We could have lived anywhere in the world as a family and we chose Texas as our home so I created a Texas bucket list to share the joy, wonder, beauty, and excitement of Texas with you. Every item on our list has been tested and experienced by us firsthand so we can attest to how awesome it is.
Here is our Texas Bucket List
Swim with Stingrays at SeaQuest Fort Worth
Getting into tropical waters to snorkel with stingrays, sharks, and tropical fish is an amazing experience that you can enjoy as part of the VIP Interaction Bundle at Seaquest Fort Worth.
It’s truly a remarkable interaction.
Even if you’re nervous about snorkeling or swimming, there is a glass platform where you can sit and let the stingrays come to you. They are gentle yet playful and curious. You can feed them from your hand or let them glide over your legs as you pet their smooth skin.
You have 30 minutes in the tank so it’s plenty of time to immerse yourself in the experience and gain confidence in the tank.
Athena went from being terrified to petting, feeding, and swimming with the stingrays and sharks within the allotted time. It was a great starting point to encourage her to further explore the magical world of under water adventures.
Blue Hills Ranch
Blue Hills Ranch is located in the heart of central Texas, 15 minutes outside Waco. The venue was named after the 150 acres of beautiful rolling hills covered in bluebonnets, but it made our Texas bucket list because of the unbelieve wildlife encounters including dining with giraffes, swimming with otters, feeding kangaroos, and coming face-to-face with zebras and other wildlife.
State Fair of Texas
The State Fair of Texas is held each fall at Dallas Fair Park. The Fair has taken place every year since 1886 and it usually begins the last Friday in September and ends 24 days later.
The State Fair of Texas celebrates all things Texan by promoting agriculture, education, and community involvement through quality entertainment in a family-friendly environment. It’s massive size, 270 acres, and abundance of options, 100+ activities, make it a Texas bucket list must.
Experience Glamping in a Conestoga Wagon
At Silver Spur Resort, you can discover your inner pioneer when you stay in a covered wagon. The Conestoga Covered Wagons are equipped with a king-sized bed, and either one or two sets of bunk beds, and a small table with chairs. They also have climate control with heat and air conditioning so you can enjoy the wagon experience year round.
The Conestoga wagons are grouped together and have a bathhouse as well as a fire ring and games. Additionally, there are ponds for fishing and a pool located onsite.
Silver Spur Resort is one of the only campgrounds in East Texas to offer this unique experience.
Fort Worth Stockyards
Once home to cowboys, cattlemen, and outlaws, today the Stockyards National Historic District is one of the most popular attractions in Texas. Day and night, visitors come to the Stockyards to get a taste of the true American West.
The Old West comes to life before your eyes during the world’s only twice-daily cattle drive presented by the Fort Worth Herd. Real Texas cowhands drive a herd of Texas longhorns down East Exchange Avenue in the Stockyards National Historic District every day at 11:30 a.m. and 4 p.m..
Stockyards Station is full of shopping surprises, with more than 20 spots to browse for cowboy boots, leather goods, jewelry, and souvenirs. Additionally, Mule Alley is lined with exclusive stores by Lucchese Bootmaker, Wrangler, and MB Mercantile.
The Stockyards are filled with Texas-style cuisine at restaurants like Lonesome Dove Western Bistro, Hunter Brothers’ H3 Ranch, or Cattlemen’s Steak House.
Billy Bob’s Texas is the world’s largest honky-tonk. The club has almost three acres under one roof with its own indoor rodeo arena for exciting live bull riding every Friday and Saturday, a Texas-sized dance floor, dozens of bar stations, a full restaurant featuring delicious food, a late night pizza kitchen, arcade games, a Wall of Fame with celebrity handprints, and a gift shop.
Crescent Moon Domes
Staying in a gorgeous, inflatable bubble dome is a bucket list dream you won’t soon forget.
At Crescent Moon Domes, you’ll sleep in a comfortable queen bed with incredible stargazing views.
The living room is a wonderful place to spend time together and make memories. The dome living room looks out on one of the most breathtaking sights in Texas with some of the best sunsets. In addition to it being a wonderful gathering spot, the sofa folds down into a twin bed for additional sleeping. Although it’s a twin bed, the views from the living room might even be more magical than the views from the bedroom. It’s worth it to sleep in all the beds to see for yourself.
The dome contains air conditioning, mini fridge, coffee bar, and basic plates and utensils.
Just steps from the dome is a newly renovated bathroom trailer with plush towels, hot water and a flush toilet.
Outside, you’ll have a grill, picnic table, and outdoor seating.
iFLY Fort Worth
At iFLY Fort Worth, you get all the excitement of skydiving without having to jump out of an airplane.
iFLY’s vertical wind tunnel creates a wall-to-wall cushion of air on which you can safely float. Children as young as three, to adults as old (or young at heart) as 103 can fly at iFLY. It’s safe for kids yet still challenging for adults.
Great Wolf Lodge
With an indoor water park as well as kids’ entertainment and shows, themed suites with bunk beds for kids, onsite dining, a spa, and a gym, Great Wolf Lodge Grapevine is a Texas bucket list must.
Great Wolf Grapevine keeps the indoor water park fun flowing 365 days per year. Splash, swim, and slide with the whole family, then dry off and head into the adventure park to delight in dry-land attractions such as a ropes course, arcade games, or an immersive MagiQuest adventure game.
Kids will love the assortment of entertainment from yoga and arts & crafts projects to a dance party and story time.
Whether you’re planning a special occasion or just need a quick escape, Great Wolf Lodge resort provides top-notch service that creates memories of a lifetime.
Big Bend National Park
Located right on the border with Mexico, Big Bend National Park is a unique spot for nature lovers.
Enchanting Texas describes it as, “one of our favorite national parks to visit in Texas.”
Big Bend is a hiker’s paradise with more than 150 miles of desert and mountains trails to explore. From an elevation of 1,800 feet along the banks of the Rio Grande to almost 8,000 feet at the tippy-top of the park’s Emory Peak, the trails of Big Bend offer experiences, variety, and vistas that will both challenge and charm you.
Fort Worth Zoo
No Texas bucket list would be complete without a visit to the Fort Worth Zoo. It’s home to more than 7,000 native and exotic animals and several indoor and outdoor exhibits. The Fort Worth Zoo provides an entire day of fun for any family.
Some of the different habitats at the zoo include the African Savanna, Elephant Springs, Stingray Cove, Australian Outback, Flamingo Bay, and Parrot Paradise.
Additionally, the Fort Worth Zoo’s Museum of Living Art (MOLA) is a premier, award-winning herpetarium. It brings guests eye-to-eye with some of the most exotic and endangered species on the planet. The 30,000-square-foot indoor/outdoor facility houses more than 250 amphibian and reptile species, representing more than 5,700 animals.
Safari Splash is a new addition at the Fort Worth Zoo. It’s a 14,000 square-foot splash area equipped with four slides, a water dump tower, a fill wall for your water toys, animal-shaped water cannons, and a designated toddler play area.
For an additional $5 with Zoo admission, enjoy Safari Splash before or after a trip through the Zoo.
Let’s not forget the Outdoor Learning Theater complete with shaded seating and a stage with behind-the-scenes areas. The Outdoor Learning Theater offers the zoo an opportunity to share invaluable conservation information through live animal shows by Animal Outreach staff featuring native Texas animals such as a great horned owl and alligators.
With all these activities and more, it’s easy to understand why the Fort Worth Zoo is ranked one of the top zoos in the country each year.
Extreme Sandbox
Young and old, men and women, individuals and corporate groups all have a blast living out their childhood dreams at Extreme Sandbox!
At Extreme Sandbox, they let clients play on construction equipment. Yes, you read that right. People can drive a 26 ton excavator, wheel loader, or bulldozer for fun.
There is no other place in the world where you can drive a bulldozer, crush a car, and then finish off with a ride in our fire truck.
Magnolia Market
The popular TV stars, Chip and Joanna Gaines, own several businesses in Waco including the Magnolia Market at the Silos, Magnolia Table, Magnolia Press, Silos Baking Co., The Little Shop on Bosque, and Magnolia Realty.
When you visit the Silos, you can find some of the great decorative items featured on the show and you might just catch a glimpse of Chip and Joanna.
In addition to the Magnolia Market, you can play games on the lawn, grab a bite to eat in the food truck park, have a tasty cupcake at Silos Baking Co., or take a stroll through the garden and shop at Magnolia Seed & Supply.
The Market itself is staged and set up with one goal in mind: to inspire you to own the space you’re in.
Drive Tanks
Drive Tanks is the world’s premier historical military vehicle and weapon experience. Located in Uvalde, Texas on the Ox Ranch, they are the only place in the world where you can drive and shoot real tanks, artillery, and machine guns in one location.
Drive Tanks is the only place in the world where you can drive and shoot real tanks, artillery, and machine guns in one location.
Ox Ranch
Ox Ranch offers every activity you can imagine from private Yoga lessons at their waterfalls to exploring caves. You can hand-feed giraffes and a kangaroo, among many other animals, take a guided photo safari, swim in the resort-style pool, learn how to shoot a bow, kayak, paddleboard, fish, off-road on 4x4s, explore dinosaur tracks, stargaze….
Quite frankly, the list is too long to include everything. That’s not to mention the delicious food and the endless supply of drinks.
La Cantera Resort & Spa
Overlooking 550 acres of The Texas Hill Country, La Cantera Resort is one of the most sought after San Antonio resorts. With a AAA Four Diamond rating, La Cantera offers sophistication and relaxation. From their 25,000 sq. ft destination spa to six pools ranging from an adult lap pool to a zero-entry children’s pool including slides, guests can immerse themselves in the best that Hill Country has to offer.
The Frisco Star
The Frisco Star is a 91-acre campus that incorporates Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters, Tostitos Championship Plaza, Ford Center, The Star District, Omni Hotel, and Baylor Scott & White Sports Therapy & Research.
This one-of- a-kind development is not only home to the Dallas Cowboys new world headquarters and training complex, but a 12,000-seat multi-use event center, and a wide range of mixed-use elements including dining, shopping, and the Omni Frisco Hotel.
The VIP Guided Tours give Dallas Cowboys fans (and football fans, alike) the chance to experience the place where America’s Team trains and works 355 days of the year. See the War Room, Nike Star Walk, Ford Center, Super Bowl memorabilia, and more!
The VOID
via thevoid.com/locations/west-plano-cinemark/
Cinemark has partnered with The VOID, to allow guests to virtually step into their favorite movie and play an active role in the plot. By strapping on a vest, helmet, and virtual reality goggles, guests are transported to a new world where they are fulling immersed in the movie. This is the first in-theater, hyper-reality experience in all of Texas.
Kartland Performance Indoor Raceway
Kartland Performance Indoor Raceway offers a 50,000-square-foot facility that accommodates drivers of almost all ages and abilities. Their state-of-the-art electric go-karts hit speeds up to 45 miles per hour and operate at the highest performance standards.
They have several dynamic racing options. The most-popular racing format is their Arrive & Drive program that allows customers to show up individually or in small groups and race in standard races. These races last approximately 10 minutes and drivers are separated into two categories. In addition to the adult karts (56″ minimum height required), Kartland Performance Indoor Raceway features kid’s karts for racers who are at least 48″ tall and can safely drive.
SeaWorld San Antonio
A water park, marine life, sensational shows, up-close animal encounters, and thrilling rides all in one location is what you’ll find at SeaWorld San Antonio.
SeaWorld San Antonio is the nation’s largest marine life park, with more than 250 acres for you to explore.
Botanic Gardens
Home to more than 2,500 species of plants in its 23 specialty gardens, Fort Worth’s Botanic Gardens are like stepping into a fairytale.
Plan a visit to the world-renowned Japanese Garden, where the koi-filled pools, sculptured hillsides, crafted stonework and dramatic waterfalls provide a view of exotic conservation. Or explore the winding paths of luxuriant tropical foliage in the 10,000-square-foot Conservatory.
Don’t miss the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens.
Stay tuned as we add more to our Texas bucket list!
