Top Family Vacation Planning Web Site Announces Major Update
(ContentDesk) July 7, 2005 -- Called www.VacationsWithKids.com, the free site contains ratings and verbatim remarks from families who took vacations at least 50 miles from home in the past two years. The ratings data comes from surveys conducted quarterly from January, 2004, to March, 2005, and from the opinion questionnaire on the Web site. Respondents provided information on the quality of accommodations, the quality of activities, the variety of available dining options and the perceived value for the dollars spent on their vacation. The surveys also measured the length of stay and whether a family would return to a destination or recommend that destination to other families.Marvin Ingram, president of Atlanta travel agency UNIGLOBE Firstworld Travel, said that www.VacationsWithKids.com "continues to offer families a much-needed online resource to help identify potential destinations and plan their vacations." "This is the first truly unique family travel planning tool that I have seen in my 35 years in the travel business," Ingram said. "It can be very helpful to every family considering where to go and what to do with kids."VERTEX Management President, Joe Blumberg, said that Vacations With Kids allows travelers to research the vacation attributes of 214 destinations, as determined by other families who vacationed there.

Visitors to the Web site can search by state, age of children or number of nights they plan to stay. Further the update now includes many destinations outside the U.S.Search results reveal how families rate a destination's lodging, attractions and other offerings. Many search results also contain a Suggestions Page with verbatim remarks from families who visited that particular destination. Search results also include a variety of links that direct families to a destination's official Web site, other family travel planning sites, travel tips and other resources to help them plan vacations."If you look at Expedia or some of the other major travel sites, they contain evaluations, but those are either paid advertisements or based on the opinions of just a few visitors," said Blumberg. "Vacations With Kids is based on scientifically sound research.

To our knowledge, vacationswithkids.com is the only family-to-family planning guide with ratings of vacation destinations from families with kids for families with kids." Blumberg added: "The number of families that have rated each destination is included in the search results. Three ratings is the minimum, but some destinations have been rated by dozens of families. Orlando, for example, has been rated by more than 250 families."Vacations With Kids is designed to help families find information not only on commonly visited destinations, but also on vacation spots that, while not well known, may be excellent values and fun for the whole family."Families will find a number of destinations that aren't top of mind but are excellent values," For example, Jackson Hole, WY. received nearly perfect ratings as a destination for kids in the 7-12 age group. Disney World, as expected, received high marks for its attractions, but the data raise some questions about the value of the destination for the dollars spent, and there are other destinations in the Orlando area that received equally high ratings and may be a better value."Selected other findings:-Pensacola and Sanibel Island represent good options for Florida vacations.

There are excellent activities and attractions for kids without the hype and flair of more popular destinations.-Big Sky, Mont., is rated highest as a destination for families, but most of the attractions can be experienced in fewer than three days.-The District of Columbia earns high

Walt Disney World, did you know that....?
Disney World never, ever has any ?lost children? at their theme parks. It is the parents that are lost! Cast members undergo special training to make sure that children who become separated from their parents are made to feel comfortable. This way is it hoped that the children will not become stressed and it makes it easier for the missing parents to be found. The bricks in Cinderella?s Castle become smaller the higher up they are. This is a particular method called ?forced perspective?. It gives the appearance of the castle being taller than it actually is. Every mosaic in the Moroccan pavilion in Epcot has one cracked or flawed tile within it. Artisans, who were brought to Orlando from their home country of Morocco, created the mosaics and their belief is that only Allah can produce something which is perfect. So in order to respect this belief they purposely included flaws in all the mosaics. Animal Kingdom is the largest Disney theme park in the world. It is five ...

satisfaction ratings, but Williamsburg, VA is rated equally high and represents a much better value. -San Antonio and Galveston, Texas, appear to have great attractions for families with younger children, and three to six day stays are popular.-Nassau, The Bahamas, is the highest rated of the island destinations.About Vertex Management Vertex Management provides marketing research and training for business-to-business and consumer companies of all sizes. Founded in 1984, the company has conducted hundreds of studies for domestic and international clients using focus groups and surveys. Our proprietary analysis tools provide companies with market intelligence and strategic direction. Contacts:Joe Blumberg                  PresidentVertex Management, Inc.                  770-396-6600                  e-mail protected from spam bots.