Affordable Fall Family Vacation

[jbman]

What does the family like to do? The 2 trips you mention are amusement park and water park.
Will the kids enjoy HHI outside of beach season? There is a zip line place, mini golf, horseback riding, hiking/ walking/ biking and then what you fine at the resort (indoor pools, etc).
OceanWatch in Myrtle beach is a great resort for kids. There’s a lot to do in the Myrtle beach area for kids.
Williamsburg gives you the history and an amusement park.
Someone mentioned Boston and there is so much to do there any season- sporting event, aquarium, science museum, childrens museum, freedom trail etc.
Palm beach will be warm so beach/ resort activities but I don’t remember too much else in the area for kids.
When we went to Phoenix we took a side trip to the Grand Canyon which is a great family experience.

Most of our trips so far have been theme park/water park based, which the kids have loved. We did go to Aruba Surf Club in September, that was our first exchange and was a big hit.

They do like to stay active, all those things mentioned sound like things they would enjoy. We would I think be okay with a theme park so long as it is reasonable, ie, not Disney or Universal.

Canyon Villas does look interesting, I believe there is a mini-water park there at the JW Marriott and a nice lazy river, and a day trip to the Grand Canyon does sound great.

 

[Pamplemousse]

Most of our trips so far have been theme park/water park based, which the kids have loved. We did go to Aruba Surf Club in September, that was our first exchange and was a big hit.

They do like to stay active, all those things mentioned sound like things they would enjoy. We would I think be okay with a theme park so long as it is reasonable, ie, not Disney or Universal.

Canyon Villas does look interesting, I believe there is a mini-water park there at the JW Marriott and a nice lazy river, and a day trip to the Grand Canyon does sound great.

Grand Canyon doesn’t make a good day trip- the drive is too long. We stayed overnight At the park lodging.

There are limits on use at the JW, be sure to fully explore that before you book if it matters.

 

[jp10558]

For what I recall being an affordable water part (indoors) Massanutten has that. And lots of outdoor stuff. It was reasonable in early October this year, though I mostly got rained out by the remnants of Helene.

 

[LolaC]

We have two trips already planned for next year that will end up being relatively expensive, Atlantis in April and then Orlando/Epic Universe in June.

We would like to go somewhere in the Fall as well, likely early November, but could also do mid-late October, and were hoping to go somewhere that would be relatively inexpensive, ie, not have to purchase expensive flights to get there and be able to spend most of our time at the resort and not purchase expensive theme park tickets etc.

We're a family of four, kids at that point will be 11 and almost 10. There are a number of Marriott's we would like to try, but it seems a little tricky to plan something affordable as we are not really within driving distance of any of the resorts. Closest I think would be Manor Club at Williamsburg, which would be 11.5 hours according to Google Maps, while we would like to try it, not sure if it is worth that long of a drive. Flying into Richmond from Toronto seems fairly expensive, and no direct flights.

Similar issue with HHI, we have seen so many posts about HHI, we would love to try there, but I'm not sure how we would get there, Google Maps says it would be about a 16-hour drive, and there does not seem to be any affordable or direct flights to a nearby airport if we would be departing from Toronto. Maybe flying to Orlando and then driving from there?

Places I think we should reliably be able to get direct flights that are not too expensive would be Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Phoenix and Cancun.

My wife would prefer somewhere other than Orlando as we would have already been the same year, but if we could get Lakeshore Reserve I might convince her.

Flying to Fort Lauderdale and going to Ocean Pointe seems like it could be a good option, but also Canyon Villas or Lagunamar could also work.

Wondering what more experienced Tuggers would choose if they were in our shoes?

Myrtle Beach-Oceanwatch!!

 

[Dean]

Grand Canyon doesn’t make a good day trip- the drive is too long. We stayed overnight At the park lodging.

There are limits on use at the JW, be sure to fully explore that before you book if it matters.

Agreed. When we were there last (2 weeks before lock down), my sister insisted we go. We were in LV 9 nights but were already booked for air, etc for LV. Had I known we would have flown to Flagstaff or even Phoenix and rented a car then gone to LV. We didn't rent a car for that trip but considered it due to the NEW requirement to go to the Grand Canyon. That said, the tour we took from LV was wonderful though expensive. We did see things on that trip that we would have missed that I personally enjoyed more than the canyon since Kim and I had seen it before but my sister hadn't and it was a bucket list item for her.

 

[jbman]

Agreed. When we were there last (2 weeks before lock down), my sister insisted we go. We were in LV 9 nights but were already booked for air, etc for LV. Had I known we would have flown to Flagstaff or even Phoenix and rented a car then gone to LV. We didn't rent a car for that trip but considered it due to the NEW requirement to go to the Grand Canyon. That said, the tour we took from LV was wonderful though expensive. We did see things on that trip that we would have missed that I personally enjoyed more than the canyon since Kim and I had seen it before but my sister hadn't and it was a bucket list item for her.

Yes, have looked into it further, I think if we go to Canyon Villas, we would love to see the Grand Canyon, but we would plan to spend one night near the Grand Canyon in the middle of the week, that would be an arrival day, two days to relax at the resort, two days to go to the Grand Canyon and back, and then two more resort days before departing. If we go in November I think this is what we'll do.

Now, if we go in October it's between Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head Island, HHI is very tempting and there is lots of exchanges available for Barony Beach Club in October, but nothing for Grande Ocean right now, if Grande Ocean was available mid-October I think we would go with that.

 

[Pamplemousse]

Yes, have looked into it further, I think if we go to Canyon Villas, we would love to see the Grand Canyon, but we would plan to spend one night near the Grand Canyon in the middle of the week, that would be an arrival day, two days to relax at the resort, two days to go to the Grand Canyon and back, and then two more resort days before departing. If we go in November I think this is what we'll do.

Now, if we go in October it's between Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head Island, HHI is very tempting and there is lots of exchanges available for Barony Beach Club in October, but nothing for Grande Ocean right now, if Grande Ocean was available mid-October I think we would go with that.

We booked the overnight stay right through the Grand Canyon park website to stay and had dinner at El Tovar.

 

[Superchief]

Yes, have looked into it further, I think if we go to Canyon Villas, we would love to see the Grand Canyon, but we would plan to spend one night near the Grand Canyon in the middle of the week, that would be an arrival day, two days to relax at the resort, two days to go to the Grand Canyon and back, and then two more resort days before departing. If we go in November I think this is what we'll do.

Now, if we go in October it's between Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head Island, HHI is very tempting and there is lots of exchanges available for Barony Beach Club in October, but nothing for Grande Ocean right now, if Grande Ocean was available mid-October I think we would go with that.

We go to Canyon Villas every other year in March-April. We take the train to Flagstaff and spend 1-2 nights there. It is conveniently located between Grand Canyon and Sedona, so we spend a day at Grand Canyon and then stop in Sedona on our drive to Phoenix. We pick up the rental car in Flagstaff and return it in Phoenix when we fly back. It's a great way to see diverse scenery and enjoy the resort facilities and warm sun. Barony and Surf Watch are nice alternatives in Hilton Head if you can't actually get into Grand Ocean. I actually prefer Surf Watch for its central island location and diversity of landscaping.

 

[dioxide45]

Yes, have looked into it further, I think if we go to Canyon Villas, we would love to see the Grand Canyon, but we would plan to spend one night near the Grand Canyon in the middle of the week, that would be an arrival day, two days to relax at the resort, two days to go to the Grand Canyon and back, and then two more resort days before departing. If we go in November I think this is what we'll do.

Now, if we go in October it's between Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head Island, HHI is very tempting and there is lots of exchanges available for Barony Beach Club in October, but nothing for Grande Ocean right now, if Grande Ocean was available mid-October I think we would go with that.

Definitely spend a night near or in the park. We did this last year when we were in Phoenix. The night in the park wasn't cheap and it was a very basic hotel room in a cinder block concrete building. That said, the convenience made it worth it.

The only issue with the park is the requirement to use the shuttle to get up and down most of the south rim. If you have mobility issues you may be able to get a Scenic Drive Accessibility Permit to permit you to drive on certain roads not accessible to the public.

 

[Passepartout]

Here: https://tugbbs.com/forums/threads/f...-well-even-pay-for-the-title-transfer.369746/ What more could a family want? And you'd OWN it for no cost to you!

Jim

 

[jbman]

We ultimately settled on Hilton Head Island and just accepted an exchange into Grande Ocean Oct. 19-26. Now to figure out how to get there, we are going to keep an eye out for flights from Buffalo, but we may just bite the bullet and drive down. It is a Sun-Sun reservation, so we may drive down to Charlotte on Saturday and stay over a night there and then continue on the next morning.