We recently took an extended weekend trip to Kansas City with some of our family and it was a great little getaway! Kansas City is only about 250 miles from Saint Louis, MO which makes it a short three hour drive across the state. There was plenty to do (and eat) while spending a weekend in Kansas City!
This post is not sponsored, however our tickets to some of the attractions we visited were compensated.
Where to Stay
We chose to stay in Overland Park, which is about 20-25 minutes from the Plaza. We stayed at the Drury Inn Overland Park KS. This hotel came highly recommended to us for families traveling with little ones. I don’t know if all Drury Inn’s are this way, but ours included a great breakfast, as well as a great happy hour in the evenings with heavy appetizers. We indulged in breakfast, but we weren’t around for the happy hour. They also had a popcorn machine which the kids loved. Sadly I didn’t capture a pic of this, but instead here are the kids are enjoying the comfy beds and screens before heading out for the day – haha! There was also an outdoor and indoor pool which we used too. It’s amazing how much fun kids can have with something as simple as a hotel pool.
What to Do
There is so much to do when spending a weekend in Kansas City with little kids! We had six adults and three kids 5 and under with us. We left Saint Louis around 8:30 AM and arrived to our hotel by 1:30PM (obviously we had some potty stops and lunch along the way).
American Girl Store
While Henry napped, Layla and I headed to the American Girl Store at Oak Park Mall (about 5 min from where we stayed). Unfortunately our American Girl Store in Saint Louis closed before Layla got her Rebecca doll. We took advantage of their cute beauty salon and she took her doll to get a new hair style. The store itself has SO much to look at, and surprisingly she didn’t ask to buy every single thing she saw! I let her get one new outfit for her doll which she was thrilled about. The doll salon prices range from about $10-$30 depending on what you want done. It really does help with the matted hair that sometimes happens with dolls.
Watching her doll get a new do’!
Happy girl!
Legoland Discovery Center
The next place we hit during our weekend was The Legoland Discovery Center. The Discovery Center is located in the Crowne Plaza area of downtown Kansas City. We arrived right at opening time and the kids had a blast! There is plenty to do for kids of all ages. It is the ultimate indoor playground (which was great b/c it rained most of our time in KC) with 2 rides, 10 LEGO build & play zones, a 4D cinema & much more! The Duplo Village was great for kids ages 2-5 so we spent a lot of our time here! We spent about 3.5 hours in the Discovery Center, and then headed over to the Crayola Cafe which was a short walking distance away in the Crowne Plaza.
Giant Legos for building!
Playground area to let out all the energy!
Cute cousins!
Merlin’s Adventure Ride!
Fun for all ages, even Grandpa!
Sea Life Kansas City
After lunch, we headed to Sea Life Aquarium. It is located right next to Lego Land Discovery Center. There are tons of little areas for everyone to enjoy, and even a chance for kids to touch some of the sea life. The Turtle Rescue Center is home to Shawny and Lou (two rescued sea turtles). I even learned some new things too (scroll on to see). There is also a new exhibit where they will be bringing in various reptiles too. We had the chance to pet a snake!
Touching the starfish!
I had no idea!
We had such a great time visiting both of these attractions, and we can’t wait to go back again! LegoLand Discovery Center and Sea Life Kansas City have so graciously given me a promo code to share with you to receive 35% off tickets now through 9/3/19! Just use JULY35 when purchasing tickets online!
Where to Eat
There was no shortage of great places to eat, and that were kid friendly too! Kansas City is known for great bbq, and we (i.e. my husband and sis) found a really great hole in the wall gem for us to enjoy!
Fritz’s Railroad Restaurant
This is a pretty iconic spot in KC, and they have three locations. We visited the location in Shawnee (about 15 min from Overland Park). It’s the cutest restaurant and the food was delish too! There is a train that lines the perimeter of the restaurant above the tables, and it delivers the food to your table! The kids LOVED it! Check out their website for all three locations.
Grabbing our food off the train!
The conductor hats make for the perfect photo opp!
Crayola Cafe
The Crayola Cafe was a great spot for lunch when visiting LegoLand Discovery Center and Sea Life. It’s a short walk from both of these attractions over in the Crowne Center Plaza! The service was great too, and tons of crayons to keep the kiddos busy!
Layla’s Masterpiece
RJ’s Bob-Be-Que Shack
As seen on the Food Network, RJ’s Bob-Be-Que Shack is a hidden gem located in Mission, KS (approx. 20 min from Overland Park). We were scrambling on Saturday night to find a great BBQ place without a huge wait when my sis stumbled upon this place. SO. FREAKING. GOOD. And the service was amazing! I had the BBQ shrimp (which was an appetizer) and ordered two sides too which was PLENTY of food. Everyone loved their food and it was an environment where kids were welcomed too!
The most delish BBQ shrimp ever – that sauce!
Posing for the gram!
HUGE booth for our entire party
The Brass Onion
We wrapped out our weekend in Kansas City at The Brass Onion. It is a newer brunch spot located in Overland Park, and it truly is comfort food at its finest! We got there when they opened so it wasn’t too crowded yet (which was nice because we had some crabby, hungry kids). I indulged in the fresh beignets, plus a few bites of my sisters chicken and waffles! HOLY MOLY! This place is a must! They serve brunch on Saturday’s and Sunday’s until 3 PM!
No pics of the food, but cute pics of the kids!
I’m so glad we planned this extended weekend across the state! We made so many fun new memories, and the cost didn’t break the bank! Needless to say we all needed a little nap after all of the fun!
Be sure to check out some of my other travel posts here too!
4 Comments
It looks like the kids had so much fun! My loved it there but I wish I had time to take my daughter to American Girl while we were there.
They did! HOpefully you can make it to AG next time!
We were just talking about going there! This is so helpful! Thanks!!!
I’m so glad! Thanks for reading! That promo code is good through 9/3! Hopefully you can get there soon!
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