Family vacations can either go very right or very, very wrong. Of course, it wouldn’t be a watchable movie if everything went according to the plan, right? When it comes to family vacation movies, there has to be a messy situation presented for the initially-bickering family to face in order to ultimately come together in the end. Whether it’s surviving on an island filled with dinosaurs or a trek across the ocean because someone abducted your son, family vacation movies are guaranteed to bring a sense of adventure, entertainment, and an overall celebration of family love.

Summer, in particular, is prime time for many families to take group vacations. School is out, the sun is hotter and brighter than ever, and the kids need something to do. From Jurassic Park to The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, here are the eight best family summer vacation movies, ranked.

8 The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is a 2005 comedy-drama about a group of friends who have to spend their summers apart for the first time ever. Distanced from each other, Lena, Tibby, Carmen, and Bridget buy a set of mysterious jeans that, though they are all different sizes, fit everyone the same. Each of the girls have a different summer experience, consisting of meeting different guys and falling in love. Not only does The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants give off complete summer vibes, it also beautifully depicts women friendships and shows that family doesn't necessarily mean the one you're born into.

Related: Best Movies About Vacations Gone Wrong, Ranked

7 Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation

As the third installment of the franchise, Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation focuses on the monster family as they take a cruise one summer. Dracula finally falls in love with a new woman, only to find out that she's a relative of his archenemy. The movie became the highest-grossing of the three released in the series, with $528 million grossed worldwide. Many say that Summer Vacation has the most solid plot out of the three, and we couldn't agree more. The visual effects, animation, and the evolving story make it a solid candidate for one of the best summer vacation movies.

6 We’re The Millers

Starring big names such as Jennifer Aniston, Jason Sudeiks, Emma Roberts, and Will Poulter, We’re The Millers is a 2013 crime-comedy, centering around a small town pot dealer who convinces his neighbors to be his family so that he can smuggle drugs from Mexico to the U.S.. As expected, things go very wrong. You can watch the movie purely because of your favorite actor, but you end up falling in love with the overall chemistry of the cast. Just know that Poulter singing "Waterfalls" is indeed peak comedy.

5 Up

Pixar Animation Studios certainly knows how to make touching movies that pull on your heartstrings, and Up is the perfect embodiment of that. This 2009 movie tells the story of an elderly widower who agrees to go on a trip to South America with a Wilderness Explorer to fulfill his late wife's wish. Just as any other good animated movie, the human characters encounter talking animals on their journey who end up becoming their dear friends — in this case, a dog and a giant bird. All the characters are visually appealing, and the sound design is top-notch. What is there more to say? Make sure to give it a watch if you want to shed a tear (and laugh).

4 Little Miss Sunshine

An Academy Award-winner, Little Miss Sunshine is a tragicomedy starring an ensemble cast that includes Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear, and more. The plot follows family members as they embark on a road trip to get their youngest to a beauty pageant contest. The movie was overall highly praised for the performances and the screenplay. It shows a beautiful step-siblings relationship between Paul Dano and Abigail Breslin's characters, both of whom were praised for the heart-touching performances. Definitely watch it if you love the power of a strong family bond despite its messiness.

Related: Best Movies About Dysfunctional Families, Ranked

3 Finding Nemo

Pixar proved their excellence yet again with Finding Nemo back in 2003. An overprotective clownfish Merlin embarks on a journey across the ocean along with a regal blue tang Dory in order to find his lost son Nemo. The movie was so popular that it's still, per EW, one of the best-selling DVDs of all time. If you watched this movie growing up, it's a guarantee that you're emotionally attached to it. If this generation's song from an animated movie is Bruno's "Knock Knock on the Wood" in Encanto, the 2000s generation's is definitely Dory's "Just Keep Swimming" — and that's a fact.

2 Dirty Dancing

Dirty Dancing is 1987 romantic dance movie, telling the story of a young girl Frances, or "Baby," who travels with her rich family to a summer resort for other rich families and ends up falling in love with the poor dance instructor. A classic forbidden love, but with such amazing performances that it's become a beloved cult classic. The film is definitely the Top Gun of dancing movies. Johnny Castle, played by Patrick Swayze, is arguably one of the best representations of male sex workers in media. It provides both romance and a path to class consciousness.

1 Jurassic Park

Last but not least, the all-time classic directed by Steven Spielberg himself: Jurassic Park. Starring big names such as Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum, the story is set on a fictional island called Isla Nublar, located in Central America, where a wildlife park of extinct dinosaurs was created. Per usual, a lot of things go wrong and visitors end up fighting for their lives among the dinosaurs while locked in the park. Although the following movies in the franchise are recycled from the same main idea, since Jurassic Park has to be about the park, the first one stays a critical success to this day, grossing over $912 million worldwide upon its first theatrical release.