6-7 wks in USA. Where should we go?

[Sydney Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close Sydney]

Please help with your knowledgeable suggestions.

We'll be there from Dec 2012 -January 2013, for about 6-7 wks starting in LAX, maybe SFO but not likely.

We are an Australian family of 7, with 2 adults and 5 children (6-18yrs at time of travel). We just like spending time together so a day of doing nothing and just playing boardgames or a full day of sightseeing and activity is fine with us. We love to see new places and experience new things.

On our must do list are:

• Disneyland
• Sedona, Grand Canyon (will be 2nd visit)
• hopefully Niagara Falls (is it OK to visit in Winter?). Then if we do end up heading to the Falls, we thought we should fit in New York and Washington.

We have plenty of beaches in Australia and it'll be Winter in the US so are not interested in beach locations. Love mountains but don't want to spend all our time visting one mountain after another so a good mix of nature and city would be great.

Any suggestions of what we should add to the itinerary? We are very excited and would love to experience as much of the wonderful sights of the US as possible. I originally had in mind to visit Yosemite and Yellowstone but apparently they are closed in Winter? Is this correct? We love trying out local foods so if there is a place famous for a dish, then we'd love to try it.

I was thinking to drive to the East Coast, we could stop somewhere on the way. Although we're open to flying to the East Coast from the West if the drive is too long or there's nothing much worth seeing.

We'll be predominantly using RCI to exchange and Worldmark with a few hotel stays here and there.

Thanks!

[billymach4 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close billymach4]

Driving across the USA is a great idea. However at that time of the year stick to a southerly route. You don't want to drive in rain/ice/snow. Niagara Falls is OK and in December/ January.

Also if you get close to NYC Frank will want you to stop in for a visit. So you need to account for that as well.

Have you ever met anyone of us here?

Last year in Ocean Pointe there was a family from Austrailia making a visit to the US and Canada during the same of year.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I agree on the southern (snowbird) route, although more northern timeshares will be plentiful. Even places as far south as Hilton Head are ghost towns.

Try: Vegas. Phoenix. Southern Texas. Golf States. Florida.

The great national parks out west will be a No.

That's a time of year when USA is not at its best.

[Sydney Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close Sydney]

Thanks for the replies.
We've been to Vegas and Florida (2wks) so will give them a miss.

I've met a few timesharers the last time we were in the US. We met up with them in NOLA and then did a 7nt cruise to the Caribbean.

A couple of times, we've had timesharers visit Sydney and we meet up with them to shw them around a bit.

Maybe it would be better for us to see some sights on the West Coast and then fly to the East Coast. We might fit in Europe that way (instead of Central USA) although I was thinking that this trip, we'd just stick to the US so that it'd be easier going. I guess spending the couple of weeks I thought we'd give ourselves to cross the US could be better used by squeezing in Europe.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Thanks for the replies.
We've been to Vegas and Florida (2wks) so will give them a miss.

I've met a few timesharers the last time we were in the US. We met up with them in NOLA and then did a 7nt cruise to the Caribbean.

Yeah, I remember that trip.

Not that I'm having second thoughts, but, there are areas of US that are spectacular in the winter. In fact, winter is their season. But, for the same reason they are in their prime, timeshares are at a premium and travel is problematic.

Vail, Beaver Creek, Avon, Aspen, Breckenridge, Park City, etc. would be the best of US in winter.

List of ski areas and resorts in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If you decide on Florida, someone, or two, or three, or more, should be there for the duration.

This kinda reminds me of the Aussie family who were here for their extended Aussie vacation time, and who I met in one of the few hot-tubs at OLCC, and shared in another forum. 2004, I think. Time flies when your havin fun.

[Pat H Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pat H]

San Francisco
NYC
Washington, DC

Are you used to driving in snow? Sedona only gets a little but the drive to the Grand Canyon goes thru some mountains. Although NYC & DC will be cold and possibly snowy, they are great places to visit even in the snow. The kids would love ice skating and seeing the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center.

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

How about visiting San Antonio, TX.
Pretty city, very walkable, nice timeshares and great Mexican food.

Branson, MO has lots of Christmas shows going on that time of year but don't think the weather is so nice that time of the year, although I've never been in December. Timeshares are plentiful in Branson.

Seattle, WA and Vancouver are worth a visit. You could ferry to the San Juan Islands. I think that might be the rainy season though but Mount Rainer is beautiful. Don't know of any timeshares in Seattle.

How about taking a cruise from Los Angeles to Mexico for a few days. They've got short ones that stop at San Diego, Catalina Island and then go down to Ensinada Mexico. Makes for a nice break from driving.

[philsfan Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close philsfan]

If the entertainment industry interests you, LA and the Hollywood area would be a place to visit. The Balboa Park area of San Diego is nice, the Zoo is a good place to spend a day. We enjoyed our two day stopover in San Francisco/Fisherman's Wharf a couple years ago. A side trip to the mountains could be done in Lake Tahoe.

If you do head east driving, while New Orleans is not really known to be a family oriented town, but I think a family could find things to do there that would be interesting in the daylight hours. I haven't been there since the hurricane Katrina, though.

Let's not forget Elvis! Memphis, TN is the home of Graceland Mansion and all thing Elvis.

Utah, Colorado and New Mexico are full of ski resorts areas if mountain roads in the winter are not something that you worry about.

If you fly east, you could consider landing in D.C and taking in the Smithsonian Museums before heading north to Niagara.

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

How nice to plan a long vacation trip in the USA or combined with Europe. You have some good choices already. If you go to the Grand Canyon, you may as well visit Bryce and Zion too. They are very different again from the Grand Canyon. It all depends how much snow there is but the north rim will most likely be closed.

When my friends in Europe asked, I sent them these three websites as that gave them a good idea of what to see and do.

America Pictures : USA Pictures, stock photos and fine art prints by QTL

USA Travel Information and Travel Guide - Lonely Planet

USA Travel Guide | Fodor's Travel Guides

I would highly recommend visiting San Francisco and Lake Tahoe even in the winter, if you don't mind driving in the snow.

[Sydney Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close Sydney]

Hi JLB, yes, I feel like I know that family too just from reading your posts.

San Francisco
NYC
Washington, DC

Are you used to driving in snow? Sedona only gets a little but the drive to the Grand Canyon goes thru some mountains. Although NYC & DC will be cold and possibly snowy, they are great places to visit even in the snow. The kids would love ice skating and seeing the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center.

We're used to driving with chains on our tyres on roads cleared of snow! Drove to Grand Canyon last time for Vegas and there was minimal snow. Hoping it'll be easy again. Yes, they will love NYC.

How about visiting San Antonio, TX.
Pretty city, very walkable, nice timeshares and great Mexican food.

Branson, MO has lots of Christmas shows going on that time of year but don't think the weather is so nice that time of the year, although I've never been in December. Timeshares are plentiful in Branson. What a good idea Chris. I checked out Branson already Chris as there are so many timeshares there when I was trying to work out where to stop. Many of the shows close over Dec/Jan. But nevermind since I think we will fly now.

Seattle, WA and Vancouver are worth a visit. You could ferry to the San Juan Islands. I think that might be the rainy season though but Mount Rainer is beautiful. Don't know of any timeshares in Seattle. Not sure if I want to go that far North from LA. Although if we did, we could add in Banff!

How about taking a cruise from Los Angeles to Mexico for a few days. They've got short ones that stop at San Diego, Catalina Island and then go down to Ensinada Mexico. Makes for a nice break from driving. Great minds think alike. Done!

If the entertainment industry interests you, LA and the Hollywood area would be a place to visit. The Balboa Park area of San Diego is nice, the Zoo is a good place to spend a day. We enjoyed our two day stopover in San Francisco/Fisherman's Wharf a couple years ago. A side trip to the mountains could be done in Lake Tahoe. San Fran and Fisherman's Wharf would be great. Thanks. I'm basically looking for places that are not like those in Australia with activities not available here. For that reason, I don't think we'll bother with San Diego even though I'm sure it's lovely.

If you do head east driving, while New Orleans is not really known to be a family oriented town, but I think a family could find things to do there that would be interesting in the daylight hours. I haven't been there since the hurricane Katrina, though. We love New Orleans and were there during Mardi Gras. Our play room has a whole tub of beads the kids caught! and we have find memories of eating the beignets that BigFrank recommended and all the other Cajun food!

Let's not forget Elvis! Memphis, TN is the home of Graceland Mansion and all thing Elvis.

Utah, Colorado and New Mexico are full of ski resorts areas if mountain roads in the winter are not something that you worry about.

If you fly east, you could consider landing in D.C and taking in the Smithsonian Museums before heading north to Niagara.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Yeah . . . if Christmas is special to you, how about a Christmasy place?

Ozark Mountain Christmas in Branson, Missouri

[Sydney Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close Sydney]

Thanks for all the links Emmy!
Jim, looks fab but alas, we'll have to miss Branson. I think we're spending Christmas in Sedona as it's just the way the itinerary worked out. We get there around 8th Dec, a couple wks touring CA, then off to Sedona, I think.

[chellej Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close chellej]

You could do a California and southwest run.....Grand Canyon, Petrified forest, Santa Fe/Albueqerque, Carlsbad Caverns.

San Antonio is a great City and our winters in Texas are mild.

Lots to do and see in DC although winters can be miserable but I could specd the better part of a week just at the smithsonian Museum, Williamsburg is very close to there and then you could head to New York and see Frank & Niagra falls.


Don't discount Yellowstone. The snowmobiles and snow coaches go into the park in the winter. West yellowstone has snowmobiles to rent outside the park and a few other activities in and around town. You can also stay inside the park and snowshoe or cross country ski... It is a blast especially if your kids aren't used to snow

[Pstreet1 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pstreet1]

I'd see Yellowstone if I were you; it is open in the winter, and it's beautiful. Yellowstone National Park - Operating Hours & Seasons (U.S. National Park Service) The link to winter activities is http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/winteract.htm I've not been in the winter, but I know people who have. They say it is unbelievable, and touring by snowcoach or snowmobile would be a memory to treasure.

Yellowstone is unique in all the world. It's thermal features are simply not found elsewhere. If you've decided to fly, you could fly to Denver, rent a car and drive to the eastern entrance to Yellowstone. Or you could fly to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, rent a car and drive up to the southern entrance. In my opinion, not to have seen Yellowstone is to have missed one of the best spots you could possibly see.

I'd also suggest that if you are going to Washington, D.C., you purchase "The Un-official Guide to Washington;" it is the best guide book I've seen, and we own a lot of them. For that matter, even if you've been to Disneyland before, I'd purchase the updated "Un-official guide to Disneyland." It's the best source for how to use your time the most efficiently and have the kind of vacation you'd most enjoy there.

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

I would include New Orleans, and the historic cities of Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA. Timeshare in the latter two is hard to get, but you may luck out that time of year. You can do a longish day trip from Hilton Head to each of the two, where it should be easier to find a timeshare.

I would also consider a train, www.amtrak.com , as another option to travel between the coasts. The certral route through Denver is the most scenic. I think there are rail passes availible abroad with good rates.