Alaska Excursions Suggestions for Kids?

[sazzle12]

We are booked to go to Alaska July 2022 with a 4 and 5 year old. For those who have been to Alaska which excursions do you recommend? At the moment we are thinking:

1) Dawes Glacier: Staying on ship to take in views. Is it worth taking a boat to get up close or better to stay on ship?

2) Skagway: Liarsville Gold Rush Camp and/or Skagway Steam Train. My song *loves* trains, but 4h on a train seems like a long time for a little kid. I noticed if you go with Disney they play games to keep the kids entertained?

3) Juneau: Helicopter Ride and Dog Sledding on Glacier

4) Ketchican: Lumberjack Show & Shopping in Town

 

[abdgeek]

We are booked to go to Alaska July 2022 with a 4 and 5 year old. For those who have been to Alaska which excursions do you recommend? At the moment we are thinking:

1) Dawes Glacier: Staying on ship to take in views. Is it worth taking a boat to get up close or better to stay on ship? When I did the DCL Alaska Cruise years ago, the ship stayed in front of Dawes Glacier about two hours. The ship kept changing position so that people on both sides of the ship had their time facing the glacier. Not sure I would pay extra for a boat unless it was able to get A LOT closer to the glacier.

2) Skagway: Liarsville Gold Rush Camp and/or Skagway Steam Train. My song *loves* trains, but 4h on a train seems like a long time for a little kid. I noticed if you go with Disney they play games to keep the kids entertained? In Skagway, I did the tour where you took the bus up the mountain and the train down. On the way up, we stopped at a small waterfall and the Yukon Suspension Bridge. When you take the train back down, you are following the path the gold rushers took.

3) Juneau: Helicopter Ride and Dog Sledding on Glacier This is the one tour I didn’t do that I regretted. To this day, I’m still trying to go somewhere where I can act land on a glacier and walk around. Instead, I did the Mendenhall Glacier and Glacier Gardens tour.

4) Ketchican: Lumberjack Show & Shopping in Town. The lumberjack show is kitschy, but it was fun. My tour also included the Native Saxman Village.

It appears that some of the excursions have changed slightly since I cruised to Alaska, but I did some of the ones you are considering. I don’t have kids, but I enjoyed the tours I did as an adult.

1) Dawes Glacier: Staying on ship to take in views. Is it worth taking a boat to get up close or better to stay on ship? When I did the DCL Alaska Cruise years ago, the ship stayed in front of Dawes Glacier about two hours. The ship kept changing position so that people on both sides of the ship had their time facing the glacier. not sure I would pay extra for a boat unless it was able to get A LOT closer to the glacier.

2) Skagway: Liarsville Gold Rush Camp and/or Skagway Steam Train. My song *loves* trains, but 4h on a train seems like a long time for a little kid. I noticed if you go with Disney they play games to keep the kids entertained? In Skagway, I did the tour where you took the bus up the mountain and the train down. On the way up, we stopped at a small waterfall and the Yukon Suspension Bridge. When you take the train back down, you are following the path the gold rushers took.

3) Juneau: Helicopter Ride and Dog Sledding on Glacier This is the one tour I didn’t do that I regretted. To this day, I’m still trying to go somewhere where I can actually land on a glacier and walk around. Instead, I did the Mendenhall Glacier and Glacier Gardens tour.

4) Ketchican: Lumberjack Show & Shopping in Town. The lumberjack show is kitschy, but it was fun. My tour also included the Native Saxman Village.

 

[tvguy]

Any whale watching and wildlife excursion. Done two cruises to Alaska and those are always a lot of fun.

 

[Cheburashka]

We are booked to go to Alaska July 2022 with a 4 and 5 year old. For those who have been to Alaska which excursions do you recommend? At the moment we are thinking:

1) Dawes Glacier: Staying on ship to take in views. Is it worth taking a boat to get up close or better to stay on ship?

2) Skagway: Liarsville Gold Rush Camp and/or Skagway Steam Train. My song *loves* trains, but 4h on a train seems like a long time for a little kid. I noticed if you go with Disney they play games to keep the kids entertained?

3) Juneau: Helicopter Ride and Dog Sledding on Glacier

4) Ketchican: Lumberjack Show & Shopping in Town

My then 13 year-old son and I sailed the Wonder in 2018 and our sightseeing days were practically perfect. Here's what we did fyi.

1. Dawes Glacier: It was lovely from the ship. I'm glad we weren't stuck for hours with a crowd on a little boat.

2. Skagway: We did glassblowing at Jewell Gardens (independently booked to save 50% from DCL's price) which was very nice, but kids have to be at least 5 years old for that. On our way back we stopped at the Gold Rush Cemetery, then went to Lower Reid Falls, which is behind the cemetery. We walked through the small town of Skagway back to the ship, which was a pleasant experience.

3. Juneau: We took a bus to Mendenhall Glacier National Park: No reservations needed- at the town's tourist center (near the boat- there will be a short free shuttle to take you there) there's a place to pay & get on, as they run in a loop all day. This was a good experience, as we had time to be off by ourselves exploring the park a bit and seeing the glacier, and then when we were done, we just got on the next bus back to the town's tourist center. Then we got on the Skyline tram (right at the tourist center) up to the top of a mountain, explored the mountain paths & looked at the landscape & the beautiful Disney Wonder from up high at our own pace, then took the Skyline back down. We had lunch at Tracy's Crab Shack at the tourist center, which serves excellent crab & is not to be missed. Imo it's a shame that so many people miss what Juneau has to offer, because they go off on far-away excursions, instead.

4. Ketchikan: We flew over the Misty Fjords via Island Wings (independently booked) which was beautiful & fun, and Island Wings always uses the same experienced, safe pilot. Landing on a glacial lake midway through the tour was a special experience.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Be warned that the glacier helicopters get cancelled a lot.

 

[Calantha]

We are booked to go to Alaska July 2022 with a 4 and 5 year old. For those who have been to Alaska which excursions do you recommend?

Thank you for asking this question! We are going in June with DS who will be almost 7.5. I've noticed a lot of the excursions seem to be 8-10+. One that said it was 7+ had a minimum weight of 75lbs...I'll be lucky he's 55 by then...

Has anyone been to Icy Straight Point and done the Adventure Course (https://icystraitpoint.com/tour/adventure_park/)? It seems like there are multiple age level courses available.

We'd love to go see the dogs, but DH says no to helicopters and small planes (and I sort of agree).

 

[TinkLoverSam]

We are booked in May 2022 with a will be 2yo and an almost 7yo. We are planning the lumberjack show in Ketchikan, Alaska Whales and Science adventure in Juneau and the white pass rail and trail camp or suspension bridge or street cars for Skagway. We did all of these excursions pre-kids in 2014 and I think my boys will enjoy them. And we will bring some activity books for the slower parts to keep them entertained.

 

[sazzle12]

We are booked in May 2022 with a will be 2yo and an almost 7yo. We are planning the lumberjack show in Ketchikan, Alaska Whales and Science adventure in Juneau and the white pass rail and trail camp or suspension bridge or street cars for Skagway. We did all of these excursions pre-kids in 2014 and I think my boys will enjoy them. And we will bring some activity books for the slower parts to keep them entertained.

I was thinking in Skagway of doing the bus up to the suspension bridge and then the 95 min train ride back. I think an almost 4h train ride would be a lot to sit through? Although my son LOVES trains. What do you think since you have done it?

 

[sazzle12]

Be warned that the glacier helicopters get cancelled a lot.

yes I read it's best to book the afternoon to avoid fog? Maybe the land-based dog sled would be better

 

[sazzle12]

Thank you for asking this question! We are going in June with DS who will be almost 7.5. I've noticed a lot of the excursions seem to be 8-10+. One that said it was 7+ had a minimum weight of 75lbs...I'll be lucky he's 55 by then...

Has anyone been to Icy Straight Point and done the Adventure Course (https://icystraitpoint.com/tour/adventure_park/)? It seems like there are multiple age level courses available.

We'd love to go see the dogs, but DH says no to helicopters and small planes (and I sort of agree).

I don't disagree- I am scared of helicopters. But it looks so stunning

 

[_auroraborealis_]

yes I read it's best to book the afternoon to avoid fog? Maybe the land-based dog sled would be better

Also because of glacial warming.

 

[TinkLoverSam]

I was thinking in Skagway of doing the bus up to the suspension bridge and then the 95 min train ride back. I think an almost 4h train ride would be a lot to sit through? Although my son LOVES trains. What do you think since you have done it?

We did the trail camp one so we did a train ride up and then stops on the way down and I really liked that. It broke up the trip and I think it will help the kids stay engaged

 

[tink too]

We did the Lumberjack show & a tour at Potlatch Totem Park where the kids got to paint a “feather”’ to be added to a wooden totem - not sure if DCL still offers that tour or not but DD & I loved it. DH went fishing while we were off on this trip.

DD & I also went gold panning - she really enjoyed that too.

We also did the train and added the summer sledding tour which took us on a short but fun ride. Our tour included the bus back down which had stops on th

 

[flipflop]

Juneau: The helicopter/dog sled is a great experience and very unique. Book for afternoon. We have done dog sledding on land - it isn't all that great. I mean interesting but really the glacier part is what is so cool. If it gets cancelled, you can easily get to mendenhall/nugget falls as a back up without a tour. Also - the salmon hatchery is cool that time of year with kids because you can see the salmon running outside. Agree with the Tracy's recommendation - the she crab soup is delicious. We have been to alaska twice and we found mendenhall to be so crowded compared to the other remote areas we were in. We didn't love it. That said, you can get fairly close and it is a good back up.
Skagway - def do something with the train - even if it is just 1 way. very cool scenery.

 

[TYTY]

In Ketchikan we did the Deadliest Catch boat trip....if they still do that I highly recommend it.

 

[Marthasor]

We are booked to go to Alaska July 2022 with a 4 and 5 year old. For those who have been to Alaska which excursions do you recommend? At the moment we are thinking:

1) Dawes Glacier: Staying on ship to take in views. Is it worth taking a boat to get up close or better to stay on ship?

2) Skagway: Liarsville Gold Rush Camp and/or Skagway Steam Train. My song *loves* trains, but 4h on a train seems like a long time for a little kid. I noticed if you go with Disney they play games to keep the kids entertained?

3) Juneau: Helicopter Ride and Dog Sledding on Glacier

4) Ketchican: Lumberjack Show & Shopping in Town

We did an Alaskan cruise when DS was 5. We did the Skagway Steam Train and is was incredible, but my son was bored out of his mind. After the train ride, we walked around town a bit and I regretted not spending more time there. We did the helicopter and dog sledding on a glacier. It was incredible. We did it 8 years ago and we all still talk about it. It was one of the best vacation experiences we've ever had. As PP noted, however, the helicopter rides get canceled often. In Ketchikan, we did a bus tour to see the totem poles which was fun and the Lumberjack Show was a blast - DS really liked it!

 

[MickeySwirl]

We are booked to go to Alaska July 2022 with a 4 and 5 year old. For those who have been to Alaska which excursions do you recommend? At the moment we are thinking:

We went to Alaska in 2018 with kids ages 6-12. Here are our experiences.
1) Dawes Glacier: Staying on ship to take in views. Is it worth taking a boat to get up close or better to stay on ship?
We did the boat excursion at the Glacier as adults (left the kids on the ship with Grands) and we really enjoyed it. We thought would have been a waste of $$$ and time for kids, especially littles as young as yours. The littles on our boat were bored and cold and spent most of the time inside eating snacks.
2) Skagway: Liarsville Gold Rush Camp and/or Skagway Steam Train. My song *loves* trains, but 4h on a train seems like a long time for a little kid. I noticed if you go with Disney they play games to keep the kids entertained?
We did the train ride and the kids all loved the train ride. We did the train up, visit to Yukon suspension bridge, and bus back. It was a great day and we would do it all again.
3) Juneau: Helicopter Ride and Dog Sledding on Glacier
We did the helicopter ride to the glacier (no dogs) and it was the most amazing thing we have ever done as a family. Seriously. It was stunning!
4) Ketchican: Lumberjack Show & Shopping in Town
With kids your ages, this is a don't miss. Our kids LOVED the show and it's a lot of fun. After the show, we took the kids back to the ship and then wandered around town ourselves.

 

[HiStitch626]

In Ketchikan we did the Deadliest Catch boat trip....if they still do that I highly recommend it.

This was a hit on our big family trip several years ago. Everyone from 6-76 enjoyed it.

 

[EllieBride]

We went a couple of years ago with our 6-year old twins and I tried my best to plan excursions that would be fun and entertaining for them. For Skagway, we did a morning zip line trip that allowed them (even at that age). Super fun!

In the afternoon, we visited Jewell Gardens for the glassblowing experience. To be honest, this was the one thing that I booked on the trip that was my pick. But it ended up being their favorite thing and they still talk about it. I was really surprised by how much they loved it. And they’ve since taken their hand blown glass “artwork“ to school for show and tell.

We also did a canoe trip to the Mendenhall Glacier and took the floatplane trip to the Misty Fjords with Michelle from Island Wings, which was my husband’s pick. Very memorable for him, but scary for me. The kids fell asleep, lol.

 

[EllieBride]

On glacier day…. I really didn’t think it was THAT crowded on the ship….

I felt we had the perfect day:
- early spa appointment for husband (should’ve booked one for mysel!)
- nice breakfast for kids, then off to the club
- late brunch reservation at Palo for me and husband, including lots of whale watching
- pick up kids, then head to deck for glacier-viewing and great photos with characters that you can only get that day

We moved around a lot, and yes, some people staked out spots on the rail and didn’t leave, but plenty of people moved on and we took tons of pictures. Many of them were as we waited in character lines (along the railing).

However, if you want to get up close to the glacier, then consider the boat tour.