to their website and the Memorial Day package should be listed soon.

If you do Seven Springs check out Idlewild Park, too.

Anonymous wrote:Pathetic budget, rather save for a few years and have a normal vacation. Rather than this penny pinching crap.

Whoever posted this is just an awful, awful person.

There is a youth hostel in Kitty Hawk that I stayed in, I was trying to camp but it was way too windy (my tent was flapping around my head like a bat's wings) so I took a bunk in the women's dorm for a few nights while I explored from Currituck to Ocracoke. They have private rooms that sleep 2 for $60 plus tax per night! It's in a nice, quiet green neighborhood not far from the bridge. http://www.adventureboundnc.com/hostel.html

We did a partial week beach vacation in Rehoboth last year, I was short on disposable cash and DH was out of town so I wanted to keep it inexpensive. I ended up renting a cabin in a campground off Route 1, it had electric, AC, separate rooms for the double bed and the bunk beds, screened windows, a fridge, microwave, picnic table and fire ring. The campground had a pool and was a short drive to both Lewes (Cape Henlopen beach & Nature center) and downtown Rehoboth (Funland! Cheapest night out ever!) as well as the Midway movie theater and a couple of go-kart/water park places. When it rained I took the kids to the Kid's Cottage daycare for a few hours and went to the outlet mall, then we went to the movies. I cooked a few meals on the camp stove or in the microwave and we toasted marshmallows over the fire. There are several reasonable restaurants like Dogfish Brewpub and Nicola's Pizza that have a kid's menu.
The Deauville Beach just north of town has a little snack stand and is much cleaner than the town beach, it's $10 all day for parking.
We also liked the Pirate's Cove motel, where we extended our stay an extra night. They do not have a pool but the unit was very nice inside and there's a great breakfast place across the street to start your day at the beach.
You might check into a motel with a pool in Chincoteague. You could do 3 nights midweek on your budget or you might look into one of the campgrounds like http://www.pinegrovecampground.com/ - they have a pool and motel rooms.

Knoebels is the best in central PA. Stay close by in Danville. Quality Inn $79/ night, has pool. You get the best bang for your buck at Knoebels.

This is such a great thread! So many good ideas here.

OP, I am a single mom too so we don't have many extravagant vacations either, but your child just wants to be with you and see new things. When you're six, everything is an adventure.

My kids have been to Disney World (due to sharing expenses with a bunch of relatives), but to be honest, they like local places like Kings Dominion just as much (and maybe more, since they get to go much more often).

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP -

Lots of things you can do with this money, and as you've said, the point is to spend quality time together and make memories. Sounds like you may have already decided, but I wanted to note one more inexpensive place that you might want to consider for the future. It's called Lost River State Part in WV. They have cabin rentals that are not expensive, but have everything you need - kitchens, etc. I recall them being about $100 a night, maybe even less if not in summer. But summer is a fun time to go, because they also have a big outdoor pool. There is nice hiking on the grounds and also horseback riding, which would probably cost another $100 for the two of you. So to stay two nights and go horseback riding might be around $300, leaving room for food, gas, etc. This only works if you guys like the outdoors, but the cabin is not camping - it's definitely comfortable. In fact, I think ours was two bedroom, so it might be something fun to do with another child.

Good luck! Hershey Park is obviously awesome for kids too. Truly, I believe it's much more fun than Disney because it's not so overwhelming.

+1. I'd suggested beach camping in Delaware up thread - this is a really good idea, too. LRSP is very pretty and cooler than the DC swamp in the dead of summer!

Our family went to Hershey park when we were kids and that was a blast also. Good luck, OP!

Anonymous wrote:Op here again,

Thank you all for your suggestions. We are going to Hershey park this weekend and will stay the night and stop at some of the museums in PA that you have suggested. I loved the campsite idea but not sure the weather will cooperate. I showed this thread to some friends and we are going to do some of the other things on this list. Disney is not on the cards this year but hopefully it will be next year or the year after.

OP - that sounds like a great time and you will make wonderful memories with your son!

I know you made up your mind but consider Seven Springs in the future too We've been going there the last two Memorial Days. They have a great Memorial Day package and kids are free! It would be well under $500 for you and your son for the long weekend. My two kids really enjoy it up there. Go to their website and the Memorial Day package should be listed soon.

Anonymous wrote:Maybe Knoebels? You just pay for the rides you ride (and/or the pool, if you want to swim) and so it's really inexpensive. And it's in central PA so there's lots of great nature parks, etc. nearby.

I was going to suggest this, although I see on page 6 that the OP has made up their mind.

In theory, you could drive there, ride what you want, and then drive back to Harrisburg and stay there.

The park has plenty of kiddie rides.

Hi OP -

Lots of things you can do with this money, and as you've said, the point is to spend quality time together and make memories. Sounds like you may have already decided, but I wanted to note one more inexpensive place that you might want to consider for the future. It's called Lost River State Part in WV. They have cabin rentals that are not expensive, but have everything you need - kitchens, etc. I recall them being about $100 a night, maybe even less if not in summer. But summer is a fun time to go, because they also have a big outdoor pool. There is nice hiking on the grounds and also horseback riding, which would probably cost another $100 for the two of you. So to stay two nights and go horseback riding might be around $300, leaving room for food, gas, etc. This only works if you guys like the outdoors, but the cabin is not camping - it's definitely comfortable. In fact, I think ours was two bedroom, so it might be something fun to do with another child.

Good luck! Hershey Park is obviously awesome for kids too. Truly, I believe it's much more fun than Disney because it's not so overwhelming.

got to wisp in summer season.

rent house in off season

horse back riding, bikes, hiking

play in yough

swim in lake

Here are some time share presentations https://vacationpackagesorlando.com/mobile/Hotel-Packages.html. We did this a couple of years ago and it was annoying but we got some free tickets out of it.