Each of our family members received a complementary CityPASS during the GoHouston! Travel Campaign hosted by New Creative Writing and Social Media Marketing, home to Money Saving Parent.com. All opinions are my own.
I didn’t want to leave out the remainder of our 4th of July trip to Houston, and I definitely don’t want you to miss out on what the Houston Downtown Aquarium has to offer! After visiting Space Center Houston and Kemah Boardwalk we checked our CityPASS to see what we could do next! So we headed to the Downtown Aquarium.
At the Downtown Aquarium you can enjoy a unique dining experience, carnival rides, and Stingray Reef where you can pet and feed stingrays. Of course, it also the aquarium itself which includes beautiful aquatic creatures, a parrot, and a beautiful white tiger.
With our CityPASS we got admission to the aquarium and Stingray Reef. We had the option to upgrade for only $5 each to receive full access to all the rides as well, but since had just been at Kemah Boardwalk we already had enough rides for the day!
The kids loved the aquarium, and I took the opportunity to turn it into a learning experience by reading the information on the signs and then asking questions about what they had learned. It was so much fun! We loved that there were a variety of aquatic creatures including frogs. Plus we enjoyed the parrot and just sitting and watching the white tiger at the end. He/she was sleeping when we were there and only got up to move around, but we still thought it was pretty neat.
There are so many colors, sizes and varieties of aquatic creatures, and interesting information about them!
We also went into Stingray Reef to pet the stingrays. We didn’t get any food to feed them, but they still came near so we could pet them. Our older two kids were nervous at first because they thought they would get stung, but I explained petting them the way we are told we have absolutely nothing to worry about. After that they thought it was neatest thing ever.
The Houston Downtown Aquarium is a nice place to visit whether for a date night, family fun, with or without children. There really is something for everyone. We had gone prior to having children, and it is a nice dining experience as well! It is a must visit if you’re in the Houston area!
Fun at Kemah Boardwalk
Each of our family members received a complementary CityPASS during the GoHouston! Travel Campaign hosted by New Creative Writing and Social Media Marketing, home to Money Saving Parent.com. All opinions are my own.
After visiting Space Center Houston we headed to Kemah Boardwalk and used our CityPASS to get full day admission to all amusement rides!
When my husband and I were dating we used to visit Kemah Boardwalk frequently. We have so many great memories, so it was extra special to have been able to share it with the kids! They even offer pictures now when you first walk in, which can be purchased immediately or at your convenience. Our photographer was awesome! He took a few pictures including just the kids and just my husband and me. Who doesn’t love a nice picture to remember a fun experience?
After the pictures, we simply took our CityPASS booklets to the ticket booth and got wristbands for everybody. The wrist bands are color coded by height. It makes everything so simple! No tickets, and height is noted by color of wristband. Now we were ready to explore and ride whatever we pleased! CityPASS is valid on all amusement rides but does not include Stingray and Boardwalk Beast.
One of the first things we did after getting our wrist bands was head to the Cool Zone to put them on as well as put on our sun screen. It was hot, but not as unbearingly hot and humid as it can get in East Texas, but a couple of cold drinks and the shade and mist of the Cool Zone were a refreshing way to get started after our walk down from the parking garage.
Our oldest son braved one ride by himself for the first time! Our daughter was going to go on it, too, but she got too nervous and changed her mind. Our youngest son thought he wanted to go on it, but, of course, he’s too small. When Aurora changed her mind, though, he stopped fussing over not getting to ride.
The next ride we all got to ride! It is called the Balloon Wheel, and it is like a little Ferris wheel with hot air balloons. The boys went in one ballon, and the girls went in another. Not only was it fun to wave every time we could see each other, but we also had a nice view of the water!
We also walked along the boardwalk enjoying the water, watching fish jump, and pointing out boats. There is always a nice cool breeze by the water as well, so it’s another alternative to cool off a little while enjoying the beautiful view.
Of course, we had to ride the C.P. Huntington Train, which is always popular. Chaz fell asleep while we were waiting in line and ended up sleeping through the whole train ride! I have no idea how! It really is a neat little mini tour of Kemah Boardwalk. It goes past the the Dancing Water Fountain, the Plaza, shops, and down to the Aquarium restaurant and back through a fun mine adventure at the end. The conductors even wear striped overalls and hats. So fun!
We really had so much fun! It was really neat to experience this fun kid-friendly side of Kemah Boardwalk that we hadn’t before! I can’t wait until we move back to the Houston area because this is one place I imagine we’ll once again visit often!
Space Center Houston – Educational and FUN!
Each of our family members received a complementary CityPASS during the GoHouston! Travel Campaign hosted by New Creative Writing and Social Media Marketing, home to Money Saving Parent.com. All opinions are my own.
While on our 4th of July vacation we used our CityPASS to visit some of the best attractions in Houston. I was particularly looking forward to visiting Space Center Houston. I think it has been almost 20 years since I last visited. I was definitely curious to see how it has changed, and I knew it would be an amazing educational experience for the kids as well.
Immediately after walking in the doors we see a large Angry Birds Space Place. Talk about excitement! It was our first stop there. Our youngest was too young for the big Angry Birds Space Matrix and wasn’t keen on the idea of going into the ball pit area for the under age 5 group while his siblings were climbing, crawling, and sliding, so my husband took him to do the Angry Birds Space Simulators where they broke the high scores while the other two enjoyed a couple of rounds in Angry Birds Space Place. Fun stuff!
Angry Birds Space Matrix was awesome and surprisingly big! It’s 40 feet high! If you need to get your child before they come down there are stairs or an elevator to go up to find them. There were also cameras and TVs so I could see them at various sections. It was really neat and a great way to burn off some energy so they could focus on what we would be exploring next.
I was surprised to discover various animals. This is part of their “Chomp! The Science of Survival” Attraction. We got to view them and learn more about them. They even had intermittent in depth stage presentations. We even got to pet some snakes!
To go along with Chomp! they had a fun obstacle course to make it through the swamp. This was something our 3 year old could do as well! They had a blast! Not only was it fun, but it was also a great way to work on their core strength and gross motor skills. Our youngest is generally not the celebratory type, but when he finished he threw his little fists in the air and jumped up and down with pride. What a special moment!
Of course, we also got to view the Astronaut Gallery along with the different spacesuits as well as information about some of the astronauts that wore them. I find it fascinating to see the differences over the years!
The great thing about Space Center Houston is knowing we can go back and still get something more out of it each time! I loved all the hands-on experiences as well as the casual experiences. If you can take a whole day for it, I would definitely suggest it! CityPASS does include a NASA Tram Tour in addition to admission, but due to the holiday it was very busy, so we were unable to experience the NASA Tram Tour. It is definitely on our list for the next time we visit!
Have you ever been to Space Center Houston? When did you go and what was most memorable?
Studio Movie Grill CityCentre Review
Our family received complementary tickets to Studio Movie Grill during the GoHouston! Travel Campaign hosted by New Creative Writing and Social Media Marketing, home to Money Saving Parent.com. All opinions are my own.
Our last stop on our Houston adventure was Studio Movie Grill CityCentre for Despicable Me 2. Studio Movie Grill is more than just a movie theater. It’s a movie and dining experience in one! When we arrived to get our seats for the movie we were told they only had the front two rows left. I wasn’t surprised because it is a very popular movie and one we had definitely been looking forward to seeing! That was fine with us!
You are then given seat assignments, which are shown on the computer screen when you get your tickets. I had never experienced this before, but I realized the major advantage when we walked into the theater because we didn’t have to find 5 open seats in a row or ask anybody to scoot down so we could all sit together. We had our 5 seats in a row with no fuss! The seats are also large and comfortable, and there was plenty of space for my purse under the table in front of me.
When entering you are given a full menu. You can order a meal or simply popcorn and drinks. Since we had just come from brunch at Straits we simply ordered popcorn and drinks. The best part was we didn’t have to wait in line! That is always my least favorite part as well as getting the napkins, adding salt, etc. while the kids still ask about all the other goodies they saw but didn’t get. At Studio Movie Grill we got to avoid all of that. When you are ready for food or drinks you simply push the red button, tell them what you would like, and they bring it all to you! If you want something like salt or extra butter you just let your server know. Our server also brought us plenty of napkins. I have heard great things about their pizzas and desserts as well!
They also came and cleaned up for us as well! So, we just got to sit back and enjoy the movie we had been so excited to see!
Studio Movie Grill offers a military discount, and many others were using a Groupon purchase as well. Their movie prices are already very reasonable, but who doesn’t like to save a little extra? If you have special needs children like we do you might be happy to know Studio Movie Grill offers monthly private Special Needs Screenings of popular family-friendly movies. Their Special Needs Screening for July was (no surprise!) Despicable Me 2 on July 13th and is available at most Studio Movie Grill Locations. Special Needs Children and their siblings are free. Additional tickets are only $6.
Whether you are looking for something fun for the family or a dinner and a movie date Studio Movie Grill has a lot to offer! You can purchase tickets online.