The Easiest Family Vacation Resorts for Working Moms
This post may contain affiliate links and CorporetteMoms may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Which family vacation resorts have you tried and enjoyed? Are there any you’ve tried that you wouldn’t? Which is your kids’ favorite? When you want to have a fun family vacation but don’t want to do a lot of planning, where do you go? Which do you think are the easiest family vacation resorts for working moms?
Before my husband and I became parents, I wouldn’t have considered an all-inclusive and/or resort-type of vacation. We valued flexibility and spontaneity: the opportunity to have our full pick of hotels and B&Bs, the ability to choose any restaurants we wanted and also to discover some by wandering around a new city, etc. Why would we want to limit ourselves by taking a cruise or staying in a resort, and why would we want to stay in one place?
Well, now that I’m a mom, I completely understand the allure of a “one-stop shop” family vacation resort. (It’s not the only sort of vacation we take as a family — for example, we’ve taken our son to Toronto and London — but it’s an option I like to take advantage of!) Family vacation resorts like Great Wolf Lodge make for easy, fun, relaxing trips that require little planning and offer something for all ages. My son is a big fan — he’s already asked us a few times about when we’ll return. (Note: So far, we’ve gone to the Canadian GWL location in Niagara Falls twice and have really enjoyed it, while Kat’s family had a so-so experience at a different location, so YMMV.)
{related: what kind of family vacation is right for you?}
Where do you go for the easiest family resort vacations? Have you tried Great Wolf Lodge, Kalahari Resorts, The Tyler Place Family Resort, Hershey Park, Beaches, Legoland, a Disney cruise, … or, of course, Disneyland or Disney World? (They definitely merit a separate post – are there any aficionados amongst us?) Do you try to carve out some quality time with your spouse by taking advantage of resorts’ supervised children’s activities? (And did you see this recent essay in which a mom criticizes other parents for doing so?) How have your vacations changed since you’ve become a parent — or have you tried to keep your trips as close to your pre-kid vacation style as possible?
Disney’s aulani resort in Hawaii is amazing. Those people at Disney really think things through (step stools in the bathroom in the room so kids can wash hands/ brush teeth!). There’s a lot less to do than a theme park, but that made it so relaxing.
How about a family resort in the North Carolina mountains? Hubby wants to head to North Carolina next time, but all of our friends who go there rent or have homes and do their own cooking or go out to eat. It isn’t a vacation to me if I have to cook every meal, so I’d like someplace where food is included. I’d be interested in someplace where food is all taken care of.
Thanks in advance!
Any suggestions for a winter vacation within driving distance of DC? This is our first year following the public school calendar with our new kindergartener, and we have the week before Christmas off as well as the week after. We’re trying to fit in something fun, but I don’t want to worry about the weather interrupting flights. We just did Disney Cruise/Disney World in May (which was amazing, but a lot of work on my part.)
Dog friendly would be a bonus!
Tyler Place looks amazing and reminds me of the Family Camp week at a YMCA camp where I worked during college summers. I wonder how many similar places are out there… Off on a research mission, now!
Re the comment above, my family did YMCA of the Rockies when I was a kid and I remember it as the best vacation ever. Second best was Macinac Island.
We went to Hershey Park earlier this year, and it was great. We rented a cottage on a farm nearby, my kids loved the house and the animals, and we did a day trip to chocolate world and another to the amusement park. It was mid week and bad weather, so the crowds weren’t too bad, but I could tell the infrastructure was for about 10x as many people and I would have hated to be there for that. My kids are too young/short for all but the tamest roller coasters, but we had a good time taking them on the rides…I thought I’d be disappointed to not be able to ride any big thrill coasters, but actually it was kind of relaxing to spend a day at a park and never wait in a long line!
Piggybacking on the earlier lunch thread…how do you ensure “cold” items don’t get soggy or worse, are at room temperature during kids’ school times? my soon-to-be-KGer loves cheese sticks and yogurt pouches but only when they’re cold. can I freeze them and hope they thaw before she eats them for lunch?
If anyone is a Michigan alumni, I recently found out about Camp Michigania, which looks like an amazing family camp.
We’re all about Disney World for this kind of vacation. My favorite thing to do is to stay on Disney property or at the Swan & Dolphin (Starwood hotels in the heart of Disney property; excellent redemption rate if you have SPG points). It’s just so, so kid-friendly. Meals are easy, transportation is easy, diaper changes are easy, strollers are easy… And there’s something fun going on everywhere for all ages. We take my 4 year old and meet up with my sister’s family (incl. her teenage son) and everyone has a great time.
My family is a fan of Mohonk Mountain House (mohonk.com). We haven’t gone over the summer, when they have a kids club, but it looks like a nice option!
Really interested in this thread! Tyler Place looks awesome.
Is there anything like Tyler Place on the west coast? It looks amazing, but quite a hike from the Pacific Northwest.
I’ve been to Great Wolf Lodge in OH and found it “meh” at best. I also thought it was overpriced and everything looked worn down–especially the bedtime story puppet show, which featured so many old and malfunctioning animatrons that it was fascinatingly creepy.
Indoor water parks are only fun if your kids are over 10 and you feel comfortable letting them run off to play with siblings or friends. If you have a little one you are going to be tethered to them the entire time, and if the park is crowded or you feel weird just letting your kid roam free (this is me!) then you follow them from slide to slide and pool to pool always trying to keep them in sight. I’m jealous of parents who can release their children and then enjoy the Adults Only areas–I can’t get there yet.
We did legoland in florida a year ago. We didn’t stay there, because my parents live a couple of hours away and we were visiting them, but in terms of the park itself I highly recommend it. We only did one day and I feel like we did almost everything there. MUCH less overwhelming than Disney. We didn’t have to consult expert bloggers and come up with a “game plan” and stuff. More freedom to wander around and let kiddo pick what he wanted to do. I highly recommend it as a low stress themepark option with limited planning required.
We went to Lost Valley Ranch in Colorado a few years ago and it was lovely. They had a wonderful kids program but also time for families to hang out. Definitely plan to go back once our youngest gets bigger. Bonus: no cell service :)
DISNEY CRUISE!!! When our kids were 3 and almost 2, we were trying to find a family resort (we had had bad cruise experiences in the past). Unfortunately most places didn’t have activities or kids club for kids until they were 5. We ended up booking a disney cruise and it was the best thing ever. So much so that we have our 6th one booked for this upcoming winter. It’s the perfect combination of family time with tons to do with the kids, as well as great opportunities to send the kids to the kids club/nursery for some adult time, and you don’t even feel guilty about it because the kids would love to spend all their time there if we let them. And because it’s Disney, the service is amazing and all the little details are perfect. It’s not cheap, but you are totally getting what you pay for, and Disney does not nickel and dime you the way most cruise lines do. We highly recommend to all our friends, and can’t wait for the 3 new ships to come online in the coming years.
Please answer this question, everyone! I want to go on vacations that actually feel like vacation.
I’ve had the Franklyn D. Resort in Jamaica recommended to me before, but haven’t been myself.