Summer Family Vacations

[cyinne]

Its getting about that time of year where many will be heading out in the 'ole family station wagon and seeing this great country of ours. Our fam is having a hard time trying to decide where to go and I wanted to get the pulse of the CF family to give any ideas. Our kids are 4 and 7 and we live in the western part of Iowa and would be willing to travel most places were we can get to in a day or so (~10-12 hrs). We wouldn't be going until about the 3rd week in July.

Last year is the first year we actually took a family vacation somewhere- went to the Wisconsin Dells and had a fantastic time- we are not ruling out going back to the same spot again this year. I have also thought about Chicago, Denver area, Kansas City, Minneapolis.

What are other families doing this summer for vacations?

TIA

 

[AgronAlum]

One of my favorites growing up was to Arches National Park in Utah. It's probably around a 12 hr drive for you in Western IA. We ended up splitting our time between arches and Colorado.

 

[CyCrazy]

Yellowstone, Yosemite, devils towers. Any national parks I guess.

 

[MeanDean]

No votes for Wally World? This board is disappointing. Or getting too old.

 

[cyfan92]

https://www.honeycreekresort.com/

If you want to stay in Iowa.

 

[cowgirl836]

Dells probably isn't a bad choice again. Those ages seem a bit young to appreciate something like a National Park or Denver just yet. Maybe Chicago and do the zoo and aquarium?

 

[ForbinsAscynt]

Branson, MO

 

[carvers4math]

Estes Park wouldn't be a bad drive and has lots of stuff for fairly young kids.

 

[AgronAlum]

No votes for Wally World? This board is disappointing. Or getting too old.

How about the Grand Canyon?

 

[Cyclones_R_GR8]

https://www.honeycreekresort.com/

If you want to stay in Iowa.

I saw Honey Creek and started wondering what would someone do in Honey Creek, Ia.

 

[JaCyn]

My favorite family vacation when I was 10 was Washington D.C. The Smithsonian is free and full of tons of cool stuff.

 

[Angie]

We've done Minneapolis a number of times - there's both the MN Zoo and the free zoo (Como), the amusement park thing at the MOA if it's too hot outside, Renaissance Faire, and a bunch more.

We're taking our 6 and 2 year olds to KC this summer - we found an amazing deal at Great Wolf Lodge. There are a ton of other family-friendly things to do down there.

Have a blast!

 

[Fitzy]

Been to the Lake of the Ozarks a couple times with my family growing up. Either doing an AIRBNB on the lake or a plain old hotel/resort somewhere would be a fun idea. You could rent a boat and take the kids out onto the lake if that sounds like something they might enjoy.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

Long read, feel free to ignore.

Most four and seven year olds don't care where you go as long as there's a pool. Going that late in July, you could be looking at temps in the 90's or worse, so have some indoor plan options wherever you go.

My advice is to go to the Denver/Colorado Springs area. There just so much to do. There's rafting, Garden of the Gods where the kids can climb around, the aquarium, Seven Falls, a baseball game, Pike's Peak, etc. And you can hit Denver in about 7 hours from Council Bluffs.

Since I live here, it's not my idea of a vacation, but KC has a lot of options with Oceans of Fun and Worlds of Fun. I know Angie said they got a good deal at the Great Wolf Lodge. I saw something on Groupon for them and it was marked down considerably, if you want to look at that option.

I'm not the biggest fan of it, but we went to Branson when my daughter was almost 7 and she loved it. It's ridiculously touristy, but there's a ton of options for kids. My daughter liked Fantastic Caverns in Springfield, which is possibly the only tourist spot that rivals Wall Drug for billboards. We went to Dolly Parton's show which sounds horrible, but it was entertaining and, again, my daughter loved the horses and theatrics. We also went through a mirror maze, went to a water park and went through the Titanic museum since my daughter had studied about it in school and had an interest. If you need to get away from the hassle of Branson while you are down there, go to the river walk in the downtown area. Much more normal. Plus, Silver Dollar City is close to everything as well.

Another option is the Rapid City area. I'm all about having kids hit some of our national landmarks and there is a lot to do around there. Mount Rushmore, Bear Country, a walk-though maze, Custer National Forest. We made this trip two years ago when my daughter was 8. We stayed at a cabin in Custer National Forest for a night and rented a paddle boat and hiked. The Rapid City area has a pretty good balance of nature, while offering tourist options.

 

[Clonefan32]

Wife is due in August, so we probably won't venture into anything crazy. A weekend trip to KC will likely be all we get around to.

 

[carvers4math]

My favorite family vacation when I was 10 was Washington D.C. The Smithsonian is free and full of tons of cool stuff.

We have gone there a couple of times, once with kids about the OP's ages. And as my kids always say, while rolling their eyes, of course we drove. A side trip on the way back was Gettysburg and I was surprised how much even the younger one liked that. Also, a museum with dinosaur bones in Pittsburgh, in addition to the Smithsonian Natural History museum. We spent a day in Baltimore too and they loved Fort McHenry, the tour guide dressed them in military uniforms. One trip, we took a side trip down Skyline Drive and saw Monticello and the University of Virginia. We would like to go back now that the kids are all old enough for the Holocaust Museum.

 

[CtownCyclone]

We're probably going to do a staycation - send the kid to daycare, we stay home and work on some of the projects we've been talking about doing.

 

[Colorado]

Biased opinion is the Denver area. Lots and lots to do here for kids that age. The scenery is also top-notch even if you don't wander into the hills. Plus, the weather is better here than the other places mentioned.

 

[TheJackWePack5]

Branson, MO

This is my vote. Been going to Branson for years. Reasonably priced for a trip and not a terrible drive.

 

[cydline2cydline]

We've done Minneapolis a number of times - there's both the MN Zoo and the free zoo (Como), the amusement park thing at the MOA if it's too hot outside, Renaissance Faire, and a bunch more.

We're taking our 6 and 2 year olds to KC this summer - we found an amazing deal at Great Wolf Lodge. There are a ton of other family-friendly things to do down there.

Have a blast!

Mind me asking where'd you found said deal? My 6 year old keeps asking if we can go...darn advertisements...