Our Winter Staycation at Mill River Resort
On the weekend of January 24-26, we took the kiddos up west to stay at Mill River Resort. During the summer, this is a big destination for golfers but during the winter it is a great place to take in some of PEI’s snow fun.
Special drinks for the kids - who doesn’t love a Shirley Temple??
We decided to take the kids up to Mill River before Christmas and we worked the idea into our Christmas gifts. Each kiddo got a new sled from us (Tyler picked up some awesome inflatable sleds from Costco for the boys) and then we got a foam sled with handles that make it possible to be worn on the back to walk up the hill for Ellie. They also got new winter gloves and Ellie got some needed winter boots. All of these winter themed gifts were part of the surprise of going away as a family for the weekend.
Prior to this weekend, we had not stayed in a hotel with the kids (other than a drive from NS to PEI that got snowed out by Amherst). This was a big step for us as a family of 5 whose kiddos are getting older. We got a double queen bed room with a roll-away cot.
Mill River has some different packages available for the winter months. We went with the Fun and Frosty 2-night stay which included: 2 night stay, $100 gift card to the restaurant and 2 day activity passes (aka, unlimited time on the tube hill, snowshoe rentals, cross country ski rentals, outdoor ice-skating (skates not included) a horse-drawn sleigh ride, and unlimited access to the Aquaplex facilities and game room). Additionally, when we arrived, they gave us a schedule of weekend activities, some that we did do and some that we didn’t, which included face painting, scavenger hunts, mini-stick tourney’s and more. The trails around the golf course, for skiing and snowshoeing, as well as the tubing hill were all groomed trails. This made it very easy for the kids to just “do their thing.”
To say that the place was busy is an understatement. For a random weekend in January, I was surprised by how many people were there. I’m pretty sure there was like 7 people there with their families who went to school with Tyler. We saw familiar faces around every turn and it made it feel more comfortable for the kiddos. We ate some good food at the restaurant, they had pick-up options or room service options as well and the kids really got great experience eating at a sit-down restaurant (also something we don’t do very often).
And I haven’t even mentioned one of the best surprises. In the ballroom, they had 2 inflatable bouncy obstacle courses set up to be used at any time. If you needed to get some energy out but didn’t want to get dressed to go to the pool or outside, the bouncy “castles” were there for you.
All in all - it was a great weekend away. 10/10 would do it again.