The Ultimate 2 Day Trip to Kansas City with Kids

This trip to Kansas City was fun, for the kids!

Let’s be real for a minute…

After our first ‘vacation’ as a family of 4, I stopped calling it a ‘vacation’. Because it actually felt like more work and more exhausting than just being at home. So I will call it a trip..

I think traveling with kids will get better when we no longer need to pack all of the stuff an infant needs (bottles, pack n play, baby carrier, yada yada yada). And when our 3 year old stops throwing tantrums. This will end at some point, right?

But regardless, it is super fun to see them explore new places and spark curiosity in their young minds! Definitely worth it.. so we continue!

Free itinerary at the bottom of this post!

This post covers where we stayed in Kansas City, what we did, and where we ate. With some tips for surviving this trip with young kids thrown in!

Here’s a high level overview of recommendations (I will go into details further down in post):

Lodging:

• The Westin Kansas City at Crown Center

Things to Do:

• Science City (inside Union Station, walkable from The Westin hotel – take skywalk!)
• Sea Life Aquarium (walkable from The Westin hotel)
• Legoland Discovery Center (walkable from The Westin hotel)
• Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead (30 min drive south of The Westin hotel)
• Shopping in Crown Center (connected to The Westin hotel)

Places to Eat:

• Unforked (in Crown Center – connected to The Westin hotel)
• Burnt Ends BBQ (in Crown Center – connected to The Westin hotel)
• Sheridan’s Frozen Custard (in Crown Center – connected to The Westin hotel)
• Parisi Cafe (inside Union Station)
• One East Urban Bar & Grill (inside The Westin hotel, fancier, order take out for room with kids)
• Harvey’s (inside Union Station)
• Parlor (upscale food court, casual enough for kids, 1 mile north of The Westin hotel)

Ok, here are the details:

Lodging: The Westin Kansas City at Crown Center

We stayed at The Westin Kansas City at Crown Center.

TIP -> Where to Stay: If you have young kids, consider an Airbnb/Vrbo rental with multiple bedrooms (to avoid a hiding in the bathroom eating ice cream situation like ours – see pic below)!

Location

We chose this hotel because it was conveniently located next to most of the fun things we planned to do (SeaLife Aquarium, Legoland, & Science City). Also, it is connected to Crown Center which has many stores and restaurants.

Union Station is also walkable from The Westin Hotel and there is a skywalk that connects them! No crossing busy streets with children to get there!

Amenities

Pool: We enjoyed the outdoor pool at The Westin hotel. We went in September, so it was not busy at all. We just got lucky it was still warm enough outside to swim.

Skywalk: On the mezzanine level (push ‘M’ in the elevator), there was a pretty indoor waterfall with lots of plants. This is the level you will use to take the skywalk (called ‘The Link’) to Union Station. Super convenient!

Parking: We paid the daily rate for self parking at the hotel parking garage and then walked most places. On the last day, checkout was at noon but we were able to still park there until early evening (just talk to front desk).

I will say this hotel is not geared towards families with young kids. There is no ramp to get a stroller from the main lobby to the Crown Center entrance. There is a wheelchair lift that you could use. You could also just walk outside around the block to enter Crown Center. My husband and I just lifted the stroller up/down the stairs to get to Crown Center. Also, the restaurant in the hotel was a bit upscale with mostly high top tables. But we ordered our food to-go and ate in our room and it was really good!

TIP -> Hotel Room Activities: Be sure to bring some games/toys for the room (our biggest hit was the magnetic tile building block set). And, if your kids go to bed at different times, be sure to bring a quiet activity (we did some coloring after our youngest went to bed).

TIP -> Blanket: For those with infants.. I like to bring a big beach mat/blanket to lay down on the hotel floor so there is no rolling/crawling on gross hotel carpet. We put our bags around the edges in an attempt to keep our crawler contained!

TIP -> Beer: There is a store right next to hotel (connected) in Crown Center that sells beer & wine. My husband and I enjoyed a cold one in our room after the kiddos fell asleep.

TIP -> Ice Cream: There is a Sheridan’s Frozen Custard inside Crown Center. I went to get my husband and I some ice cream one night thinking that our 3 year old would be asleep by the time I got back. She wasn’t. So we hid in the bathroom eating ice cream, waiting for her to fall asleep. It was bliss.. oh parenthood!

Things to Do in Kansas City:

You won’t run out of fun things to do with kids in Kansas City!

Science City

Science City is located inside Union Station (you can take skywalk here from The Westin hotel).

We only spent 1.5 hours here and didn’t get to see everything. You could easily spend 3 hours here. This place is fun for both kids and adults!

They have a big train exhibit, live animals (reptiles), dinosaur dig area, indoor and outdoor play area, and many other areas teaching you about all things science!

They also have an area just for kids 3 and under and an area for infants to explore some sensory things (see pics below)!

Sea Life Aquarium

My daughter LOVES seahorses, so this place was at the top of our list to visit.

The last exhibit at this aquarium was super cool (pics below). You get to color your own sea creature and ‘release it’ into the ocean. You can then see it swimming in the ocean on the wall behind (coming from a couple projectors). We spent a fair amount of time here. My daughter loved this!

Legoland

We did not have time to make it to Legoland, but it’s on our list for next time! It is connected to Sea Life Aquarium. You can buy a combo ticket to visit both places at a discounted price!

Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead

This farmstead is a fun place with tons of outdoor activities for the kids! And admission was only $3 per person! They also offer free admission during certain times.

You can go fishing at the fishing pond, bottle feed a goat, stroll through the enchanted forest, and much much more! Here is their website where you can see a map with all of their attractions.

If the weather is good, this is definitely worth a visit!

Shopping in Crown Center

Lots of stores and a few restaurants in here. Our favorite was the Crayola store since my daughter loves to color!

+TIP: If you buy anything from a store in Crown Center, they will validate your parking if you park in their parking garage!

Places to Eat in Kansas City:

We tried to stick with places close to Crown Center, but KC has so many great places to eat outside this area! Look on Yelp to search for restaurants in your desired location!

Breakfast

• Parisi Cafe (inside Union Station) – coffee & pastries
• Harvey’s (inside Union Station) – try the cinnamon roll pancake or breakfast quesadilla!

Lunch/Dinner

• Unforked (in Crown Center – connected to The Westin hotel) – Try the tacos and not so sweet potato fries!
• Burnt Ends BBQ (in Crown Center – connected to The Westin hotel) – some of the best burnt ends I’ve ever had (pass on the fried cornbread bites)
• One East Urban Bar & Grill (inside The Westin hotel, fancier, order take out for room with kids) – the burger was excellent!
• Harvey’s (inside Union Station)
• Parlor (upscale food court, casual enough for kids, 1 mile north of The Westin hotel) – everyone can order from a different vendor yet still dine together! Fun place!

Dessert

• Sheridan’s Frozen Custard (in Crown Center – connected to The Westin hotel)

We will definitely be taking another trip to Kansas City again soon! There are so many fun things here that we have yet to do!

Free Itinerary

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