I need trip ideas!

[la79al]

I don't know if this is the place to post this or not. With Christmas coming up, I am determined that this is going to be the year that we get away from stuff and gift experiences instead. That being said, I need ideas. What are some experiences your family has really enjoyed? We are in PA but visit FL a few times a year. We aren't ready to head back to Disney but have not tried Universal yet. We already do the beach and sadly are taking a year off from Williamsburg. I'm not sure if I want to go bigger or smaller with activities but oldest DD is 14 and already chooses to stay home rather than go along to some local stuff we do. Other kids are 12 and 7 and they are really up for anything.

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

Hi! I'm originally from the southeastern part of PA. Headed back there next Saturday morning and I could not be more excited!! Hello cheesesteaks, hello good pizza, hello fall, hello nice temperatures!

Have you considered Colorado? I travel there often for work and we just love it there. My kids have loved it there too. How about Gulf Shores or Orange Beach? Disneyland? Gatlinburg? Not sure what you're looking for, but those are some places that we've gone in lieu of Disney World over the years. We've also done Hawaii each year instead of a week long Disney World trip... and we haven't tried Universal yet either!

 

[LynnTH]

What about a cruise. My kids are now 23 and 21, but we started cruising with them at 8 and 6. They love cruising and so do I. And it costs less than a week at Disney and many other places. (depending on the ship and time you go...)

 

[sallysue66]

My family loves cruises as well. There is much more to do at most ports besides going to a beach. We have done zip lining in Roatan, cave tubing in Belize, snorkeling (boat excursions) in Mexico, St Thomas, Grand Turk, Bahamas, Grand Cayman. Our excursion to the Blue Hole in Jamaica is still a family favorite. It's a hiking/waterfall/cliff jumping adventure. Just a small cliff
We also really enjoyed a trip out west to Sedona and the Grand Canyon. Lots of hiking and a great jeep tour in Sedona.

 

[Dakota731]

We love Universal but if you want something different than an amusement park, then I second Gatlinburg or a cruise. We enjoy the national parks too but not sure what month you are traveling.

 

[greeneyedchick]

If you are in Orlando but aren't going to Disney, my kids enjoyed the iFLy simulated sky diving experience.

We loved Sedona Arizona, Monument Valley Utah and Antelope Canyon.

Dollywood and Cedar Ridge

My kids actually said that the Great Wold Lodge in the Poconos was better than Disney World.

We enjoyed the Franklin Institute in Philly. The Liberty Science Center in Jersey. Touring NYC and seeing a Broadway show. The kids like the pumpkin farms with the big nighttime corn mazes. When I lived in PA, we also enjoyed our vacations to Gettysburg. Seeing all of the museums in DC is fun, too. Concerts are a big one for my teens.

 

[TwoMisfits]

I don't know if this is the place to post this or not. With Christmas coming up, I am determined that this is going to be the year that we get away from stuff and gift experiences instead. That being said, I need ideas. What are some experiences your family has really enjoyed? We are in PA but visit FL a few times a year. We aren't ready to head back to Disney but have not tried Universal yet. We already do the beach and sadly are taking a year off from Williamsburg. I'm not sure if I want to go bigger or smaller with activities but oldest DD is 14 and already chooses to stay home rather than go along to some local stuff we do. Other kids are 12 and 7 and they are really up for anything.

Last year, I gifted one kid an annual Cinemark movie pass (in my name b/c you have to be 18+, but he picks one movie/month for the family), and another kid the "concessions" for the 12 planned movies.

I also gift my kids the Playstation and Switch annual online programs.

All of these gifts were so popular, they are already being asked for again.

Last year, I also gifted kids my local trampoline park's "gift card pack" which had 3 free jumps, free socks, free drink, free pizza, etc. Another popular gift, but not yet reasked for.

Like you, I wanted to get them more out and about and have less "stuff." I'm still deciding how I'm gonna split stuff/experiences this year, knowing that the "big gifts" are almost handled...

 

[kathy884]

I don't spend a lot of Christmas and allocate more monies for travel, but not typically Christmas travel.

For Christmas, for DS this year who is in his 20s, I'm just going to take him to the Symphony for a Christmas program (traditional program with sing-a-long too). Do you guys like theatre? There have been past Christmases where I gifted DS two tickets to a traveling broadway show -- I did though know if was one he really wanted to see (hate to spend those kind of prices unless you know it's a show someone is really interested in).

I find Christmas is the most expensive time of the year to travel, so don't like to travel then. I realize that for many families tied to the school schedule that this is the best time for them to get together (e.g. my brother has a family of teachers and now a grandchlld who is school aged), but places are very crowded and very expensive -- Christmas week in particular. They often will rent a house in a more natural area of Florida and just stay in Orlando a few days too and do just one theme park -- usually SeaWorld. On occasion they have done both the MK and SeaWorld, but spend most of there time in a natural more beach area of Florida over the holidays.

We do a lot of travel to Colorado (usually summer), but that's because DH in particular really likes the west and it's one place that we all like. For an amusement park place, I really like Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH for a mini trip (nice setting on Lake Erie and if you like traditional roller coasters it's the best of the best). We have found early June to be less crowded and less expensive than later in the summer season for there.

 

[smwisc]

I don't know if this is the place to post this or not. With Christmas coming up, I am determined that this is going to be the year that we get away from stuff and gift experiences instead. That being said, I need ideas. What are some experiences your family has really enjoyed? We are in PA but visit FL a few times a year. We aren't ready to head back to Disney but have not tried Universal yet. We already do the beach and sadly are taking a year off from Williamsburg. I'm not sure if I want to go bigger or smaller with activities but oldest DD is 14 and already chooses to stay home rather than go along to some local stuff we do. Other kids are 12 and 7 and they are really up for anything.

We had a wonderful trip to the Smoky Mountains over spring break. It's a nice mix of options - we spend approximately 2.5 days in the national park (hiking and driving), a day in Gatlinburg, a day at Dollywood, and .5 day ziplining (though CLIMBworks - amazing - highly recommend). We rented a VRBO in the mountains but there's lots of hotel options as well, depending on whether you lean more toward nature or city.

We also love the Badlands and Black Hills of SD, although that's further for you. Similar in some respects in that you can do a combination of nature and touristy things (although I recommend sticking mostly to nature).

 

[DunderMifflin]

Definitely go to Universal. They have 2 parks, but the rides are for mid to older teens and adults. It's themed but just small areas of the park instead of like Disney where one park is one huge theme.

 

[QueenIsabella]

Definitely go to Universal. They have 2 parks, but the rides are for mid to older teens and adults. It's themed but just small areas of the park instead of like Disney where one park is one huge theme.

Personally, I wouldn't recommend Universal for a 7yo (which the OP has, per her signature). Unless the child is particularly adventurous. Maybe in a couple years. I'd go with Great Wolf Lodge, instead--plenty for all ages.

 

[RogueX]

So I'm going to approach this like a travel agent, since I was one a long time ago.

Think about your family's likes and interests. That's a good starting point.

Do you want to stay within the realm of the U.S.? Perhaps expand the radius of travel to include Caribbean, Mexico, and other destinations around there? Or are you open to international travel anywhere?

What is your budget?

Is this gift to be shortly after Christmas or for sometime in the near future? What I mean by this is, are you planning the trip to be taken shortly after or around Christmas time or will the gift itself be presented as "this spring or summer we'll be traveling to....."

These are all of the things I ask friends and family when they are looking to plan trips. And for my daughter and husband this year, our Christmas gift is actually already purchased in the form of a trip to London.

I hope that helps a bit in figuring out what you want to do.

 

[emily nicole]

We just got home from our first cruise and LOVED it. We cruised on Carnival and I couldn't believe how much cheaper it was than our Disney vacays lol. We cruised to Costa Maya and Cozumel. Our next trip is in January to WDW and I'd almost rather be taking another cruise if we hadn't promised Disney to the kids. Never thought I'd say that!

 

[QueenIsabella]

A couple other thoughts--is there anything local, where a family membership or something might be appreciated? A zoo or local theme park, where you could just go for a few hours on an average summer Tuesday, then go back again a couple weeks later? When I was a kid, my parents had family memberships to Boston's Children's Museum and the Museum of Science--we loved going. Similarly, here we get a special beach pass every year. It allows to actually park ON the beach, and in an area where dogs are allowed year-round (not always the case on our local beaches).

 

[ElenaRN]

I feel the same way as you do OP? We have so much "stuff". I want to do the same for the kids this year. We were thinking big like a weekend trip to UO.
But if you were thinking smaller what about a weekend in NYC? Do you go into Manhattan often?
A broadway show, a visit to the Harry Potter store. Tons of sight seeing, restaurants and shopping.
If you come during Christmas break you can enjoy the holiday decorations.

 

[Tygerlilly]

We are fully on board with more experiences and less stuff for the last year or so. Birthdays and holidays. They still get some toys, but each kid gets a weekend trip "gift" that's kind of tailored to them: my 5 year old LOVES animals, so we have a trip to an out of state zoo planned; 7 year old loves gaming so we are doing an overnight trip a few hours away where they have a couple arcades. We also do memberships to the local zoo and children's museums every year.

This year we have a 2 week trip just before Christmas to see family. We're driving to Indiana for hubby's family for a few days, then to Pittsburgh for a few days to see my family, and then stopping in Gatlinburg for 2 nights on the way home.

I've seen really cool gifts where 12 overnight trips are planned and all the info is put into envelopes and you open one each month and it's a surprise to everyone what you're doing. That sounded fun!

 

[scanmom]

Check out Branson Mo. Silver Dollar City has the absolute best christmas decor anywhere, and there are so many shows available you can have your choice of styles. The Branson Belle is great, and we love the Presleys show among others

 

[Disneyfan754321]

The go city passes are amazing, almost every city has them now days. Best and most affordable way to see a city even if it's your own.

 

[disny_luvr]

We are also from PA! We typically vacation in Disney or the beach, but this year we changed things up and headed out west, and we had the most amazing and best time! We visited Badlands NP, Custer State Park, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone NP, Grand Teton NP, and Rocky Mountain NP. We really cannot wait to return to the west and are planning our next trip to visit Bryce Canyon NP, Zion NP, and the Grand Canyon. I don't think we'll do that next year, but maybe the following. A few years ago we visited the Smoky Mountains and had a great time there, too. There is a lot more touristy stuff in that area and it reminded us of the beach but without the beach. New England is another idea. Boston and Maine might be fun!

 

[pklein09]

Where in PA are you? Longwood Gardens is outside Philly, and has a yearly membership. My Pop has given that to my sister along with a yearly membership for the Philadelphia Zoo so she can go with her family (4 boys ages 3-10). They go for all the seasonal events, especially Longwood Gardens.

We have taken our kids to see Blue Man Group, although my kids were all teenagers at the time.

You could do a "12 Days of Christmas Gift" for the year and have a planned family activity once a month, every month. It doesn't have to be anything extravagant. It could be a trip to the movies one month, a picnic and hike the next, and trip to a museum after that. Just make it something different each time, with one or two "bigger" events that might involve overnight stays. You could plan out the first few and ask them for input for the rest.