Family Trip Planning Blog | Best Family Trips | TripWiser.com

Tennessee: Pigeon Forge, Spring Break Family Vacation Ideas – Dinosaurs, Gems and Shopping

Need a break? Looking for fun with no hassles? Pigeon Forge has a spunky charm, a friendly mountain spirit and plenty of ways to enjoy the family vacation with the kids. Imagine sunshine and fresh mountain air; think sweatshirts and sneakers; have fun and make memories. The order of the day is easy-paced and fun with no long lines, and oodles of bargains to be discovered. From trout fishin g and miniature golf to wildflower walks and entertainment geared to families, the choices are plentiful.

Walk amongst prehistoric giants. Unlike other dinosaur museums, the Dinosaur Walk Museum in Pigeon Forge allows families to walk through one of the world’s largest collections of life-size dinosaur sculptures, from a two-story high Tyrannosaurus Rex to a 12-inch tall Microraptor. Giant sea lizards, flying reptiles, bones, skulls and ancient skeletons complete this one of a kind collection. At the end of the “walk” is a movie theater showing high definition educational films which will bring dinosaurs to life on the screen. Bonus points: Children of all ages will enjoy the dinosaur fossil dig and dinosaur movies. Need to know: Directly in back of the actual museum is an antiqu e store with awesome yet affordable fossils, rocks and petrified wood.

Take a wild ride. Beginning in March, Smoky Mountain Speed Park Intermediate track offers kids of all ages plenty of curves and dips and action as well as a trampoline ride, gyro ride and rides for tiny tykes. Race with the wind at Pigeon Forge's only sprint car track, Speed Zone Speed Track or go wild at Wild Wheels Speedway with CAN-AM racing, figure-eight course bumper boats, bungee jumping, arcade games and a kiddie park. For go-cart thrills, Smoky Mountain Slick Track has swerves and curves that make for thrills on a go-cart "slick" track.

Pan for gems. The Pigeon Forge Gem Mine allows families to live a prospector’s dream by panning for real uncut gemstones – rubies, emeralds, garnets and more. Using old-fashioned panning techniques visitors sift through buckets of sand and stone, unearthing precious stones.  Once the sand sifting is complete the gemstones are examined by a gemologist to determine worth. Any of the findings may be made into one-of-a-kind jewelry a keepsake from Pigeon Forge and the Great Smoky Mountains. Need to know: The buckets are arranged by type of gemstones so it is possible to select by stone preference.

Shop ‘til you drop. A paradise for bargain hunters, the area has more than 200 stores as well as Belz Factory Outlet World, Pigeon Forge Factory Outlet Mall, Tangier Factory Outlet Center, Z-Buda Outlet Mall, River Vista Factory Stores, and River View Factory Outlets with bargain prices well below retail. Find designer clothes, athletic wear, luggage, home furnishings, crystal, china, tools, toys, books, music, shoes, leather goods and more. Bell Tower Square (the South's largest year-round Christmas village) offers thousands of unique items including exceptional toys, collectible dolls and distinctive Christmas items. Visit the Old Mill Village for a piece of Appalachian history. Find shops with hand-thrown pottery, original oil paintings, woodcarvings and one-of-a-kind souvenirs.

Laugh and be happy. From music and dancing to laughter and magic, the city's theaters present all styles of entert ainment. The best part is that they are dedicated to presenting wholesome family programs. Audiences are treated to amazing costumes, heart pounding music, thrilling horsemanship, racing ostriches, mind-reading pigs, fire-eaters, jugglers and perhaps the best Elvis impersonator outside of Graceland. Tickle your funny bone at Elwood Smooch’s Ole Smoky Hoedown where the art of laughing has been has mastered. Audiences enjoy one liners, banjos playing,  and gospel singing. Elwood welcomes families and provides an Int ernet discount on tickets.

Enjoy wildflowers. While flowers are a natural benefit from spring until autumn, the wildflower season begins in April. The annual Pilgrimage in Great Smoky Mountains National Park launches the season with variety of ranger led walks and talks, new indoor and outdoor programs and springtime activities.

See the world. Each spring, Dollywood opens its season with the Festival of Nations and provides people on their family vacations with an array of international entertainment. The five-week celebration includes music, dance, food and art from around the world. The festival offers attendees a window on the world with costumes, music, food and art to be enjoyed by all ages.

To make a spring break in Pigeon Forge even more affordable there are discounts for activities and dining available online. To make spring break planning easy, more than a dozen family vacation packages have been created for inspection with the click of a mouse. For the big picture go to www.mypigeonforge.com

Vacation Details
Dinosaur Walk Museum. 106 Showplace Blvd Pigeon Forge, TN 37863.
(865) 428-4003 or www.dinowalk.com

The Pigeon Forge Gem Mine. 2865 Parkway Pigeon Forge, TN 37863. (865) 453-4733.

Belz Factory Outlet World. Parkway 2655 Teaster Lane, Pigeon Forge, 37863. 1(865) 453-3503.

Pigeon Forge Factory Outlet Mall. 2850 Parkway,37863. 1(865) 428-2828 or www.pigeonforgefactoryoutlet.com

Tangier Factory Outlet Center. 1-800-408-5775, 1(865) 428-7002 or www.tangeroutlet.com

Smoky Mountain Speed Park. Parkway. 1(865) 429-INDY.

Speed Zone Speed Track. Parkway. 1(865) 908-7255.

Wild Wheels Speedway. Parkway. 1(865) 453-7942. 

Smoky Mountain Slick Track. 1-865-428-4955.

Content researched and created by FamilyTravelFiles.com.

Dallas, Texas Family Weekend Getaway

A family weekend getaway to Dallas proves that Texas is big for a reason. Dallas stands proud for its wide array of (huge) attractions, and is particularly commended for their accessibility to the public.

Dallas has a lot of ways to help your family save on transportation expenses on your weekend getaway. Instead of hiring a cab to bring you from one attraction to the next, just rent a car for the duration of your stay. Car rental offices even give you a map and important need-to-knows about going around the city. Some hotels, like Holiday Inn Select Dallas Love Field, offer transfer services from the airport and back. Or you can call to reserve seats for the Super Shuttle that transports passengers from the airport to any office, house or hotel within the city for only $24!

Begin your Dallas weekend getaway with a family attraction: Dallas World Aquarium and Zoological Gardens. Get ready to have an amazing experience with marine wildlife in this attraction, plus a walk through the tunnel under 22,000 gallons of salt water to have a panoramic view of reef life. Your guide will even educate your family on how you can contribute in conserving the Earth's natural resources. If you cannot get enough of the animals, take the family to Dallas Zoo next. Like everything else in Texas, it is immense. Do not worry, though, because it is walkable. It has an interactive exhibit where the family can pet and feed the animals. It particularly boasts its Wilds of Africa attraction where a portion of the zoo is specifically built for African wildlife. Going around the entire Dallas Zoo will wear you out, especially if you are towing little kids. Take a break from your trip in the comforts of  Marriott Dallas Addison Quorum Galleria.

Bonding during weekend getaways happens more when the family is doing some activity together. Start your second (and last) day in Dallas by soaring gracefully through the ice (or tumbling down) at the Galleria Ice Skating Center. After the fun in the ice, head to Putt Putt Golf and Games. The attraction is a miniature golf facility with three eighteen-hole golf courses of different levels, which cater to golfers of all ages. In addition to golf, the Putt Putt Golf and Games holds other fun activities for the family to enjoy. Fill your need for speed at the go-karts or swing your bat away at the batting cages. You can also spend the day challenging your kids in the arcade area with the state-of-the-art video games. If you still have time, visit the Museum of Nature and Science and discover interesting facts about the human body, the universe and everything that science explains. The most recent attraction, A New Perspective on Mars is now open, and will answer some of your kids' (and yours as well) curiosity about the Red Planet.

Note: If you are off to Dallas for a long weekend or starting your family getaway on a Friday, be sure to go to Deep Ellum, a renovated warehouse district where fashion, music, New York City-style lofts and everything hip is found! Have a nice family dinner at any of the great restaurants in Deep Ellum. If you are craving for burgers, the Twisted Root Burger Co. is highly recommended. If fish is what you are looking for, however, go to Deep Sushi. Deep Ellum offer a great night life for the party-hungry people. Your older teenagers will be thrilled to have a budget Friday night-out at five Deep Ellum bars or clubs for only $5!!! That is five times of fun, dancing and music at a very low cost.

Dallas is so big that it has something of interest to offer everyone in the family - parents, teenagers and young kids. It definitely what makes a trip to this city a great family weekend getaway destination.

An Amazing Family Weekend Getaway to Baltimore, Maryland

Baltimore, Maryland is an exciting place for a family weekend getaway. Finding interesting things to see and do in every corner is an absolute certainty. The main attraction for your family vacation in the Inner Harbor where most of Baltimore's attractions and activities are found.

Although the Inner Harbor is still a working seaport, it has been Baltimore's major tourist destination, and one of the top family weekend getaway jaunts, for years. The water taxis that transport people from one place to another alone is a sight to see. The people of Baltimore take pride of their 300-year maritime history. This is particularly evident in several of their attractions such as the Baltimore Maritime Museum where your family can explore three historic ships and an old lighthouse. Older kids will be thrilled to participate in a special program where they discover the lives of young sailors at the USS Constellation, an 1854 naval warship that is restored and docked in the harbor for public tours.

The Inner Harbor holds a significant number of museums. Aside from that, retail stores, live entertainment. Restaurants such as J. Paul's, Rusty Scupper and Gardel's Supper Club are must-tries. The Maryland Science Center is an attraction for kids of all ages - that includes the parents, of course. The younger ones will surely learn and discover a lot of things from the very impressive interactive displays. The center has an IMAX movie theater that exhibits amazing family shows and concerts such as U2 performances in 3-D, giving parents the perfect opportunity to have a bonding moment with their teenagers on this weekend getaway. Kids as young as 3 years old are also allowed in this attraction.

Catch a weekend baseball game at the Camden Yards in this family getaway and get into the spirit and action of Baltimore. Also within the Camden Yards, you will find Geppi's Entertainment Museum that showcases American pop culture. This is an attraction the entire family will enjoy. While the kids visit their favorite characters such as Superman and Batman, parents can revisit their favorite celebrity icons such as Elvis Presley.

One attraction you cannot afford to miss on this family weekend getaway is the Port Discovery, located just one block northeast of the Inner Harbor. The Port Discovery houses Disney's Imagineers' designs and allow everyone in the family to create their own artworks and produce their own movies. This attraction helps enhance your children's, from toddlers to teenagers, imagination and unleash the Steven Spielberg or Walt Disney in them. A popular exhibit in the Port Discovery is the Miss Perception's Mystery House where the entire family help a detective solve the mystery of the disappearance of a fictional family by gathering clues as evidence.

The highlight of this weekend getaway is the very family-friendly National Aquarium where your children meet thousands of marine animals. What make a visit to the National Aquarium great is the close encounters with the dolphins where the entire family can even have breakfast with them. In addition, the Aquarium holds wild sleepovers for visitors such as a sleepover with the sharks. Reservations are required for these tours, though, as many visitors want to have this extraordinary experience.

Baltimore is a city of guaranteed amazing treats for everyone. With all the attractions and activities scattered all over the city, Baltimore is indeed a great family weekend getaway destination!

Williamsburg, Virginia Family Vacation

A trip to Williamsburg, Virginia should be in your list of family vacation ideas. Williamsburg is one of the cities included in the Historic Triangle of Virgina, along with Jamestown and Yorktown. There are a lot of interesting sights that come with equally interesting facts in Williamsburg that will tickle the minds of both adults and children.

Going to Williamsburg is very easy to do. It is only a few hours away from Washington, DC, and certainly within driving distance for Atlanta and Jacksonville Florida.  Williamsburg is particularly known for Colonial Williamsburg. It is a 301-acre community of restored 18th century infrastructures. You will find yourself going back in time as you wander about the buildings, houses, shops, taverns, outbuildings and other structures in their original foundation. The highlights of Colonial Williamsburg are the historic sites - Governor's Palace, Capitol, Peyton Randolph, Releigh Tavern, George Wythe House and James Geddy House and Foundry - and the indoor museums - Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum and DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum.

A family vacation is not complete without spending a day at a theme park! Visit Williamsburg's Busch Gardens and experience thrilling rides. Get ready to have your heartbeat racing as you ride the Loch Ness Monster roller coaster and Griffon (the world's tallest and first floorless dive coaster). Also, if your family love scary stories and fright attractions, be sure to visit the theme park's Howl-O-Scream and scream all your lungs out!

Have a great family bonding time at Williamsburg's Go-Karts Plus. The attraction spans 8 acres with four tracks for the whole family to enjoy. Race around an oval track on a replica of your favorite NASCAR cars. There are other activities in Go-Karts Plus that promises loads of fun for the family such as the Kiddie Land, bumper cars, bumper boats, miniature golf course, arcade and other games with prizes.

Next visit Historic Yorktown, Historic Jamestown and President's Park and learn history with your children while exploring the different sights, studios, galleries and museums dedicated to preserving the American heritage. From these attractions, you will also get the chance to learn about the early permanent English settlements in the country.  Don't forget to spend some time learning about the  Native American heritage and visit the Powhatan Indian Village nearby, which was home to Pocahontas.

The idea of going on a family vacation is to discover as much as you can about the place you visit. These are just some of the things you can do in Williamsburg, Virginia. Nearby cities in Williamsburg also offer a different set of attractions and activities for the family that you might want to check out. The Virginia Arts Festival in Norfolk, Virginia coming on the 23rd until the 25th of May this year, for instance, promises participants and spectators a fun time of great music and other things. It will be the ultimate weekend in one of the country's most historic settings.

The museums, other historical sights and the more energy-required attractions like the Busch Gardens and the Go-Kart Plus really made the trip to Williamsburg, Virginia a complete package for family fun. No doubt, you can count on this as one of the best family vacation ideas you have ever had.

Sanibel Island Best Family Vacation

A family trip to Sanibel Island in Florida is a guaranteed addition to your list of best family vacations. Home to vacation houses and condos, a golf course, bike trails and 70-degree-winter-temperature, this twelve-mile island promises nothing but the most priceless memories of a family vacation.

When planning a family vacation, parents consider the attractions and activities they can do with their children, and they factor in the cost of these attractions. Luckily for parents, in Sanibel, almost all of the activities and attractions are either free or cheap.  The cost of the condos alone are far cheaper than the hotels in the area.  Also, if you have family or friends who own vacation homes in Sanibel Island or Fort Myers, saves you a lot.

What makes the family vacation to Sanibel Island one of the best, is how much your children enjoy themselves.  There is always something for the parents, teenagers and young kids.  Golf enthusiast adults (and even kids) can spend the day at the golf course in Sanibel. Parents can also spend some quality time biking through Sanibel's 25-mile bike path. The little kids can spend the entire day making sand castles and shelling (collecting shells) to keep for themselves or to give their friends back home.  Plus, there's swimming, swimming and more swimming.  The beach is always available for you whenever you feel like taking a dip.

If your family is still looking for more things to do, there are a number of attractions outside Sanibel that are within reach. The Shell Factory and Nature Park in North Fort Myers is one.   Your family will also enjoy watching the happy hermits, which are hermit crabs painted with different colors and happy faces. Shells and corals can be bought from the Shell Factory and Nature Park's store for house decorations and accessories like necklaces, earrings, bracelets and more.  The Shell Factory and Nature Park has a fun park where kids can go bumper boating or playing in video arcades.  There is a variety of dining options within the Shell Factory and Nature Park. You can try the steak or seafood at the family-friendly Capt. Fishbones Seafood Grill (which has the Dog Bones Cafe for those who bring their dogs), the desserts at Rosie's Gourmet Fudge, or the sandwiches at the Shell Factory Subway. Or you can go to the Manatee Park, also in Fort Myers, where you can view from a deck manatees swimming on the Orange River while you listen to them "singing" through the hydrophones.

As promised, this vacation is also a low-cost family vacation.  You can see your children having the best time on this family vacation as they go for a train ride at the Fort Myers Lakes Park that only cost you $2.  Back in Sanibel, you can relax with a bird show at the Sanibel's Periwinkle Trailer Park free of charge!

All-tanned, suitcases heavy with shells, digital cameras running low on memory space and your family's faces painted with big smiles, you are ready to go back home.  Sanibel Island, without a doubt, just gave you one of the best family vacations of your life.

Montreal Affordable Family Vacation

If you're one of those people who have always wanted to go to Montreal, but thought that international trips are not budget-friendly, think again.  Montreal is an affordable family vacation destination in Canada where the entire family is sure to have a great time.

Despite the sophistication in the city's cuisine and shops, family trips to Montreal are not as expensive as one might think.  Hotel accommodations options are aplenty with very affordable rates.  Plus, as a must for the kids, most hotels in Montreal have indoor pools.

There is plenty to see and do in Montreal.  Start off your affordable family vacation with a stroll at the cobblestone streets of Old Montreal and taste of the city's European flair.  French is most common, and English is also widely used, so communicating will not be a problem.   Walk through Sainte Paul Street, that will soon conveniently lead you to the Montreal Science Center in Old Port. Let your gaming enthusiast kids enjoy themselves while learning through the interactive virtual reality games the center facilitates. The Montreal Science Center aims to teach children to appreciate science through the exhibits and high-technology gadgets in the center.  For adventurous families who are constantly looking for something exciting to do, head off to Jet Boating Montreal.  A boating guide will take you to a speedboat excursion across the rapids of St. Lawrence River.  Dart under the bridges and punctuate your ride with tailspins the way your favorite action film hero would. Your teenagers will definitely describe this part of the trip with the word awesome!  After the adrenaline rush-inducing speedboat ride, take the Metro to Viau and spend the rest of the day in one of the four much more relaxed family attractions - Botanical Gardens, Insectarium, Biodome and Montreal's Olympic Park.  These attractions are all in walking distance of each other.  Package tickets are available for you to purchase at very affordable prices - only $25 for adults and $12.50 for kids. The package tickets will give you admissions to all four sites, which saves you not only cash but also time as you no longer need to stand in line for each attraction.

Visiting all this Montreal attractions will definitely have your family asking for a break.  Good thing there's a daily afternoon ice cream break that you can get for only $1, which is one of the reasons why going to this affordable family vacation in Montreal is such a good idea.  It really is a place where you can indulge your whole family at a reasonable budget.

Molokai Ranch Family Adventure Vacation

Molokai is another great jaunt for the people who love the outdoors while on their Hawaii family vacation. The Molokai Ranch is located in and encompasses one third of the Hawaiian island Moloka'i.  (image by Jim Harper)

In Molokai Ranch, your children's cowboy and cowgirl fantasies will come to life as they experience authentic ranch lifestyle first hand. All sorts of adventurous outdoor activities are lined up for you and your kids to enjoy.  The Hawaiian cowboys, called the paniolos, act as your tour guide for the duration of your stay at the Molokai Ranch.  They host activities such archery, clay shooting and horseback riding, among other things.  They also patiently teach you horsemanship and rodeo skills during an activity they call the Paniolo Roundup. After which, you can relax and venture out with your family and the paniolos along the Great Molokai Ranch Trail.  Guests who wish to participate in the activities in the island can sign up at the Molokai Ranch. These activities are organized by the management of the Molokai Fish and Dive. Some of the activities include hiking, biking, scuba diving, sailing and sea kayaking.  If you wish to get a list of these activities, just ask a Molokai Ranch personnel.

The Molokai Ranch has constructed wilderness camps for visitors who wish to spend the night at the ranch.  If you wish to have a luxurious lodging, then there's The Lodge just waiting for you just a 30-minute drive from the beach. The rooms are huge, with plenty of space and fine furniture.

A family trip to the island of Molokai gives you a much quieter Hawaiian family vacation. The Molokai Ranch is a one-of-a-kind family adventure vacation.