Hakodate vs Sapporo
I don't know these two cities well. We want to head up to either Sapporo or Hakodate for a few days (either 3 or 4 nights) from Tokyo for a little weather respite. We actually have the Railpass vouchers, and so that's what we would use to get up there. Sapporo would be ideal, but the hotels are pricier and the travel time is 3.5-4hr extra. We're wondering if we could just settle for Hakodate and whether that would serve as a worthwhile alternative.
We don't want to split our trip into two places. We want to stay all the nights at one hotel. We have two little kids. We're into hanging out, shopping complex, parks, kids' attractions, food (ramen, gourmet desserts/bakery, seafood... wife wants to try sashimi up there, I'd like to eat crap load of crabs). We're not really into museums and history and stuff like that. If we were to go to Sapporo, on our agenda would be Sapporo Factory, Shiroi Koibito factory, ski jump place, parks, quick jaunt to Otaru, and rest of the time stuff our face and hang out at JR Tower. On the other hand, Hakodate seems pretty limited although I could be wrong. It sounds like the seafood market there is impressive. But there doesn't seem to be a mega-hangout complex like JR Tower in Hakodate. And places like Goryokaku probably won't appeal to my kids. Does Hakodate even offer half of what Sapporo's got in terms of selection of ramen places, patisseries and interesting food stores?
I'd appreciate any insights.