Spring Break locations for young children

[Assman 1830]

My wife and I are looking to get away for Spring Break and take the clan with us, which includes 3 children under the age of 8.  I fly SWA for free, so we're looking for a SWA location that has a couple days worth of shit to keep the kids occupied.  We'd like to avoid big spring break crowds if able, so we're just looking for places to go that might not necessarily be frequented for spring break.  We're looking for a city that has maybe a cool children's museum, aquarium, zoo, or other somewhat interactive experiences.  This will be our first time taking the entire fam on a plane, so we're wanting to keep it low-key and easy.  Sup?

[Mach 1 1677]

With free SWA travel I'd suggest Hawaii, but that might be too far with the kids.  We do it every year and it's perfect.

Cut it in half and stop in LA. Checks all your boxes.

[woohorn 1131]

Disney or a cruise. SPI was my go to when kids were young. The nicer condos don't rent to kids on Spring break so all we were affected by was traffic really. Lots for kids to do.

[6th Street 6609]

Southwest flies to the Caribbean now too. We took our 20 month old to Montego Bay all inclusive last month and he had a blast at the beach, pool, and doing all the activities. Used the Southwest Companion pass so one of the tickets was free. 

[3adays 454]

8 hours ago, 6th Street said:

Southwest flies to the Caribbean now too. We took our 20 month old to Montego Bay all inclusive last month and he had a blast at the beach, pool, and doing all the activities. Used the Southwest Companion pass so one of the tickets was free. 

We’ve been looking at going here with our 3yr old. Any recommendation on place to stay? 

[miguelito 11347]

Take them to a National Park or 2 or 3.

Or Hedonism II.

[strangulation! 1716]

New Orleans

[Fudge Nuggets 19292]

Bandera.

[EE2B 1565]

Great Wolf Lodge

[6th Street 6609]

7 hours ago, 3adays said:

We’ve been looking at going here with our 3yr old. Any recommendation on place to stay? 

Stayed at the Jewel Grande and loved it - good restaurants/bars, nice beach, free kayaks/paddle boards, and lots of hot MILFs. Didn't venture out into town which was fine given the kid. 

[Brisketexan 105694]

SWA destinations worth doing with kids over Spring Break:

NOLA -- obvious stuff, PLENTY of family-friendly stuff.  We've done it a couple of times.

Albuquerque -- There's some stuff to see there, but it's a good base of operations for northern NM.  Santa Fe, on up to Bandelier, ski Santa Fe, Chaco Canyon, even all the way up to Mesa Verde (again, we've done this trip with kids).

LAX or San Diego -- both great cities with lots to do.

Denver -- same, and maybe a day in the mountains for snow fun.

Another upside is that none of those make for a long travel day.  That's helpful with kiddos in tow.

[Red Six 131]

16 hours ago, Mach 1 said:

With free SWA travel I'd suggest Hawaii, but that might be too far with the kids.  We do it every year and it's perfect.

Cut it in half and stop in LA. Checks all your boxes.

We did this with our kids a couple years ago. Did a day in Los Angeles (La Brea Tar Pits, L.A. County Natural History Museum, and Griffith Observatory), a day at Disney, and a day in Orange County (whale-watching and beach time). The then-7-year-old's favorite day was L.A., and the then-3-year-old's favorite day was OC.

[hornbri 1475]

Nashville? We did that last December and there was plenty for the kids to do. Not a typical spring break destination. 
 

Pretty good children’s museum, we did the country music museum with them as well. Tons of good food, live music etc. 

[Assman 1830]

Nashville, Albuquerque, and NOLA are perfect.  I like LAX but this will be the first plane ride for all 3 of my kids, so < 2 hours in the air I think would be best.  I was also thinking ATL, MEM, or PHX but not sure what those cities have to offer for kids.

[Brew 3049]

1 hour ago, Assman said:

Nashville, Albuquerque, and NOLA are perfect.  I like LAX but this will be the first plane ride for all 3 of my kids, so < 2 hours in the air I think would be best.  I was also thinking ATL, MEM, or PHX but not sure what those cities have to offer for kids.

MEM has some things to do, but it would not be my pick. They have an excellent zoo and decent places to eat, but with 3 kids 8 and under you’re going to be hard pressed to find things to do that mean much to them. I would fly to StL over Memphis (assuming they have service) because you have a solid zoo, magic house museum, city museum, etc. Memphis does have a great airport to fly in and out of because car service is right there and it takes no time to get to your gate, just don’t plan on eating there.

[washparkhorn 9939]

Good suggestions above. 

Maui is easy with kids.

Monterrey is also cool. Very kid and parent friendly.

[CooterBrown 18112]

Do what YOU want. Kids are adaptable to anything and will enjoy themselves...unless you’ve raised little high maintenance assholes.

 

[HenryJames 66367]

Pampa