America holiday planning. Help!
America holiday planning. Help!
Hi,
We are hoping to travel to Vegas to spend a few days there before seeing the Grand Canyon, hopefully as part of a helicopter tour.
Next we would like to drive (not a problem as hubby is a taxi driver ;) ) over to Disneyland, California. Not sure quite how long we will stay there but long enough to have a good look around not only Disney but hopefully some of the surrounding area/attractions.
We are assuming it will then make more sense to drive back to Vegas to fly home (need to fly from Manchester) from there. Or maybe not?
What i would love to know from any experts out there is how to plan such a disjointed trip. We have not decided whether to stay onsite at Disney (tbh this trip is not as much about Disney as we went to WDW in 2003) or stay in a cheaper offsite hotel nearby.
Has anybody arranged a holiday like this? Or have any info regarding the area we may be travelling to?
Any other ideas or changes you would make feel free to chuck them at me, as i am at the beginning stages of planning.
BUT we were semi-hoping to go in the Easter school break (schools out 24/3 opens 11/4)
:yay:
and yes i realise we've left it very late so may have to postpone til summer. Hopefully not..help.
:)
Answers:
I did a similar tour to this over the Xmas period this year through Virgin as a fly drive. It was very hectic!!!
We flew from Gatwick to Las Vegas
Then drove to Grand Canyon and stayed for 2 nights (however, I would recommend that you DON'T do this as you can only do the helicopter tour from Las Vegas)
Then drove to Scottsdale
Then drove to San Diego
Then drove to Anaheim (1 mile away from Disneyland), we stayed at the Anaheim Ramada (its ok - nothing special but they have a free shuttle to Disneyland). From Anaheim you can do a bus trip to Universal Studios and a city tour. Drive to San Diego and go to Seaworld. We also went to Newport Beach.
Then drove to San Francisco
Then flew from SF to Heathrow.
To be honest it would probably be easier to book one way tickets and fly into LV and out of LA via Virgin.
Average driving time is about 3 hours. If you want anymore info or a sneaky peak at some of my photos let me know.
Answers:
Hi Fibe,
Thanks for all the info
Ive been furiously researching and it seems that i can save bundles by booking airfare through American West..hopefully anyway when ive figured out the site!
It seems cheaper to fly to LAX so we will prob do that and either a) drive or get shuttle to Anaheim and do Disney, San Diego etc or b) do Vegas based part of holiday first, Grand Canyon etc
Im also hoping to find a kids suite in Anaheim (which comprises of a room with 2 queen beds + adjoining room with bunk beds) as the layout would suit our family. Ive found one at Comfort Inn Maingate..do you have any knowledge about that one? (i know there are hundreds..just me being hopeful)
Our plans keep changing due to diffs in airline prices and hotel availability etc so im a bit :eek: at the moment. We DO need to speak to a travel agent probably but then in 2003 when we went to WDW we seemed to know more about the whole thing than them..and certainly found cheaper options as regards to car hire.
Which hotel did you use in Vegas? Thats the bit of the trip ive done nothing on so far. Also how far is it/how long to travel btw Vegas and LA? You know when you havent been somewhere its difficult to get a feel for how do-able your plans are.
The Disney bit is a bit easier :yay: we are hoping to buy Southern California City Passes, which include 3 days into Disney, plus Knotts Berry(another theme park i believe) SeaWorld and San Diego Zoo/Farm world. Its $172 each but we reckon would be worth it as it will keep us fully entertained for five days whilst staying in Anaheim.
Did you do the helicopter trip to the Grand Canyon? So far weve had two companied rec'd, one is www.sundancehelicopters.com and ive forgotten the other.
It would be fantastic to have a look at your photos Fibe..thanks so much for your help.
:)
Answers:
Grand Canyon
You can only do the helicopter tour from Las Vegas. Unfortunately as we were staying at the Grand Canyon we couldn't do the helicopter trip because no one runs trips FROM the Grand Canyon :mad: :rant: How stupid is that!!!! So we could only do a coach tour which was ok but we could only go round the South Rim.
However, this is a MUST do as the Grand Canyon is spectacular!
Papillon are another helicopter company that are quite well known. However, there are loads of tourist places in LV that offer packages to the Grand Canyon so you could wait until you get there.
Las Vegas
We stayed in Circus Circus and weren't very impressed tbh. However, this is because it was absolutely heaving all the time (ie full of kids). So you might like it:lol:. Quite a lot of people seem to stay at the Luxor who visit this forum and I thought the Venetian hotel was really nice!!
There is a huge thread about LV so I won't say too much about it, however, for the kids you must go to the Secret Garden at the Mirage (they have dolphins, white tigers, white lions etc)!
San Diego
I loved San Diego!!!! I wish we had had longer there.
Seaworld is really good (I stroked and fed dolphins!!!! It was one of the highlights of my holiday:yay: ) Didn't like the shark experience though :eek: :eek:
Los Angeles
No idea about the Comfort Maingate I am afraid except I think their hotel guests were on our city/Universal tour.
You must do this!!! I would recommend the combo tour (ie city/Universal Studios) as you have just enough time in each place. City bit includes the Kodak Studio, walk of fame, Rodeo Drive, Beverley Hills etc. Universal is way cool. You must do Shrek 4-D (excellent) and Van Helsing (very funny) but do the trolley tour first as this takes you all around the film lots (I saw the Desparate Housewives houses!).
The guides of our tour bus were ace, they were really funny!
As you have kids and are planning on doing the adventure parks I would probably recommend getting the 3 centre pass.
However, don't forget that Disneyland also has the California Adventure Park next door as well (part of Disneyland). You can get combo tickets. I think it is probably possible to do it all in one day if you set off first thing (Disneyland isn't that big), we got there about 9.00 am and left at 1.00 pm (we only did Disney though).
Travel Times
LV to LA. Yahoo says it takes about 4 hours, however, it depends how fast you drive:lol: I admit we did speed over there, but California has radar controlled speed restrictions and I think we did get stung as when we went to settle up I had to pay an extra £116:eek:
Remember that Anaheim is about an hour's drive outside of LA though.
San Diego to LA is about 2 hours (it's an easy drive).
Newport Beach is about half an hour/an hour away. The beach is excellent, it's massive!!
Our hire car was through Dollar, and was ok. Petrol is very cheap over there, but in the petrol stations you have to leave money behind the counter before they will let you have any petrol. It's so stupid!!! :mad: The most we put in in one go was $20 and that was when the tank was between 1/4 and half! Just make sure you get an automatic!
I will post the photos later tonight (if I get chance) on a separate thread if no one minds, otherwise I could always email/pm them to you???
Answers:
Fantastic info Fibe,
Thanks a million. ;)
Ive been scouring all of the disney message boards too so am slowly gathering together lots of peoples experiences..which is SO much better than relying on hotel blurb etc
Grand Canyon: Ive read somewhere that the North Rim of the GC may well be shut at this time of year so no trekking for us! I would rather do the ariel view anyway. Cant wait for that!
San Diego: This area sounds great. As for dolphins (i see you changed your avatar too. ;) ) i love them too. I stroked and fed them at SeaWorld in Florida. Brilliant. Look forward to seeing them again.
Thanks for the tips about the various hotels..actually i dont think we would relish the kids everywhere malarky as our youngest is eleven now ( and being female is ever so cool and mature..she asked me to write that :rolleyes: )
I will PM you my email addy so that if you prefer you can email the pics to me, although i cant see anyone complaining about seeing holiday pics in travel.
;)
Hi,
We are hoping to travel to Vegas to spend a few days there before seeing the Grand Canyon, hopefully as part of a helicopter tour.
Next we would like to drive (not a problem as hubby is a taxi driver ;) ) over to Disneyland, California. Not sure quite how long we will stay there but long enough to have a good look around not only Disney but hopefully some of the surrounding area/attractions.
We are assuming it will then make more sense to drive back to Vegas to fly home (need to fly from Manchester) from there. Or maybe not?
What i would love to know from any experts out there is how to plan such a disjointed trip. We have not decided whether to stay onsite at Disney (tbh this trip is not as much about Disney as we went to WDW in 2003) or stay in a cheaper offsite hotel nearby.
Has anybody arranged a holiday like this? Or have any info regarding the area we may be travelling to?
Any other ideas or changes you would make feel free to chuck them at me, as i am at the beginning stages of planning.
BUT we were semi-hoping to go in the Easter school break (schools out 24/3 opens 11/4)
:yay:
and yes i realise we've left it very late so may have to postpone til summer. Hopefully not..help.
:)
Answers:
I did a similar tour to this over the Xmas period this year through Virgin as a fly drive. It was very hectic!!!
We flew from Gatwick to Las Vegas
Then drove to Grand Canyon and stayed for 2 nights (however, I would recommend that you DON'T do this as you can only do the helicopter tour from Las Vegas)
Then drove to Scottsdale
Then drove to San Diego
Then drove to Anaheim (1 mile away from Disneyland), we stayed at the Anaheim Ramada (its ok - nothing special but they have a free shuttle to Disneyland). From Anaheim you can do a bus trip to Universal Studios and a city tour. Drive to San Diego and go to Seaworld. We also went to Newport Beach.
Then drove to San Francisco
Then flew from SF to Heathrow.
To be honest it would probably be easier to book one way tickets and fly into LV and out of LA via Virgin.
Average driving time is about 3 hours. If you want anymore info or a sneaky peak at some of my photos let me know.
Answers:
Hi Fibe,
Thanks for all the info
Ive been furiously researching and it seems that i can save bundles by booking airfare through American West..hopefully anyway when ive figured out the site!
It seems cheaper to fly to LAX so we will prob do that and either a) drive or get shuttle to Anaheim and do Disney, San Diego etc or b) do Vegas based part of holiday first, Grand Canyon etc
Im also hoping to find a kids suite in Anaheim (which comprises of a room with 2 queen beds + adjoining room with bunk beds) as the layout would suit our family. Ive found one at Comfort Inn Maingate..do you have any knowledge about that one? (i know there are hundreds..just me being hopeful)
Our plans keep changing due to diffs in airline prices and hotel availability etc so im a bit :eek: at the moment. We DO need to speak to a travel agent probably but then in 2003 when we went to WDW we seemed to know more about the whole thing than them..and certainly found cheaper options as regards to car hire.
Which hotel did you use in Vegas? Thats the bit of the trip ive done nothing on so far. Also how far is it/how long to travel btw Vegas and LA? You know when you havent been somewhere its difficult to get a feel for how do-able your plans are.
The Disney bit is a bit easier :yay: we are hoping to buy Southern California City Passes, which include 3 days into Disney, plus Knotts Berry(another theme park i believe) SeaWorld and San Diego Zoo/Farm world. Its $172 each but we reckon would be worth it as it will keep us fully entertained for five days whilst staying in Anaheim.
Did you do the helicopter trip to the Grand Canyon? So far weve had two companied rec'd, one is www.sundancehelicopters.com and ive forgotten the other.
It would be fantastic to have a look at your photos Fibe..thanks so much for your help.
:)
Answers:
Grand Canyon
You can only do the helicopter tour from Las Vegas. Unfortunately as we were staying at the Grand Canyon we couldn't do the helicopter trip because no one runs trips FROM the Grand Canyon :mad: :rant: How stupid is that!!!! So we could only do a coach tour which was ok but we could only go round the South Rim.
However, this is a MUST do as the Grand Canyon is spectacular!
Papillon are another helicopter company that are quite well known. However, there are loads of tourist places in LV that offer packages to the Grand Canyon so you could wait until you get there.
Las Vegas
We stayed in Circus Circus and weren't very impressed tbh. However, this is because it was absolutely heaving all the time (ie full of kids). So you might like it:lol:. Quite a lot of people seem to stay at the Luxor who visit this forum and I thought the Venetian hotel was really nice!!
There is a huge thread about LV so I won't say too much about it, however, for the kids you must go to the Secret Garden at the Mirage (they have dolphins, white tigers, white lions etc)!
San Diego
I loved San Diego!!!! I wish we had had longer there.
Seaworld is really good (I stroked and fed dolphins!!!! It was one of the highlights of my holiday:yay: ) Didn't like the shark experience though :eek: :eek:
Los Angeles
No idea about the Comfort Maingate I am afraid except I think their hotel guests were on our city/Universal tour.
You must do this!!! I would recommend the combo tour (ie city/Universal Studios) as you have just enough time in each place. City bit includes the Kodak Studio, walk of fame, Rodeo Drive, Beverley Hills etc. Universal is way cool. You must do Shrek 4-D (excellent) and Van Helsing (very funny) but do the trolley tour first as this takes you all around the film lots (I saw the Desparate Housewives houses!).
The guides of our tour bus were ace, they were really funny!
As you have kids and are planning on doing the adventure parks I would probably recommend getting the 3 centre pass.
However, don't forget that Disneyland also has the California Adventure Park next door as well (part of Disneyland). You can get combo tickets. I think it is probably possible to do it all in one day if you set off first thing (Disneyland isn't that big), we got there about 9.00 am and left at 1.00 pm (we only did Disney though).
Travel Times
LV to LA. Yahoo says it takes about 4 hours, however, it depends how fast you drive:lol: I admit we did speed over there, but California has radar controlled speed restrictions and I think we did get stung as when we went to settle up I had to pay an extra £116:eek:
Remember that Anaheim is about an hour's drive outside of LA though.
San Diego to LA is about 2 hours (it's an easy drive).
Newport Beach is about half an hour/an hour away. The beach is excellent, it's massive!!
Our hire car was through Dollar, and was ok. Petrol is very cheap over there, but in the petrol stations you have to leave money behind the counter before they will let you have any petrol. It's so stupid!!! :mad: The most we put in in one go was $20 and that was when the tank was between 1/4 and half! Just make sure you get an automatic!
I will post the photos later tonight (if I get chance) on a separate thread if no one minds, otherwise I could always email/pm them to you???
Answers:
Fantastic info Fibe,
Thanks a million. ;)
Ive been scouring all of the disney message boards too so am slowly gathering together lots of peoples experiences..which is SO much better than relying on hotel blurb etc
Grand Canyon: Ive read somewhere that the North Rim of the GC may well be shut at this time of year so no trekking for us! I would rather do the ariel view anyway. Cant wait for that!
San Diego: This area sounds great. As for dolphins (i see you changed your avatar too. ;) ) i love them too. I stroked and fed them at SeaWorld in Florida. Brilliant. Look forward to seeing them again.
Thanks for the tips about the various hotels..actually i dont think we would relish the kids everywhere malarky as our youngest is eleven now ( and being female is ever so cool and mature..she asked me to write that :rolleyes: )
I will PM you my email addy so that if you prefer you can email the pics to me, although i cant see anyone complaining about seeing holiday pics in travel.
;)