Gift Ideas that Travel Well

In the midst of the holiday festivities many are preparing to travel to visit family and take vacations. In effort to help give some ideas on keeping the kids entertained during holiday journeys, Tropical Family Travel has its top gift recommendations.

Games to GoBoard games still bring families together at home and on the road. Games pack well and give everyone something to do together during their travels and turn the TV off. Even the classics continue to evolve with the “build it” elements found in Battleship, Monopoly and others. Others are keeping themselves new with added features and elements like the Sorry! Spin and the Uno Flash games. Many of our favorites are now available in a “to go” version.

Bezzerwizzer is a new game of trivia, tactics and trickery featuring 20 categories of questions and a fast-paced playing environment. Strategy is required to go around the board coupled with knowing the trivia answers as your opponents can steal points or entire categories.

To Go! Games: Great for entertaining during holiday travel, the To Go! Games assortment features five new versions of everyone’s favorite family games designed for portable, on-the-go fun! Our favorite is the little man version of Pictionary Man™ Game To Go, now completely portable. This game is the best version of charades and Pictionary combined and results in hours of laughter that can now go on the road.

A favorite recommendation for kids on the go is a DS game. There are several new ones that are compact and provide hours of entertainment lessening the “are we there yet” questions. Plus with DS games, there are opportunities for interaction. Here are just a few temptations for a variety of ages:

Littlest Pet Shop 3: A favorite among young girls is the Littlest Pet Shops featured in their best competitive spirit in 10 available games. Practice makes perfect as players help their pets become the best gymnasts, models, ice skaters, dancers, flyers, fashion designers, and more. Other fun elements include playing with the pets’ uniforms and accessories they have customized because it’s time to hit the road!

Club Penguin: Experience all new mysteries, missions and mini-games in this action packed sequel in Club Penguin.

Camp Rock: The Final Jam!: An extension from the popular Disney movie, tweens will rock out on the guitar, bass or drums to songs from both Camp Rock films in Camp Rock: The Final Jam!

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice: Keeping the movie alive, kids will transport into a world filled with fantastical quests and magical combat as they fight alongside Balthazar Blake and the forces of good against the evil Morgana and her minions, bent on world domination in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice!

Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue: Customize your fairy avatar and fly away to Summer camp with Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue! This is a great game for the younger girls considering the ongoing popularity of the newly released movie.

Get ready to fight for your life in the most intense, action-packed Harry Potter game ever available in DS, Xbox and other gaming formats. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 the videogame represents a shift in tone for Harry Potter games, as you find yourself on the run with hordes of merciless enemies on your tail. You will find yourself in unknown territory, far from safety and fighting for survival at every turn. Packed from start to finish with combat and action, you’ll be on a desperate and dangerous quest, hounded on all sides by deadly enemies and ferocious creatures. This is designed for the older kids and keeps the Harry Potter magic alive.

Movies for the RoadThere are many blockbusters released in time for Christmas trips including Inception, Twilight: Eclipse, Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue, and Jim Carrey’s Christmas Carol. But keeping with audience’s fascination with the Harry Potter and Narnia type fantasy, a new fantasy adventure titled The Secret of Moonacre will keep kids entertained. Based on the winning novel, “The Little White Horse”, which was J.K. Rowling’s favorite childhood book, the director brings to life a magical world inhabited by outlandish characters, a princess and mythical beasts.

Barbie™ A Fashion Fairytale DVD: For the first time ever, Barbie® stars as herself and tells her personal story filled with fashion, adventure and friendship! In this modern day fairytale, after Ken breaks up with Barbie® and after she loses an acting job, she escapes to Paris with her dog Sequin, to visit her Aunt Millicent, a fashion designer. In Paris, Barbie quickly learns that her aunt’s fashion house is in danger of closing and it’s up to her to save it! With the help of some fashionable friends Barbie kicks her creativity into high gear by putting on a fashion show to save Millicent’s line, and ends up finding her inner sparkle. Barbie continues to be a powerful and positive role model for young girls throughout the decades!

Toys that Travel & Entertain
Pillow Pets™: A must have for any kid on the go. A pet pillow serves as an oversized stuffed animal for playtime and has a dual purpose of a true soft pillow when it is time for a nap or bed. From the car to the airplane, a pet pillow is the perfect travel companion.

Hot Wheels® R/C Stealth Rides Power Tread™: A great gift idea for kids of all ages, Stealth Rides™ are small enough to fit in a pocket and engineered to amaze. These mini but mighty R/C tanks are folded flat and fit in a slim carrying case. The case becomes the control for the vehicle – which slips out and transforms from flat to fully functional R/C tank made for gripping and climbing – taking on the piles ribbons and wrapping paper left behind during the holidays. Hot Wheels continue to evolve and transform themselves for the next generation of car lovers.

Disney’s Tangled Rapunzel Fashion Doll: One of this season’s hottest movies, Tangled, has off shoot products that will delight kids on Christmas morning and can be taken along for holiday journeys. Disney’s newest heroine wears her signature gown from the movie and features beautiful golden hair that nearly touches the ground! Includes 10-inch wear-and-share hair extension so girls can re-create their favorite movie scenes with Rapunzel’s long, luxurious hair, which our 5-year-old laughs at every time she sees it!

Disney’s Tangled Rapunzel Maximus Horse: A faithful, spirited companion, Maximus joins in Rapunzel’s adventures and quickly becomes one of her best friends! With an articulated head, girls can pose Maximus and really bring him to life. Also included are wear-and-share hair clips so that girls can groom and pamper their horse.

Polly Pocket™Pop ‘N Lock™ Stage: Polly™ is the ultimate rock star and is ready to go on tour this holiday season with the ElectroPop World™ Pop 'n Lock Stage. Girls can dress Polly for the ultimate rock concert or New Year’s bash in a snap with her Pop 'N Lock Fashions. Cruise with Polly as she travels around in her boom box tour bus! Once she’s hit her destination she’s ready to rock! Just press the play button on the side of the tour bus and watch it transform into a rocking three story party pad complete with a concert stage where girls’ inner diva can explode. At the end of the performance, it’s a snap to close the playset and pack up for portable on-the-go play. This is great for stimulating a girl’s imagination and encouraging interactive play.

Foods & Beverages for Traveling
Talbott Teas is the perfect traveling companion to keep calm and add a touch of serenity to what can be considered a hectic time to travel. Steeped in style and packaged in sleekly sophisticated tins, Talbott Teas explores combinations of unexpected flavors, spices and aromas from the finest quality ingredients from around the world. Vibrant colors and boastful flavors, these teas come in a variety of gift selections for the tea lover.

Tortuga Caribbean Rum Cakes allow travelers to bring the tropical experience home. Choose any of the nine stimulating flavors from pineapple to chocolate. The rum even transfers over to rum cream coffee. So however you like it in the Caribbean, the gift lives on.

Wherever your holidays are taking you, pack up and go!