Calling All Kids
Family Adventures Guaranteed to Thrill, Enlighten & Amuse
Midway mania
No family trip to Connecticut is complete without the excitement of a visit to Bristol’s Lake Compounce Theme Park. Rock and roll on the Zoomerang or the Boulder Dash—voted the #1 wooden roller coaster in the U.S. by Amusement Today. It’s carved into the mountainside and features a breathtaking 115-foot drop. Lake Compounce’s 50 rides and attractions, including Splash Harbor Water Park, make this a must-do for kids and adults.
Imagine that
The activities at Connecticut Science Center in Hartford will have the kids so engaged they won’t realize they’re getting smarter by the second. Fly to Mars, live in 4D, design a heliflyer and explore wind power, solar energy, robots and brainwaves. The museum will keep the kids dazzled with more than 150 hands-on exhibits, a 3-D theater and Kidspace for the seven-and-under crowd. Regularly scheduled shows, both educational and purely for pleasure, pique young imaginations.
What’s this button do?
Fasten your seat belts as the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks propels you into the history of aviation. It’s easy to spend hours viewing the 80 aircraft—from historic warbirds to modern jets—in three huge hangars. But you’ll likely find the little ones on the pedal-planes, while the bigger kids typically gravitate toward the computer flight simulators. Check for “Open Cockpit Days,” when guests can actually sit in the pilot seats of 10 aircrafts.
Under the sea
Kids cry “Shark!” at The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk, but don’t be alarmed. The 110,000-gallon shark tank keeps these fascinating creatures behind four inches of glass. Two touch tanks give the kids hands-on excitement, and feeding time at the seal pool always draws an exuberant crowd. Otters, turtles, jellies and other amazing animals from Long Island Sound make this a great family day. Oh yeah, there’s a 6-story IMAX theater, too.
Joy ride
Summon your family’s sense of adventure and hop aboard the Essex Steam Train & Riverboat. The 2 1/2 hour journey starts on a 1920s steam locomotive that chugs through the Connecticut River valley and ends with a scenic riverboat excursion on the Connecticut River. But be warned: After such massive means of transportation with all the bells and whistles, the kids might get bored in the minivan.
Play date
Kid-pleasing exhibits such as Rainforest Adventure, Toddler Terrain, Color Coaster, Healthyville and Build It! make Stepping Stones Museum for Children in Norwalk a sure bet. More than 100 hands-on activities tickle the fancies of the 10-and-under set.
Ahoy!
Sure, there are more than 80,000 artifacts, documents and photos at the U.S. Navy’s official submarine museum in Groton, but good luck pulling Junior away from the working periscopes. USS Nautilus & Submarine Force Museum lets visitors board the world’s first nuclear-powered sub. Walk the decks that made naval history—it’s the first sub to reach the North Pole and to journey 20,000 leagues under the sea.
Go deep
Hands-on fun awaits at the Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration. Go nose-to-nose with a beluga whale. Meet a 1,000-pound sea lion at the rollicking Sea Lion Show. Explore ancient shipwrecks. Search for piranhas, tarantulas and poisonous dart frogs in the rain forest. And get creeped out by the Deep Sea 3D Motion Ride.
Wild life
Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo
in Bridgeport features more than 300 animals, primarily from the Americas. Let the kids roam the New England Farmyard with goats, pigs and sheep. An aviary and tropical rain forest also please. The pop-up viewing areas at the prairie dog exhibit get a lot of laughs.
Walk the plank
Mystic Seaport
is the first kind of village that appeared in Colonial Connecticut, when the waterways were the main roads. Climb aboard historic tall ships. Stroll through a re-created 19th century coastal village with enchanting shops around every corner. Check out the working shipyard and planetarium. There’s a lot of ground to cover here, but tell the kids about the tugboats and water taxis, and they’ll come around.
Dino Mite
Take your courageous little explorers on the ultimate dinosaur-tracking trip. Dinosaur State Park in Rocky Hill houses one of the largest collections of preserved Jurassic tracks on the continent. Yale’s Peabody Museum of Natural History in New Haven features mounted skeletons in The Great Hall of Dinosaurs. And Monty, the teenage T-Rex, greets visitors to The Dinosaur Place™ at Nature’s Art in Montville. 25 concrete and steel dinosaurs roam the grounds. Plan your dino excursion at www.CTvisit.com.
Sleep Over
Kid-centric hotels make it easy to extend your family trip to Connecticut. Stay at the Holiday Inn Waterbury and keep the young ones entertained with free passes to the indoor CoCo Key Water Resort. A night at the Mystic Marriott Hotel & Spa comes with family admission to Mystic Aquarium and Mystic Seaport. Other hotels keep it simple with indoor pools and free in-room movies. Find all the great package deals at http://www.ctvisit.com/specials.aspx.
