Trying to decide on a vacation location! Need help!

[musicmand]

Hey, guys! Trying to pick a nice driveable vacation this year for our anniversary trip in May. Of course, I want to hit exciting roller coasters and tourist attractions, and my wife wants things like museums, river walks, and the like. We're sort of looking at a 10-12 hour radius from KS (at the farthest). I just need some suggestions for whether or not the theme parks would be worth the trip or not.

 

Here are our thoughts:

 

Drive 12 hours up to Chicago, spend a day there, then 3 hours out to Indiana to visit my best friend and his wife, then 3 hours out to Sandusky, OH, for Cedar Point. The only problem with this vacation is that it would be a minimum 6 days, and 3 full days of that would be driving (it would be 2 full days of driving coming back from Sandusky- we'd stop in St. Louis, but our budget probably wouldn't allow for Six Flags and a seventh day).

 

Drive 12 hours down to San Antonio and do the SeaWorld/Six Flags thing. They've also got the River Walk and all that interesting stuff, but it is a pretty long haul. If we stay the night at my in-laws' house, it's only 10 hours... I've never been there, but my wife has and she likes it.

 

Oklahoma City: Only about 3 hours away and I've never been to Frontier City. My "home" park is Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, though, so I don't know if I want to make the trip if Frontier City can't compare to WoF. I know I felt a little disappointed when I went to Jazzland in New Orleans...

 

Arlington, TX: 7 hours from us, or we could shave off an hour or two by staying with in-laws. Six Flags over Texas. That new "Texas Giant" looks really intriguing... Surely there's a lot of other things to do in Dallas/Fort Worth?

 

Denver: 8 hours away, and my wife has never been to Colorado or seen the Rockies (weird since she used to live only ten or twenty miles away from the CO border). I've been to Elitch Gardens, though, and I wasn't at all impressed. Casa Bonita's would be fun to take her to, I suppose, and I know they have cool shopping districts.

 

St. Louis: Neither of us particularly want to go to St. Louis... we've both been there before, and we weren't impressed.

 

Minneapolis: Pretty much the only thing up here is the Mall of America, which I've done before (my wife hasn't). Hate to do a "vacation" that centers around going to a mall...

 

Hot Springs, AR: 8 hours from us, or we have some family in Missouri only 4 hours away. Magic Springs is there, which looks cool, and I guess we could loop back up to Eureka Springs or something...

[edh]

Ever been to Wisconson Dells? I heard thats a good place to visit with tons to see and do.

[palmerleeberry]

Okay, fellow vacation traveler, I have a few suggestions:

 

1) How about going to Branson, Missouri. Besides Silver Dollar City, they also have a few go-kart tracks, a water park that only has one slide, plenty of minature golf courses, a Ripley's Believe it or Not museum, and tons of music showplaces.

 

2) Or maybe you could go to Kansas City and visit Worlds of Fun, then drive up to Des Montes, Iowa to visit Adventureland, and then up to Minneapolis to visit Valleyfair (yes, there is a theme park there and it is part of the Cedar Fair brand).

 

3) Or maybe you could travel to Indiana Beach, located in Monticello, Indiana. Then after a day or two, you could take 22 east to 42 north and head to South Bend before getting on the turnpike to reach Cedar Point, and maybe even Kings Island. Or instead of going east on the turnpike, you could continue north from South Bend and reach Muskogee, Michigan and try some Michigan Adventures (all three of those parks are also part of the Cedar Fair brand). Or you could stay in Indiana and visit Hoilday World, located in Santa Claus, Indiana.

 

I hope those suggestions were helpful.

 

"And here's my suggestions for those who are tired a lot: rest your head upon me and you'll feel a whole lot better."

[printersdevil78]

Of those choices, I've been to Chicago and San Antonio. Chicago had more things to "do" in the way of museums and attractions. Navy Pier was OK, the Museum of Science and Industry was pretty neat, and we enjoyed SFGAm, as well as a stop at Superdawg Drive-In on the way back. Here's the TR:

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=51250&hilit=midwest&start=20

 

Of the two, however, I prefered San Antonio. The ambiance was great, as was the food, and there were still plenty of great non-park things to do (Alamo, Riverwalk, Hemisfair Park, cheesy museums, Ripley's if you into that sort of thing, etc.). I went in the off season, so I can't offer any personal opinions of the parks, but I enjoyed my time in the city. It was a lot cheaper than Chicago, too! TR:

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=48636&p=688684&hilit=Antonio#p688684

[KI Kidd]

 

1) How about going to Branson, Missouri. Besides Silver Dollar City, they also have a few go-kart tracks, a water park that only has one slide, plenty of minature golf courses, a Ripley's Believe it or Not museum, and tons of music showplaces.

 

This was going to be my suggestion when I read your original post. While I have never been to Silver Dollar City, my family has taken a few trips to the Branson area and there really is something for everyone there.

[ginzo]

If you want to take your wife out to a nice dinner for your anniversary, Chicago is the best bet. Not sure if you'd be into that sort of thing, but here would be a good place to start.

[sclisso]

I'm not sure how far Pigeon forge is from there but I would highly recommend a visit. There's a ton of things to do there. I've been going there almost every year for around 8 or 9 years and I still haven't done everything yet,lol. And of course Dollywood is there for your coaster rides. It doesn't have a lot of coasters, but it's still a good park. You might be able to hit up a few other parks on the way back. I've always had a great time whenever I went there.

[musicmand]

Okay, fellow vacation traveler, I have a few suggestions:

 

1) How about going to Branson, Missouri. Besides Silver Dollar City, they also have a few go-kart tracks, a water park that only has one slide, plenty of minature golf courses, a Ripley's Believe it or Not museum, and tons of music showplaces.

 

2) Or maybe you could go to Kansas City and visit Worlds of Fun, then drive up to Des Montes, Iowa to visit Adventureland, and then up to Minneapolis to visit Valleyfair (yes, there is a theme park there and it is part of the Cedar Fair brand).

 

3) Or maybe you could travel to Indiana Beach, located in Monticello, Indiana. Then after a day or two, you could take 22 east to 42 north and head to South Bend before getting on the turnpike to reach Cedar Point, and maybe even Kings Island. Or instead of going east on the turnpike, you could continue north from South Bend and reach Muskogee, Michigan and try some Michigan Adventures (all three of those parks are also part of the Cedar Fair brand). Or you could stay in Indiana and visit Hoilday World, located in Santa Claus, Indiana.

 

I hope those suggestions were helpful.

 

"And here's my suggestions for those who are tired a lot: rest your head upon me and you'll feel a whole lot better."

 

Since we have family in SW Missouri, we've done the Branson thing (we really like Silver Dollar City). Also, since we're only a few hours from KC, we've done that trip too. The Indiana suggestion is interesting... I had no idea that there were so many parks in that area!