Fun places to visit with kids: theme parks, resorts with water parks, kids' museums, corn mazes, Cirque de Soleil and Build-A-Bear and and Blue Man Group, children's festivals, vertical wind tunnels, and lots more fun places.
Stand Up Paddle Boarding - Share your experience of the new sport , stand up paddleboarding
Corn maze: visit a corn maze this summer or fall; many also have a pumpkin patch and other fun.
Like summer camps for kids,
"Family Camps" provide lots of fun activities in the Great Outdoors. Lodgings and meals included, too. Lodging might be as rustic as a tent-cabins with no electricity; some family camps, however, have lodges or even inn-style accommodation.
Activities run the gamut, from expected ou…
Nickelodeon is the ultra-popular kids tv channel with characters adored by kids: SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer, to name just two. Nickelodeon has partnered with travel destinations to create Nick-themed places where families can go and have fun: Nick Hotel, Nick-themed water park resorts, Nick Cruises, Nickelodeon Universe theme park...
Sometime in 2010, we Muggles will have a chance to enter the magical world of Harry Potter. Universal Orlando is building a new themed island in Islands of Adventure, a multi-attraction "theme park within a theme park" called "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter".
Dog sled photos - tips and pictures of a dog sled excursion
Blue Man Group performances are an indescribable mix of mime, percussion, and antics involving the audience: teens and tweens will find them hilarious, and attending a show can add a lot of fun to a trip to
New York City (or London, or Chicago, or elsewhere...) Since 2007, families can see Blue Man Group at
Universal Orlando.
Cirque de Soleil reinvented the "circus" as a celebration of human movement in stylized new and old circus arts, plus phantasmagorical costumes and characters. Read about "La Nouba" permanent show in Orlando; Cirque de Soleil has many touring shows as well.
This indoor amusement park at the Mall of America in Bloomington MN is the first theme park with Nickelodeon branding, with new and old rides matched to popular characters from Nickelodeon's tv shows: SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, and other faves.
Okay, now you really can fly... and zoom up 30 feet high, and roll and flip in the air; and so can your kids over three years old, thanks to giant electric fans in a wind tunnel. Check out iFLY, near Universal Studios Hollywood in southern California; or
Paraclete XP SkyVenture, in North Carolina.
Many cities have Children's Festivals, usually during the month of May.
Zipline adventures -- aka "canopy tours"-- are a new-ish type of family fun: basically, a person straps into a harness and zips along a cable for several hundred feet. Kids as young as seven can fly through the air with the greatest of ease.
"American Girl" not only makes unique dolls, it also has extrardinary stores (in LA, Chicago, NYC) built for fun. Guests might eat at the "American Girl Cafe", with "Treat Seats" for doll guests, or visit the Doll Hair Salon. Check for packages with hotels that include American Girl goodies in your room.
Build-A-Bear Workshop® is at once an innovative retailer and an entertainment venue: a place where kids have fun creating customized furry friends. New York City has the flagship store but there are hundreds of locations. "Guests" create their own stuffed animals through an eight-step process, with the assistance of "master Bear Builder associates".
A Family Fun Center is typically an outdoor entertainment zone with go-karts, mini-golf, and various other kid-pleasers. There are countless such places across the US; the link above, at TravelingUSA.com, has a clickable map that you can search by state. For more choices, try searching at Google.com for "Family Fun Center [city name]".
Kids who love fantasy-type computer games can step right into a fantasy world. MagiQuest is a live-action adventure game, played in a 20,000 sq. ft. area packed with special effects that get activated by the player's prize possession: the Wand. Think: fantasy video game meets laser-tag play-space, sort of.
So you're visiting Seattle, or Phoenix, or Boston, and you want to know about family fun: no problem.
Where's the world's largest indoor water park? You might be forgiven for answering "Wisconsin Dells", a small town that's a giant for indoor waterparks. But the world's largest is in the Seagaia resort complex in Japan; and second-biggest is at the giant fun-plus-shopping palace, West Edmonton Mall in Alberta Canada.
What'll they think of next? You may have to go to Europe to find indoor skiing-- but mega-projects in North America are in the works. See a list of snowdomes around the world.
Here's something new: in Fort Lauderdale, Wannado City -- the size of three football fields-- lets kids 4 to 11 play at being a firefighter, archaeologist, TV or news reporter, chef, judge, pilot, doctor and lots more. The kidizens™ of Wannado City™ have a pint-sized fire stations, hospital, flight training center, circus, etc.
A fun -- and free - family activity during the Holiday Season is to stroll along a sidewalk beside a big department store, looking at Christmas window displays. Some cities go all out.
Dubai -- one of the United Arab Emirates-- is only 1000 sq. miles big but it lives large. And one of the attractions it offers its millions of tourists is an indoor snow park the size of three football fields, with 5 slopes (the longest run being 400 meters with vertical drop of 60 meters) ; 90-metre quarter-pipe; and gear and winter clothes included in the ticket price.
This cool "Platial map" shows swimming spots in the Boston area: if you know a good spot, add it to the map.
"Ron Jon" is a legendary name in surf stores, and now the company's launching the Ron Jon Surfpark on International Drive, with three surf pools for different levels of wave-riding. Beginners can learn to surf in perfect, controlled conditions. Those with skills can try the Pro Pool's with waves 8 feet high, and a ride that lasts 100 yards. (Opening has been delayed...)
Swim With Dolphins, and other types of dolphin encounters, are very appealing for families. Yet ethical issues surround these programs, especially when using dolphins in captivity.
More and more corn mazes are dotting the countryside and providing a great fall outing: read about what to expect and how to find a corn maze. Prime time is September-October, but some fields open as early as mid-July.
Every year seems more Halloween family fun events: Boos at Zoos, spooky sciences museums, haunted houses, hayrides, and lots more.
Pumpkin Patch - fall family outings - find a pumpkin patch
Great Outdoors - vacation ideas for families in the Great Outdoors
This "Polar Express" is a beautiful children's book written by Chris Van Allsburg (and a move, too.) At several locations in the US -- in New Hampshire, Colorado, Smoky Mountains, Santa Fe, and more-- families can take a train ride that brings to life the Polar Express experience. See other types of
Christmas Train Rides, too.
Curious George -- a sprightly little chimp-- is the star of a series of classic children's books (and animated films.) Visitors to the Waterville Valley in the White Mountains in NH -- a popular area for outdoors recreation-- can find family activities, and even a Family Festival, at this cottage where Curious George's creators lived.
A dozen places to see dazzling Holiday Lights displays.
Surely one of the world's most unique vacation spots: an ethereally beautiful ice hotel that melts and gets re-created every year. Stay overnight (in "mummy" sleeping bags), or take a tour during the day-time; location is about 30 minutes from Quebec City, which is a great family destination especially during Winter Carnival.
