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Must-visit places this summer!

Macaroni Approved Fun!

By Vicki Little July 17, 2013

The last few weeks have been an insane time of activities. My children and I had a great time with everything we did, and I am excited at the thought of taking them back year after year as they get older and can appreciate different aspects of the places. After our little excursions, I decided to write a quick little review for those of you who have been trying to think of a new place to go this summer.

DENVER FIREFIGHTER MUSEUM

I signed my son up for the junior firefighter camp at the museum, which is a week-long class that is filled with fun and information My son had a blast. After we dropped him off on the first day, my daughter and I decided to check out the museum ourselves. I absolutely loved it! There is so much history and information in such a historical building. There was more than enough information to fill my mind and plenty of activities to keep my daughter’s attention. My son came home with a plethora of knowledge about fire safety each day and he had a blast.

Favorite: In terms of displays my absolute favorite items were the tributes to Sept. 11th. They were amazing, and beautiful and touching. For activities, I loved the little house area where the kids are blindfolded and then try to find their way out of the house during a “fire”. My daughter and my son would say that their favorite thing was the fire truck that kids can play on!

Least Favorite: I really can’t think of anything. Maybe the traffic while traveling to and from the museum. I am not a traffic person.

Best For: Everyone. There is something that will catch the attention and interest of every age.

Tips:

  • Be prepared to spend more time than you expect! There is much more in there to do and read than I had anticipated!
  • They don’t allow food and water in the museum to avoid damage, so be sure to eat before or plan to after.


WATER WORLD

I used to go to Water world all of the time. In fact it was one of my favorite summer activities I ended up feeling very old when I went back and did not recognize anything. Part of it is that it has changed and grown so much; part of it is that I was much younger!

Favorite: The little wave pool for the kids, the family slide, being able to go back to the buffet for snacks, and the puddle jumper vests. Plus I was pretty impressed with how clean the bathrooms were and how friendly and convenient the staff was.

Least Favorite: If I had older children there probably wouldn’t be a least favorite, but the long walks with the tubes and tired little legs was a challenge. Plus I felt we spent a lot of the time looking for the rides the kids were able to ride on and then trying to find them on the map.

Best For: Families with older kids. There are great areas for younger kids, but it can be a lot for them in one day with a lot of walking.

Tips:

  • Pharaoh’s Feast: If you aren’t planning on bringing in your own food, go ahead and purchase the all you can eat buffet. You can go in and out all day, getting drinks or snacks. If you spend all day there you can go early for an early lunch and go later for an early dinner!
  • Smaller Locker: If you are only going to go to your locker once, maybe twice, use the small lockers to save on some money!
  • Restrictions: Read the size restrictions BEFORE getting in line. Yeah, we had a meltdown!
  • Tube Services: Consider doing the valet service or tube rental. Many of the slides allow the rental tubes on them and this way you don’t have to stand in line and wait for an open one. $5 per tube or 2 for $8. Valet service is $45/group (rides have a limit of people for each tube) and this allows you to bypass all lines AND not have to carry a tube around. Just go to the beginning of the slide and there is a special tube waiting for you!
  • Lost River of Pharaoh’s Ride: It is listed on the family section, but it terrified my kids. My husband and I absolutely loved it (though I will admit that when it started going fast again and it was still dark I wasn’t sure what we would do if we got splashed or something!) but the kids were definitely scared. I wish we would have known. We wouldn’t have stood in line for 30 minutes.

 

DENVER MUSEUM OF MINIATURE, DOLLS AND TOYS

This was another place my daughter and I visited while my son was at camp. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I was truly amazed and in awe at the beautiful and delicate museum. It was significantly larger than I expected, every room (including hallways) filled with beautifully crafted teeny tiny houses. The toys made me so nostalgic and it was so fun to play the scavenger hunt game that the museum has!

Favorite: My favorite memory from here will be playing with my daughter and the dollhouse. I loved the activities through the museum and I also liked that there was a small prize for the kiddo’s after they finished their scavenger hunt.

Least Favorite: Nothing except my daughter wouldn’t sit still long enough for me to look at things as closely and for as long as I wanted to.

Best For: Everyone. There is something that will catch the attention and interest of every age. There are areas for little kids to play, but also keep in mind they will have a shorter attention span!

Tips:

  • As with the other museums, plan to spend more time there than you anticipate. There was so much more to look at than I expected, so many intricate details of each display.
  • In addition to their scavenger hunt, my daughter and I played I-spy and had a great time! It was a great way to get her to let me spend a little more time looking at the displays.

 

PIRATE’S COVE

I have actually been here before, and it is one of my favorites. There are plenty of places for the little kids and mom and dad to play. There are slides and a big pool for the teens. It is definitely a place the kids and I can spend all day, and as we recently learned they throw fantastic birthday parties! They also have a sand area for the kids to play in and a big bucket that dumps tons of water all over the eager people beneath it!

Favorite: The lazy river. Love it. And the fact that there is something for absolutely every age from baby to adult.

Least Favorite: The main attraction in the kid’s section sprays water everywhere. A lot. I don’t like getting sprayed that much, and when they were younger my kids didn’t, either, but there are ways around it.

Best For: Families with younger kids. While there are slides and the lazy river for the older kids, it definitely seems geared towards the younger crowd.

Tips:

  • You can bring your own coolers of food and drinks!
  • Get there early, it fills up fast and if you want a table or chairs you will want to be there early.

 

ARAPAHOE CENTENNIAL PARK

My first time to this park with the kids was during the winter. Half of the park was closed off so I didn’t really get a great idea of how big it really was. This summer we took the kids so they could play in the splash area and I discovered that it is huge! There are so many neat little sayings and facts in the walls, there is something for every little one to play on, and the park is beautiful. The water area is so much fun and the water is actually decently warm, and the park area is huge, with unique slides, swings and things to play on.

Favorite: My favorite thing about this park is that it is easy to play WITH your child. The structures are fun for adults, too, and the splash park is big enough to allow the “big people” to splash and have fun.

Least Favorite: There doesn’t seem to be quite enough tables or areas to sit and stay dry at the same time.

Best For: Everyone.

Tips:

  • Make sure you have two adults or have a plan with your kids. The majority of time we were there, one kid wanted to play in the splash area and the other one wanted to play in the playground area. Granted I could stand in the middle and see them both, but it was still easier since my son was there, too.
  • Bring two towels. They definitely got a kick from going from the splash park right on over to the playground. A lot.