What to Do When Visiting DFW

Target sponsors free kids days at the local musems so check your papers during that week.

aquarium in dallas my kids loved it! the family went at thanksgiving break one year so we had all age kids and all of them liked it!

Ice skating rink in the mall in Arlington.

San Antonio:
Everyone likes Six flags and don't get me wrong it is fun there, but as a group with that age range go to Sea World instead, they have rides there too.
Wax museum: there are other attractions you can buy tickets for and if you get the whole package it is worth it my kids loved it!
Make sure you go to the children's museum, this is all downtown.
SA zoo is nice.

Make sure you eat at Salt Grass.
Make sure she gets some brisket from Rudy's, my husband was just there for his job and I made sure he brought me some brisket back! it's just not the same here!

If you stop in Austin on your way to SA. Go to Austin Park and Pizza.

My boys are 8 and 14, and these are places we/they love:

Ft. Worth Stockyards
Joe T. Garcia's
All of the Ft. Worth Museums - the Modern is our favorite
The Ft. Worth Zoo
Ice Skating at the Galleria in Dallas
Shopping at North Park Mall in Dallas (that's more for me than my boys)
Sundance Square in Ft. Worth - We love the Barnes and Noble downtown!

San Antonio:
El Mercado - Mi Tierra Bakery, and La Margarita Restaurant are both great!
The Alamo, and all of the attractions across the street
The Riverwalk - Casa Rio is one of my favorite restaurants, and it's cheap!
The JW Marriott about 30 minutes away from downtown is my favorite resort ever!

Enjoy your friend's visit!

Austin and Lake Travis would be nice, too.

Our Adventure Day Camps on Lake Grapevine would be fun for the kids while the adults spend the day at Southlake Town Square - our website is www.AdventureDayCamps.com

I think a lot would depend on their interests and also you don't say where they are visiting from. Most people want to see something real "texan" and that is more likely in Fort Worth than Dallas. I have found that people from overseas are excited to go to a cheap buffet like CiCi's! lol Depending on where they live, they often don't have access to cheap restaurants or extensive shopping like a mall or outlet mall. My kids love to ride the DART train to Downtown Dallas. We stop at CityPlace and ride the big escalators and elevators. They like to walk around the West End and see the street performers on the weekend. Also the new Woodall Rodgers Deck Park should be open by then. But if they are visiting from a large city like New York, that may not hold much interest. A really good side trip is to go to Glen Rose and Grandbury, especially if they like dinosaurs. Both cities have quaint old fashioned downtown areas with cool shops and there is a Drive In theater in Grandbury. Also, you can go to the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant tour.

The Dallas World Aquarium is awesome!

Grapevine Mills Mall has LegoLand and an aquarium... plus SHOPPING!

Dallas Zoo and Dallas Arboretum are both really cool and child friendly. There spring break is probably right in the middle of Dallas Blooms, which is pretty amazing.

I'm not sure if Arboretum expansion will be ready when your friends get here, but it looks exciting: http://frontburner.dmagazine.com/2011/01/11/a-sneak-peek-...

Also - ditto the Target sponsored museum days. We went to a Target day at the Nasher and it was great - there were all sorts of cool kids activities and it was free.

Finally - also look at Fossil Ridge/Glen Rose and the animal safari park. That was one of the coolest things I have ever done. You ride in a vehicle and all these giraffes, zebras, and emus come up and you feed them out of your hand. INCREDIBLE!

I would opt AGAINST going someplace you have to drive more than an hour. You have plenty of fun activities close by without driving 3-5 hours one way.

Edit to add: My kids also love the DART! If they are from someplace without public transportation - that would be a fun thing to work in.