3 days in July with grandchild...help

Will be coming to Ft Walton/Destin Area for a couple days in July. Trying to determine best deal for hotels in the area. Narrowed down to Hampton Inn, Ramada Inn, Holiday Inn, or 4 points Sheraton. We used to come to Okaloosa Island with our kids but its been a few years so not sure what would offer the most entertainment options for the granddaughter. Thought about the condo option but too many to choose from without any knowledge and these don%26#39;t seem to offer anything for the little ones.

Any suggestions other than the obvious (Beach) for things in the area that will keep a five year old entertained.

Dining suggestions of kid friendly establishment%26#39;s with good tasting food will also be appreciated.

Are the dolphin or fishing trips able to hold a five year olds attention?

Thanks in advance for any replies,

Gary

3 days in July with grandchild...help

Hi Gary

I know you%26#39;ve said you don%26#39;t really want to do a condo, but have you checked out Waterscape resort? It%26#39;s a new condominium resort that just opened up this season. It has what I would consider to be a ';waterpark'; on site, that I%26#39;m sure would delight your granddaughter. You can check out the layout at crescent-resources.com/condos/…default.asp. We are staying there for a week in August with our 2 kids, who are soon to be 5, and 2. I believe ResortQuest is their property manager, and we booked through them. They just started a new amenities program called Passport to Fun, which includes tickets to several activities that would also be great for your granddaugther (including boating/fishing). Check them out at www.resortquestfortwaltonbeachvacations.com. You can read about the Passport to Fun program right on the homepage.

My other suggestion would be Destin West Beach %26amp; Bay Resort (www.destinwest.com), which is similar to Waterscape in that it has a ';waterpark'; for the kids on site. It%26#39;s a 2-part resort, with part of it being on the bay, and the other part being on the beach, so that if you are staying on the bay side, you use the skywalk to cross over the road and get to the beach, and vice-versa. It%26#39;s also fairly new, having only been open a few years, I believe.

I don%26#39;t think that ResortQuest has many listings at all for DestinWest, but I know that they had several for Waterscape, and you can also check out listings for both of these properties on sites like www.vrbo.com and www.vacationrentals.com.

As far as hotels, I don%26#39;t know much about any of them as we%26#39;ve never stayed at one when we%26#39;ve visited the island, but maybe someone else can give you some helpful info about them. Hope this helps!

3 days in July with grandchild...help

Those are some good ideas. Destin west would probably be best booked through destinwest.com for any nights less than a week, most rentors on vrbo.com only rent weekly.

I%26#39;ve stayed at the Ramada in FWB on the water (this one http://www.ramadafwb.com/), it%26#39;s a nice place. I%26#39;ve heard there are some kids activities that are going to be open for the summer there.

I have small children and the biggest hits when we go include the gulfarium (right beside Destinwest and Ramada), the landing%26#39;s family nights (sometimes they show movies or have activities out there), Goofy golf is always a favorite its at 401 Eglin Pkwy NE, and the Emerald coast science center is a nice interactive place for the kids to learn and play with hands on science(http://www.ecscience.org/).

We don%26#39;t dine out much, we usually go condo and cook our food, but when we do go out we go to Fudpucker%26#39;s (the one in Destin has an alligator pit and the kids can feed the baby gators and it has a jungle gym for the kids to play on) or Po%26#39; Folks in Niceville. I%26#39;ve heard Captain Kidd%26#39;s is good for children, but I haven%26#39;t tried it. Maybe some other members have more information on finding dinner. If not, the front desk at your hotel/condo should be able to help you find a dinner atmosphere that is suitable for your grandchild.

The dolphin boats are fun. Our kids didnt have a problem losing interest with them. When we lived in the area all the schools took young children on the glass bottom boat tours and they loved it.

One thing we%26#39;ve learned with the kids, sometimes they just want to swim at the hotel and build sandcastles. To be honest, I think that%26#39;s what our children enjoy the most.

I hope some of that helps,

Liz

Holiday Inn Sunspree on Fort Walton Beach is great for younger kids because they have a really good children%26#39;s program, 2 pools, movies, and oodles of other kids to play with.

I%26#39;ve been taking my kids (now teens) to the Sunspree several times a year, for many years and they have always had a blast. The only downside is that during the summer the place is usually crawling with children 24/7 so it can get a little crazy.

I%26#39;m headed down there for the weekend of 7/18 myself.

We have young kids and have stayed at the Island Princess the past 5 years. Between the beach and beachfront pool we%26#39;ve never had difficulty entertaining them.

Our ';tradition'; has been to take a dolphin boat ride w/Olin Marler. We chose that company because they always had ';buy 1 get 1 free'; coupons in the yellow pages. We%26#39;ve never been disappointed with the ride, have found it to be family friendly and entertaining for the kids. At some point the Captain always invites the children to help him steer.

Our rental agency always gave an entertainment pkg that included a fishing trip on Little Nemo. The first year it was ok but the second was worse. The boys talk about it being fun and they did catch some interesting fish. The water was so rough that the three of them got terribly sea sick and felt poorly all evening. If you have smooth waters it would be a great experience for a 5yo.

On a rainy (or sunburnt) day I would suggest the Gulfarium. We did that our first year but haven%26#39;t returned.

The fountains at Destin Commons seem to be a hit w/kids. Be sure to dress them in water friendly clothes and let them have fun in the water fountains after you%26#39;ve gone to dinner or treated yourselves to an ice cream.

We definitely prefer a condo vs a hotel because of the accommodations, convenience, size difference, etc.

We%26#39;ve never found non-kid friendly dining establishments. There are places that we feel are more for date nights so we dismiss them as options and choose elsewhere. We%26#39;ve dined anywhere from the Old Bay Steamer to the Crab Trap to Dewey Destins to McQuires (one of our favorites).

If you%26#39;re in the mood for Italian you must try Pranzo%26#39;s at FWB. One evening we ordered to go and immediately put it on our ';must dine'; list for our next vacation.

Enjoy your trip,

Gritzi

ittwit