Traveling with children is definitely an adventure that all families should enjoy, and when your travels bring you to West Yellowstone, there will be so many different opportunities for adventure that your entire family will love. From hikes through some of the most stunning landscape that exists in the world to encounters with the wildlife that make their home in our breathtaking countryside, there is no doubt this will be a vacation you will never forget!
But for those traveling with young children, you may have some doubts anyway, especially when it comes to the question of how you maintain a kid-friendly routine when staying in one of our comfortable and inviting Sweet Home Montana hotels. Don’t worry, we have the answers for you! Below, we’ll outline how you can maintain a kid-friendly routine during your West Yellowstone hotel stay.
Breakfast Is Important
Our entire lives we have been told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but if you don’t have a kitchen and you don’t really want to eat at a restaurant at every meal, (Being forced to sit and be quiet through an entire meal can be torture for your youngest travelers!) what can you do? Fortunately, most of our hotels will offer rooms with kitchenettes that include microwaves, small refrigerators, and the all-important coffee maker (obviously for the parents), and as such, you can create small, healthy meals that will give your littles a little more freedom to express themselves!
Their Own Beds
After eating, your children’s sleep schedule is the most important thing not to disrupt. Ensuring that they have their own bed to sleep in can help them sleep deeply. For those traveling with infants, many of our hotels will offer a travel crib, enabling guests to travel without having to lug furniture around and giving sweet babies a safe place to slumber. For parents who have older kids, our hotel rooms with two beds can ensure that both parents and children will have their own space to snore after completing a long day of Yellowstone adventures.
Family Time Matters
Routines are different for different people, and we at Sweet Home Montana try to provide the necessities for all the differences. Sometimes all a family needs is a good television to engage in their normal routines! Screen time is popular for families, especially after dinner and homework have been finished, and so our televisions in our rooms will be ones that are large and offer crystal-clear pictures. Some televisions may be Smart ones on which you can stream your kiddo’s favorite shows (we hear that Bluey looks even more blue and cuddly on our state of the sets) and others will be cable access, still offering the opportunity for everyone to gather around the television to watch a couple of shows before it is time to call it a night.
Are We There Yet?
There are a couple of questions our kids can ask that aren’t our favorites, such as “What’s for dinner?” and “Are we there yet?” We can’t really help with the dinner question, other than to tell you there are some wonderful restaurants in the area and that many of our hotels will offer barbecue areas that are very popular in the warmer months, but when you stay in one of our Sweet Home Montana hotel rooms, you won’t have to make a long drive part of your vacation experience! Yellowstone National Park is just minutes away from our hotels, and although you may still drive once you have reached the gates, the many opportunities to see wild animals roaming free will stop all questions in their tracks.
A Bath Before Bed
This next routine is especially important after a day of playing in creeks and hiking through groves of trees while searching the ground for sticks and rocks to add to their collections, and although your kids may not approve of the bath before bed routine, we parents sure do. In today’s world, however, many hotel baths have switched to walk-in showers, and if you have ever tried to shower with a wiggly toddler, you will appreciate that the bathrooms in our hotel rooms will mostly offer tub/shower combinations. Kneeling on a cushion of padded towels, squirting shampoo in your kiddo’s hair and then trying to carefully rinse it out without getting water and soap in their eyes is an age old tradition that also serves as a bonding moment, because we all know that this is a stage that will end all too soon.
Ready to Make Unforgettable Memories?
Your family vacation is sure to be one you will remember forever when you plan a trip to Yellowstone with Sweet Home Montana. Contact us to reserve your favorite Sweet Home Montana hotel retreat today!
When it is time to start planning a summer vacation with the family, considering what the children will want to do is as important as choosing the vacation destination because we all know; if our kids aren’t happy, no one is going to be happy. We at Sweet Home Montana understand this as well, and if your summer vacation journey is bringing you to West Yellowstone, we want your entire family to feel welcomed and at home. This guide to planning a kid-friendly summer vacation in West Yellowstone will help you enjoy a vacation that will never be forgotten, one that everyone will agree is the best one you’ve taken in just about forever!
Plan on Teaching a Love for the Theater, The Playmill Theater, 29 Madison Avenue
Yes, we must teach our children to mind their manners, to eat healthily, to wear clean undies, and to be kind, but we must also teach them a love for the arts and although you may not think of theater as a kid-friendly activity, the wonderful people at the Playmill Theater think differently. And because they have been doing this for a long time, the theater is the oldest summer stock in the region, they help you encourage a love of the arts by performing kid-friendly shows. The Little Mermaid is coming to their stage this summer, a tale your children already enjoy and when they fall in love with the magic after the curtain rises, they will be on their way to a life filled with a love for theater.
Plan to Experience the Wild West at the Rodeo, West Yellowstone Rodeo & Creekside Trail Rides, 175 Oldroyd Road
The Wild West has captured the imagination of people of all ages and during your Montana journey you can thrill your children with a peek into what it might have looked like all those years ago with a visit to the West Yellowstone Rodeo. Offering performances 5 to 6 times a week every summer from mid-June through the end of August, this authentic Western experience will change the look of your summer vacation. Rodeo tickets are inexpensive, $20 for adults 12 and older, $10 for children 3-11, and free for 2 and under and their July 4th Rodeo is the most popular, so be sure to buy your tickets early online.
Plan to Trot into Happiness with the Creekside Trail Rides Offered by the West Yellowstone Rodeo
This next adventure is one for kids 6 and older, giving your entire family the opportunity to ride into the future with the Creekside Trail Rides offered by the West Yellowstone Rodeo. Open for trail rides six days a week, they are closed on Sundays, the rides cost $50 per person and promise to be your favorite part of your Montana adventure. Wagon rides may be a little better for families with young children, costing $30 for adults 12 and up and $20 for kids 3-11, the wagon rides don’t have any limitations on age and costs nothing for kids 2 and under. The Rodeo does offer combo tickets so you can enjoy the rodeo and the rides at a discounted price or you can participate in each separately; either experience will make memories you and your children will cherish forever.
Plan to Visit the Park
The town of West Yellowstone is the gateway to Yellowstone National Park, America’s first national park and the adventures you can enjoy within the borders of the park will bring joy and become memories you will never forget. Visit Old Faithful and be amazed at the predictability of Nature, explore the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and be stunned by its serene and impressive beauty, or simply drive along the park roads, pulling over when it is safe to see what animals are catching the attention of park goers at any given spot. Viewing wildlife from a safe distance will still be an exciting kid-friendly activity, and as you mark each animal that you hope to see off a list that will probably include moose, buffalo, and bears, your adventure will reach truly epic proportions, and we can assure you that your children will not be able to stop talking about all they saw!
Plan to Feel at Ease and Welcomed in Your Sweet Home Montana Seasonal Sanctuary
Finding a place that you can feel comfortable letting your kiddos run mild in can be a wonderful experience in itself and our summer sanctuaries are designed to do just that. Spend a raucous evening playing board games while gathered round dining room tables, soaking in the hot tub on the deck after the kiddos have taken the journey to slumber, experience the joy of a true family vacation with your four-legged children happily exploring large backyards, and sleep deeply every night in the most comfortable beds in the state. Reserve your favorite kid-friendly sanctuary today!