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The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore is bringing back its popular Breakfast with the Animals series, a VIP experience that lets guests get up close and personal with their favorite animals. The series includes a one-of-a-kind al fresco dining experience next to zoo animals of your choice, special keeper chats, education stations, unlimited photo ops and a gift.

The lineup includes:

• Breakfast with Polar Bears, March 24 and November 3
• Breakfast with the Penguins, April 12, July 6 and 7 and September 8
• Breakfast with the Elephants, April 28 and August 10 and 11
• Breakfast with the Giraffes, May 12 and July 21
• Breakfast with the Chimps, June 16 and September 22
• Breakfast in Africa (Zebras, Rhinos, Ostriches), June 23 and August 25

Tickets to the event also include general admission so your family can enjoy the entire zoo after breakfast is complete. Tickets are $55 for members and $65 for non-members. Children 2 and under are free but still require a ticket.

If you’ll be visiting Baltimore this year, this definitely is a unique experience for the kids! Find family-friendly hotels in the area at Baltimore Family Resorts and Hotels.

–Lissa Poirot

The New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau wants you and your family to put on your dancing shoes for an exciting music-filled spring in the Big Easy at one of its five best music festivals.

1. Big Easy Blues Festival
February 11 kicks off the festival season with the 5th annual, one-night event featuring Southern Blues bands and musicians.

2. Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series
Marathoners descend upon New Orleans on March 4 for their big run benefitting the American Cancer Society, and they’ll encounter a band at every mile. Spectators can also enjoy the music, including jazz, blues, soul and rock and hit the Finish Line Festival for the headliner fun.

3. Foburg: A Music Festival
As alternative rock bands pass through the south en route to the SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas, they’ll make a three-stop at the Foburg festival. More than 200 bands will perform in 20 venues across the Faubourg Marigny neighborhood.

4. French Quarter Festival
April 12 through 15 bring the largest free music event to the city with live performances occurring on stages across the famous French Quarter.

5. New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
The granddaddy of all the music festivals is the renowned Jazz Fest, taking place April 27 through May 6. More than 100 performers will be on hand, including The Beach Boys, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, and Bonnie Raitt.

To find a family-friendly hotel in the Big Easy, visit New Orleans Family Resorts and Hotels. Read more about New Orleans and what it offers for family vacations, and learn about more family-friendly music festivals in 8 Excellent Music Festivals for Families, which features the New Orleans Jazz Fest.

–Lissa Poirot

My son is a huge Star Wars fan — it doesn’t matter that the movies first came out decades before he was even born. Granted, he’s more a fan of the newer films and I did have to sit him down for a Star Wars movie marathon in order to explain to him who Luke, Leia and Han were, but he’s a fan. It’s a fun passion we can share together and he loves that his mom is a Star Wars geek.

That said, this one is for all the parents with Star Wars-loving kids!

As Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace debuts in 3D in theaters next month, Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium in New York’s Times Square is hosting an epic, space-themed sleepover. On February 10, join the Star Wars Extreme Sleepover that will include a character meet and greet, Ripley’s Impossible LaseRace, Yoda mask making, Wookie cookie decorating and more. Jedi Warriors and Stormtroopers can also explore Ripley’s 18,000-square-foot “Odditorium” filled with oddities, artifacts and interactive exhibits during the event. Fans are encouraged to attend dressed as their favorite character.

Admission is $145 per person and also includes pizza dinner, snacks and breakfast at Applebees, a Ripley’s scavenger hunt, gift bag, games and prizes throughout the night. A portion of proceeds will go to Brooklyn-based non-profit Puppetry Arts.

One adult is required to attend with up to four children, who must be 6 and up. The sleepover begins at 7 p.m. on Friday, February 10, and ends at 8 a.m. the next morning.

Visit Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Times Square to book.

–Lissa Poirot

All of us at Family Vacation Critic would like to wish you and your family a happy New Year! We hope 2012 will be filled with lots of weekend getaways, close-to-home staycations and family vacations that will create memories to last a lifetime!

Please be sure to visit us this year as we offer more destination guides, family-friendly hotel reviews, planning articles, best family vacation ideas, deals, and more! In the new year, our site will continue to grow and we look forward to adding attraction reviews and a vacation planner to help you plan the vacation just right for your family.

In the meantime, if you need a little help planning an upcoming vacation, contact me — I’m always happy to help!

Happy New Year!

Sincerely,
Lissa Poirot

We hope you and your family are enjoying the holidays! (And that everyone got what they wanted this year!)

Happy Channukah and Merry Christmas!

–The editors of Family Vacation Critic

My coworkers and I were discussing whether or not we take the shampoos and soaps from the hotels in which we stay. A few said “no way” while a few of us said they were for our use and part of the price of the hotel. But the conversation grew to: do you horde the better toiletries to get housekeeping to leave you more? Again, a few said no while a few of us said yes. (I’m sorry but I loved the H20 lotion I received on Disney Cruise Line, and told housekeeping as much so they even started to leave me extras, without my asking!) A minor argument ensued: is it theft to hide toiletries in your suitcase to receive another set from housekeeping? I loved that one coworker knows a writer who does do this, and then donates it to homeless shelters, which is more a Robin Hood approach.

The argument turned into where do you draw the line? We all agreed taking bathrobes, towels or pillows is definitely stealing. So, do you take incidentals from the hotel room? Maybe grab every note pad left in the room? Every pen? What do you take, if you do take anything? Do you think it is stealing or that it is included in the price of your room?

–Lissa Poirot