psychodelicide said:

Glad you and your family had a good time, PurpleJedi.

Gracias!

PurpleJedi said:

psychodelicide said:

Glad you and your family had a good time, PurpleJedi.

Gracias!

You're welcome!

I'll be there this weekend....I'll have to have fun for you too then I guess... .....

PurpleJedi said:

To all of you who'd given me feedback on my planned trip to Cedar Point...

...so we definitely didn't get to go this year.

HOWEVER, I turned my lemons into lemonade and planned a bunch of smaller trips to make up for it, spending much less money.

FIRST we drove to Hershey Park and spent the day. It was a nice park and bigger than I had expected. The lines were also much longer than I had expected (considering it was a MONDAY).

We spent our 2 nights in Lancaster, PA at a hotel built to resemble a steamboat;

The kids LOVED it.

The following day we took a horse-&-buggy drive through Amish country in Lancaster. Besides the movies, I had never seen Amish people before. The lady that drove our buggy was Amish and gave us a nice tour. Answered all our questions as well. The kids got to sit in the front on the buggy with her & took pictures. It was really nice to see them interact with her and actually show interest in what she was saying about their electricity-free lifestyles and crops and stuff.

Then the third day we drove to Philly and walked around Independence Hall. We stopped off at the National Liberty Museum and saw some interesting stuff to get the kids thinking about (and appreciating) what they have. It was hot & the kids were tired, so we headed home early.

THEN today we drove back out to the Poconos and hiked a trail at Bushkill Falls. Beautiful, beautiful area. The waterfalls were great and they enjoyed hiking through the woods.

All in all it was a great few days. The kids enjoyed themselves and we saved a few dollars.

Compare;

5 days @ Kalahari Resort + tickets to Cedar Point for 2 days; about $1,900.00 (estimated)

-vs-

1 day @ Hershey Park; $180

2 nights @ Fulton Steamboat Inn; $310.00

1 hour Horse & Buggy Ride; $52.00 (w/ coupon)

National Liberty Museum tickets; $15.00

Entrance tickets to Bushkill Falls; $38.00

TOTAL for above: $595.00

Of course that doesn't take into account food, gas & tolls...but I'm sure that we STILL spent less than HALF.

And a good time was had by all.

Awesome!

I love your outlook and your determination to have a good time no matter what!

I'm in Michigan and Cedar Point is the place to go! It's only 2.5 hours away. I love that place! However, we have another great place up north called Michigan's Adventure and it's pretty cool....considering Cedar Point is $50 a person Michigan's Adventure is $25 and includes the AWESOME waterpark It's not a rollercoaster frenzy like CP, but it's a nice place, especially if you have smaller children who want to ride more than just "kiddie rides".

Smooches;)

shootindabreeze said:

I'll be there this weekend....I'll have to have fun for you too then I guess... .....

You have to report afterwards!

PunkMistress said:

PurpleJedi said:

And a good time was had by all.

Awesome!

I love your outlook and your determination to have a good time no matter what!

LISTEN...the way I see it...ANY vacation is a GOOD vacation.

I was EIGHTEEN years old before I took my first "real" vacation (not counting the many trips to Honduras where we stayed with relatives). After that, I had to wait until I was MARRIED to actually go away on my own and book a hotel & flight & all that. We just never had the money.

My kids, in stark contrast, are spoiled. They almost expect to spend a week in a nice hotel EVERY YEAR. When we tell them that we're going somewhere, the first thing they want to know is; "Does the hotel have a pool and a hot tub?" The youngest one started to give me a hard time about "only" staying 2 nights in the hotel...which is when I went into full "parent mode" and gave him the "when I was your age..." and the "do you know how many kids never even go on a vacation?..." spiel.

Anyway...next year is next year and we'll do the Kalahari thing (or maybe something better?).

PurpleJedi said:

PunkMistress said:

Awesome!

I love your outlook and your determination to have a good time no matter what!

LISTEN...the way I see it...ANY vacation is a GOOD vacation.

I was EIGHTEEN years old before I took my first "real" vacation (not counting the many trips to Honduras where we stayed with relatives). After that, I had to wait until I was MARRIED to actually go away on my own and book a hotel & flight & all that. We just never had the money.

My kids, in stark contrast, are spoiled. They almost expect to spend a week in a nice hotel EVERY YEAR. When we tell them that we're going somewhere, the first thing they want to know is; "Does the hotel have a pool and a hot tub?" The youngest one started to give me a hard time about "only" staying 2 nights in the hotel...which is when I went into full "parent mode" and gave him the "when I was your age..." and the "do you know how many kids never even go on a vacation?..." spiel.

Anyway...next year is next year and we'll do the Kalahari thing (or maybe something better?).

You sound like such a great dad. You remind me of my husband.