Adventure Starts Here.
Every journey brings you closer to new places, to people you love, to family, and to yourself. Let’s make your next escape unforgettable.
Disney’s unique, guided, land-based tours successfully offer families the chance to explore far-flung destinations from Italy to Africa to Yellowstone National Park with itineraries that de-stress the experience for parents while offering activities guaranteed to please the kids. Now Adventures by Disney has brought the concept onboard some Disney cruises (www.disneycruise.com) in the Mediterranean and this coming summer, Alaska
If you thought heading to the slopes this winter would be a budget buster or no fun for mom, think again. Not only has there been so much snow, but large and small resorts across ski country are pulling out all the stops for families, featuring increased programming off the slopes as well as on, free or discounted lift tickets and even free flights.
Upping the adventure quotient is exactly what a growing number of well-heeled and fit grandparents are doing to gather their far-flung progeny. They’re sailing in the British Virgin Islands, hiking in Yellowstone, exploring Costa Rican rain forests, bird-watching in the Galapagos Islands, heading to Africa on safari, fishing in Alaska and even studying marine biology in Virginia, typically picking up most of the tab
No wonder I’m smiling. If you thought heading to the slopes this winter would be a budget buster or no fun for mom, think again. Large and small resorts across ski country are pulling out all the stops for families, featuring increased programming off the slopes as well as on, free or discounted lift tickets and even free flights.
As we were planning our trip, we decided that a day-off from Disney would be good, so that the kids could settle down and we didn’t have to fight crowds and lines all day. So, being from Colorado, we decided to go check out SNOW! and ICE! at the Gaylord Palms hotel in Orlando.
We were headed to the tiny island of Grand Turk and Bohio Resort www.bohioresort.com for some scuba diving. Turks and Caicos is known for their spectacular reefs and my daughter Mel had been diligently completing the required online course and hoped to join us as certified divers this trip. But I was celebrating too soon. Just before we arrived at JFK, I got a message from American Airlines that our flight had been cancelled. (Why we didn’t get the message four hours ahead, as we’d requested, I don’t know)
Day 4 in Orlando with the Sitzman family — When we were planning our Holiday vacation, we wanted to have a special, keystone event—besides, I had convinced five-year old Hannah that we weren’t going to put up a Christmas tree since I had called ahead and Mickey was going to go ahead and decorate for us.
On our third day, we woke up ready to go get wet. When we looked outside, we were going to definitely get wet. It was pouring outside. But, since we didn’t have much flexibility in our schedule, and since we knew we were going to be sitting in the splash zone at Shamu, we were undeterred. In fact, it was raining so hard we were wet as we walked to the car.
Our second day in Orlando for our Holiday vacation took us to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Although we have been to this theme park a couple of times as a family, this would be the first time that both our son and daughter would be able to enjoy most of the “big kid” rides. Emphasis on most!
I know many of you couldn’t imagine forsaking home during the Christmas holidays. It’s certainly a frustrating and expensive time to travel. But for my gang, taking off during the holidays has become as much of a tradition for our interfaith family as lighting the menorah and hanging stockings over the fireplace. We’ve skied in Colorado and sailed in the British Virgin Islands where one year my husband and son became certified scuba divers. This year my daughter Mel will learn to dive at a tiny resort on Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos and I can’t wait to share a sport I love with her….
Whenever kids are part of the equation—whether they’re four, fourteen or 24—let go of all your expectations for that perfect family bonding experience. It won’t happen. You’ll be lucky if you get a few of those can’t-believe-we’re-here-together moments. And if your kids are like mine, they won’t want to stop then to take a picture.
The Sitzman family (cousins of Eileen’s) from snowy Golden, Co., decided to let someone else decorate the tree this year and headed for Orlando, Fl. First stop: Universal Orlando and Breakfast with the Grinch!
Wherever you are this holiday season, take some time to see the lights with the kids. In most cases, it won’t cost anything (except for a hot drink afterward). If your family is anything like mine, you are guaranteed memories that will last for years — though they won’t necessarily be the ones you anticipated. (We still talk about that Chicago “ice kiss” every winter.)
I was thinking of the trips that went right and those that went wrong as I perused our Christmas Tree ornaments—the Eiffel Tower when I took my daughters to Europe right after 9/11 (we spent more time at the flea market than at museums); the moose-on-skis from Colorado (that was the trip when the kids officially declared me “too slow,” to ski with them)
If you were super-organized, you might have squirreled away “surprises” from your last family vacation — those souvenirs the kids wanted but you nixed — and can now present with appropriate fanfare. I wasn’t that organized this year and my kids wouldn’t let me buy even one more ornament for the tree. (“Enough already!” They said in Hawaii and Colorado.) But I’ve got a fall back plan: A photo book for each of them comprised of vacation shots taken over the years. (Hopefully, my picks won’t embarrass them too much.)
Today, you’ll find groups and women’s clinics like this at large and small resorts across the country. Each program is a little different. There are clinics for snowboarders and skiers, for beginners and experts, with a focus on technique, conquering fear or new equipment testing.
You’re missing a lot if you ignore easy-to-reach Puerto Rico in favor of more exotic islands. And you’re still in the United States here — Puerto Rico, of course, is a U.S. territory — yet you have the opportunity to explore a rich culture that dates back more than five centuries.
Thanks, Mr. Bean. If not for my pink flowered rubber boots from L.L. Bean (a far cry from the first hunting shoes Leon L. Bean sold in Maine in 1912), I would have had awfully wet feet the week in spent in Alaska last year. That got me thinking. Instead of rushing around trying to find the perfect gift for my favorite family travelers, I’m going to get them what I find most helpful to have with me when I’m traveling with my gang
Wherever you find yourself this holiday season, make time to visit a museum — even if you take in just one exhibit. Museums are a great way to get the gang out of grandma’s house for a couple of hours, especially when it’s too cold to hit the local playground. And if you are a member of your local art, science or children’s museum, you may find that membership gets you in for free.
There is so much history here in Old San Juan. We’re across the street from the historic Cathedra (dating to the 16th Century and the Western Hemisphere’s oldest), children’s museum and adjacent to the Plaza of the Nuns, the city’s second oldest park, as well as numerous restaurants and galleries.
Connor is on vacation at “El Con” as the gargantuan resort is known with his parents and younger sister from Syracuse, NY and his dad reports they haven’t even left the resort—not with four pools, (three more at Las Casitas villas where they are staying) the water park with its lazy river and water slides, and the resort’s private Palamino Island –100 acres a few miles off shore with snorkeling, kayaking, windsurfing, jet skiing, mini golf, beach volley ball and basketball
Face it. Hosting the family for the holidays is hard work. Being a holiday guest is no picnic either. It won’t be perfect. Not the food. Not the kids’ behavior. Not the adults’ behavior. We’re talking about family, after all
It is pitch black and we are kayaking through red mangroves, trying to dodge the roots, on our way to the Bioluminescent Bay Laguana Grande at Las Croabas, Fajardo in Puerto Rico—one of three on the island, I learn from our guide Joel from GSI Adventures. The bay is home to a large colony—more than a million—of dinoflagellates that light up and produce the glowing waters that make the water glow when we paddle. Crazy!
For many who turn up their noses at Puerto Rico in favor of more exotic islands, they’re missing out on a lot. First is the ease to get here. But beyond that is the fact that you are still in the United States—American currency—and that no matter what the weather, there is plenty to do beyond the terrific beaches. There is the rain forest, of course, the chance to kayak in the Bioluminescent Bay–home to large colonies of dinoflagellates that light up like fire-flies producing glowing waters.
Over the holidays, we tend to let down our guard and “ maybe we don’t pay attention as closely because we are catching up with friends and family, and everyone is sleeping less, is more fatigued and, therefore, more accident prone,” concedes Dr. Alison Tothy, the pediatric ER medical director at Comer Children’s Hospital at the University of Chicago and a spokesman for the American Academy of Pediatrics. Perhaps that’s one reason Dr. Tothy says ER visits for children increase during the holidays.
We feel as if we’ve got the huge (2.2 million acres) park to ourselves. The last time we were here in the summer, there were so many people around the kids could barely see Old Faithful. Now we’ve got our pick of viewing spots and take a trail up to an observation point where we can see Old Faithful and all of the surrounding area. A small herd of Bison is in the distance
It’s not wishful thinking — even in this economy. All you need to do is gather the gang at a vacation destination rather than a relative’s house for the holidays. According to American Express, 40 percent of consumers plan to travel this holiday season, most of them staying in the United States. This year, AAA expects more of us to hit the roads and skies for Thanksgiving
Whether facing a deployment or just trying to make vacation memories, this village is a terrific place to start. Lanier Motes, who orchestrates the events here at Sandestin, explains there is something going on every holiday
Vista Verde Ranch , 25 miles north of Steamboat Springs on some 560 pristine acres at 7,800 feet above sea level, is a place to literally slow down and enjoy the scenery from the back of a horse or on snowshoes or backcountry skis away from crowds and cars
This program—you’ll find others around the country—is part of an effort designed by the U.S. Tennis Association to get more kids involved in the sport. They play with smaller rackets and on smaller courts. “It’s hand eye coordination, exercise, being outdoors,” Petty says, and the kids are learning a lifelong sport.
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