Roller Coasters, Trapeze Lessons, and More: Oyster’s Top Kid-Friendly Hotel Attractions

See recent posts by Kelsey Blodget

If you want to plan a family vacation with wow factor, look no further: Picking a hotel with one of the following kid-friendly attractions will earn you major points with your kids. And with activities this fun, you just may end up acting like a kid yourself.

Water Parks

Water park at the Grand Wailea Resort Hotel and Spa

Water park at the Grand Wailea Resort Hotel and Spa

Hundreds of resorts around the world feature a water slide or two in their pool complex, but a few exceptional properties take it to a whole new level. For example, the Aquaventure water park at the Atlantis features two slides with vertical drops over 50 feet, a mile-long lazy-river pool, a tube that gushes past sharks, and a plethora of other scenic slides. The Grand Wailea water park in Hawaii includes four waterslides, whitewater rapids, caves, a lazy-river pool, rope swings, and a “water elevator” inside a man-made volcano.

Cartoon Character Interactions

Beaches Ocho Rios Resort & Golf Club, Jamaica

Beaches Ocho Rios Resort & Golf Club, Jamaica

For young children, getting to meet a favorite cartoon character or puppet can be a magical experience. At Beaches Negril Resort & Spa and Beaches Ocho Rios in Jamaica, kids can engage in singalongs with Elmer, Zoe, and Grover from Sesame Street; Lilo and Stitch host breakfasts at Disney’s Polynesian Resort; and kids can dine with characters like Mary Poppins, Alice, and Cinderella at Disney’s Grand Floridian.

Roller Coasters

Roller coaster at New York New York Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas

Roller coaster at New York New York Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas

A roller coaster — at a hotel? Yes, that’s right; while you’re getting your adrenaline rush at the craps table, your kids can get theirs at the New York, New York Hotel roller coaster in Las Vegas.

Dolphin Experiences

Dolphin encounter at Half Moon, Jamaica

Dolphin encounter at Half Moon, Jamaica

You and your kids can get up close and personal with some of the world’s most playful creatures at several hotels around the globe. Interactions can include rubbing the dolphins’ rubbery skin, posing for a kiss, and going for a dorsal fin ride.

Animal Habitats

Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge

A handful of hotels on Oyster host a wide range of exotic animals, including penguins, lions, monkeys, giraffes, sharks. These animal habitats are so impressive we wrote a whole blog post just about them.

Trapeze Lessons

Trapeze lessons at Viva Wyndham Dominicus Palace Resort

Trapeze lessons at Viva Wyndham Dominicus Palace Resort

Free trapeze lessons from real-life circus performers are available at two Viva Wyndham resorts in the Dominican Republic.

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