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Summer Vacations
The Orbitz Family Vacation Guide

The 2009 Orbitz Parent Panel is a group of moms and dads dedicated to helping you and your family travel well. They'll share experiences and advice to help you plan low-cost, low-hassle family vacations.

This month, our focus is on summer vacations:


The Orbitz Parents Panel

We went looking for travel experts who were also doting parents and found them right under our nose. These Orbitz parents have plenty of experience traveling to a variety of destinations with children of all ages. Join them as they share their vacation adventures, mistakes and successes -- as well as personal strategies, tips, and opinions.

Mark McCullough, father of 3 children under age 6, often reminisces about his former life as a raft guide and rock-climbing instructor. Now his outings are more subdued, like canoeing along the tidal rivers in Virginia's historic triangle of Jamestown, Yorktown and Colonial Williamsburg.

John George is a full-time working dad to his 11-year-old son. After visiting every continent, save Antarctica, he was domesticated by his wife Jenny. Their family enjoys cruising, beach vacations and getaways to the Big Apple.

Donna Mulligan is a full-time working mom to 3 hockey players, ages 19, 17 and 13. Her family's favorite travel destinations include Killington, Vermont, the Adirondacks, Florida's Gulf coast, and Quebec City.

Chris Hill currently resides in Texas because it is too Cold up North. His family is self-proclaimed "Theme Park Junkies," including his wife, 6-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter, who are always looking for the next adventure.

Kathy Karlesses is a Director of Account Development at Orbitz. She and her husband enjoy traveling to new (and not-so-new) places and watching the experience through the eyes of their two girls, ages 12 and 9.

Drew Dixon is a proud daddy of three: two girls, 5 and 3, and a newborn son. His family routinely travels to Orlando, the Outer Banks, and the South Jersey Shore.

Mary Flynn is an Orlando native with 4 children, ages 21, 19 and 8-year-old twins. She also has two grandsons who are 19- and 6-months old. She travels all the time with some -- if not all -- the kids.

When Chris Brown and his wife are not taking their two young sons (1 and 3 years old) on adventure-filled vacations over land and sea, they find adventure at home in the Chicago area where they frequent local museums, parks, summer festivals, theater, and live music venues.

Before his son was born, Mark Verone and his wife made a pact to keeping traveling even with a newborn in tow. They got a passport for the baby a week after he was born and took 29 flights in his first year alone.

Monica is a full-time working mom to a rambunctious preschooler, Logan. She enjoys cooking and spending time with her husband and son exploring their Chicago northside neighborhood.

Benjamin Berman, an attorney at Orbitz, is the ridiculously proud and pathetically obsessed father of his beautiful baby-girl Sydney, who he and his fantastic wife Julie take to and from Boston (in-laws!) and other U.S. cities 6-8 times a year.

Vanessa Aleksic is a full-time working mother to 2 young boys. After work, you can find her singing children's songs out of tune with her eldest or crawling after her youngest. In the few miraculously calm moments, she tries to find time to read, scrapbook, and plan her next travel adventure.

Dannelle Sibley is a full-time working mother and wife. With an 8-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son, she likes to plan travel vacations that are fun as well as educational.

Kimberley Myles is the mother of a 5-year-old son born in New Zealand. She spent five years thinking Christmas meant summer weather while living in Auckland. She currently resides in a suburb of Chicago.

When Jim Cohn is not running drills with his wife and kids, he can be found at Wrigley Field watching his beloved Cubbies, coaching t-ball or chasing his other passion, a little white ball on the golf course.

With two young ones in tow, Alistair Wearmouth's travel perspective has shifted seismically from finding the best backpacker hostel in Kathmandu to coping strategies for toddlers on a trans-Atlantic flight. His world travels include Europe, India, Nepal, Japan, Southeast Asia and Canadian Rockies.

If her preschooler grows up and complains, "Mom, you never let me do anything," Orbitz editor Mary-Jo Lipman is going to remind him that his parents took him to Paris, Turks & Caicos, Boston, Atlanta, San Francisco, Orlando, South Florida, Dallas, Maine and St. Louis within his first 2.5 years.

Tom Russell has three children, ages 11-15, whose leisure interests range from tap dancing to science to electric guitar. You can imagine that planning a family vacation for this group can be quite a challenge.

Brian Hoyt is Orbitz's head of corporate communications and government affairs. He and his wife are parents to an energetic 3-year-old daughter. Their favorite places to visit are Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, Florida, New Orleans, Charleston, and Yankee Stadium.

Marie LaPlante is a full-time working mom to Karis, her pony- and princess-loving 4-year-old.

 

This MonthSummer Vacations

By John George and Kathy Karlesses - One summer, two totally different vacations. Experience the ultimate American Girl adventure with Kathy and her girls, or go along for the ride as George plan his trip to Rushmore and the Rockies.

Tips onSee what the parent panel is doing this summer!

  1. Chris B.: It's all about the family: This August my wife, two young boys and I are headed to a large cabin on a popular lake in Northern Wisconsin for a week-long vacation with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins in tow. We plan to go hiking, swimming, fishing, and maybe even play a game of family-friendly paintball with the locals.
  2. Chris H.: After two years of extravagant Disney Vacations, we decided to actually have a restful vacation at the Wyndham Resort at Fairfield Bay in Arkansas. We will spend a week away from the city and just swim, hike, and actually relax this summer.
  3. Marie L.: Our family is all about avoiding the summer vacation crowds. Summer in Chicago is short - so we stay home, enjoying the pool, beach, and street fairs - and take our 'summer' vacation in the fall when everyone else is back to work & school. This year, we will be heading to the mountains - either Aspen or Beaver Creek. The deals are good, the crowds are small and the mountains are beautiful in the fall.
  4. Benjamin B.: The Bermans are spending the summer at home, enjoying the warmth and fun festivals of the Windy City. And heck, who knows, maybe a weekend to Bass Lake or Lake Geneva is in the cards, too. Of course, as always, they'll head east to visit Nana and Papa in New England for the 4th, and maybe take an overnight jaunt to Cape Cod. God Bless America!
  5. Drew D.: This summer, right after school lets out for my six-year old, we're driving from Alexandria, VA to the cozy beach town of Stone Harbor, NJ. I've been going there since I was a baby, and now I get to share the soft sandy beaches with our three kids. In addition to building sandcastles, playing in the surf and collecting shells, we will also visit Morey's Piers on the boardwalk in Wildwood, comb Sunset Beach for "Cape May Diamonds", and see the animals at Cape May County Zoo.
View more tips

 

Top Family Hotels

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Five Family Favorites: Chicago
Parks and Places

Millennium Park: Splash in the fountains, take pictures in Cloud Gate, catch live music in the amphitheater and stick around for dinner - you can do it all at the park.

Museums

Shedd Aquarium: Featuring a dolphin/whale show and shark reef all on the lakefront. Bike or walk there with the kids from a nearby hotel.

Parks and Places

North Avenue & Oak Street Beaches: Play volleyball, get a suntan, rent bikes, roller blades, or go on a Segway Tour, and then cap it off with lunch at Castaways on North Avenue Beach.

Parks and Places

Navy Pier: Check out the children's museum, outdoor water fountains, food court, live music, boat rides, Ferris wheel and more. Plus every Wednesday and Saturday night Navy Pier puts on an extravagant fireworks display.

Events

Broadway Musicals and Theater: Disney's Aladdin, Cinderella, Mary Poppins, and Seussical the Musical are just some of the great family shows that you can catch while you are here.

 

Family-friendly Cruises

Family-friendly Cruises

Family getaways and reunions at sea

With onboard rock-climbing, water parks, comedy shows, teen night clubs and so much more, a family cruise is a fun and affordable vacation option. Explore Europe, Alaska, the Caribbean, Mexico and others. You and your family will see it all and unpack only once. Orbitz Cruises also offers expert planning and service for cruise groups of any size.

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