As many of our RV Lifestyle Fellow Travelers know, taking the kids out on a road trip can be a hassle — unless you’re heading to a great kid-friendly destination.
That's why it caught my attention with TripSavvy.com put out a list about “5 of the Best Kid-Friendly RV Road Trips.”
To make it easy for you, I put the list below of five great destinations for a whole experience the family won’t forget anytime soon.
Kid-Friendly Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge are resort towns in east-central Tennessee that serve as great springboards for both outdoor adventure and other types of kid-oriented fun. Several privately-owned parks in the Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge area aim to be family-friendly. Smoky Bear Campground and RV Park in Gatlinburg and Riveredge RV Park in Pigeon Forge have great reviews, as well as full hook-ups, large spaces, and all other amenities and features to make for a great trip.
Of course, Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge put you on the doorstep to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most visited National Park in the country. Great Smoky offers biking, hiking, swimming, kayaking, fishing, and whatever outdoor adventure your kids crave. If your kids aren’t big into national parks, there’s much more to this area than the outdoors as other nearby attractions include:
- Ripley’s Believe it or Not
- Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies
- the Gatlinburg Sky Lift
- Theme park Dollywood
Kid-Friendly Las Vegas, Nevada?
Las Vegas may not be the first destination that comes to mind when considering family-friendly destinations, but ‘Sin City’ has cleaned up its overall act in the last several years. It starts with the fact that Las Vegas is a great family trip for children who liked to be dazzled by lights, sounds, and action.
Attractions include AdventureDome Theme Park, the Siegfried and Roy Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat, the VooDoo Zipline, and the Big Apple Coaster and Arcade to name a few.
Anaheim, California
Anaheim is a popular summertime destination for families west of the Mississippi River. Like the other kid-friendly spots on this list, Anaheim has excellent family-friendly RV campgrounds including Anaheim RV Park and Anaheim Harbor RV Park. As a bonus, both are very close or offer shuttles to nearby destinations.
Area attractions include Disney Land, Disney’s California Adventure Park, and Universal Studios Hollywood. And don't forget, Anaheim is relatively close to Hollywood and all its sights and sounds.
The Gulf Coast
Gulf Shores, Alabama is a great summer RV destination due to its low rates, attractions, and proximity to the beach. You should know that Gulf Shores is a substantial tourist area, so there are plenty of places to park your ride. A popular choice is Gulf State Park with more than 400 outfitted RV pads. If you prefer privately-owned RV parks, consider Sugar Sands RV Resort with its full hookups and close-to-beach amenities.
As a bonus, the Gulf Coast is much warmer than the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean, and swells hitting shore aren’t usually larger than a few inches. Where there’s a beach, they're other popular attractions. Gulf Shores is also home to the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo, Waterville USA, and has miniature golf, bungee-jumping, go-kart tracks, and other attractions scattered around town.
Walt Disney World
There are many great places to camp in Orlando, but you can stay in park boundaries at the Campsites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort. Fort Wilderness Resort is decked out in all the amenities and features you’d ever need and can keep the kids busy with onsite parks and playgrounds even after the park has closed. When Jennifer and I went in late 2018 (see video below), we parked our RV on a tent camping spot, thereby saving a bit over $30 over the $100-plus nightly rate for full hookup RV sites. Our spot and electric and water so, over four days, we saved a bit over $120.
We bought Park Hopper tickets and traveled between all the Disney theme parks, using the Disney transportation system of boats, buses, and monorails. We also, as the video shows, rented a golf cart to make our way around the huge, multi-looped, 850 campsite Fort Wilderness area.
Although we have visited the Magic Kingdom well over a dozen times over the years, it was our first time there without kids or grandkids.
And we had a ball… as the video shows.
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