My plan to regain the best credit card reward available for family travel

I'm very excited to go after another Southwest Companion pass.  For those of you who aren't aware, the Companion pass allows one person to fly with you free on any Southwest flight you take. It doesn't matter if you pay cash or points for the flight, you can bring someone with you for free(well actually they have to pay taxes ~5.60 one way inside the U.S.).  I have had this pass since 2016.

You are allowed to change your companion 3 times each calendar year.  Last year Kim and Lincoln flew with me for free at different times.  In the past two years we have visited Ft. Myers, Orlando (2x), Phoenix, Aruba, Tampa, Chicago, Nashville, and Baltimore all on Southwest flights.  On each of these trips someone flew for free!

fly with a friend for free!

So how am I going to do it again?  Currently all the Chase Southwest Credit Cards come with a 60k point bonus.  To get the Companion pass you need to earn 110,000 points.  Once the 110k points hits your rapid rewards account you will receive your pass for the remainder of that current calendar year and the following calendar year.   

I need to sign up for two Southwest credit cards to get enough points.  I have looked back at my credit card spreadsheet and found that I have only opened two new cards in the past 24 months.  This means that I fall under the 5/24 Chase rule.  If you have opened 5 or more cards in the past 24 months Chase most likely will not approve you for these Southwest Cards.  See this post for more information on this rule. 

Word on the points street is that these 60k offers seem to be valid until October 4th.  

My plan is to first sign up for the Chase Southwest Premier Business credit card.  This card comes with a $99 annual fee and you must spend $3,000 in the first 3 months after opening to receive the 60k bonus.   See this post to read more about signing up for business cards.  So on Tuesday October 3rd I plan to apply for this card.  Hopefully I get approved immediately but in the past I have received a pending decision which has required me to call Chase.  Hopefully since I already have a Chase business card a call won't be required.  

If I receive either an instant approval or pending decision on the business card  I will immediately apply for the Chase Personal Southwest Plus credit card.  This card comes with a $69 annual fee and you must spend $2,000 in the first 3 months after opening to receive the 60k bonus.  Note:  The annual fee does not count toward your minimum spending requirement.  

How to time your spending:

The big key to getting the points to post in 2018 is meeting the minimum spending at the right time.  I am not going to take any chances.  History shows that Chase and Southwest issue the points a short time after the monthly statement in which you met the minimum spending closes.

So if your statement closes on the 15th of the month you should be able to hit the $2000 spend before the 15th and the points should show up shortly after the 15th.  But if you wait until after the 15th to meet the minimum spend the points will show up the following month after the 15th.  For example let's say your statement is set to close on Dec 15th.  If you meet the spending requirement on Dec. 10th the points should post to your account in December.  If you meet the spending on December 18th the points should show up in January(after the 15th).

Chase allows you to set your statement date.  I plan to set it to the 4th or 5th of the month.  I will meet the minimum spending requirement around December 31st.  Even though the points should not show up until after my proposed statement date (Jan 4th or 5th) I don't want to take any chances.  Usually it takes a day or so for charges to go from pending to posted.   So even if the points show up immediately after posting, the charges on the 31st should not post until the first of January or later.

To recap - If you make a mistake and the points post to your account in 2017 you only get the pass for 2017 and 2018.  If the points post in 2018 you get the pass for the rest of 2018 and 2019.

Disclaimer - like I always say I am not an expert.  This plan is not a sure thing.  I am not recommending everyone try this.  But if you have good credit, good credit card history, and haven't opened a bunch of cards lately it may be worth the risk.  If you use credit cards they should be paid off in full each month.   These thoughts and ideas are mine alone and should not be taken as financial advice since I am not a professional!

There is huge value in the Companion Pass.  I value Southwest points at a minimum 1.2 cents per point.  If you meet the minimum spend for each card you will end up with 125,000 points at a cost of $168 in annual fees.  In theory, if someone flies with you on each trip this sign up is worth 250,000 points x 1.2 cents equals $3,000!! That is a ton of free travel for signing up for two cards.

The more you fly the more savings you will realize with the Companion Pass.  If you wish to travel more, the Companion Pass can be your reason to!

Anyone else going to try for companion pass?

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Is Traveling Stressful?????

Do I think traveling is stressful? Where do I begin?

Basically Keith is in charge of booking and arranging the places. I am in charge of everything else. He pretty much wants a trip about every 3 months. I have had to put my foot down on a few because truth be told, I consider myself a home body.

Our first trip ever with kids was in January when Macie was 3 months old. We were headed to the beach via plane. I was worried about everything! Germs, should I even take her on a plane so young? Good lord its flu season what am I thinking! Do I have everything? I was still breast feeding at the time, do I need my pump? What do I do with the milk. Do I bring a sound machine for sleeping? 

You get my drift kids need a lot of stuff and there’s a lot to consider. And to top things off it was winter here and we were heading to the beach, I didn’t even have any summer clothes in her size! My thoughts at this point is this is going to be more work than its worth….

But once we get wherever we are going and get into vacation mode things seem to get easier. Or the kids are more tolerable while sitting on the beach with a cold drink in hand. With every trip we take the more efficient I get at packing and being prepared. And yes I mean I. As much as Keith says he’ll help me pack and get things ready it doesn’t happen. Anyone who knows me I am very type A and would rather just do it myself so I know it’s getting done right.

Now that we are on kiddo number 3 and trip number who knows what, my biggest 2 stresses are packing and sleeping.

Packing:

I usually start packing a week before. As I do laundry I pull stuff I know I want to take and start piles in a laundry basket to help keep it organized. I usually try and pack similar outfits for each kid. Kind of like a theme for each day. For example we travel a lot in the winter aka football season. So we might have a buckeye game or Steelers game I can grab an outfit for each person for game day.

Or if it’s a day we will be at Disney or Orlando Studios I have a park themed outfit for everyone.

I lay out each day and stack everyone’s outfits for each day and so on. I pack for everyone but Keith. I usually pack a few nice outfits for dinners out and at least one warm and one back up outfit. Plus I bring laundry pods if our place has a washer and dryer. 

Depending on where we are going I bring different things. I usually bring a sound machine because sometimes hotels can be loud this also helps drown out sound. I’ve also brought a video monitor before when we rented a beach house so I could lay out during nap time. Sometimes I bring a highchair too depending on the type of place we are staying. Lately I’ve only been packing a few diapers and buying a pack when we get there. This saves a good chunk of space. I could on for days on things to pack but I truly feel like the more you travel the better at packing you get!

Sleeping:

This is my biggest stress and again if you know me, I love my sleep. Our oldest daughter could sleep anywhere; lay her down and she is out. Our son is brutal! He takes a while to fall asleep and will talk and talk and keep Macie up if in the same room. He also wakes up sometimes and will try and wake anyone up around him. And Emmy has just started sleeping through the night. So you can see why I stress about sleep.  I wonder will any of us sleep or will we all be miserable and crabby? I’m basically over a single hotel room. It does not work. 

When we just had Lincoln and Macie we would put him (the baby which ever kid it may be) in the pack n play in either the bathroom or a large closet if there was one. I have found it’s impossible to get most babies under 1 to go to sleep when you are sitting there awake. Having them in a closet or bathroom gives them a quiet dark space. I also run the sound machine in their little space. 

If we have a suite (which I almost always demand or I won’t go) we split the big kids up. One kid in each room or one on the pull out sofa. Keith and I split up and one sleeps with each kid. I usually call dibs on Macie, she’s much more of a tame sleeper. Lincoln is Crazy! We have to get creative with whatever room and layout we get but we usually can make something work as long as we aren’t in a single hotel room.  

Naps are a bit difficult. Macie stopped napping young and Lincoln stopped once we took his paci around 3 years old. When he was still napping we would hit the beach early then go up around 2 and try and get him to nap in one room while Macie watched a movie in the other room. Now with Emmy we try and get her to nap on the beach so we don't have to go up early. So far this has worked pretty well. 

When at parks we forgo naps and hope they happen in the stroller. Emmy napped all through Disney the big kids no way! No naps and possible rough nights of sleep can definitely effect behavior during vacation. At this point you have to try and wing it. I wish I could say my kids are always angels and I'm the most patient mom but that is not the case. There are times we all lose our shit but even still I wouldn't trade the memories and fun times we've gained during these trips. 

It’s not that I still don’t stress about all the other things listed in the beginning but I have found little tricks to help alleviate some of it.

Germs= Bring a little pack of the Clorox wipes and those sticky place mats for tables when eating out.

Crazy meals out= more meals in! get a suite with a full or mini kitchen. We buy breakfast, lunch and snack foods. Plus beer, milk and juices etc..

Enough space in my bag= Buy diapers on vacation, pack laundry pods to wash stuff there and not need to over pack.

Bored kids during travel= fun games, snacks, new little treats from the dollar spot in target.  See this post for more ideas.

Carrying everything to and from baggage claim= if you can’t figure out a way to lug it all your selves you can always make the kids pull some bags. They actually think it’s fun. But when all else fails, rent a cart.

Kids Behavior= I've yet to figure out the answer here but promise to blog about it when I do!

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5 reasons we travel as a family

Wall of travel memories

1. Brings us closer together.

We are guilty of spending money on material things just like everyone else.  But over the years we have noticed we get much more joy out of experiences.   Most of these experiences come through travel.  We have to wait in traffic together, get through airport delays together, and we laugh and yell together.

2.  The more we travel the better we get at it and the more lessons we learn.

We were nervous to fly 4.5 hours to Aruba but we got over it and the kids came out better travelers.  It's the same with long car rides, they learn to adjust and cope with sitting in a car seat for long chunks of time.  We have talked ourselves out of Hawaii a few times over the year saying it's too far to fly with kids.  Bologna! We can do it and plan to in the next year or so.  Take the plunge it's worth it, book that trip.  Time is finite.

The more we travel the more our confidence grows.  Not just the adults but the kids too.  They become more comfortable talking to people and asking for things.  The kids learn to appreciate things.

Waiting in line teaches patience.  It doesn’t always work especially when they miss a nap but they learn that if they want to do something they may have to wait in line for it.  (Macie waited 80 min for the 7 dwarfs ride in Disney!)

As you travel more it becomes less stressful.  It becomes a habit.  Long road trips become more bearable.  Getting through the airport becomes a routine.  You figure out how to lug car seats around and get them installed in a flash.  

I (Keith) also learned early on that the time to be cheap is not on vacation.  Back in 2008 I took a trip to Germany to see family and experience Oktoberfest.  For context, I was just a year or so out of College and didn't utilize points, so I was pinching pennies.  In Berlin I got pulled off a train by an undercover policeman for buying a ticket for a dog instead of an adult to save a few bucks.  I ended up running away from him as he tried to talk me into paying my fine in cash.  This is something that is funny now but wasn't funny then.

Later on in that same trip we booked a train to Prague and I bought us tickets to a suburban train station instead of the downtown Prague station.  We ended up getting dropped off at a tiny station in the middle of nowhere.  Somehow we got lucky and flagged down a nice little old lady to drive us into town.  We offered her money or a bottle of wine in return and she just pointed to a crucifix hanging from her rear view mirror and shook her head.  There are nice people in the Czech Republic!

That trip taught me not to be cheap on vacation!!!

3.  It exposes us to new things and new people.

In the customs line in Aruba we talked to a family from Turkey for a half hour and our kids played together.  It's fun to learn about different experiences and cultures.

It’s fun to see the kids grow on vacation.  They play and meet the kids next to us on the beach.  They meet families from different countries and cultures.  They eat different foods; they get out of their comfort zone.  Yes they have meltdowns and kick and scream but these are learning experiences. 

4.  Creates traditions and memories.

We have a few traditions started.  We buy a picture frame from every new place we visit and put in on  a wall shelf in our office.  It is fun to be able to look back and see our family picture from each trip.  It's something that will never get old.

For the past four years we have visited Ocean City, Md.  It's become our summer tradition.  The trips come up in conversation all the time with the kids - remember in ocean city....

I'm assuming more traditions will start as the kids get into school and we have to tailor vacations around breaks.

5.  Requires you to be present. 

This topic is discussed a lot in happiness pod casts and readings.

We make an effort to not bring our phones down to the beach or pool when we are on vacation.  We want to be able to build sandcastles with the kids or splash in the water without looking at our phone.  The screen is very addictive; if it isn’t around I can’t look at it.  On vacation you can’t just send the kids to their rooms or waste a day watching a movie.  It forces you to be involved and present.

Why do you travel?

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We’ll never go to Disney…. “Little” Disney Trip One

Before I start I should probably explain the title and our old outlook on Disney. Keith and I went to Disney for my Birthday one year before we were married. We looked around at all the crazy parents lugging all the kids and even more stuff throughout the parks.  We said to ourselves that will never be us! We said we wouldn’t come back to Disney until our youngest was 5. We wanted no naps, no diapers, no strollers and no crap to drag all around the park.  With all that being said we took our first trip to Disney when our first was 18 months and just about every year since including when our last (3^rd) was just 9 weeks. Haha yes I know we were those exact crazy parents we thought we would never be. Plus I feel like I added a whole new level to the madness with nursing a brand new baby every 3 hours all though magic kingdom from open until fireworks! What’s funny though is the mom I saw walking straight down the road of magic kingdom boob out nursing, no cover, nothing! Funny the things you notice when you’re in the same boat.

The reason I am choosing to call our Disney blogs “Little” is because I do not believe I have all the knowledge there is to have about Disney. We have only experienced Disney for kids 5 and under. With the being said we have not done the meal plans or park hopper passes. The meal plans I believe are great if you expect your family to actually eat. Toddlers are too unpredictable. I usually use my 31 picnic thermal to pack all kinds of snacks, sandwiches and drinks to take through the parks. As a family with young kids we also haven’t done the park hopper pass because frankly we are exhausted after 2 days! We need days off in between, pushing that stroller and chasing the kids around is exhausting. Plus the kids always love the hotel pools just as much as the parks at this age.

Our first trip was when Macie was 18 months old. This is the first time we have stayed on the Disney property. We stayed the at Art of Animation. This was a neat hotel and each building was themed after a Disney movie. We stayed in the little mermaid rooms seeing as that was my favorite movie. This hotel also has really fun pools with Disney songs playing under water. The main pool was also zero entry. We also never had an issue getting chairs around the pool, not like some resorts where you get up at 6am to throw towels out and claim an area. My biggest lesson learned on the trip was a standard hotel room with no balcony will not work for a family with young kids. Our room was a standard two queens with a pack and play and little bathroom. This being our first trip with a kid we didn’t realize that she wouldn’t just go to sleep with us sitting there watching tv. We didn’t have anywhere outside attached to the room to sit so we went to bed every night at 8 pm. One thing is we returned home from our vacation well rested haha.

Hotel Lobby

Little Mermaid Room

Splash Area

Main Pool

One nice thing about staying at a Disney property are the free shuttles from the hotel to and from the parks. Most on property Disney hotels also offer the option to shuttle to and from the airport. This will save you a few bucks and the hassle of renting a car and bringing car seats. We however chose to rent a car and brought a car seat because we did this a joint beach and Disney trip. We were also able to go the a little grocery store and get a few snacks and milk for Macie. We purchased the refillable cup from the hotel but you were only able to fill with sodas so this was not an option to use for Macie.

During this trip we went to the beach for a few days and then hit up Disney for two nights. Magic Kingdom was the only park we did because we figured for a young kiddo this would have the most for her to do and she loved it! I was surprised at how many rides there were for such a young aged kid. We got there a little before the park opened via the hotel shuttle and stayed until about 2:30. Macie had a blast! We did all kinds of rides and shows. Her favorite area was the circus water part. She loved running and getting soaking wet. I recommend bringing a change of clothes for the kids because you never know what they will get into. You know like all that crap that I said in the beginning I never wanted to lug around. We didn’t do the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique this trip because you have to be 3 years old, but don’t worry we do it next time! Since we didn’t do the meal plan we were able to try out a few different food options. We ate at the hotel for a few meals which was a little expensive. We also went to downtown Disney one night which is now 3 times the size and called Disney Springs. We love going to the rainforest café and go there every time we visit Disney. The have so much going on around the restaurant it seems to help the kids stay occupied and helps you make it through a dinner. Plus they have yummy drinks which also helps!

Circus Area

Ready to Rock Disney

Rain Forest Cafe

With each trip to Disney we try new things and learn a little more. Stay tuned for more little Disney trips posts!

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Our favorite Hotel rewards credit card

Ocean City, MD  sunrise

We have signed up for a few Hotel Rewards credit card in the past:
1. Citi Hilton Reserve personal credit card
2. Two Chase IHG personal credit cards
3.  American Express SPG personal credit card
4. Two Chase Marriott Personal credit cards
5. Chase Marriott Business credit card

This post is going to discuss our experience with the Chase IHG credit card.  Some people might not like Holiday Inns but we love them.  They are very kid friendly.  We both signed up for the Chase IHG credit card - Kim in 2013 and myself in 2015.  We signed up for this card because we stay at a Holiday Inn & Suites every summer in Ocean City, MD.

OC Holiday Inn Pool 

This card comes with an awesome sign up bonus and a free night each year starting with you first anniversary of card opening.  This free night and the bonus points can be used at any IHG brand property, not just Holiday Inn.

This free night can be worth big money.  Here are some of the awesome properties around the world where the free night can be utilized:

INTERCONTINENTAL BORA BORA RESORT THALASSO SPA:

INTERCONTINENTAL LOS ANGELES CENTURY CITY

Crowne Plaza South Beach - Z Ocean Hotel

InterContinental Presidente Cancun Resort

Crowne Plaza Times Square Manhattan

Holiday Inn Club Vacations At Orange Lake Resort

INTERCONTINENTAL SAN FRANCISCO

Here are some other perks of the card:

• 80,000 bonus points
• after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of account opening.
• $0 intro annual fee for the first year, after that $49
• Earn 5,000 bonus points after you add your first authorized user and make your first purchase in the first three months from account opening.*
• This product is available to you if you do not have this card and have not received a new cardmember bonus for this card in the past 24 months.
• Earn 5 points per $1 spent when you stay at IHG® hotels.
• Earn 2 points per $1 spent on purchases at gas stations, grocery stores, and restaurants.*
• Earn 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.*
• As an IHG® Rewards Club credit card member, you qualify for an upgrade to IHG® Rewards Club Platinum Elite status for as long as you remain a Select card member, and as long as your IHG® Rewards Club membership remains in good standing.*
• 10% rebate on IHG® Rewards Club point redemptions
• For example, if you redeem 30,000 points, you will receive 3,000 back! Up to 100,000 points back each year.*

IHG Points are also cheap to buy in my opinion.  Every so often IHG offers 100% bonus on points purchased.  We have bought points for .575 cents or 10,000 points = $57.50.  For example our Ocean City hotel takes 40,000 points to get a free night.  The cash rate for this room is $480/night.  If I were to buy buy 40,000 points for .575 cents/point our room would now only cost $230 per night.  That is a savings of $250 per night.  

The 80,000 bonus points can be turned into great value.  IHG has 3 all inclusive resorts - one in Jamaica and two in Mexico.  For example the Holiday Inn Resort Montego Bay costs 35,000 points per night.  Plus 2 kids under 12 are free in each room!!

The Holiday Inn Resort Los Cabos is also 35,000 points per night

This card would get you two free nights at each of these hotels just for meeting the minimum spending requirements.

IHG rewards reservations also have good cancellation terms.  Most rewards reservations can be canceled for no penalty up to 24 hours before your stay.  If canceled the reward night or points will be posted back to your account.  You do need to use your reward night within 12 months of issuance.  

My advice when signing up for hotel credit cards is to have a trip in mind before applying.  You want to make sure you will get good value out of the sign up:
 - We knew we would instantly save money getting these IHG cards because we planned on going to Ocean City.
-  We signed up for the Hilton credit card because we knew we were going to Fort Lauderdale and we could use the free nights to get an oceanfront room.
-  We signed up for the SPG card because it could get us a few free nights at the Disney Swan hotel in Orlando which included Disney Transportation services.

We definitely recommend looking into Hotel Reward credit cards.  Remember other travel rewards credit cards can also be used to get free hotel nights.  See this post.  Where would you use your free nights?

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To Cruise or not to Cruise with Toddlers

Our first cruise was a Disney cruise around Christmas time. Our son was 15 months and our daughter just turned 3. Disney cruises are so neat and fun however I think we went to early!

Positives:

• We had a room on the exterior of the ship so it had a balcony which was nice and the room was slightly larger. It was not huge and the kids beds were the sofa and a bunk that flipped down from the wall, very cool. And the whole boat was decorated for Christmas which was beautiful.

Christmas Show in the Lobby

Using the Balcony for take off

• They had things you could book and order ahead of time which was also nice so you could plan ahead. We ordered a cookie bouquet that was waiting for us in our room when we arrived. The kids loved this. I also ordered a secret Birthday cake for my husband whose Birthday was during our trip. I had pre-purchased Disney decorations from Walmart and decorated our room one day while he and the kids were at the pool. I had the cake delivered that day as well and we had a mini surprise party.

Eating our frozen chocolate covered oreo

Birthday Cake

Decorations above main bed

• You are also able to look ahead at what’s going on on the ship throughout your stay. So we bought some items before the trip to save a few bucks - pirate costumes for the kids for pirate night and Disney dresses for the girls to wear while getting princess signatures. We also bought a Disney autograph book before taking this trip.

• The cruise offers two seating times for dinner that you also pre-pick before your trip. We were able to get the early dining time which was great for having such young kids. They do a great job at rotating groups each night so you get to try each restaurant without there being big crowds.  And your servers rotate with you so you get to know them. 

  

  Mickey bar - sometimes all he would eat for dinner after no nap,

• You could also book child care spots prior to your trip. This was a little difficult because slots booked up fast for the little kid room and you weren’t always sure what you would be doing during that day or time. Our kids were also not very cooperative going to these kids clubs so we weren’t able to utilize adult time like we had wanted. However if the kids were older this would have been a big plus!

• If you were going to miss a show or couldn’t make it out of your room they played live on the TV. That was also another neat feature.

• A big positive - Adults are allowed to bring 2 bottles of wine, 2 bottles of Champagne, or 6 beers on board at the beginning of the cruise and at each port of call. 

      

     I don’t want to say negative but some challenges and improvements:

·        The weather for our trip was not awesome. Therefore the pools were chilly and our kids didn’t last long swimming. Also the wind was so rough one day we were unable to dock at the Disney private Island which was a huge bummer! The biggest downfall with bad weather is now what do you do?? The ship entertainment consisted of movies and shows which were great BUT not for a 15 month old. He didn’t want anything to do with sitting quietly. We were stuck on board for 2 full days and ran out of things to do.

Kids splash area at the main pool

stuck on board with nothing to do but walk the exterior of the ship

·        Also due to the room size which is a typical cruise room it was very tough to have “nap time”. Because of our kids ages 1 needed naps and 1 didn’t. How do you all go in one small room and try and get 1 kid to nap. Impossible! Also made bedtime tough.  

·        Getting off the boat was also super annoying! The kids wanted off, they wanted to run wild and you have to wait in gigantic lines with an entire boat full of people. It was also a pain having a stroller!

·        Snacks. Also an issue. Having toddlers sit through dinners was tough. They don’t always eat when food is presented we all know that. They usually want to eat an hour after the meal is finished. Ugh! A little snack hut that is open the majority of the day would have been awesome!! And preferably loaded with healthy options fruit, yogurts etc… Most of the shops had candy, popcorn and junk! Also the majority of the gift shops didn’t open until the evening making them packed! And giving you nothing to do during the day when you were too cold to swim and you couldn’t get off the boat.

I know it sounds like I’m complaining and hated the cruise. I swear I am not and I think the Disney cruise is awesome, the boat is amazing and I plan on going back. HOWEVER, I think going with toddlers is ROUGH! I will make sure the next time we go our youngest is at least 3. At this time we won’t need a stroller and we won’t be napping. The kids will be better at waiting in lines and hopefully old enough to enjoy the kids clubs. We also won’t have to pre-book the baby room which will be awesome and can just drop the kids off at any time.

I recommend the Disney cruise but think for the amount of money spent you should wait and make sure your ENTIRE family can enjoy every moment. 

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Trip Report #4 - Gatlinburg & Pigeon Forge, TN

Our old time photo

This trip took place in Spring of 2015.

Planning:
We had a couple Hilton weekend certificates to burn so we looked at some destinations within a 6 hour drive.  After some research, Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge fit the bill because of the close proximity to an indoor water park, amusement park, and aquarium.

Got to keep them busy!

Hotel:
After we settled on a destination I started researching Hilton hotels.  I chose the Hilton Garden Inn Gatlinburg for our first nights stay. We drove in on a Friday afternoon.  We went straight to the hotel and luckily our room was ready.  We actually got an upgrade to a balcony room.  The staff at the hotel was very nice.  There was free parking and as gold members we were given certificates for a free breakfast.

After checking in and unloading the car we took the 10 minute walk to the Ripley's Believe it or not Aquarium.  The kids loved it.  It took about 2 hours to get through since it was not busy.

Underwater people mover

This suit is heavy

After the aquarium we walked around downtown Gatlinburg and checked out the shops.  We even did an old time photo (see above).  It was so fun and a great memory.  For dinner we walked over to Smoky Mountain Brewery.  The food and Beer were awesome.  We planned to get ice cream at one of the many shops but you know how it goes with the old eat your dinner bribe, it didn't work. The evening was spent instead enjoying a drink on our quiet balcony overlooking the woods, obviously after the debacle of putting the kids to bed.

The following morning we woke up packed the car and had a wonderful made to order/buffet breakfast at the hotel.  On our way to Dollywood we drove through the smoky mountains and looked at some rental cabins.  We plan to come back and rent a large cabin with family or friends someday.

Dollywood:

We spent most of the day at the amusement park.  It was a blast.  The kids, aged 3 and 1 were both free.  After paying for parking we took the long walk from our parking spot to the entrance.  We could have taken the trolley but we didn't want to bother with our double stroller.  We went straight to the kids area.  We rode the cars, flying elephants, carousel, tea cups, train and many more.  There were tons of things for the kids to do.  The park was very walk-able but make sure you bring comfortable shoes.  There are also many rides which can get you wet.  If you like those types make sure to bring a change of clothes.  

After Dollywood we headed to our second hotel on Saturday evening.  I chose Wilderness at the Smokies because of the awesome water parks attached to the resort.  But first, on our way to the resort, we stopped by the Island in Pigeon Forge.  This was a development anchored by a Margaritaville hotel and restaurant.  We enjoy Margaritavilles so we stopped by for some dinner.  The food was good and the atmosphere even better.  We sat on the patio and enjoyed the weather and drinks.  

We eventually made it to the resort and checked in.  We booked a bunk bed room in the river lodge suites part of the resort.  The bunk beds were a huge hit with the kiddos. We chose this building since it was attached to the indoor water park.  If you stay in the other building you must take a shuttle back and forth between the buildings.  The indoor water park was awesome for the kids.  My wife and I even took turns riding the big kid slides.  The water park was open until 10pm and reopened in the morning at 9am.  The outdoor waterparks closed at 7pm and reopened at 11am.  We ate breakfast at the onsite restaurant.  It was a buffet and pretty pricey IMO.  It was decent but I would recommend going offsite if you have time.  We used the water parks both in the evening and in the morning.  The morning crowds were very light during the first half hour and eventually got busy.  Since our kids get up early this worked out in our favor. We were a few of the first people in there which allowed us to get a good table and by the time the resort was full we grabbed lunch and hit the road for naps! This resort also has an arcade, black light mini golf, a ropes course, mini bowling, and much more.  We will definitely be visiting again. 

Overall Pigeon Forge & Gatlinburg TN are great places to bring the kids!  

Points used for trip:

Hilton Garden Inn Gatlinburg

I used one of the free Hilton weekend nights I received for meeting the first year spending requirement for the Citi Hilton Reserve credit card.  

Wilderness at the Smokies

I paid for the Wilderness resort using pay for travel with points from my Capital one Venture Card. (15,800 points)

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