Hey FWAD folk!

FWAD stands for Fort Worth/Arlington/Dallas. I know there aren’t too many, but maybe there’s someone who can help.

I’m taking my kids (4.5 year old girl and 2.5 year old boy) to FWAD this weekend, and didn’t know what the best place to visit was.

We’ve been to the Fort Worth Zoo, and they really like it. But I was also debating the Dallas Zoo, the Dallas World Aquarium, the Grapevine Aquarium, or the Children’s Aquarium at Fair Park.

Any suggestions? Anything else they need to go see? (We took my girl about 3 years ago to the FW Water Gardens, and she enjoyed it. So there’s that, too.)

I think the Dallas World Aquarium is better than the Children’s Aquarium at Fair Park, it has a better overall feel and look, imo. If you do go to the Fair Park Aquarium they also have a Butterfly House that your kids would probably enjoy, Mine did. The Ft Worth Zoo is usually considered the better of the two zoos but the Dallas Zoo has made a lot of improvements (Wilds of Africa & Giants of the Savannah) so if you haven’t been then I could see opting for that. I have never been to the Grapevine Aquarium. If you go to the Grapevine Aquarium there is a Legoland Discovery Center somewhere in Grapevine…I’ve not been.

The Perot Museum of Nature and Science is very cool just not sure if you have to have tickets prior. If you go to Perot you could head over to Klyde Warren Park which is a pretty big park built over a highway. Lots of food trucks and the kids can run around and play. Theres a water type activity area and playground. These are all things on the Dallas side of which I’m more familiar.

Have fun!

I have no input but you a good dude Greenie. Rock on.

I have no input but just had to say, never heard anyone ever refer to the areas as FWAD. always DFW.

The Dealey Plaza area is a neat area of Dallas where you can see where JFK was shot and visit the museum.

+1.

Also, Six Flags Arlington. Just checked their website and yes, they are open this weekend. It’s one of the better Six Flags locations…I’m somewhat of a coaster afficionado.

I was visting the museum once and looking out the window where Oswald shot from (allegedly?) and watched a Dallas meter maid ticket my rental car.

America is one of the most beautiful countries on Earth. Some of the greatest parks and amazing natural areas. And yet people there seem to love commercialised zoos, aquariums and malls. It boggles my mind. I guess it’s not adventure unless there is the ability to buy overpriced merch and a chili cheese dog. Edit: Not that I bemoan anyone from visiting such places. It’s a fun weekend. But I feel like the per capita of aquariums, zoos, theme parks and what not are about 50x greater than anywhere else in the world. Weird for a country that has no shortage of places to see wildlife in nature. Edit 2: Also I know nothing of West Texas so maybe it’s a barren wasteland and the abundance of zoo like attractions is justified.

i’ll be at the Perot Museum in May. I need strip club and massage parlor recommendations though.

This is pretty much true.

There is absolutely nothing out here. No rivers, no lakes, no hills, no mountains, no forests, no jungle, no waterfalls, no volcanos, no nothing. It is as flat as a tabletop, and the only natural vegetation is mesquite trees. (We do have some good neighborhood parks, FWIW.)

Don’t believe me? Just Google Earth it.

Plus, remember that this is for the kids. They enjoy stuff like this at 2 and 4 years old. In ten years, we will be past the zoo stage, and can move on to other things. (FYI–theyr’e not really into the JFK assassination, either, as much as I’ve tried to get them to like it.)

You can’t see killer whales and elephants in the US natural environment. Plus, it is a mistake to imply that US visitors to zoos or malls crowds out visits to natural parks or other nature places. US people consume all sorts of things. There are more people here spending money to visit zoos than most other countries. However, at the same time there are hordes of people who go into the US wilderness to do hunting or other outdoor things. Things in the US are just done more actively, in larger scale, and at a higher rate than in most other countries.

^ Fair points, both of you. And Greenie - I wasn’t meaning to criticise. I take my kid to the zoo as well, kids love that stuff. I’m not anti-zoo. I was just shocked that there were so many zoo and aquarium options in just a small area. I also didn’t know DFW was 7 million people either. So that also changes my perception.

^No worries mate. But that is one of my main beefs about living out here–there is absolutely nothing to do, and the closest big city is 300 miles away. So you can’t just day-trip into the city and spend a day at Sea World or at the amusement partk or something. Going to the zoo is an all-weekend affair.

Granted, this will probably become less of an issue as the kids get older and get involvied in soccer/T-ball/choir and what not. But I do still wish I could go do something fun without it taking all dadgum weekend.

And yes, FWAD is the fourth-largest metro area in the US, behind NY, LA, and Chicago. About 25% bigger than the Toronto metro area, in fact. (But I believe it has less CFA candidates.)

Technically speaking, it’s The Dallas-Fort Worth, TX-OK Combined Statistical Area, but FWAD (pronouced “ef-waad”) does have a nicer ring to it.

Ah…the Fort Worth Zoo in early April.

Cool enough that you can see the MILFs come out of their habitat, but warm enough that they have already shed their outer layers.