How to Travel with Young Children

If a road trip is in your future and you have young children, it is imperative that you are prepared.

Plan your route carefully.  Know where you are going and how long it will take you to get there.  Now add time for rest stops and eating.  Pack plenty of snacks and games to keep the children satisfied.  Learn how to play several games that may be played on-the-fly.

While traveling, if you approach a rest area, be sure to ask your spouse and kids if they need to stop.  You will be sorry if you pass up a rest stop and then find out that your children need to use the restroom when you are in the middle of nowhere.

Keep plenty of refreshments on-hand and make sure they are easily accessible without having to pull over.  One good idea is to fill several plastic bags with their favorite cereal.  Be sure all drinks are served in containers with resealable tops.

Teach your children to play some games before the trip.  Take some crossword puzzles or word find puzzles along as well as some of your children’s favorite toys.  Play the “alphabet game”, which involves spotting and calling out letters of the alphabet as they appear on billboards.

Stop often for stretch breaks so that everyone stays as comfortable as possible.  Enjoy traveling with your children and make every trip an adventure.

Get into Carowinds at a Reduced Rate or for Free

Carowinds theme park, which resides on the border of North Carolina and South Carolina, is a great source of family entertainment including rides and attractions for the entire family. Enjoy all the thrills and adventure at a fraction or the cost or even for free.

Believe it or not, you may know someone or even know a friend of a friend who works for Carowinds theme park. It never hurts to ask around. Employees of the park are given free admission tickets and they are allowed to give them out at their discretion. Often just asking someone for a ticket or two will gain you free access to the park or you could do something nice for that person and still get in for almost nothing. Also, many companies are corporate partners with Carowinds and offer their employees discounts using a special company code that may be entered on the Carowinds website. You may know someone who works for one of these partners and not even realize it.

Check the Carowinds website for discounted rates. Often, they will have a special that rewards you with a discount just for purchasing tickets online. If you can find a group of fifteen to forty-nine people to go together, you will enjoy a group discount. An even better discount is available for groups of fifty or more. If you are a senior citizen of sixty-two years or older, then you are in luck because they offer a great discount for you too. If you will be visiting the park for two consecutive days in a row, save your original ticket and use it to purchase a "next day ticket" as you leave the park. The price for these tickets is less than half of what you paid for the first. If you have plans for earlier in the day, but you want to ride some roller coasters at night, wait until after 4:00 pm and the price of admission is about half.

Quite often, Carowinds vendors will offer discount coupons for admission to the park. Coco Cola frequently offers discount coupons which are printed right on the side of the drink cans. Check the supermarkets in the cities close to Carowinds, like Charlotte and Gastonia, North Carolina and also Rock Hill, South Carolina for these special cans.