I am trying to figure out where to go for vacation.


Please let me know if you have been to any of them and what the good and bad points are


THNAK YOU!!!


Yes we are taking our 7 daughters ages 15-5

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*update*

Thank you everyone for all of your help!

We are going to ~~~


KALAHARI in Wisconsin

I know that wasn't one of the ideas but my DH and the kids saw it on tv and that is what they wanted to do

We may still go to Niagara Falls at the end of the week.

Keep up with all of the advice it is GREAT!!!

Thnak you!!!

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Dawnie
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If there is a will there is a way!

I've been to Niagara Falls, and although it was beautiful I don't think it was anything special. I met a friend up there. Otherwise I think I would have had trouble finding something to do I voted for the Mall of America. There are a bunch of other fun things to do in Minneapolis/St. Paul as well. Do you have kids? There is the Science Museum, the OmniTheatre, the Children's Theatre, and on and on! If you go in the summer it is a beautiful city! You can visit the lakes and swim/ski/boat. There are plenty of trails to hike/bike/picnic. Research it Oh, the shopping is great as well! There are two HUGE outlet malls also within reason (about 30-45 minutes away).

I love Niagra Falls it's called one of the forgotten 7 wonders of the world. If your children have not seen this it is beautiful. This is something that God and nature have created. I think everyone needs to see it. There are beautiful parks, there is a strip of attractions for the kids to see. There are fireworks every night. I take my kids every year to see the falls and every year they love it. There are tons of trails, Maid of the mist, and much much more. If you go to Niagra Falls you should definately stay on the Canadian side. There is much more to do. The American side is kind of boring if you are looking for attractions instead of just beauty.

Hershey PA is fun just not a lot to do unless you stay at one of the really nice resorts. We stayed at one of the beautiful resorts they had there but there was not a whole lot to do except for the chocolate factory. We did have a great time. I did not research enough before we left as it was a last minute trip. Still fun.

I have never been to the Mall of America with my family so I am not sure how that would be.

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cmemaloy@yahoo.com


I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not.

Life! is a coin. You can spend it anyway you wish, but you can only spend it once.

I've never been to any of them, but voted for Hershey, sounds like the most fun to me with 7 kids!

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"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

I'm probably one of the very last person you would ever see in a Mall, I dont even like to shop at our outlet here... However, I have seen this Mall of America and I think it's AWESOME I would love to see it in person... I voted for the MOA...

Good Luck and HAVE A BALL on your vacation,.

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MyCoupons Is #1 for Holiday Shopping

Went to Mall of America two years ago. Kids had a ball. There is an aquarium, amusement park, lego land, and cereal land. Seems like there was something else also! But I would highly recommend this. The only down fall we had, it was a 14hr trip one way. We said if/when we go back, we will probably fly...

Not to mention the like 4 floors of stores. We really had a good time. We stayed at a hotel across the street and walked over every day...

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Mall of America gets my vote... My Dh is from MN & has brothers who live there.. Our next trip there we are planning on going to the mall. I have never seen it everytime we visted his brother we were pressed for time.

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Angels may not come when you call them, but they'll always be there when you need them.

If you go to the MOA you really need to make sure you try the Aquamassage there - it's unbelievably relaxing, you'll be jello after 7 mins ;-)
I live near MOA and hate the place, too big, too many stores for my own personal preferences. But I have daughters who love the place and I end taking them about twice a year. Whilst they are doing their mall fan thing I'll be having a crepe at the Magic Pan and getting an aquamassage ;-)
Lived both near the Falls and Hershey, and can't say there's a lot to do at either place. In nearby Lancaster Co. you can take a short drive from Hershey for outlet shopping, it's a Co. w/ a lot of Amish if you like Amish stuff. The Falls area, IMNSHO, is really cheesy and touristy w/out having a nifty quotient to moi-self. But that could be just cuz I lived nearby so I was blase about it all. Same w/Hershey.
There's lots to do near the MOA - parks, museuems, theatres, Irish pubs w/great music, sporting events, concerts - there's always all sorts of events going on for fams on any given day. Why, you could even take a day trip to visit the Spam museum ;-)
MZ

With those three choices, I guess I'd go with Niagra Falls.....but definitely the Canadian side.
Given your location...what about Mackinac Island or Nashville or the Smoky Mtns?

cj/

Hershey, PA sounds like more fun for the kiddos. The MOA is great too because of the great shopping and the amusement park in the center. Especially if your girls like to shop!

The travel forum would be a great place to post this also!
http://www.mycoupons.com/boards/smart-traveler-tst/

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This space for rent

I have been to all 3 places and if I could only go back to one of them, I would choose Niagara Falls.
It is amazing, something everyone should see.
I really can't say what else there is to do there, but I'm sure if you researched you would find things to see and do.

Someone mentioned The Smoky Mountains.
That would be a great place to go with that many kids.
You could rent a cabin with lots of bedrooms and quite often you can get one with a game room and large hot tub. You can find one with a nearby tennis court and swimming pool, etc. There are hiking trails and lots of things to see in the mountains.
Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, TN both have tons of touristy-y things to see and do.
Dollywood is there too.

Be sure to let us know what you choose!

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Square dancing is friendship set to music!

Thanks for of the help. It really does help to hear what others have thought of the different places.

Thank you!! Thank you!!

My DH just asked me about Mackinac Island today. I never thought of this

I will let you know when we make up our mind. I told everyone that they had to know by Sunday so I can get us rooms.

Thank you again

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Dawnie
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If there is a will there is a way!

I'd go to Niagara Falls. It's my FAVE vacation place. I like it more than Isle of Palms, Disney World and Chicago. I'm not a big fan of Hershey Park. We live about 2 hours from there so we can go anytime, but after being in Disney, Hershey just isn't a "big deal" to the kids anymore. Hubby and I went to Niagara Falls for our honeymoon, so maybe that's why I like it so much. We did tons of things (haunted house, wax museum, maid of the mist, journey behind the falls, etc). I took my oldest last year up for the day and she LOVED it. She was 11. I didn't think she'd like it, but she did. We only had time to do a few things then (maid of the mist, journey behind the falls, butterfly conservatory, the white water walk (?)

The kids were at Hershey park last year. My middle one liked it, but she was 4. The oldest one was ok as long as she was riding the roller coasters.

We've never been to the mall of america so I have no opinion on that.

I imagine your kids would have fun at Hershey park and at Niagara Falls.

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Amy
Mom to Lauren, Eryn, Naysa
and announcing......
Gavin Michael Chase, 9 lbs 10 ozs
and 21 3/4 inches long on 10/13/09!

I have been to all 3 and voted for Hershey only because it is near the Amish area. I love going there and there is a lot to see.

Our kids took our grandkids to Hershey and were disappointed with Hershey Park because they had been to larger ones. (Cedar Point and Kings Island and Disney)

Niagra falls was great. We didn't do any of the other attractions in the area though.
We were advised that we should have stopped at the visitors center before we got in the park for discount tickets. (too late for us)

Mall of America was nice but a lot of the small stores were repeated on each of the 4 levels. If I see one store that sells hot sauce I have seen them all.
May have changed by now!

As far as Hershey...the park is not outstanding and is always crowded and overpriced..no big draw ride ...... Chocalate World is o.k. but again nothing out of this world fun..... Musuem of Hershey is o.k. but again nothing to travel to see.....

Was not impressed with MOA....hate crowds so that had a lot to do with it....

Always enjoy the relaxong stay at the Falls...so I guess that is where my vote would go.....

If your looking to shop that is one thing, but if it is meant to quality time together to relax, I would go witht he falls

I say Hershey PA. Spend a day at the actual park (It doesn't have much to attract roller coaster fans, but it IS fun) and then check out nearby places, such as Amish country. Not sure how far Gettysburg is from there, but lots of historic and interesting sites there as well.

I've been to Mall of America and it was fun, but doesn't seem like something you would build a vacation around.

Niagara Falls is beautiful for sure and definitely worth going to at least once.

Mackinac Island is a lot of fun, if somewhat expensive. It's like stepping back in time. You can spend a day or two there, then go on up to the UP and do some camping (if you're into that - not me!)

Ive been to MOA .. no big deal if you have a large mall nearby. It's crowded and has all the same stores my regular malls have, just a few more in the same place. I really like shopping and even I was quickly tired of fighting crowds for mostly overpriced and picked over stuff.

I'm not a big fan of amusement parks and definitely have no interest in spending more than 1 day at the same one so Ive never had any interest in the Hershey PA trip.

I voted for Niagra falls b/c i would LOVE to go there. I'll take natural and beautiful outside over a commercial attraction any day

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rhapsody112@gmail.com

The Mall of American isn't all that great. I live 6 hours away from it, and I have been there a few times. A lot of the stores are the same ones that are in pretty much any mall. You should have money to spend for shopping or it won't be as much fun if you are on a tight budget. Frankly with 7 children, I would be afraid of how much money I'd end up spending.

What part of the country are you starting out from? Maybe some of us could suggest some other ideas for vacations. This is a good thread as I too, am starting to think about vacation time. I think we might go to Boston as we have never been that way yet but I am still thinking........??

Donna -- between Milwaukee and Chicago

We just got back from Niagara Falls. It is just breath-taking and there is tons to do. It is out of season right now, but there was still plenty to do. In the summer there is the falls and all that goes with it...The Maid of the Mist, huge ferris wheel, etc...then there is the Butterfly conservatory, Marine Land, an aquarium, the strip with all of the "stuff", inside water slide park.

We stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge and just had a blast...it is pricey, but worth it for us. Since there is 6 of us we need two rooms at most hotels...so for us the price wasn't too out of line. We just stayed one night, played in the waterpark that afternoon/evening and then the next morning. Then at noon we headed over to the Falls area and walked around for FIVE hours!

Definitely do the Canadian side.

UPDATE at the top!!


Thank you everyone for the help.

If anyone has been to the Kalahari I would love to hear about that too

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Dawnie
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If there is a will there is a way!

I've not been to the Kalahari but last summer we did Wisconsin Dells and there are TONS of things to do there. We did Noah's Ark (okay, but too spread out), Riverview (our favorite), took a ride on the Original Wisconsin Ducks (Loved it!). The kids also wanted to go to Wizards Quest, Top Secret, Ripley's believe it or not, plus about 100 other things. Go to www.wisdells.com to get more info Be sure and eat at Moose jaw Pizza. You also have to at least check the McDonald's there, although don't be shocked that the prices there are more then other McDonald's. If you want to buy souvenirs, go downtown to shop for them. Prices are much much cheaper.