Best Place For Family With Kids 13 and 8

[caribbeanqueen]

I am planning to book a trip for last week of April, 2021. I would like Aruba Surf Club. If I cannot get this which resort from your personal experience would you suggest for a family? We have been to Kauai Beach Club and St Kitts previously. Everyone loved both places. I was looking at St Thomas, possibly the Ritz or Newport Beach. Also would consider other areas like South Carolina or even Arizona if there are fun things to do around and outside of the resort.
We like a big pool, beach (if possible), fun things to do off site. Looking for thoughts from people who have traveled with their kids or grandkids. My husband and I have traveled to Palm Springs and stayed at a hotel for a few days. Not sure there is much to do with the kids there. Thanks in advance!

 

[Pamplemousse]

If you don’t have small kids who would be disappointed to not be at surf club with the lazy river I would add Aruba ocean club to the list. We liked the beach at that resort and our older teens preferred it to the surf club which was crazy with kids running everywhere.

Myrtle beach has tons of activities for kids- amusement parks and mini golf and broadway at the beach with ripely aquarium and other attractions, alligator adventure at barefoot landing. Of course these are the types of things you have to pay for. For us it is plenty warm enough there in april ( we are from New England). We haven’t stayed at Oceanwatch yet but have a trip coming up this year- I know they have an indoor pool.

We also like Hilton Head- mini golf, zip line, horseback riding etc. IMO a little more upscale that MB- so less
“amusements” But plenty to do. We have stayed at Grande Ocean right in the beach and visited friends at Surf watch. Grande ocean has an indoor pool too.

We loved Crystal Shores on Marco Island Fl. We took a drive to the Everglades National park and did a couple of boat tours to see alligators and manatees. Beautiful beach. Plaza across the street with restaurants and movie theatre and mini golf also across the street.

We enjoyed a trip to canyon villas in Phoenix- that resort allows you to use the pools at the J.W. which includes a lazy river. We took an overnight trip to the Grand Canyon while we were there. Loved the Phoenix botanical gardens and wandering around scottsdale.

We stayed at Shadow Ridge in Palm desert and had a great Jeep ride into the Sonoran desert to see the Joshua trees (kids were amazed at how cold it got!), went hiking, horseback riding, and the Living Desert Zoo & garden was great fun.

The Big Island of Hawaii is an amazing place for kids- and adults.

We went to St Thomas April 2018 so soon after the resort reopened from the hurricane damage and while that was beautiful and the resort was great we didn’t find alot of stuff to do- away from the resort. We did do kayaking from the resort and went hiking in a garden and went to several beach. It seemed lots of things were still recovering from the hurricane only open when the cruise ships were in.

 

[Tfziggs]

We've traveled to the following MVC and Vistana resorts with our kids (ages 8, 6 & 3):
Westin Lagunamar, Kierland, Marriott Canyon Villas, Newport beach and Shadow Ridge. Of these, Lagunamar, Kierland and Canyon Villas were our personal favorites based on the combination of onsite (kid friendly) amenities and offsite activities.

We were just in Lagunamar this last Nov. and loved this resort. The beach is beautiful, the infinity pool is largest I've ever seen, there is a water slide, great kids club and mini-golf onsite. Lots of restaurants near-by and plenty of options for day trips / excursions.

Kierland Villas and Canyon Villas also have great onsite amenities. Kierland has 2 large pools and a water slide at the villa complex and access to the Westin Kierland resort next door with another large pool, lazy river and water slide. Similarly, canyon villas has a large pool, splash pad, soccer field / sports court and access to the JW desert ridge resort with a pool, lazy river and water slide. We also did 1/2 day trips to the phoenix zoo, children's museum, train museum and old scottsdale. Our kids enjoyed all of these, but with the exception of old scottsdale these are geared toward younger kids. We've also been in April and always had great weather that time of the year.

Newport was also nice, but I think it would be better suited for tween / teen aged kids. Our kids were young and still napping so limited what we could do during the day. We want to go back when they are a little older and we can do more day trips with the resort as our base.

Shadow ridge, has good onsite kid friendly amenities (multiple pools (one zero entry), waterslide, splash pad, kids club) but like you said wasn't much to do with kids outside the resort in palm desert. We still had a good time but would choose one of the other resorts mentioned if they were available.

I'm also curious to hear others thoughts / opinions on this topic as we also want to try other kid friendly mvc/vistana resorts.

 

[NboroGirl]

Don't overlook the obvious: Orlando. Besides Disney, there's Universal Studios (our preferred theme parks), Sea World, and a whole bunch of other stuff to do in the area.

 

[caribbeanqueen]

Thanks so much everyone for the input and suggestions.
Pamplemousse we too are in New England! 70 degrees is a heatwave lol
Lots to consider! I appreciate your thoughts.
We stayed for a couple days at Crystal Shores last year. We have a home in Florida due to visiting my aging parents frequently so its not a far drive there or to Orlando.
We have a couple nights booked at Ocean Pointe this April.
Tfziggs I do not think my family will go to Mexico. Kierland sounds interesting.
I think my daughter has her heart set on Aruba but at their ages besides beach and pool what will they do?
We did St Kitts last year and they were thrilled with beach and pool.
A slide would be awesome.
I think at their ages next year 13 and 9 they would enjoy Newport Beach. You know kids today, they need constant entertainment.

Nboro because we have a place in Glorida and my SIL's parents are the Villages in Florida they have pretty much been to all the parks. I hear the resorts are spectacular though!

Appreciate all the information. Hope someone can give more info on the Newport Beach tesort!
TIA

 

[Pamplemousse]

in my limited experience there really isn’t much to do in Aruba besides pool and beach.
i know surf club has lots of kids stuff- kids bop music and games and hair braiding etc. you can pay to ride tubes and such on the beach. We walked up the beach to a “mall” area with a several restaurants. We went to the national park and checked out the cave with bats ( other than that is was a hot desert and the ac in the rental car kept cutting out- not fun).
give Myrtle beach or Hilton head a look.

 

[elaine]

My kids loved hhi and mb at those ages. We like HHi to ride bike all around including on the beach.
Our all time fav Marriott is ile de France near Disney Paris. I assume Europe is not what you’re looking for, but it’s fantastic and my kids loved it.

 

[caribbeanqueen]

Elaine that would not totally be out of the question although DH might have heart failure because he would probably have to pay for all four of their flights lol I previously had asked him about Spain and he was not too excited but I thought it was a great idea. It would be late April (not sure of the weather that time of year) or summer months. My daughter would freak if I surprised her with that.
We have only been to Europe once and it was Malta. Long story short years ago RCI had certificates you could buy for about 350.00 and that was all you paid for the week at destinations 60 days and under. I found Malta at a Radisson Blu. I did not realize it was put back because in mid July it is 107 degrees. Haha, we still had an awesome time and this hotel was 1500.00 normally for that week. My bucket list is Germany but no TS there

 

[MOXJO7282]

My kids loved hhi and mb at those ages. We like HHi to ride bike all around including on the beach.
Our all time fav Marriott is ile de France near Disney Paris. I assume Europe is not what you’re looking for, but it’s fantastic and my kids loved it.

I 2nd HHI for the bike riding but if you need to go in April not sure if that is swimming weather. ST. Thomas would also be a great choice nice as the weather there is pretty moderate all year round. I'm one that thinks STT is going to be a really nice destination again once the hotel and their pools and restaurants are open which should be by the end of 2020.

 

[Pompey Family]

April in Andalusia can be a bit hit or miss, usually hit but we have been stuck with a couple of days of solid miserable drizzle. Both resorts on the mainland have indoor pools but these become crowded during inclement weather. The main pool at Son Antem in Mallorca has an indoor pool where you can swim into the outdoor pool, it's the same water so the same temperature, kids don't mind playing in that pool if it's raining. There's a teen den at Playa Andaluza with table tennis and free arcade game machines plus a lot of undercover equipment such as pool, more table tennis, chess sets etc. There is similar at MBC but we've only been once and I didn't thoroughly explore the resort (it's a larger resort than PA).

The Marriott in France will be cooler than Spain but it has a nice big indoor pool. The nearby Disneyland Paris is geared up for rain so it should never be a concern plus there's lots to see and do in the area.

If you were considering Europe then I would look at the Spanish resorts. Playa Andaluza and Marbella Beach Club are probably easier to get to from the US and the kids might prefer them to Son Antem but Mallorca has the best sights within such easy driving distance. Our kids prefer Son Antem (so do we) but it's better if the weather is nice. We've had one day of rain in all the times we've vsisted Son Antem which has primarily been May, June, August, October and December.

 

[mdurette]

In aruba last year we did an animal tour, picked us up right at Ocean Club. It took us to:
Donkey Sanctuary
Philips Animal garden
Ostrich Farm

 

[caribbeanqueen]

I am really enjoying reading all the different suggestions and what properties people enjoy. My hope is it will help others as well.
We have been to Surf Club twice but not with grandchildren. I have been to Aruba 4 times.

We went to Kauai with my daughter's family (2 grandchildren ages10 and 6 at the time) in April 3 years ago. We stayed on the north shore for 2 nights at Turtle Bay (I got a fantastic deal on a 72 hour sale). We went to Pearl Harbor one day then took the plane over to Kauai. My family loved it. So much to see and do.
Last year we went to St. Kitts. The beach was not that greatcat the resort but my family did swim in it. We hung by the pool and visited Reggae Beach twice. Again, family loved it.
I have considered St Thomas. We could do either the Ritz or Frenchman's Cove but it doesn't look like the beaches are great. Can someone tell me about either of them?
Are the restaurants good? How about the pools?
We took a cruise over Christmas and one stop was St Thomas. The beach we went to was nice.
We visited St Thomas many years ago and took a ferry to St John. Beautiful but probably not much to do there.

If I had a lot of money Id take my family to Spain in the summer but paying for 6 plane tickets!! You'd have to get lucky and find a good sale.
Hope more people join in with suggestikns and family vacation stories!

 

[elaine]

Airfare in April to Paris is likely not too bad.
it will be chilly and maybe a little rainy.
but no lines for Disney or Paris attractions.