To determine which resorts are true standouts, we asked FAMILYFUN's travel writers to name their families' number one favorite. When we first approached Ann Banks, who chose the venerable Tyler Place in Vermont, she relayed a telling story. A couple she knows recently decided to let their eight-year-old son plan the family vacation. "What a charming idea!" Ann thought at first. "Maybe we should try that." Then she heard how the vacation turned out. The itinerary consisted of a 3,000-mile train ride across the country to Seattle, where the family paid a visit to Nintendo headquarters.

"I decided I'd better hang on to the family vacation-planning reins--or perhaps I should say 'the joystick,'" Ann concludes. For while it may be true that you can't have a happy family if your kids are unhappy, she knows all too well that it does not necessarily follow that if they are happy, you are happy. The equation is much more complicated.

As the stories that follow attest, kids are in heaven when surrounded by gangs of other kids. On the other hand, most adults like to spend at least part of their relaxation time not surrounded by gangs of children, especially those to whom they are unrelated. The destinations featured here, America's finest, understand this. They offer activities for kids, activities for adults and activities for the whole family. And their staffs work to make a stay effortless for each family member--the point, after all, of vacationing in the first place.

Please keep in mind that phone numbers, addresses, and prices are subject to change. Updated July 2005.