Like many, GenCon is our vacation for the year.  Also like many, we've got no hope of getting a downtown hotel.  We've done both - Marriott Downtown for three years and a hotel out near Carmel (our first try).  I can honestly say, the difference is amazing.  He wants to game?  Fine, I'll pop back to the room to dig through our treasures.  I want to see a comedy show?  He can nap before we go out to dinner.  Night and day, imo.  

So - here's my query.  If you couldn't go to GenCon, what would you do for your vacation?  Consider the same timeframe (Wed - Sun, maybe take off on Monday for travel or recuperation), similar housing costs ($1-1.5Kish for the 4-5 days), etc.  Overall, figure about $5K (for tickets, travel, hotel, food, etc.) for the two of us.  

I've been looking at SciFi conventions, other gaming conventions, general adventure park type things (Universal for HP, Disney for SW), etc. but nothing is really popping out as *pick me!* (possibly because the sting is still there that we *have* to choose something else!!!)

Tell me of your homew... no wait... Tell me about your awesome vacation to help me choose!  

You can take this to off topic please, not in Gen Con info.