Favorite location/timeshare you have been to with your kids?

[jme]

Atlantis....(Paradise Is, Bahamas)

second to none.

http://www.atlantis.com/

http://www.nassauparadiseisland.com/where-to-stay/atlantis-paradise-island/

http://www.atlantisbahamas.com/thingstodo

IMAGES:
https://www.google.com/search?q=ima...X&ved=0ahUKEwj6182F0InKAhWFRCYKHdwGDwsQsAQIGw



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[FLDVCFamily]

We live in Orlando area too, when our kids were small, we took trips to Vermont, Cape Cod,New Hampshire,Connecticut, helped that we have family up North did visits with cousins, Grandparents etc. IF you choose to stay close to home go to Clearwater St. Pete area, lots to do if you like the beach and Busch Gardens is there and not too far from home, if someone gets sick or emergency arises. Florida is such a unique state as no counties are alike. Also Myrtle Beach, SC is a great place for kids as is Branson, MO.
Wherever you decide, have a great time, kids grow up fast and are off on thier own sooner than you expect.
Silentg

We have family in New England so we do go there. Unfortunately our family doesn't live in the most exciting places so the kids aren't exactly begging to go back:rofl: I've thought about trading into Smuggs or the MVC in downtown Boston, but DH won't vacation in New England so I'd have to go by myself. He left and never looked back:rofl:

Clearwater is definitely an option. We did Tampa/Busch Gardens camp last summer and while the kids LOVED the camp, DH and I were bored in Tampa. We decided no to go back as a result. Clearwater would be more interesting I think. If nothing else, the beaches look great.

 

[WinniWoman]

I have actually just suggested staying at Worldmark West Yellowstone to a family member with 2 kids under school age.

The reason is that I think when you have 2 small kids- yes- it is a lot of driving- but at least you have a condo to spread out in, with tvs, a living room and kitchen, 2 bathrooms, a pool, a playground, barbecue grills, etc. I think this is a big plus for families with small kids and also who need to be on a budget food wise.

 

[Passepartout]

Hard to imagine even screen crazy, urban and urbane kids not getting lifetime memories from seeing elk, bison, eagles, wolves, hearing campfire stories, experiencing being inside one of the world's largest volcano calderas, and seeing first hand over half the world's geysers on one place.

But no matter, the last time we went to Yellowstone/Grand Teton over Memorial Day, the roads had opened that week and there was 6 feet of snow on the picnic tables. The positive side: no crowds.

Jim

 

[missyrcrews]

Hard to imagine even screen crazy, urban and urbane kids not getting lifetime memories from seeing elk, bison, eagles, wolves, hearing campfire stories, experiencing being inside one of the world's largest volcano calderas, and seeing first hand over half the world's geysers on one place.

But no matter, the last time we went to Yellowstone/Grand Teton over Memorial Day, the roads had opened that week and there was 6 feet of snow on the picnic tables. The positive side: no crowds.

Jim

It's interesting what kids enjoy. Sometimes they don't need fancy and elaborate. Mine had a ball today because we let them pick out any book they wanted at a small independent bookstore. And then they got to choose candy at the candy store next door. AND we went to an indoor arcade with tons of old (things I grew up with!) video games. BLISS as far as they were concerned. Total price of the whole day was about 100 dollars, and they are happy as clams. I think I'm happy my family has simple tastes!

 

[WinniWoman]

It's interesting what kids enjoy. Sometimes they don't need fancy and elaborate. Mine had a ball today because we let them pick out any book they wanted at a small independent bookstore. And then they got to choose candy at the candy store next door. AND we went to an indoor arcade with tons of old (things I grew up with!) video games. BLISS as far as they were concerned. Total price of the whole day was about 100 dollars, and they are happy as clams. I think I'm happy my family has simple tastes!

Exactly- it's the simple things in life......

 

[Rene McDaniel]

Hard to imagine even screen crazy, urban and urbane kids not getting lifetime memories from seeing elk, bison, eagles, wolves, hearing campfire stories, experiencing being inside one of the world's largest volcano calderas, and seeing first hand over half the world's geysers on one place.

But no matter, the last time we went to Yellowstone/Grand Teton over Memorial Day, the roads had opened that week and there was 6 feet of snow on the picnic tables. The positive side: no crowds.

Jim

We stayed in a TS outside Island Park to visit Yellowstone and it was fine. You've got to get out of the car plenty to really experience Yellowstone, so it's easy to balance the in-car time with outdoor time. Agree that it's not a great destination for those unable or unwilling to get out of their vehicles.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

You know, this thread reminds me of the Costa Rica thread where the poster shared concerns about being flamed for saying they did not enjoy Costa Rica. Not every place is great for every family. My comments reflect our own personal experience in Yellowstone - which was not the great timeshare vacation we had hoped for.

No, we did not do a "drive thru it" trip and just stay in the car. We went to all the different gysers: a huge assortment of various oozing, bubbling hot pots, Old Faithful, and various waterfalls spread throughout Yellowstone. But you have to walk on the boardwalks & paths for safety reasons, and actually it is a lot of looking and viewing. Or, in the case of the ranger talks - listening. So not as much for kids to actually "do" as we would have liked.

We really enjoyed the chuck wagon trail ride, where you leave from the Roosevelt Hotel and ride the wagons out for an outdoor dinner on the trail. Super fun. We could have done with more activities like that, but Yellowstone does not really have a lot of offerings. We saw plenty of bison and elk, but not a huge amount of other wildlife when we were there. We drove up to the area where the wolves are supposed to be, but they are elusive, and we never saw any. We think we may have seen an eagle, but it was so far away, maybe it was an eagle or maybe it was a large hawk.

We had better luck viewing wildlife outside the park, rather than inside. We took a daytrip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming to do a white water rafting trip and saw a moose in the river. Pretty cool. On the way back to the airport in Idaho, we stopped off at a little side of the road business called "Bear Country" or something like that. Hokey, but much appreciated because we never actually saw bears inside the park.

My husband had been to Yellowstone as a kid, and had such great memories. But during our summer week there it was bumper-to-bumper traffic everyday, lots of road construction, not easy to find animals other than elk & bison, and many long hours of driving back-and-forth to the timeshare in West Yellowstone. That is why I recommended someone might have a better summer experience by staying inside the national park. Or, maybe doing more research ahead of time for kid-friendly activities. We are more used to Yosemite National Park, which is much more compact and offers lots of family activities: biking, rafting, horseback riding, swimming, organized hikes, evening camp programs, etc.

But go ahead and flame away if you are not willing to hear different points of view.

--- Rene

 

[Elan]

You know, this thread reminds me of the Costa Rica thread where the poster shared concerns about being flamed for saying they did not enjoy Costa Rica. Not every place is great for every family. My comments reflect our own personal experience in Yellowstone - which was not the great timeshare vacation we had hoped for.

No, we did not do a "drive thru it" trip and just stay in the car. We went to all the different gysers: a huge assortment of various oozing, bubbling hot pots, Old Faithful, and various waterfalls spread throughout Yellowstone. But you have to walk on the boardwalks & paths for safety reasons, and actually it is a lot of looking and viewing. Or, in the case of the ranger talks - listening. So not as much for kids to actually "do" as we would have liked.

We really enjoyed the chuck wagon trail ride, where you leave from the Roosevelt Hotel and ride the wagons out for an outdoor dinner on the trail. Super fun. We could have done with more activities like that, but Yellowstone does not really have a lot of offerings. We saw plenty of bison and elk, but not a huge amount of other wildlife when we were there. We drove up to the area where the wolves are supposed to be, but they are elusive, and we never saw any. We think we may have seen an eagle, but it was so far away, maybe it was an eagle or maybe it was a large hawk.

We had better luck viewing wildlife outside the park, rather than inside. We took a daytrip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming to do a white water rafting trip and saw a moose in the river. Pretty cool. On the way back to the airport in Idaho, we stopped off at a little side of the road business called "Bear Country" or something like that. Hokey, but much appreciated because we never actually saw bears inside the park.

My husband had been to Yellowstone as a kid, and had such great memories. But during our summer week there it was bumper-to-bumper traffic everyday, lots of road construction, not easy to find animals other than elk & bison, and many long hours of driving back-and-forth to the timeshare in West Yellowstone. That is why I recommended someone might have a better summer experience by staying inside the national park. Or, maybe doing more research ahead of time for kid-friendly activities. We are more used to Yosemite National Park, which is much more compact and offers lots of family activities: biking, rafting, horseback riding, swimming, organized hikes, evening camp programs, etc.

But go ahead and flame away if you are not willing to hear different points of view.

--- Rene

I don't think anyone is "flaming" anyone. My point is that there are multiple types of families/parents/kids and vacations. I have 3 kids and they certainly don't all enjoy the same experiences.

I personally know some parents who are actually somewhat uncomfortable when faced with the prospect of being with their kids for a week without having "planned activities" to entertain them. That's unfortunate, IMO. So, I was simply pointing out that there are other types of vacations where the kids are allowed to reflect a little and maybe contemplate nature, amazing geology, the environment and how we fit in, as compared to non-stop theme parks and kid camps. It sounded like the OP had done plenty of the latter, so I simply suggested the former as a change of pace. As I said, we do both types. Disneyland one trip, Utah NP's the next, and then a week in SF the next and a week at the Oregon Coast after that. I don't think any of those should be dismissed because they don't fit you or your daughter's expectations of a a TS vacation. Obviously, a Yellowstone TS vacation is viable/desirable, or there wouldn't be TS's in that area (and they're hard to get into in prime season).

ETA: Another facet to this discussion is that some parents limit their kids exposure to things because those things aren't appealing to the parents. Not saying this is the case here, but it does happen. Kind of like trying to feed your kids fish if you can't stand it yourself. While some of this behavior is inevitable, as a parent I try to avoid it or at least be conscious of it as much as possible.

 

[VegasBella]

Exactly- it's the simple things in life......

Yes. We recently went to Grand Canyon and Sedona. I loved all the natural beauty and hiking. My husband loved the sense of relaxation and space. Our son loved the snow. Even though there was barely any snow, he had a great time gathering the small bits into snowballs. And we all enjoyed seeing javelinas for the first time. For him, that vacation was a blast! Simple pleasures indeed.

That said, it was a bit of a risk. The time of year might have made everything too cold to enjoy. If any of us had been sick or had a bad attitude it would likely have ruined everything. I think Yellowstone or Grand Canyon are both very risky with very young children who may not stay on paths and may end up strapped in a stroller all day without much time to release their energy and run around. The personalities involved really matter a great deal.

I know our family would LOVE Costa Rica. Any time we see an animal species we've never seen before in the wild we get a thrill. We are big time animal-lovers and so seeing sea turtles or monkeys would be just so exciting for us. (Seeing animals in zoos is depressing and not at all exciting for us.)

I think the key to any good vacation is to do enough research to find a few things to see or do that are special for you and your family. You can go almost anywhere and find something suitable. We're going to Orlando in December. While of course we're going to theme parks, I also found that there's a primate sanctuary only about 2 hours drive away. Similarly, whenever we go to any major city I research to find the children's museum. Most cities have them and if you're a member at one you can usually get discounted tickets to all the others. A new children's museum is a perfect way to spend a day with kids.

 

[missyrcrews]

To each his own, folks!

Good heavens. I didn't at all mean that because we don't enjoy expensive vacations with lots of crowds that everyone else should avoid those! YIKES. We have very simple tastes, and that's what we plan to do when we go on vacation. I admire those of you who can tolerate more...I can't. Doesn't mean that I don't like to read about what you do! I can be an armchair traveler!

I think the key, as somebody else has said, is to know your children, know your family vacation style, and then work within that to create memories...whatever that may look like for you. The end.

 

[WinniWoman]

My opinion is Yellowstone is best in mid Sept. Great weather and no big crowds. Also, from West Yellowstone you can visit Earthquake Park and we did a day trip through Yellowstone to Grand Teton no problem. If you stay at a timeshare, the nice thing is there are other amenities for the kids, (and adults who might need some down time- like the hot tub) like the pool and playground.The kitchen can help a lot to make the trip affordable and convenient. Having a living room and tv, too.

Also, there is the nature center right in West Yellowstone with grizzly bears, wolves, etc. and a small museum.

In addition, there is an IMAX theater with films about Yellowstone. That, with a the shops and restaurants there- what more could you ask for?

In the park we saw fox,coyotes, bald eagles, bison, elk, etc. That was a nice amount of wildlife I thought.( And we live in the woods and are used to seeing wildlife.) What other wildlife do you need to see?

We had dinner at the Old Faithful Inn one night and also took the tour.

You can go white water rafting either in Montana or the Grand Teton area.

You can try fly fishing.

Heck- tons for families to do.

PS Yellowstone has nice flat boardwalks all around the park to see the sights. Really awesome.

As for the kid thing- everyone knows their own kids. Our son was an only and we live in a rural, secluded area, so he had to learn how to be bored. Today, many kids are overstimulated with so many activities they do not know how to be a little still once in a while.

Point being every family is different and has to tailor their vacations to their own needs. There is also a difference between sightseeing and a vacation with activities like boating, swimming, 4 wheeling, hiking or a combination of these. You have to decide if you just want to see somewhere new, or if the actual activities you want to be doing can be done anywhere.

It's all a matter of what you like- what you enjoy. My husband and I don't like cities (which is funny because my husband is from Brooklyn and my parents were Bronx people)- we can visit a city for a day and that's about it. We like natural areas for our vacations. Lots of people love going to cities for their vacations. To each his own.

We have taken our son everywhere- cities, national parks, Disney, Hawaii, Alaska. Some things he liked and some things he didn't. Too bad! That's life! He was a lucky kid to even go on vacations!

 

[FLDVCFamily]

My opinion is Yellowstone is best in mid Sept. Great weather and no big crowds. Also, from West Yellowstone you can visit Earthquake Park and we did a day trip through Yellowstone to Grand Teton no problem. If you stay at a timeshare, the nice thing is there are other amenities for the kids, (and adults who might need some down time- like the hot tub) like the pool and playground.The kitchen can help a lot to make the trip affordable and convenient. Having a living room and tv, too.

Also, there is the nature center right in West Yellowstone with grizzly bears, wolves, etc. and a small museum.

In addition, there is an IMAX theater with films about Yellowstone. That, with a the shops and restaurants there- what more could you ask for?

In the park we saw fox,coyotes, bald eagles, bison, elk, etc. That was a nice amount of wildlife I thought.( And we live in the woods and are used to seeing wildlife.) What other wildlife do you need to see?

We had dinner at the Old Faithful Inn one night and also took the tour.

You can go white water rafting either in Montana or the Grand Teton area.

You can try fly fishing.

Heck- tons for families to do.

PS Yellowstone has nice flat boardwalks all around the park to see the sights. Really awesome.

As for the kid thing- everyone knows their own kids. Our son was an only and we live in a rural, secluded area, so he had to learn how to be bored. Today, many kids are overstimulated with so many activities they do not know how to be a little still once in a while.

Point being every family is different and has to tailor their vacations to their own needs. There is also a difference between sightseeing and a vacation with activities like boating, swimming, 4 wheeling, hiking or a combination of these. You have to decide if you just want to see somewhere new, or if the actual activities you want to be doing can be done anywhere.

It's all a matter of what you like- what you enjoy. My husband and I don't like cities (which is funny because my husband is from Brooklyn and my parents were Bronx people)- we can visit a city for a day and that's about it. We like natural areas for our vacations. Lots of people love going to cities for their vacations. To each his own.

We have taken our son everywhere- cities, national parks, Disney, Hawaii, Alaska. Some things he liked and some things he didn't. Too bad! That's life! He was a lucky kid to even go on vacations!

For neurotypical kids I agree with you 100%. However, there are legit reasons for needing a schedule or camp for one child or for multiple children when traveling. Like you said, everyone knows their own child best.

We try to do some of everything on vacation even if we the parents aren't totally into it because we want to expose our kids to different things. I can say that none of us is outdoorsy/hiking-type people with certainty though:rofl:

 

[WinniWoman]

For neurotypical kids I agree with you 100%. However, there are legit reasons for needing a schedule or camp for one child or for multiple children when traveling. Like you said, everyone knows their own child best.

We try to do some of everything on vacation even if we the parents aren't totally into it because we want to expose our kids to different things. I can say that none of us is outdoorsy/hiking-type people with certainty though:rofl:

If you are not outdoorsy types, I would scratch Yellowstone. And forget Smuggs.

What about Vegas?

 

[bnoble]

Some non-Disney/non-Florida timeshare vacations our family has particularly enjoyed:

* Washington DC (Old Town Alexandria). Tons to do, you can easily keep busy for a week.
* Sedona (Arroyo Roble), with a side trip to stay at the rim of the Grand Canyon. Stunning scenery and good hiking.
* Hilton Head (Royal Dunes). I prefer the more manicured vibe of HHI to the OBX, but both are great beach locations.
* Wisconsin Dells (Wyndham Tamarack). The waterpark capital of the world, indeed.
* Smoky Mountains (Wyndham Smoky Mntn). Kitschy, but a lot of fun. We haven't seen too much of SMNP yet.
* Northern lower Michigan (various). We used to go up for MLK weekend to "ski," such as it is in Northern lower MI. Real skiers will turn up their noses, but the kids had fun because they've never been anywhere better.

One we are looking forward to immensely: a two-week visit to Hawaii, first in a 3BR Penthouse at HHV Lagoon, and second in a 2BR at Kings Land HWV.

And, some non-timeshare vacations that were amazing. All three were pricey, but they were all worth it.

* The Lane Guest Ranch, at the border of RMNP. This is an all-inclusive place that we choose for a family reunion celebrating a set of major family milestones. Horseback riding, hiking, trout fishing, child care during the day, etc. http://www.laneguestranch.com/index.php

* An Alaskan cruise. We did a round trip of the southeast, which purists will tell you isn't the 'right way' to cruise Alaska. Still fantastic.

* A week in Paris. We rented a 2BR apartment in the 3rd though these folks: http://www.parisdeluxerentals.com/ Everything was great; they even helped arrange transportation for us. We tacked on four days at Disneyland Paris resort, but you can skip that part if you are Disneyed out. Booking a package through one of Disney's EU sites (in our case, Ireland) was much cheaper than the US site, to the point where it was competitive with one of the better non-Disney hotels. That was during DLRP's doldrums, however, and they were discounting aggressively.

 

[WinniWoman]

Since you don't like the outdoorsy things, besides Vegas, maybe a cruise as suggested above might be good also. Plenty of entertainment with the opportunity to get off the ship for a little sightseeing.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Our favorite vacations with the kids were Escondido, Lawrence Welk Villas; and Washington State, Point Brown, where we picked up dozens of sand dollars from the beach and enjoyed the water every day.

Now our kids are grown and our cruise in June was a wonderful time, all 11 of us celebrating Rick's retirement from the Denver Fire Department. It was a Disney cruise so cost $35K for all of us, four cabins. I would do it again in a heartbeat, if the stars align like that again.

Disneyworld and Disneyland are our absolute favorite trips with the kids and grandkids now. I love seeing the smiles on the grandkids' faces and am anxious for our little grandbaby to go with us sometime soon. Her mommy and daddy don't have much vacation time.

 

[icydog]

Our favorite vacations with the kids were Escondido, Lawrence Welk Villas; and Washington State, Point Brown, where we picked up dozens of sand dollars from the beach and enjoyed the water every day.

Now our kids are grown and our cruise in June was a wonderful time, all 11 of us celebrating Rick's retirement from the Denver Fire Department. It was a Disney cruise so cost $35K for all of us, four cabins. I would do it again in a heartbeat, if the stars align like that again.

Disneyworld and Disneyland are our absolute favorite trips with the kids and grandkids now. I love seeing the smiles on the grandkids' faces and am anxious for our little grandbaby to go with us sometime soon. Her mommy and daddy don't have much vacation time.

My kids and Grandkids are all Disneyphiles. They love anything Disney. I guess my kids grew up with it and passed it on to my grandkids. I have so much Disney stuff that I had to store it all away. This year my daughter got me a Mickey Mouse watch for Christmas and my daughter in law a Mickey Mouse Sterling charm and chain.

Now here's the secret: I am sick to death of DisneyWorld.

If I never go into a park again it would be okay with me. In Sept, I brought the family down to Lakeshore Reserve; and even though I love the resort so much, way more than Disney Vacation Club Resorts, they didn't like it because it was too far from DisneyWorld.

I actually had a wonderful time with my grandkids at the Marriott Fairways. So much so that I am staying there three weeks this summer. Its so close that it is a vacation in a vacation. Nobody's tired from flying. It is a super easy trip for all of us except the Buffalo and MA contingency who like it there but would only want to go to, you guessed it, DisneyWorld.

 

[cgeidl]

Hawaii,Hawaii, and Hawaii

We traveled very extensively with our children for about 10 years until the oldest was 16. As we were teachers we had the time but little money. We did many home exchanges including two to Hawaii, one to the Bahamas,one to Vancouver,two to England, and bought a very small trailer to tow to Mexico, and many drives from San Francisco.
Hawaii was their favorite and my son who is now 53 is now there again. We just got back from a month in the islands. Love it from the first breath of fresh air and hate to depart.
There is so much to do on any of the islands, people are much kinder and friendlier than the mainland in my opinion, and the weather usually is terrific.
There seems to be an overabundance of other interesting but second place ideas but everyone's dreamland is different.

 

[mdurette]

We took our 9YO on two trips this year she loved. She and my husband could vacation in Orlando 10 times a year if I planned it...I'm tired of it, so I compromised a bit with these two vacations and had a great time.


2 nights in Anaheim, CA (regular hotel) and checked out Disneyland and then 7nights TS in San Diego. In San Diego we went to the zoo, Seaworld, beaches, etc. Even though I am sick of theme parks - I loved checking out the differences from what we are use to in Orlando.

San Antonio, TX: This was a great trip. SeaWorld, Riverwalk, Bus tour of the city and missions, drive thru safari, underground caverns.

 

[taterhed]

so many fun trips and some with great memories:

Camping outside Busch Gardens Williamsburg: theme park , fishing, campfires
Virginia Beach: live music, shows, sand castles, oysters, put put
Riviera Maya: sailing, wind surfing, climbing the pyramid and riding bikes in the jungle (special dinners where teens were polite and treated like adults)
San Francisco: Lombard, the trolley, riding bikes across the bridge, the redwoods, the Rock and....eating chicken feet in China Town.
London: exploring some of the worlds greatest museums with my son, followed by a pint. Yes, son, those are Egyptian treasures, Stonehenge, Canterbury

Wow. Makes me feel very lucky.

 

[RALnGA]

Either Harborside at The Atlantis or Hilton Head....
Atlantis is awesome for KIDS of all ages...it has so much to do ....that is if you are into water activities...the whole family will have a great time from ...slides ..beaches...tubes ...Free movie theater...Casino for adults and dancing...and in Nassau plenty of sightseeing...
Hilton Head is great place too....beach...Mile and miles of trails for bike riding...plus you are only an hour from Savannah or Charleston both great for sightseeing and full of HISTORY....plus this may be drivable for you ....

RAL