Looking for Summer Vacation Ideas - Allen,TX

The Philly area has a lot to offer for young families. We moved away from there last year. In addition to Sesame Place, there's a GREAT aquarium in Camden (right across the bridge from Philly), the Crayola Factory, and you'll all love the Lancaster area too. Anyway, there's lots to do up there.

We went up to Turner Falls in Oklahoma last summer for the day. They have a big waterfall, plus lots of little falls. We swam, went hiking in steep rocky areas looking for caves (found some), and played in the falls area. You could jump off a small cliff into a waterhole area that also had slides and diving boards. The kids did great.Last year, they were 4 and 6. My daughter was an excellent climber and my son had no fear of the HIGH, fast slide into the water hole. We also took a side trip to a drive through animal area where the animals came up to the car and you could feed them. Needless to say, I screamed a couple times when they stuck their heads in my window with their mouths open. I do NOT like zebras and emus- they tried to eat me!Of course my kids loved that and still talk about how funny it was to this day.Looking back on it- it was pretty funny and I wasn't really being eaten- but I'm a chicken at times! ;) The kids werent' scared at all. The deer, donkeys, horses, and giraffes were nice. I thought the buffalo was going to ram my husbands car! It didn't - just gave us a stare down. It was actually REALLY fun. I'm not sure which part I liked the best. The views from our hike were beautiful. :) It was a great last trip of the summer. Plus, it was short- we were gone for the day.

Now, my parents live in New Braunfels and heading down there/San Antonio is always great. A lot of people head to schlitterbaun in NB, but with little kids I think it's too expensive. Once they get older= it's more worth it. I know we'll have season passes in a couple years. Anyway, there is another place that's GREAT for kids your age and I take mine all the time when we go to my moms. Go to Landa Park. There's a great park with paddle boats, picnic tables, ponds, streams, a train they can ride around the park ($2 and worth it), plus some great playground equipment. Also, they have a waterpark area there that has the natural river water, swimming area, zip line, climbing stuff, and slides. It's small- but only like $4 or so. We usually play in the park in the morning, picnic lunch, and then go to the water area. NOt sure which days, but I know some don't open til 10 or 12...

Also in NB, a great children's museum. I "think" it's called McKenna Children's Museum. It's not far from Landa Park. Your girls will not want to leave. I don't remember the price for a day, but it's worth it. They have different areas for the kids to play and explore- dramatic play. A hospital, astronaut area, house, bank, construction area, train area, camping area, art classes, sand/water play, and probably more. Eat before or after you go, there's not a place for that.

Of course, not 15 minutes from NB is San Marcos and the outlets- tons! :) I'm sure you already know a lot about San Antonio, but the riverwalk is so much fun. Sea world is a can't miss. We just got season passes to Fiesta Texas when we went down at Spring Break. You can use them at Six Flags over Texas too- so that's a good deal. Ok, gotta go take my daughter to school. I talked WAY more than I planned. :) Hope it helped. I'll be in NB and San Antonio a lot this summer so I can check on more for you if you need me too.

You have gotten a lot of great suggestions! If you're interested in Florida, check out Tradewinds in St. Pete's Beach. We went there last year and it was perfect for families with small kids. The resort is right on the beach and everything is on site - two pools, hammocks under palm trees, family activities such as a pirate show, water trikes, paddleboats to ride through the waterway that runs through the resort, five restaurants, etc. Beach towels are provided as are beach umbrellas. We'll probably go back again this year!

Galveston is perfect (stay toward the West end of the beach and rent a house, not a condo) The kids LOVE it. Moody Gardens and the aquarium are just a couple of the things to do there. The beach is really fun.

Hi C., We recently moved here from NJ. We were going to go to Sesame Place last summer but were advised not to do so since a lot of children were getting sick from the ball pit type activities they have there. I think it has since been taken care of though. If you do go to PA you should also check out Hershey Park. We went there instead of Sesame and loved it. You could probably do both parks if you rent a car. I would recommend staying inside Hershey Park even though it is a little more expensive. We stayed about 5 minutes outside the park in a Ramada (i think) and it was fine - but inside the park hotels you get special Hershey treatment which would make the experience a lot more fun. We have two boys -2.5 and 5.5. My younger one was a little two young to go on a lot of rides last year but had fun none the less. Let me know if you have any questions and good luck planning a summer jaunt!

Instead of staying downtown in SA, stay at the Hyatt Hill Country. They have a wonderful lazy river, beach area, etc. for the kids. We go every year and LOVE it! J.

We took my four year old son to San Diego last summer to combine Seaworld with a beach vacation - it was fantastic!! We also went to Legoland (which has stuff for boys and girls and we actually had more fun there than Seaworld) and the beach side amusement park at Mission Beach. We also spent quite a bit of time exploring the tidepools at Cabrillo Point. I highly recommend the Go San Diego pass to get a good deal on tons of activities with no waiting in lines. You can google it and purchase online.
Good luck!

Sesame Place is great! We took our now 13 and 8 year old daughters there, and we are going this summer for our little one who will be about 18 months old when we go. And there are other things to do in the area, such as the Philadephia Zoo, and even go into NJ (across the Delaware from Philly) and visit the aquarium in Camden. I'm born and raised in NJ, and I've done these things with my kids before we moved to McKinney 4 years ago. We also spend a week at the beach each year (we go back to NJ and rent a house w/family) but I'm dying to check out the Texas coastline.

I'd wait till the girls were older for San Antonio - I took my kids there and they were bored at Sea World. Sesame Place they loved. Another fun thing to do (my sister did this) is get another couple with kids and rent a beach house in Galveston or Corpus. She said it was great, they were on the beach which was private for the community, they shared expenses for the beach house and groceries, were able to put the kids down for naps and one night each, one set of parents watched all the kids while the others had an evening out alone in town. She said it was relaxing, fun and the kids loved playing on the beach with all the beach toys.

We are going to Watercolor Florida... we love it.... We go every year.

C. S,
Since you are looking at PA, check into Hershey, PA. This is a great place, I've been told by another co-worker of girls, and I'm looking into this for a trip. It will really depend on how much you are looking to spend and for how long a trip you are planning.
Good luck!

We have had passes to SeaWorld since our kids were 2 and 3. Evan at 7 and 8 they still love it. It is fairly close and buying passes makes the trip twice a year cheap.
First of all SeaWorld is geared toward little ones with a great water park with kid sized slides and several pool areas. There are three different water park areas for small kids, one with a large pirate ship to play on, one with a wave pool for the family, one for just little ones to float around, and all have free lifejackets for all ages.
There is a separate area with rides like a mini roller coaster and spinning paint cans. There are climbing ships with slides and sand boxes. There is a little water spray "park" also.
SeaWorld is known for the shows too. My daughter at three loved Shamu so much she said he was her best friend. We still tease her about it. She wanted to watch the show over and over. There are many places to see animals there. We enjoy the dolphins and horses and all the animal shows.
I could go on and on but I will leave it at that. If you want me to ramble on and give you some advise of how we make the best of it just let me know. oh I will say, the food is awful and expensive, so we leave for lunch and a little down time midday. Start early, feed the dolphins, then nap and watch the evening shamu show is the best way to enjoy your time with least crowd and hot sun. We are going May 26 the first Mon. it is open. We avoid the crowds by going on off days also. Ok I am still rambling....ps check out the website.