When you want a vacation that has a lot to do and a great place to stay, look no further than Ohio’s Largest Playground, because here you will find 7 fun things to enjoy in Warren County Ohio where unending fun and adventure are around all over the 30 miles radius of the area whether you are enjoying a girlfriend getaway, a family trip, or a couples trip, you are sure to find great experiences you’ll love!
As a bonus, I’ll share a bit about our hotel stay in Mason Ohio because it has a lot to offer and it’s an incredible value!
My trip was hosted, but all opinions are my own and all photos and the story are subject to copyright!
Why You’ll Love Ohio’s Largest Playground
As a huge fan of Ohio, it might be only natural that I am also a very large fan of Warren County Ohio, but there are real reasons that I like it here and I know you will too!
- Ohio’s Largest Playground is great for couples, girlfriend getaways, and families
- there are many great hotels in the area
- you’ll find active lifestyle activities to enjoy
- it’s reasonably priced
- there are great restaurants in the area and I have a favorite Pizza stop I’ll share with you
- no matter how times we have visited Warren County Ohio, no trip has ever been the same because there is always something new to do and to discover.
- it is incredible how many experiences there are just within a 30-mile radius
- wherever we ate or drank, it was allergen friendly as both of the boys have food allergies
Each visit, we discover a new family-friendly hotel, visit old friends that have incredible new foods on their menus, and travel to adventures of new heights.
Over 2 and 1/2 days, and within a 30-mile radius, we discovered multiple adventures for families inside Warren County Ohio. Now I am going to share them!
Ohio’s Largest Playground Welcomes You to Discover It
Our twist on this trip: experiencing a lot of fun within a 30-mile radius with Where Niko Travels BFF instead of his siblings.
Watching 2 teens discover fun things to do, and challenge themselves with new experiences was a fantastic way to confirm that Warren County Ohio has great family and teen fun!
Seeing is believing, so I captured some of our and their best times behind the camera, so I can share them with you!
7 Things To Enjoy In Warren County Ohio (Fun Family Adventures)
Again, we never ventured more than 30 miles around the county and yet every single activity was different! Reaffirming there is more to do in Warren County Ohio in a 30 miles radius than anywhere else in Ohio!
Here’s a quick overview of our 2 1/2 days of fast and furious fun.
- Broadway Barrel House (Lebanon Ohio)
- Wings And Rings (Mason, Ohio)
- Two Cities Pizza (Mason Ohio)
- King’s Island (Mason, Ohio)
- Ozone Zip Lining (Oregonia, Ohio)
- Great Wolf Lodge
- Drury Inn & Suites (Mason Ohio)
Let’s Kick Off Things To Enjoy In Warren County Ohio With A Food Stop
We will dig into this sandbox of fun one stop at a time, because behind every great adventure you need to fuel your body, and then it’s back to the hotel for treats, and rest, and then back out!
Great Eats in Lebanon Ohio At The Broadway Barrel House
One of the newer and hippest estaurants in the historic Lebanon, Ohio area, it is not to be missed with fun eats for everyone in your travel group!
You’ll find an interior deck sharing banana trees (yep) to the large open deck with plenty of seating and a stacked menu with great service, everything you need after a full day of play or travel in Warren County Ohio.
Whether you love wings, seafood, salads, great starters, or beer, definitely a stop you should not miss!
Challenge your best friend to a wing-eating contest to see who’s mouth goes on fire 1st period then after you realize how hot the wings really are start Downing multiple glasses of milk because your lips and throat are on fire!
Realize Your mom has the gift of gab and makes new friends everywhere she goes. So instead of hanging out with her, you seek out fun things to do like checkers. ~ Niko
The board the boys were playing checkers on, was actually constructed by the owners and fashioned from an old keg, and beer caps. Nothing more elite than playing on a hand-crafted board without interruption right?
Where To Stay In Ohio’s Largest Playground
You will want to stay at The Drury Inn and Suites because this place is fantastic from start to finish and I can say that as a Mom of 3!
We love Warren County Ohio and this hotel is in Mason, Ohio, which is in Warren County, and it is where we stayed!
The Drury Inn And Suites In Mason Ohio
After a full day out and about, exercising, and zip lining, you’ll want a comfortable place to come back to and The Drury Inn and Suites in Mason Ohio is exactly that!
Upon entering The Drury Inn and Suites in Mason Ohio, we realized how different this stay was going to be, from the moment the boys were greeted kindly by the staff, to the distinct smell of popcorn wafting through the entire reception area, and all we had to do was follow it to get our own!
One night, we left the hotel to go out and enjoy ourselves in the area, and when we came back, well, we discovered bags of treats in our room so everyone enjoyed a midnight snack.
Breakfast Included at The Drury Inn and Suites in Mason Ohio Is A BIG VALUE.
Fuel up on a delicious breakfast where you get to make your own waffle. From pouring to cooking, you discover you are a pro waffle maker and it did not take your mom or dad to help you!
With growing boys, there is no such thing as enough food ever, so this was just another reason to love this hotel in the area!
Enjoy the 5:30 Kickback® After A Day In Ohio’s Largest Playground and enjoy the Drury Inn & Suites at 5:30 Kickback®! Trust me it is a fabulous value for families and business travelers alike!
Return famished after zipping all afternoon and discover a dinner buffet open and waiting for you, compliments of your stay!
Absolutely a teen-perfect situation as they were famished at the end of each adventure, and they snagged a few hotdogs and that held them over until we got cleaned up to go out! Woot gotta love the Drury Inn and Suites for this.
Enjoy a glass of wine, and reward yourself, I did because you’ll get alcoholic beverages included with your nightly stay and a punch card is provided.
I enjoyed adult beverages after every one of our playdates and trust me. I needed them, lol!
Clean Comfortable Rooms Make For A Peaceful Night in Mason Ohio and that’s what you will experience if you stay here!
Pass out cold when you get back to your hotel because your bed, pillows, and room are so comfortable & because the day kicked your butt! Or hang out later than you should because your mom passed out from trampoline time and was exhausted.
Store leftover pizza from an incredible local pizza place in your fridge to eat upon return from an adventure one day! Yep, the rooms have fridges! Keep reading to learn where to find the best in pizza!
Fun Things To Enjoy In Warren County Ohio Includes Coasters after Roller Coaster At King’s Island
Spend a few hours at Kings Island conquering as many coasters as you can. We did. Want to know what else? Since we were not going to be there for long, we did not have the Fast Lane passes yet we rode every coaster but one in under 3 hours during a sweltering summer day!
Next, we got to drive and bump into other cars without needing a driver’s license. Fun, but we think that ride is too short. We barely got buckled in and started driving, then it stopped. Seriously it may be the shortest ride in the park!
However, our claim to fame will still be driving without a driver’s license and getting to ‘bump’ without hearing, ‘accidents raise auto insurance!’
Take a train ride and remember to take it all in and that you are never too old to enjoy a simple ride
Zipline in Ohio’s Largest Playground At Ozone
I’m going to tell you I might have overshot a little here in thinking I could tackle the heights and I caved.
This is a fabulous zipping park and it was perfect for my teens, but because I can’t do heights I just couldn’t do this and I tried but it just didn’t happen for me!
When you arrive, you’ll park your car because you are actually at a camp for kids, and then catch a ride on the craziest small bus ever with a slanted step. You will be delivered to the premiere canopy zip area.
Next, realize this zipping is different from any of the other zip experiences you have been to! That’s impressive since we’ve traveled the world and are still uncovering new zipping experiences!
Get suited up for zipping, and prepare to weigh about 20 pounds more once you are suited up! Then get ready because, outside the dressing area, a whole tree zone of zipping is about to happen with a lot of unexpected things.
Take on the first challenge of walking uphill on a ‘swinging’ (maybe not really, rather a suspended platform bridge) and conquering that first BIG step from the BRIDGE to the TREE platform.
Then look forward to seeing there are 2 more of these until you get to the Zip spot! (that was it for me)
The teens however thrived in this environment, AFTER me and another lady stopped going with them because we totally held the group up! Once at the top of the first platform, the boys and whoever else was in their group had to just take off and they did as I watched from the ground! (fear of heights is something else!)
In the end, they zipped a total of 7 lines, and the last apparently proved the most challenging as I could hear the entire group letting out yelps upon taking off!
Dine at the trendiest pizza joint in Mason Ohio!
We headed out to the coolest pizza joint in Mason, Ohio. All of us were starved and exhausted from the heat of the day. After all, we were in Warren County, during the heat advisory days and outside almost all day, each day!
Now it was time to reward ourselves with a pizza feast and appetizers too!
Because we are familiar with the menu, we ordered without hesitation, the Bootleggers Cheesy Bread. It should be a staple ordered before any meal here!
So, we all scoffed down the Bootleggers’ cheesy bread which no doubt contributed to everyone bringing back some of their pizza to the room.
Also, we invited an order of Garlic Parmesan Fries to the table, which totally rocks the garlic and taste! Mmmm!
Next, the boys drank so much milk that I asked the server if she just wanted to provide a cow to the table.
Which of course made the boys blush and cringe all at the same time, while our server got a great laugh out of it!
Last, because we ate like Kings and Queens and ordered appetizers, we ended up boxing some of our individual pizzas. Since the boys drank their way through the meal as well, their bellies were all filled up and tanked!
Odd Weather Can’t Stop Our GREAT Fun In Ohio’s Largest Playground
With the incredibly wicked days filled with heat, we expected and got rain!
We were very flexible and refused to let a forecast stop our fun! Onward to the Great Wolf Lodge. Rain without thunder or lightning did not stop the fun at the indoor waterpark.
We were decked out with a Cabana, which we ALL loved The teens played for the first part of the day pretty much nonstop, especially in Chinook Cove.
My favorite thing about this Cabana was that it had a safe so I could just go everywhere and enjoy myself without worrying about our bags, phones, etc, and the same for the boys!
Since we were not staying here, we had our ‘stuff’ with us. We locked it up and played the day away!
In between the play, the boys rode all the rides and even played in the Fort Mackenzie much to the dismay of some parents. It was all about the water and getting wet!
As they started to tire, and the need to feed set in, they came back to what I will call basecamp, the Cabana. Our Cabana had seating for 4 inside the cabana and a table for 4 outside of the cabana.
So they ate around the table and then kicked back watching TV inside the cabana.
After a while, the skies cleared and the boys actually just sat in their chairs in the cabana, I headed outside to enjoy Raccoon Lagoon with plenty of seating in the sunshine! What a great day at Great Wolf Lodge!
Wings & Fried Croissants
Seek out the best chicken in the area or want a really great sports bar? Buffalo Wings and Rings always are the pick of the trip! Why? It is super close to Great Wolf Lodge and Kings Island.
Literally just out of the parking lot from both! If you miss this stop, your stomach will not be happy. Go for a beer while the kids eat, or try their great apps! It’s perfect for every age!
Did I mention it has over 43 large-screen televisions which are perfect for your sports-crazed teens! Additionally, since both boys have food allergies, we have to be careful where we eat.
No problem at Buffalo Wings and Rings as they take allergen-friendly dining very seriously. Just tell your server and then eat well!
Don’t Forget To Order Apps Here!
Order a few appetizers with your dinner because what good are vacation meals without a few extra goodies? Whether you love mozzarella sticks, Southwest Cheesy Bread or Pretzel bites, they have it all.
Remember this, the servings are large and meant to be shared.
Also, since it is a sports bar, many come just for the apps, so plan this around what you are ordering or you might not be able to eat it all! (True story!)
Try The Wings and Rings Wings!
Grilled wings are a great option if you want to really let the taste shine through! Order as many or as few as you want! Of course, you can always go for the plain side of things and order what I will refer to as monster chunks of boneless chicken!
When the day is hot, and your stomach is hungry, sometimes a nice salad is an answer!
The Blackened Salmon Salad is a great option! Tons of crunch and really delicious seafood topping it off!
Things To Enjoy In Warren County Ohio: Our Trip Is Done!
Since vacation days are fantastic, end them on a high note with the Buffalo Wings and Rings Chocolate Croissant. Just saying, if you miss this, your vacation is not complete!No, It Can’t Be Over
All good things must come to an end, and this part of our Ohio Experience is ending.
We grabbed breakfast from the Drury Inn and Suites in Northeast Mason and then took off to our next destination.
This time packing up was far easier, as the boys are teens and able to pack themselves up! That did not stop them from having a little bit of fun with the luggage cart, after all, it is a vacation!
And then it’s time to move on to discover and uncover Cincinnati… stay tuned! ~ Dana XO
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