Winter Park
Planning A Family Friendly
Spring Break Vacation
Are you wanting to plan a Family Friendly Spring Break? Something that you can enjoy as well as all of your kiddos? Now, I am not saying this is a RELAXING vacation, come on..what vacation with kids is, but it is the best time we spend together as a family.
This is the second year we have visited Winter Park Resorts as a family and we LOVE IT. Ernie’s family came here often when he was growing up as well. It is a great fit for all levels of skiing. This year even my mom joined us..but she preferred to stay on the beginner slopes. When we were skiing in a bigger group there was always the option to split between blues and greens and blue blacks and meet up at the same lift. We never had to be “apart” for very long. I think that is what I like so much about Skiing…it is truly time spent together with no distractions from the “real world”.
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Ok…some tips that made our lives and time in Winter Park SOOOO much easier this year!
RENT YOUR SKIS IN THE VILLAGE!
Let me count the reasons why!
- You don’t have to put them in your car that is still packed with all your things + the skis can get messy and wet and who wants that in their car?
- If you rent from them you can all store your skis there overnight! THIS IS HUGE! Trust me, at the end of the day when your littles are exhausted and whiney you will be so glad you don’t have to carry 3 sets of skis,helmets, and boots back to the car!
- If you have any troubles, boots not fitting, want to upgrade skis, need new poles: everything is right there at the base so you never have to leave the mountain and it doesn’t waste you 1/2 a day of skiing trying to changing things out!
- The crew was fabulous and fit the kids perfectly!
Check in was a breeze and the staff was all very friendly!
RENT A LOCKER
My sister in law also had a brilliant idea this year and rented us all big family sized lockers. With this we were able to keep our ski boots in there and helmets so we didn’t even have to transfer those back and forth! It worked out better than you could imagine. WHY didn’t we think of this sooner? We also kept our lunches in there each day!
ENROLL THE KIDS IN SKI SCHOOL
Winter Park also has the BEST ski school. While we didn’t sign the kids up this year (next year we probably will again) I highly recommend a lesson for the kiddos on the first day even if they know how to ski. First of all this gives you an ENTIRE day to ADULT SKI…in peace and quiet! I say we will probably put the kids in lessons next year on the first day as it is just a great refresher. It is also a nice confidence booster for them as they get their “ski” legs back! I think Lucy would have had a much better ski year if she would have started with a lesson!
Stay In the Village
We travel with a group of 15 of us for this amazing vacation so we weren’t able to find a house IN the village to accommodate us all…but if it were just us we would stay IN the Village for sure. Everything you need is right there…no loading up the car each morning to head over…no rides back and forth if someone is done for the day…and someone else is not! The lodging in Winter Park Resort Village is AMAZING as well!
PACK A LUNCH
If you are traveling with kiddos they are gonna be hungry…and the food on the mountain is not cheap. Plus…everyone tears thru their food not enjoying a bite so they can get back out on the mountain! We typically do lunch on the mountain or in the village one day and the rest bring sandwiches! It has worked out well..and we could save our Money to enjoy Dinners at the Derailer Bar in the Village or at Deno’s and Hernando’s in Winter Park town.
SOAK IN THE BEAUTY
Winter Park Resort has a magical beauty! It is truly breath taking so take the time to enjoy it! Be prepared to move slowly…it takes a minute to get everyone dressed and ready to go. It takes a bit for everyone to get going on the same path. Take a deep breath…look around at where you are…leave the rushing to everyday life, just enjoy the moment you are in! Trust me, it is ok if you don’t get down every single run…or only make it down one run…the memories are being made! Our kids talk about this trip the entire year! Like I said…it is magical!
Our Favorite run is Lonesome Whistle. There is something so peaceful about the run. It’s a bit windy, more narrow with the beautiful trees, a nice easy green blue run…with the added bonus of a fun little tree obstacle called Dilly Dally Ally! Be sure to check out this gorgeous run!
One of my favorite things about our trip is capturing beautiful family photos while we are there! Link to our past posts here!
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