Family Trip by Car - from Connecticut

I have not been there, but have heard WONDERFUL things about Dutch World in PA. It is supposed to be especially good for the younger kids. You may want to look into that. HTH

We live in CT too and one of our favorite places to go on vacation is Cape May, NJ. It's about 5 hours or less by car, at the southern-most tip of New Jersey. This is a quiet, family-friendly Victorian village by the sea. Most places to stay are in Victorian homes with apartments (kitchens,private baths, etc) and you can walk just a few blocks to the ocean. We have seen dolphins swimming by while sitting on the beach. There is also The Cape May Zoo nearby. Wildwood is only a 15 minute car trip where they have a boardwalk and carnival-type attractions/rides. You can go fishing, go on a whale watch or tour the historical sites. It books up fast,so if you think you may want to go, start making some plans now. We are going the 2nd week of August with our 4 kids aged 12 to 3. Can't wait!!!
Check out this site for more info:
http://www.capemaytimes.com/

Hi T.,
I have not been, but one of my friends took her son to Sesame Place. It's in Langhorne, PA. The website says it's 1 1/2 hours from NYC. She said they had a blast.

We're taking our kids to Story Land in Glen, NH. It's about 5 hrs from where we live in CT (north of Waterbury in glorious Litchfield County). Also about 1 hr north of Glen in Jefferson is Santa's village. It's Santa's Summer place with reindeer petting zoo and all. Both are amusement parks built for small kids. There are tons of rides at both parks that my 9 mo old can even go on. And their open days from 9-6 so there is no late nights for little ones. And the parks aren't crazy expensive. Both advertise that children 3 and under are free and for you and your hubby it's less then $25 a person to get in. We're staying at North Conway Grand Hotel for 3 nights it is less then $500 including fees and all with 2 queen beds (kids 12 and under eat and stay free). They have 3 pools and a playground. I'm thinking the whole extended weekend should cost us less then $1000 (probably not including gas though). I can't wait.
There is also Ocean City, NJ. We go there every summer. My aunt lives 4 blocks from the beach and it's great. We love it there. It's a dry town so no bars and the resturants don't serve alcohol but most of them are byob. The boardwalk has 2 amusment parks for kids and tons of little shops and everything. It's about 2 miles long. YOu can also rent bikes or Surries to ride on the boards. We're going here for a week in Sept once all the summer traffic goes home. And everything is getting ready to close for the winter. You'll find great deals then. And story book land isn't far from the island. It's maybe 30 mins inland.

Hi T.,

We have been to Hershey Park a couple time with our children. I am the mother of 4, now ranging from 9-17. My son was about 2 years old last time we when and had a blast. When we went the last time, we went to see some Caverns nearby. All enjoyed that as well. Before and after Hershey Park, we made sure we hit the Chocolate Factory (just in the parking lot) to see how they made chocolate and receive a sample. It is quite a distance from CT, as we live there as well.

We have gone multiple times to Seasame Place, and even my 14 year old at the time, had an awesome time. Seasame Place is pretty much all water activities, but they have some awesome shows and parade. It is about 3 hours from where we live in CT. Much shorter ride and really fun.

We have been to Story Land in NH. It is definitely geared to younger kids. We had 3 kids at the time, and they all had fun. Nearby there is a Steam Train that we took a ride on.

If you haven't been on vacation before with your child, please try and stay at a place with a pool, they love just hanging out at the pool.

You should have fun wherever you decide to go!
R.
Hamden Connecticut

Hi T.,
Have you ever been to Shawnee, PA? It's very family oriented. It's close to the NJ border. When you check-in at the place, they give you a list of activities for the week. Some of the activities include a welcome BBQ, bingo (kids & adults), hula hoop contest, basketball, lollipop licking contest, karaoke, etc. They have a game room and pools. It's about 2 hours away from Hershey, so you could still do that as a day trip from Shawnee. I went to Hershey a few years ago and had fun, but I didn't have any kids yet. Whatever you decide to do, hope you have a great time!

our family of four took our camper to hershey park 3 years ago one of our girls was 2 and one 4. not much to do with children that young. nothing outside of town, unless you want to drive to sesame place which is if i remember correctly is about 2-1/2 hours away. If you enjoy big fast rollercoasters hershey park is for you

Hi mom,

hershey is a fun place but its really for older children in my opinion, fun stuff would be the pool at the hotel and SESAME PLACE

http://www.sesameplace.com/sesame/pa/index.aspx

Also visit the Amish and eat an Amish Dinner.

I think 3 hours should work out fine, try and start out one hour before Nap time.

Have Fun

M

Hi T.!

How about Lake George? It's probably 3 1/2 hours from the Rhode Island border. There is Enchanted Forest, but I have not been there yet to know what it is all about. The website shows some cool things for little kids. Dora will be visiting in July. There is shopping right there too.

Hershey is nice. They have a zoo and other attractions. I'm not sure what's around the area and if you do an internet search you may be able to see. There is Dorney Park in Allentown that I had friends go to and said it was nice and had enough to do for little kids.

There is Fantasy Island on the Jersey Shore. Funtown Amusement Park in Seaside Park, NJ. Land of Make Believe in NJ, Story Book Land also in NJ. I would suggest doing a search on the internet. These are all places I plan on searching too so unfortunately I cannot share how much fun they are (or aren't) :o( Have fun!

S.