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The Great Vacation Debate, Help us decide!

Husband and I can't decide what to do and it's time to figure things out. So offer up some opinions!

From Carrie Hood
Posted November 12, 2010 at 5:06 PM
So my husband and I have been home from our vacation for over two months. The time has come, we're bundled in for the winter and the plotting has begun for the next vacation!

So here's our problem, we can't figure out exactly WHAT to do with ourselves.

We've been to Orlando (as I grew up there) for the last three years as our big vacation. Since nothing is really going on (No one is having kids, No high school reunion, No Weddings!) we'd take the chance and run for the hills, we just can't figure out where to go.

So here is the challenge I'm giving anyone who wants to help!

Help us figure out what to do!
-We have 2 weeks we can take.
They are between May-Sept and the end of December.

-Our Budget
We normally have about $2000 to spend on our vacations outside of travel and hotel. Please keep in mind, we don't fly.. we drive. We're located outside of Pittsburgh, PA. We're trying to stay inside of the US and if possible within a 24 hour drive time as that's the max we can take without killing each other in a car.

-What we do
We love theme parks, historical sites, Renaissance Faires, Conventions and various other crazy things. Toss out ideas, we don't know everything!


So, your job if you choose to accept it is to PLEASE Help us figure out our vacation so we don't just end up back in Orlando again!

(Side Note: We've also been to BGE within the last year and spent a week there with family. Hotel ideas are also welcome if you know of someplace good! There are no bad ideas, we're game for damn near anything!)

Thanks to everyone in advance. Yes, this is a serious question as we're out of ideas that don't involve leaving the country, Going back to Florida or getting on a cruise ship.


Comments in chronological order. Most recent at the bottom. Scroll down to respond.

From Anthony Murphy
Posted November 12, 2010 at 10:37 PM
The issue I see is that you are going during a pretty cool time so most of the Northern Parks are closed such as CP I believe.

If you were flying, I would say California! Disneyland, Six Flags, Knotts,and Universal within a car ride

From M. Ryan Traylor
Posted November 12, 2010 at 11:00 PM
May-Sept:

You've got plenty to choose from nearby.

Cedar Point, Kings Island, Holiday World, Dollywood, etc etc.

And there's lot of history in that area too. First thought was VA for Kings Dominion and BGE, but you've been there. From Dollywood, you can enjoy the Great Smokey mountains and even make it over to Asheville for the Biltmore Estate.

Or even hug the east coast and several Six Flags parks. Save on the ticket price with a season pass purchase. There is some great history up in the CT, MA, VT, NH area also.

From Joshua Counsil
Posted November 16, 2010 at 8:19 AM
If it were me, I'd hit Boston, N.Y., or an equivalently cool city. There's always something going on. Look at their websites to see if anything that interests you is occurring at the time you plan to travel.

From Fred Roy
Posted November 16, 2010 at 9:18 AM
You say you enjoy Renaissance Festivals. Here is a link to a map you can use to check them out all over the country. You can get links to the festival websites from there.
http://www.renaissancefestival.com/festivals/map.php

From Carrie Hood
Posted November 17, 2010 at 9:11 PM
The only downside is the Ren Faires are only weekends so that leaves us with close to 7 days to still play with. However if there is on near by we wouldn't object hitting it up.

Distance isn't really a factor so much for us, we enjoy the typical road trip. Probably more then we should but getting someplace for us is half of the fun.

Holiday world is a great idea, we've never really gone out that way. Could probably hit up several other parks along the way if we decide on that one. Just rather bored with going back to Orlando every year!

Thanks for the great ideas! Keep them coming if anyone else has a suggestion!

From Robert Niles
Posted November 21, 2010 at 11:06 PM
Here's an 11-day itinerary:
-Drive to Knoxville/Pigeon Forge, TN
-Dollywood
-Great Smoky Mountain National Park
-Drive to Santa Claus, Ind.
-Holiday World & Splashin' Safari
-Lincoln Boyhood Home, drive to Indianapolis
-Indy Motor Speedway museum/tour, NCAA headquarters
-Drive to Sandusky
-Cedar Point
-Drive to Cleveland, Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame
-Back to Pittsburgh

It hits some historic and fun contemporary sights, three great theme parks and a very popular national park. If you have an extra day or two, spend them in the Smokies, or add the NFL Hall of Fame, if you're a big sports fan. If you're not into sports at all, you could cut Indianapolis. Can't help with Ren Fairs, I'm afraid.

From Tony Duda
Posted November 22, 2010 at 3:34 PM
Below is a link to ren faires listed by date which maybe can help.

http://www.faires.com/newschedule.php

In the northern US I've been to New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland which were all large and fun. Ren faires are only on weekends so they can be hard to schedule. Besides that, most ren faires are kind of alike so going to a new theme park may be more fun.

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