As soon as we stepped foot inside Hotel Breakers (a Cedar Point property in Sandusky, Ohio) the kiddos squealed with delight at how festive the hotel was decorated for Halloween. "How come we've never stayed here before?"

As I wondered the same thing, the truth is that we've always considered Cedar Point a day trip while we were living in Cleveland. We've always left the park at sunset to hurry home for bedtime. After a prolonged stay in Sandusky, this past weekend for Halloweekends, we wished we had the foresight to stay on property years before when we lived so close by. It's what we needed to really experience Halloweekends together as a family.

After an uneventful and somewhat easy five hour drive from our new home in Chicago (only 90 minutes longer then a drive from Chicago to the Dells - a popular destination amongst Chicago families) the kiddos flew out of the car and marveled at all the Halloween decorations throughout the hotel while the husband and I studied the picture history that hung on the walls. The hotel, built in 1905, has a rich history to keep geeks like my husband and I entertained for days. The Halloween decorations that ordained the old halls were thrilling for my children to observe. All of us were fascinated and were kept up way past our bedtime, upon our late evening arrival.

We tucked the kids into bed and shut their door. Our hotel room has a separate living space where the husband and I could comfortably relax away from the kiddos. With a mini fridge, microwave, pull-out couch bed and tv - we started planning our Saturday at Halloweekends with the Cedar Point free mobile app.

Just as soon as the sun rose the next day, so did the kiddos. Will there ever be a time when they sleep in? We took our breakfast to go and spent some time on the beach in front of the hotel. Feenie chased sea gulls, Lola collected shells and Jay skipped stones on Lake Erie. We would've easily spent another hour or two just hanging out.

However, someone had great plans for the rest of the day. Our little daredevil heard that the park opened an hour early for anyone staying in a Cedar Point property and marched us down to the gates. In a Barcelona-running-of-the-bulls fashion we lined up at the front gate and waited for the national anthem to play - once it ended a crowd of people (and us) ran to their favorite coaster to be first in line. It was exhilarating to say the least, a swarm of anxious people running in good spirits to tackle coasters. Lola was quite smittened by the process. "How come we've never done this before?"

The early entrance allowed us to ride without huge lines and left us with loads of time to check out all that Halloweekends offered. Feenie, a self-proclaimed five-year-old horror movie aficionado was beyond giddy to walk through her first real haunted house (Boo Hill: Kid Friendly Fun!). Inside was a staged "haunted" house with music & flickering lights but nothing spooky at all. Needless to say, we walked through half a dozen times until my elder two pulled us away.

One of the highlights of our Halloweekends trip happened around the corner from the Millennium Force where a series of booths with "Gypsy Fortune Tellers" (free of charge) read tarot cards. Lola enthusiastically sat down to get her cards read first. The fortune teller was so inviting, warm and charismatic that we all followed Lola's lead. We were shocked to hear the gypsy read so much into our lives. Did she secretly read our blog, we giggled.

Lola's reading: "You are a tough girl, no? When you fall you get right up, yes? Your cards say you have a bright future because you appreciate nature and never give up. This is a good combination."

Jay's reading: "You just changed schools, didn't you? I feel like you have met someone recently that will be your life long friend. You have a strong heart that is important to relationships and you should always follow your heart."

My reading: "You are fiercely protective of your family, aren't you? You would give your right arm for them, yes? I feel like someone is looking after you though, helping you stand tall."

We were all left speechless, especially my husband after his own personal reading. I've never given an ounce of thought into the validity of fortune tellers but this Halloweekends "gypsy fortune teller" was so spot on we were left chilled to the bones.

We experienced so much more on a weekend trip, then we would have normally experienced on a day trip. Like blindly riding coasters in pitch black midnight. It was the perfect start to the Halloween season for our family - well worth a five hour drive from our home in Chicago. Pretty sure my kiddos are going to request this "vacation" every fall and I will happily agree we go, until they grow up and are old enough for the really scary parts of Halloweekends - Haunt2012 sounds super spooky.

Disclosure: Cedar Point paid for our accommodations and tickets but all opinions are my own.