Atlanta to-do's with kids

[zarapipe]

Since we aren't going to do Disney in October we are going to do a weekend in Atlanta. Check in on Saturday, leave on Monday. I had heard the aquarium is a hit with kids, but what about other things- zoo? American girl? world of coke?

Any recs for where to stay, where to eat? I would like somewhere with an indoor pool and maybe a mini suite or adjoining rooms?

[imojoebunny]

My list would be: Fernbank Museum (different from the science center), Atlanta History Center, Stone Mountian (Skylift and the Antibellum home are my kids favorites), but also Duck boats), Botanical Gardens, Center for Puppetry Arts.

Children's Museum is just ok in my kids opinions. World of Coke, my kids have been, they liked it fine, but it is a skip for me, over the others I listed. You could do Aquarium, Children's Museum, World of Coke, and CNN center tour, all in one day pretty easily, since they are all right together on Centennial Park, if you don't want to drive much, and that would be a good day. There is also a Sky Wheel thing the kids liked, but I am not a fan of heights.

I would skip American Girl, it is far, like 45 minutes away from everything else. I would look for something in Midtown, near Piedmont Park, or on Centennial Park, where there are lots of dining choices, and green space to play.

[zarapipe]

Oct 5, 2015 7:24:11 GMT -5 imojoebunny said:

My list would be: Fernbank Museum (different from the science center), Atlanta History Center, Stone Mountian (Skylift and the Antibellum home are my kids favorites), but also Duck boats), Botanical Gardens, Center for Puppetry Arts.

Children's Museum is just ok in my kids opinions. World of Coke, my kids have been, they liked it fine, but it is a skip for me, over the others I listed. You could do Aquarium, Children's Museum, World of Coke, and CNN center tour, all in one day pretty easily, since they are all right together on Centennial Park, if you don't want to drive much, and that would be a good day. There is also a Sky Wheel thing the kids liked, but I am not a fan of heights.

I would skip American Girl, it is far, like 45 minutes away from everything else. I would look for something in Midtown, near Piedmont Park, or on Centennial Park, where there are lots of dining choices, and green space to play.

Thanks! Stone Mountain looks seriously impressive! How much time do you think you could spend there if you do a few things. Looks like the skylift and train would be a hit. It also appears a pumpkin thing is going on when we will be there.

[namasteak]

The aquarium is awesome!

[mcfelix]

I grew up in Stone Mountain - I love that park! You can spend a lot of time there, depending on what you do. And the laser show is still going on through October 24th! Seriously we spent almost every weekend there as a kid, bringing a picnic and watching the laser show. I have such great memories from that place.

Also, I loved Fernbank as a kid, so I wholeheartedly agree with that recommendation.

[imojoebunny]

Oct 5, 2015 7:35:55 GMT -5 zarapipe said:

Oct 5, 2015 7:24:11 GMT -5 imojoebunny said:

My list would be: Fernbank Museum (different from the science center), Atlanta History Center, Stone Mountian (Skylift and the Antibellum home are my kids favorites), but also Duck boats), Botanical Gardens, Center for Puppetry Arts.

Children's Museum is just ok in my kids opinions. World of Coke, my kids have been, they liked it fine, but it is a skip for me, over the others I listed. You could do Aquarium, Children's Museum, World of Coke, and CNN center tour, all in one day pretty easily, since they are all right together on Centennial Park, if you don't want to drive much, and that would be a good day. There is also a Sky Wheel thing the kids liked, but I am not a fan of heights.

I would skip American Girl, it is far, like 45 minutes away from everything else. I would look for something in Midtown, near Piedmont Park, or on Centennial Park, where there are lots of dining choices, and green space to play.

Thanks! Stone Mountain looks seriously impressive! How much time do you think you could spend there if you do a few things. Looks like the skylift and train would be a hit. It also appears a pumpkin thing is going on when we will be there.

You could spend a whole day there, if you wanted to.  They have a pass for everything all together, except the Duck Boats, and if you stay at the onsite hotel, they often have packages with tickets.  There are two Hotels.  I have stayed at the nicer one a couple of times, Evergreen.  There are hikes, a 4D movie, the train, put put, a nice museum, skylift, a ropes course (depends how tall your older one is as to which one they can do), and the Duck boat is a perpetual favorite.  The down side is the food is not great, but it is a quick drive to Decatur, if you wanted to have a nicer meal.  There are tons of great restaurants, (Revival, Cakes and Ale, Iberian Pig, 246, come to mind) and even the nicer ones are pretty family friendly (this is the town I live in).  Fernbank is close to Decatur, if you wanted to, you could spend the morning and early afternoon at Stone Mountian, come in and do Fernbank, then have dinner, then go back to Stone Mountain, spend the night, and do a few more things in the morning.   It takes me about 15 to 20 minutes to go from Downtown Decatur to Stone Mountian, and unlike the rest of Atlanta, there is not much traffic.  

[shelbyann]

Definitely do the Aquarium!

I would skip World of Coke.

Piedmont Park has lots of green space, two playgrounds, plus the Botanical Garden which also has a kids area. There are lots of festivals and events there this time of year which can be chaotic but also fun. Worth an afternoon if you're staying in the midtown area.

The east side Beltline is also a great place for a walk. Awesome people watching, public art, and there are two big trendy market/dining/shopping spaces along the way (Ponce City Market and Krog Street Market) which are very kid friendly spaces to grab a bite to eat - lots of food stalls and space to run around.

Unfortunately our Children's Museum is under renovation right now, but as PP mentioned Fernbank is also great, and the High Museum of Art has rotating kids exhibits too (not sure what they have at the moment).

Our zoo is pretty good but nothing amazing by big city zoo standards. Not a must see like the aquarium but would certainly be enjoyable if you had extra time.

I had no idea we even had an American Girl store here!

[frlcb]

The children's museum is closed until 2016. Fernbank is probably the best museum here. The High Museum often has toddler/kid activities on weekends.

I would do the Botanical Gardens over Stone Mountain, they have Scarecrows in the Garden for the month of October and they have a good kids garden, and it is right at Piedmont Park. We love the zoo - it isn't fancy but it is easy to walk around and my kids love it. The aquarium is great but it is a madhouse on weekends. Atlanta History Center is also fun if they have events going on that weekend.

American Girl is at Northpoint, in Alpharetta, it isn't close.

The Southeastern Railway Museum is actually really fun as well.

Krog Street Market is awesome, along with the beltline. Definitely worth a visit.