vacation ideas besides wdw? About This Page:

[hall0731]

Originally Posted by Carousel96

When are you planning to go? Spring Break is crazy busy.
Lately we've been there late June / around the 4th of July and it's pretty crowded, especially as you get closer to the holiday.
I've heard hotels are cheapest in DC in August, but I wouldn't want to go then. I know you're from Texas, but it's still HOT!
October is lovely, but school schedules are an issue.
As to evenings, you have to see the monuments at night. They're beautiful. There are some other fun evening walking tours that can fill that time. It's also a popular time to go up the Washington Monument. We adjusted our schedule and ate late so we didn't lose museum time to dinner.
You can order tickets for some things in advance -- last year we had our tix for Fords Theater and the Washington Monument before we left home. Your Congressional rep can often arrange for some tours in advance. I'd go through them for Bureau of Engraving and Printing tix, as they are "wait in line only" distribution otherwise, and that's just nuts. There's a special tour at the end of the day for folks with Congressional reservations.

We would be going probably early june, right after school lets out here in texas. I cannot go during the school year. My son's school district is very strict on absences and I don't want to be slapped with truancy. Do you have to pre-order tickets for all of the sites?

[hall0731]

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Alaska!

My son would love your for saying that! He wants to go to alaska so bad. I have heard transportation can be challengin there. Also that everything is so expensive there.

[Carousel96]

Originally Posted by hall0731

We would be going probably early june, right after school lets out here in texas. I cannot go during the school year. My son's school district is very strict on absences and I don't want to be slapped with truancy. Do you have to pre-order tickets for all of the sites?

Early June will be better than late June. We were there the last week of June this year and saw crowds pick up as the holiday weekend got closer.

Most sites -- the Archives, most monuments and Smithsonian museums -- don't have tickets. And if you mean tickets for things like the tourmobile and monuments at night, you don't need those in advance.
But for things like going to the top of the Washington Monument, it was worth the $2 fee or whatever it was to be sure we had tix and not have to wait in line. Washington Monument National Monument - Fees & Reservations (U.S. National Park Service). If a site has same day ticket distribution (Washington Monument, Engraving and Printing come to mind) you can find yourself standing in line for the window to open at 8:30, only to have to come back at 4:30 because that's the time you got.

Your Congressperson or Senator can take requests for White House tours. Check with their office about that. We signed up six months out.
The Capitol and Capitol Visitors Center have really strict requirements on what you can take in (no food, no beverage bottles even if empty) so plan accordingly. My daughter and I did a "staff led" tour through our Senator's office this June. We were able to leave our bags -- and bottled water -- in his office during the tour, which was quite nice.

[Mgmgal]

Yellowstone National Park is amazing. My family went on a two week out west road trip (Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah) when I was fairly young and I remember a lot more than they thought I would. One of the greatest things I remember is seeing a herd of bison walking right next to our van. I will never forget it. And of course there is old faithful.

[Colexis Mom]

Originally Posted by hall0731

My son would love your for saying that! He wants to go to alaska so bad. I have heard transportation can be challengin there. Also that everything is so expensive there.

We had no problems with transportation (we had a rental car). And it's not really that more expensive. Granted I live in CT where everything is expensive, so maybe I don't have a right frame of reference, but all the hotels we stayed at were between $150/$200 night. Yes, some excursions are expensive, I'll give you that, so you have to pick and choose wisely! There is plenty of flaura and fauna which is free!

[Charlie97]

Last year my best friend, his family and my kids and I did a three day vacation at Canyon Lake, just outside of New Braunfels. We managed to hit Sea World in S.A. which is just 30 mins away. The next day we tubed the Guadalupe River and hit Canyon Lake and cooked out there. The third day we hit the outlet malls in San Marcos.

Talk about a very relaxing time....on the way home we hit San Antonio, the riverwalk and some sites.

[Sweetpeama]

Fly into Billings, MT spend 1 day exploring The Western Heritage Center, Yellowstone County Museum, and The Yellowstone Art Center along with The Canyon Creek Battle sight of the Nez Pierce flight to Canada under the leadership of Chief Joseph,Spend 1 day going to Big Horn Battlefield though if you go later in June you can watch the reinactment of Custer's demise. 1 day for the Indian Caves. 1 going to Pompey's Pillar. 1 day in Red Lodge 63 miles away be sure and visit The Beartooth Nature Center and check out Wild Bill Lake. The next day go over the beartooth pass on the Cooke City Highway if it is open. Normal opening is around Memorial Day but is dependent on snow being cleared off the road. Be sure and let the kids play in the snow at one of the look outs. Spend at least 1.5 days in Yellowstone National Park. Loop back either through Bozeman. There is a nice hotsprings close by, a computer museum and The Museum of the Rockies right in town. The other way to loop back that I would reccomend is going through Cody, WY make plans to spend 1 to 2 days at The Buffalo Bill Historical Center which is actually 5 museums under 1 roof

[modisney]

We do something each year besides WDW. Here's what we've done and all have been a success:

Colorado Springs, Col.
The Grand Canyon
Bar Harbor & Acadia Nat. Park, Maine
Boston, Mass.
Alaska via DCL
A few added weekends to Chicago

There's also a good website call FamilyVacationCritic.com that might give you some ideas.

[Disneybine]

Have you considered either Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon or Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks?

[carters_mom]

Originally Posted by Pax

Here's an idea for you:

Washington D.C. - the Smithsonian museums, the monuments, the National Zoo; even for your kids, there's stuff to see and do there. And in Virginia, right next door, there are a host of things to do - some of which, you'd want to get a new hotel / motel room close by, to avoid tons of back-and-forth driving on yoru vacation.

One possible itinerary would be:

• Spend 4 days in D.C.; see a museum or two, go to the Zoo, visit a few monuments.
• To the south (a bit north of Richmond) is an amusement / theme park called "King's Dominion", that hopefully has something to entertain most or all members of the family. Maybe spend 1 day there
• East of Richmond are two places to visit; Busch Gardens: Williamsburg (good for a day or two, I'd guess) and Water Country (a Water park, your kids would probably both enjoy a day spent there.

That would mean three different hotel reservations - one in D.C., one north of Richmond, and one in Williamsburg. It'd also mean a bit of driving mid-vacation.

...

In other words: "ROAD TRIP!"

We just returned from a trip like this with our 9yr old son. Spent 2 nights in Downtown DC, parked at hotel and toured the city on foot. We packed a lot in, so for us the two and a half days was enough for our taste. I agree with others though, there is plenty to do for several days if you want to go at a leisure pace, especially with a young one. My advice would be to come into DC on a weekend if at all possible, the hotel rates are half the cost on weekends. Because there is so much to offer that's free, it was the cheapest leg of our vacation, and our son's favorite!
After DC we drove south to Williamsburg Virginia and spent two nights. We didn't do Water Country although it looks pretty cool, we did Busch Gardens instead. I have been spoiled by Disney so I was a bit disappointed with Busch Gardens. It is a beautiful park but I we enjoyed our visit to Busch Gardens Tampa much more, and of course nothing compares to Disney There is a really cute Elmo section at the park though(your three yr old would probably love it), and some really good attractions. They were just really spread out and not as many as I would have expected. Not many animals either. Personally, I wouldn't visit again. We passed Kings Dominion on our way down, maybe a better option??? Williamsburg is a very fun town though, lots of shops and things to do with your family. There are also attractions for Historic Williamsburg and Jamestown. If we hadn't just left historic sites in DC we would have been more interested in checking them out.
Our next stop was Virginia Beach, which was AMAZING! Lots to see and do and the beach was beautiful. We are ready to go back! Obviously it might not be for you guys though, since your husband does't want a beach trip.


I have always wanted to Pigeon Forge and Hershey Pennsylvania too

[magic mickey]

IMO, I would wait a year or two for Washington DC, I think it is hard with a young one. I think NYC would be awesome! So much to do for all ages.

[Huntermom]

One of the things I thought of after reading all the posts is how flexible is your 3 year old? When my kids were young, vacations to just one destination were better (keeping in mind that my 3 were within 5 years). We would usually rent a house or a suite type hotel so we could settle in a bit and do nearby day trips.

Have you considered a beach vacation? Maybe a house in Maine? Outside of Bar Harbor but close enough to explore Acadia?

The other thing is do you have a budget? We were often constrained by the cost of plane tickets to some more remote areas. You can get sales to the bigger airports but it hard to get them to Montana or Minnesota.

How much have you traveled in Texas? I've been impressed by how different different parts of the state are.

[hall0731]

Originally Posted by Huntermom

One of the things I thought of after reading all the posts is how flexible is your 3 year old? When my kids were young, vacations to just one destination were better (keeping in mind that my 3 were within 5 years). We would usually rent a house or a suite type hotel so we could settle in a bit and do nearby day trips.

Have you considered a beach vacation? Maybe a house in Maine? Outside of Bar Harbor but close enough to explore Acadia?

The other thing is do you have a budget? We were often constrained by the cost of plane tickets to some more remote areas. You can get sales to the bigger airports but it hard to get them to Montana or Minnesota.

How much have you traveled in Texas? I've been impressed by how different different parts of the state are.

We have traveled extensively in Texas. We are going to San Antonio/hill country next summer. Budget is not necessarily a problem. I just have an issue choking down paying alot for a night in a hotel. My husband doesn't care for beaches. My daughter is only 10 month right now, but I would pick one place to travel to and take trips from there anyhow.

[hall0731]

Originally Posted by Disneybine

Have you considered either Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon or Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks?

We have been to las vegas already. My son does NOT want to go back. He had a horrible time. I have thought about the grand canyon and doing some stuff in arizona. Yosemite and Sequioa I would like my daughter to be a little older so he is more apt to do some light hiking and nature trails.

[hall0731]

I have been looking at hotels in washington d.c. and found Marriott Fairfield Inns and Suites Downtown on 500 H Street NW for 2500.0 for 8 nights. Metro stop GalleryPlace/chinatown is 2 blocks away. Is this good? I don't want to be in an unsafe location.