Comments on: Family “Vacation”?

By: cassie

cassie — Mon, 24 May 2010 17:37:04 +0000

Great idea!!!
Sounds like you are going to have some fun!!

By: Mama Zen

Mama Zen — Thu, 13 May 2010 02:12:12 +0000

I went to Marine Land. Honestly, this place is so boring even for kids. I liked to feed fawns… and that was it.

Do your children like to wait hours before doing activities? Mine not, so I avoid these kind of activities because I don’t want to become deaf by the end of summer usually, I don’t have a hard time convincing them that we can find better ideas.

By: George

George — Wed, 12 May 2010 22:14:06 +0000

You need to change your attitude before departing… if you go with the current attitude, you’ll be remembered as “the person who ruined our vacation”.

The trick to enjoying yourself in a tourist trap is to do everything that’s free. Make it a treasure hunt. Line up the coupon books and go for it! At something like a water park, where one admittance gets you in the door and there are no ride tickets, you go on every slide until you’re exhausted, skipping things with long lines (figure out in advance which ones will have the lines and hit them first).

By: dlm

dlm — Wed, 12 May 2010 21:00:31 +0000

I would hate to have to go on a vacation where I hated the activity (and I would hate a touristy, noisy, overly busy ‘amusement’ park). Being told to change my attitude wouldn’t help. Compromise is defined as a settlement where each side makes concessions. This could be a power trip — if you go along, you may have many years of vacations you hate.

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 12 May 2010 02:04:14 +0000

@ Tim, Margurite, guinness416, Miss T, Four Pillars: You have echoed my wife’s sentiment on my attitude towards the “vacation”, which she is happy about. We’ll see how it goes – who knows, it might be fun….

@ Dave – Thanks for the tips!

@ ET – I use cost to calculate everything, where possible – it’s generally a factor in everything I do. I am basically saying that for the same amount of money there are perhaps more family oriented activities that could be done than standing in lines with hundreds of other people for the day.

By: ET

ET — Tue, 11 May 2010 22:58:14 +0000

maybe you shouldn’t use cost/less cost as a defining factor.

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 11 May 2010 22:41:35 +0000

Marineland is not too bad. When we went in the summer we did it on a Tuesday first thing in the morning as the crowds are lighter Monday to Wednesday. By the time it started getting too busy for me we had already finished most things. Most people do Niagara Falls Thursday to Sunday so avoid those times. If it rains go and see the falls and go on the boat under the falls, the crowds are much lighter and on the boat you get wet anyways. Hit up vineyards and get some good wine too! A bottle or two helps pass the time!

By: Canada.creditcards.com

Canada.creditcards.com — Tue, 11 May 2010 18:47:19 +0000

Choose one of your vacation days to be a “Dave Day”, which means you have total say over what is done that day. It will allow you to enjoy a part of the vacation without spoiling the rest of it for your wife. Compromise is good

By: Four Pillars

Four Pillars — Tue, 11 May 2010 13:26:37 +0000

Suck it up and quit your whining!

Wait till you have kids of your own – then you will yearn for the days when you could travel without them.

By: Miss T

Miss T — Tue, 11 May 2010 13:17:37 +0000

I would say check to see if there are any city passes our coupon books available for that area. You often can find them online. I have used these when I have traveled and they have saved me money on admissions as well as avoiding line ups.

I would also try to think more positive. You don’t want to get into the self prophesying stage where what you think comes true. Think positive and you should hopefully have a positive outcome. Maybe you can come up with a compromise; you will go on the trip but just won’t go to marineland. The rest of them can go.

I like all sorts of vacations, busy ones and quiet ones. It all comes down to balance. Good luck.