Holiday Family Travel with 3 kids ages -- Northeast - NY state or PA area
 

Hi,
Does anyone have any great recommendations of where my husband and I might take our 3 kids (twins age 4 and older child age 7) during the holiday break between Christmas and New Years. we live in NYC and plan to drive somewhere like Hershey, PA or Catskills/Hunter and want to keep the driving to about 4 hours max if possible. We would like something with a full kitchen but in a resort with things to do for the kids and for us. We plan to take a nanny with us. We think our smaller 2 are still a bit young for skiing but sleigh riding would be great.
thanks
dianne

Take a look at Jiminy Peak in the Berkshires. They have a lot of condo accommodations and family friendly activities.

Friends of mine love Woodloch Pines in the Poconos. They have hotel rooms and condos/villas.

I don't know if this would appeal, but there's the Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos. It's a total family resort and seems to be popular from what I've heard (no personal experience). http://www.greatwolf.com/poconos/waterpark. If you're into skiing, Camelback Mtn is nearby.

i looked into woodloch pines and after finding out about all the resort offers for families with kids it seems to be a great idea. My only objection is the COST. At that time of year the approximate cost for a party of 6 -- 3 adults/3 kids is $900 per day per person including meals.

Ouch. $900 per person, per day is steep. That adds up to $5400 per night for the family, or over $16,000 for 3 nights.

Who has that kind of $$ to spend on a holiday?

dianne1217: I was gobsmacked by the figure you gave for a stay at Woodloch Pines and took a look at the website to check.
Although the site is confusing, the amount you've quoted per person is actually the total cost for 3 adults and 3 children per night including meals. Please check again.

I started a reservation so I could check rates and came up with a total for 6 people (including all meals) of $5,841.31 for 4 nights, 12/26-12/30. Although not a budget choice for many, this $6,000.00 for 6 people for a 4 night stay including meals is certainly more reasonable than what was originally thought to be the going rate! It works out to be about $250.00 a day per person including meals. Cheers!

It would be less for 5 people. I don't know why I thought you were a party of 6.

Deluxe Lakeview
2 adults, 3 kids

4 nights. I get $4282, or $214 per person, per night. Still at $1000/night it's a pricey trip for a family of 5.

Yep. As I said, maybe not a budget choice for everyone.

To clairfy--we are bringing our niece with us to help us with the kids and booking her a room (total 1100. incl meals) for us we were looking at a 2 bedroom unit with a small kitchen BUT the resort forces you to buy their 3 meals a day meal plan. the reason to get the 2 bedroom room with the full kitchen was to save money and aggravation of having to drag 3 kids to restaurants and at very least eat breakfast in the room. the package dates at that time of year are 12/26 -- 12/29. no exceptions on anything. you have to book those dates (understandable bc of time of year) and you have to buy their meal plan. the total came to about 5400 for 6 of us which divided by 6 = 900 per day per person. A family trip to Florida is looking more and more attractive! thanks for all of your replies! safe travels to all!

Sounds like a good plan. Have fun!

I think it's the "per day" that threw us off in the calculations...

Hi dianne: You don't have to buy the meal plan if you reserve a unit as opposed to booking a room. Have you considered a Disney cruise? Might be fun but I would guess airfare at that time would be astronomical.

Bowspirit: i dont understand what you mean by "reserve a unit". are you referring to the homes that are 2 miles away from the resort? I was told by the hotel reservations dept that if you stay on property, you must purchase their meal plan. I think disney cruise would be a great idea incidentally. I have heard good things about the disney magic one. I only wish there was one leaving from NYC at that time but there is not. I should mention we have never cruised before and my husband is not so keen on cruises.

The homes are still part of the resort and you're able to use all the facilities of the resort. You can always give them a call and see what options they have available for your dates. Good luck with everything.