We went to Rapid City a couple years ago for a hockey tournament in the summer but went several days early and made a week of it. Rented a cabin just outside of town. Brad listed these:djc311 wrote: Thu Dec 02, 2021 1:22 amSo Black Hills = Mt Rushmore, correct? And perhaps some "mountains" or hills to climb, a little wilderness to explore, etc. Although I went to Mt Rushmore as a kid, we spent a weekend in the area. I guess I don't see ppl traveling to Rapid City "to get away" from everything else, but maybe that's a generational thing. Also, if I travel to KC to go to WofF or Great Wolf Lodge, it's also a weekend excursion. I've never traveled to vacation in KC for a week. I see a destination such as Disney World, Universal Studios, etc as a week-long getaway and that's just so you can experience the majority of the attractions.Huskerfan1 wrote: Wed Dec 01, 2021 9:32 pm I appreciate all your support for an Omaha park. I wasn’t expecting any of you to cheer for RC.
In response to “Well in 2018, Omaha had 13.1 million visitors who spent a whopping $1.3 billion. 5.7 million stayed overnight, and 7.4 million spent the day”…those are good numbers and 13.1 visitors sounds good. The problem is that those figures show that visitors aren’t spending much time in the area. A lot of people still think of Omaha as a weekend trip or as a quick day trip. Yes, having a theme park in Omaha could lengthen the time visitors stay, but you have to remember that AL and WoF is not that far away. Many of Omaha’s visitors may have passed them on their trip. Yes, Omaha’s population is bigger than RC, but if a park was built in Omaha, some people would still visit the other parks because they like “getting out of Dodge”. I will explain why RC is currently favored by the developer, but I’ll have to do that later. I need to attend a meeting soon.
By no means am I travel expert, but with 4 girls and growing up in the area, we've spent at most a single weekend in KC at a time. That's including going to the speedway or the amusement attractions. If I'm going on vacation it's to a beach or somewhere significantly distant from our surroundings.
I also second the comment above about how Omaha has been in the running for things in the past and we do seem to take it in the shorts. I still remember the BMW hype we had going on for awhile. I wonder if Omaha is REALLY ever a strong candidate or it's simply paper trail BS to prove there are other areas under consideration.
Until it's a done deal and there's a sign along the highway and some golden shovels being used to break ground, I won't believe it's going to happen.
Badlands National Park (And Wall Drug)
Black Hills (Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Spearfish Canyon, Mickelson Trail, Black Hills Central Railroad, etc)
Devils Tower (Technically in Wyoming, but close enough)
Sturgis & Deadwood
Wind Cave National Park
I would add Custer State Park (just incredible). We spent a full day there but between some of the cool hikes (especially Sylvan lake) and the animals, like their famous burros and buffalo, it could have been 2 days or more. Other places to add that we liked were Reptiles Gardens and Bear Country. Needles Highway was one of the most beautiful areas I have ever seen. We are planning another trip to Rapid City this summer.
On KC we do that all lot. And yeah it's the right distance for a 3 day 2 night trip, but sometimes stretch it to 4 days. With kids we don't always or couldn't always swing the beach or mountain trips but my kids are always up for KC. Ours are many times built around Royals home weekends but we also have hit the Chiefs and occasionally sporting. Worlds and Oceans of Fun if it's summer. When they were younger we did Legoland and Sea Life Aquarium and if cooler out, Great Wolf Lodge. My kids love their zoo and it's half price with the Omaha zoo pass. They have built theirs up to something special and it has somethings and animals that Omaha doesn't. Once the light rail started, we started staying in downtown KC and taking advantage of that with it connecting River Market, Power and Light and Crown Center. Will be even better now that it will go to Westport and the Plaza areas. As they got older we started doing more of their museums, WWI (family favorite), Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, Truman Presidential Library. Now we've added hiking. KC and the area around it has incredible trails (and multiple waterfalls), KC Hiker has been an incredible source: https://www.kansascityhiker.com/
Greg