Help - do it or wait?!

[NoMoreBrownSofas]

We are looking at a big holiday in the West Coast of the US next summer. About 3.5 weeks. It's a lot of money.Kids will be almost 6 and almost 8. Would include two days at Disney.

Part of me feels they are too young, the other part of me feels our eldest is so into wildlife and he will love Yellowstone and our youngest is plucky and up for adventure.

Do it? Or wait?

18th July - LHR to Denver, then Denver to Jackson Hole

3 ngts in Jackson Hole

3nghts glamping in West Yellowstone

3 nghts hotel in North Yellowstone

Fly Bozeman to San Fran

3 ngts hotel in San Fran

3 nghts in Tuolumne

3 nghts hotel in Monterey

2 nghts hotel in Pismo Beach

2 ngts hotel in Santa barbara

4 ngts hotel in Carlsbad

Fly LA to LHR

How much much do you have before arriving in Denver and then departing on the flight to Jackson Hole?.

I would give SF a miss completely as it is not as nice a city as it once was.

I would look at the city of Anaheim rather than Carlsbad as that is where Disneyland is located. Carlsbad is closer to San Diego and that drive you propose from SB to there is about 200 miles.

I would ensure you arrive back into LAX by a car service that takes you to the appropriate departure terminal as Ubers have to drop off their passengers in a designated area outside the airport. You really do not want to board a free to use public Lax-it bus with luggage!.

You’re packing a hell of a lot in across multiple states.

Personally for three weeks I would do a two or three centre holiday and spend a week in each place rather than driving from one city to another every couple of days on the latter part. You do not want to fall into the trap of trying to go here and there whilst spending a lot of time behind the wheel at the same time. This is an huge country and driving distances can be vast.

And the kids could get sick of the car and seeing the back of your head. And you were quoted 30k for the 4 of you!.

Oh this is so helpful thank you

It's 3 hrs between the flights on the way out.

So would you do

Yellowstone/Grand Teton

Yosemite

Anaheim

are those distances just too big?

I agree with the above. 3 or 4 locations is probably best with kids. Internal flights are good to an extent, but they are also a faff. Limiting your range to drivable between a few several-day spots will be less exhausting.

Tuolumne to Monterey is quite some drive, even if you don’t hit traffic. Groveland to Anaheim would also be a big driving day, but you could perhaps find some places to have a long break during the day. I’ll look at a map later.

What do you like to do as a family? Are you hikers? Is Yellowstone and Grand Teton worth such a chunk of your holiday? Would you consider just doing California?

We always start with an insanely optimistic itinerary and whittle it down to something sensible. And then plan the next trip…

Our youngest won't quite be 6 so we won't be able to do all day hikes. Our eldest loves nature so would love Yellowstone. We want to eat the Park ranger stuff and look for bears they would love that

I wouldn’t want to do all of that in one trip.

We started to travel (rather than holiday) once ours hit those ages. They don’t remember loads, but they do have some memories. We go on big trips every year now and they love it.

Can I ask what you'd do?

Apart from Disneyland in Anaheim there is Knotts Berry Farm in Buena Park that has children friendly rides. There is also a water park adjacent. We have great memories of visiting there.

Bears are harder to see in July because they climb to higher elevations to escape the heat. July is also one of the better months to explore Yellowstone.

We were quoted £35k for 5 of us to fly business class and go to Galapagos and key South American cities plus hotels etc

Arrange this yourself - eminently doable

as for age, my daughter at 6 did pacific coast and Rome, and barely remembers it

Thanks I'll look it up. Daughter is in peak Disney princess stage so I'm really in two minds about Disney

Argh I can't decide!!

We did San Fran, Monterey, Hearst Castle, LA (just drove through), Joshua Tree, Vegas, Yosemite, SF in a fortnight as a couple.

Then we did Denver, Cheyenne (Nebraska), Grand Junction, Moab (Utah), Durango, Pikes Peak and back to Denver in a fortnight with DD.

Am planning another California trip for after DD’s exams. Wouldn’t do Vegas again but would add in Disney for sure. There’s more than enough on the SF-Yosemite route to suit you all.

With small people who want to do Disney? I’d stick to California.

Fly into San Francisco direct and stay there for a couple of nights to see the Golden Gate bridge and get over the jet lag a bit.

Drive to Eureka for 4-5 nights to see redwoods and elk.

Long drive to Groveland. Stay for 5 nights so you can really explore Yosemite and the Tioga pass (where the Tuolumne Cabins are). Distinct possibility of bears at high elevations. You will need to get day passes for Yosemite at that time of the year: if you can get accommodation in the valley do so.

Long drive to somewhere on the coast north of LA (someone else can advise - bits of this road have been closed) and stay there for 3-4 nights. Or somewhere up in the mountains to get out of the heat. Or both.

Anaheim for 3-4 nights, 2-3 days Disney. Fly home direct from LAX.

That’s fewer than 24 days so you can stay longer in some places or add something else in.

Sounds great and thanks so much for doing that, just not sure DH will be enthused without Yellowstone

I suppose you could still do Yellowstone for a week, then fly from Boise as planned, but to Sacramento. That’s nearer to Yosemite. Stay at Groveland for 4-5 days, then somewhere on the California coast for 4-5 days (boat trip to see dolphins), then Anaheim?

Personally I’d defer Yellowstone for another time when the children are bigger.

PS. I have three brown sofas and won’t hear a word against their practicality.

Go for it it but unless you’re doing first class all the way you’re getting ripped off.

Hahahaha fair you're right I'm just sick of looking at them

Why would you wait for Yellowstone?

Only because I’d stick to one/neighbouring states to avoid an internal flight with all the hassle of packing, queuing and waiting with little ones.

Ah that's fair enough, I see the logic.

Ok. After discussions and serious help from you guys I think we have a plan

Yellowstone 7 nghts
Flight to Sacramento
Groveland 5
Monterey 4
Pismo beach 4
Anaheim 3

None of those drives look horrendously long and by doing Monterey we could more of the Pacific highway and can do Hearst castle too. Last trip we did 4 places over two weeks so a faster pace so hopefully this won't feel like a race.

That's a long time in Yellowstone. There are a set number of designated car parks from which you walk around the sights. In July it will be difficult to find a space so you'll need to get to a car park early or late. We stayed in the huts attached to the main lodge. But it isan amazing place, I'mnot try8ng to put you off, just being honest.. The national parks below are nice but not much to do unless hiking or taking a nature tour.
How about the national parks near Denver like the Rocky Moutain one?

That's interesting. The original tour had three nights in Jackson hole, three nights in one part of y'stone and 3 in another

We did at 8 &10 and again at 10 &12. Youngest can remember the first trip and it made a huge impression so I'd say go for it!

Mine lose their appetite with jetlag and don't want to eat dinners for the first few days so make sure you plan big lunches at the start is my main tip.

Yosemite and Sequoia were hits. We did mountains on one trip and the coast on the other. Criss- crossing the central valley can take quite a bit of time so plan carefully.

Are you used to driving 100 miles plus every few days?. There’s still quite a lot of driving here and you could all get tired of the car.

Again do not fall into the trap of trying to see too many places here. I would look at Yellowstone again, it’s a long time you have there currently and the kids could potentially become bored. I’d also knock a day off Groveland and add that day to Anaheim (so 4 lots of 4). Personally with your children being the ages they are I would dial the driving right down and look at doing a two or three centre holiday with say 6 days in each place visited.

Monterey can be seen as part of a day trip from SF for instance.