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

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

You really can't do a day trip from NYC to DC if you want to see anything. I think you and your kids would love the Smithsonian. You can easily spend days looking at all the exhibits.

NYC has so much to do. Just walking along the streets and going in the stores can be a lot of fun. Radio City has a wonderful Christmas show and there are several museums. Don't forget the Broadway plays. If you can, get tickets to the Lion King.

I love the city. There are a lot of 4ums/Tuggers who live in the area too.

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

You really can't do a day trip from NYC to DC if you want to see anything. I think you and your kids would love the Smithsonian. You can easily spend days looking at all the exhibits.

NYC has so much to do. Just walking along the streets and going in the stores can be a lot of fun. Radio City has a wonderful Christmas show and there are several museums. Don't forget the Broadway plays. If you can, get tickets to the Lion King.

I love the city. There are a lot of 4ums/Tuggers who live in the area too.

I agree on Washington DC. We did a 2 day tour to Washington DC from NYC. spending the night there. It was a whirlwind tour where we saw a lot but would really have liked to have had more time. Doing it as a tour was much better than doing it on our own as the guide knew exactly where to go and the best way to see everything.

Of course I agree with you on NYC. We just can't get enough of that place though visiting in the winter is not what we would do.

We did our tours through the following:

1000 Islands Tours - New York City Excursions to Niagara Falls and DC

We did the 5 day tour, Niagara Falls, Washington DC, etc.

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

If I were the OP, I would visit the Northeast first flying into NYC and then travel to the West Coast. I would do this because of the chance of getting better weather in the NE though that would not be guaranteed.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

Lake Tahoe would be beautiful and snowy that time of year, you could combine that with SFO. I do hope you stop in NYC. Though it might be a bit warmer, December is very tourist crowded but Jan is a great time of year for hotel and theatre discounts. You will need at least two one-bedrooms, so for NYC look for Manhattan Club or Affinia Manhattan. Manhattan Club is better located but Affinia is fine. If the Affinia Dumont ever shows up, grab that but it seems to have dropped out of the Royal rotation. Candlewood Suites would be another ok location.

I have a feeling that Vegas in not for you with your kids. Disneyworld in Orlando, FL is MUCH bigger than Disneyland if you decide to swing south. January is a good month to visit the theme parks there, too - low crowds.

Montreal is a great city, as JWC points out, and a short flight to NYC.

Personally, I would not do a daytrip from NYC to Niagara Falls, it is long! You want to see the falls from the Canada side, so if you do take a trip there be sure it isn't to the NY side.

You and your kids will love love love DC, plan at least few days to be able to enjoy it.

Let me know when you'll be in NYC!!

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

You will need at least two one-bedrooms, so for NYC look for Manhattan Club or Affinia Manhattan. Manhattan Club is better located but Affinia is fine. If the Affinia Dumont ever shows up, grab that but it seems to have dropped out of the Royal rotation. Candlewood Suites would be another ok location.
is a great city, as JWC points out, and a short flight to NYC.

Personally, I would not do a daytrip from NYC to Niagara Falls, it is long! You want to see the falls from the Canada side, so if you do take a trip there be sure it isn't to the NY side.

Let me know when you'll be in NYC!!

The Hilton Vacation Club and HGVC West 57th Street both have 1 BR Units. I believe the Hilton Vacation Club may also have some 2 BR units. I don't know anything about the Affinia, but my choice would be the Hilton Vacations Club. One big advantage to the Hilton Vacations Club is you get breakfast for free every morning and afternoon free drinks and food. That can save you a ton of money. This is available for exchangers and renters as well as owners. You also get daily housekeeping. There are NO additional fees of any kind for SFX exchangers. Don't know about RCI. Also the Hilton Vacation Club has a great location on 6th Avenue.

If you travel from NYC to Niagara Falls, you have to go through the US side to get to the Canadian side. Personally, I would do both. The Canadian side is much more developed for tourists but the US side offers a couple advantages. First, they have the lookout that hangs right over the river so you get a different perspective. Also the "Maid of the Mist" boat is cheaper on the US side. They both do the same thing exactly, it is just that the US costs less. When we went on the tour, we stopped at the American side and went on the Maid of the Mist. We then crossed over the Rainbow bridge to the Canadian side where we spent the night and the next morning.

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

I'm guessing you know Worldmark has a resort at West Yellowstone, which is nice--but just in case you didn't know, it does.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

I didn't know there were larger units at HGVC - I wonder how hard they are to come by. Do they have kitchens? I know it's NYC but with a lot of children some basic kitchen amenities would come in handy. Affinia Manhattan has full kitchens.

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

Sedona is particularly beautiful at Christmastime, they decorate the town with luminaria, paper lanterns with candles inside.

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

I didn't know there were larger units at HGVC - I wonder how hard they are to come by. Do they have kitchens? I know it's NYC but with a lot of children some basic kitchen amenities would come in handy. Affinia Manhattan has full kitchens.

I don't know whether there are kitchens or not. I haven't seen any mention of them one way or the other. Kitchens are not an issue with us. HGVC and Hilton Vacation Club are 2 separate properties. Having free breakfast at the Hilton Vacation Club will save a lot of money. Then if you do the street food vendor thingee like we did the last trip, you are all set. We just ate 2 meals in restaurants, awesome dinner at Uncle Jack's Steakhouse and another one on Broadway by the Broadway Theater. Right next door to it is a Pizza place that sells pizza for $1.00 /slice,

NYC does offer some good dining options at pretty reasonable prices.

Of the 3 NYC timeshares we have stayed at we prefer the location of the Hilton Vacation Club, then the Manhattan Club, then HGVC West 57th Street. One advantage to HGVC West 57th Street is the deli restaurant Green Café 57 across the street. Very reasonable and good food, especially for breakfast.

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

Lake Tahoe would be beautiful and snowy that time of year, you could combine that with SFO. I do hope you stop in NYC. Though it might be a bit warmer, December is very tourist crowded but Jan is a great time of year for hotel and theatre discounts. You will need at least two one-bedrooms, so for NYC look for Manhattan Club or Affinia Manhattan. Manhattan Club is better located but Affinia is fine. If the Affinia Dumont ever shows up, grab that but it seems to have dropped out of the Royal rotation. Candlewood Suites would be another ok location.

I have a feeling that Vegas in not for you with your kids. Disneyworld in Orlando, FL is MUCH bigger than Disneyland if you decide to swing south. January is a good month to visit the theme parks there, too - low crowds.

Montreal is a great city, as JWC points out, and a short flight to NYC.

Personally, I would not do a daytrip from NYC to Niagara Falls, it is long! You want to see the falls from the Canada side, so if you do take a trip there be sure it isn't to the NY side.

You and your kids will love love love DC, plan at least few days to be able to enjoy it.

Let me know when you'll be in NYC!!

I agree with Glitter that a visit from San Francisco to Lake Tahoe is well worth doing unless there is an enormous amount of snow. The lake is so pretty in the winter and especially if there is snow. It doesn't take long to drive around the lake so one or two nights would do it unless you want to do more sightseeing in the area.

I believe that Yosemite is on your schedule but it is so much nicer to go there during spring when the waterfalls are full and the dogwood is blooming.

Yellowstone sounds interesting but do you have enough time?

Visiting Hearst Castle is nice to see and the coastal route is very pretty but not so much when you get closer to the Los Angeles area.

I would spend more time in New York City and Washington DC. You can stay there several weeks and still not have visited all there is to see. We were so impressed by Washington DC but also love New York City.

Have you decided to skip the Grand Canyon?

It must be quite a chore to get the timeshares all lined up. I put my hat off to you for getting this accomplished.

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

Pat, I think we'll spend a few nts in Washington DC, a few in NYC and maybe a day trip or overnight at Niagara Falls, unless it's frozen over while we're there. Then maybe 1 week at a timeshare. I'm happy to be in a hotel for NYC. Don't think an exchange is likely and really can't be bothered with the uncertainty of not having accommodation there waiting for an unlikely exchange to come through that will only fit half of us anyway. Maybe we can rent the Manhattan Club for 3 nts/4nts if there's availability then, or just a hotel.

John, flying into NYC first is a good idea. The only problem with that is that it will only give us 1 wk in the Northeast since we have a booking at Dolphin's Cove from the 15th. I guess we could cancel it at a cost of $75 only. We'll see how the other timeshares line up.

I was thinking we could have stayed at Carlsbad and drive to Disney for the few days we'll go, then see San Diego the rest of the time. Marbrisa seems like a nice resort but it's only 2br compared to Dolphin's 3br. Hmm... thinking about that still but I think the kids will appreciate 3 brs more.

Glitter, there is availability at Lake Tahoe. I was looking for a place close to Yosemite and SFO. Will check it out some more. I also have on hold Mountain Retreat in Arnold as it sounds like a lovely area and not too far from Yosemite. Maybe we could fly into SFO, then stay at Mountain Retreat.
I was thinking of maybe spending Christmas in Las Vegas so that we could see all the decorations and lights but the kids are a lot older than the first time we went and so much more observant and aware. When I mentioned it to my kids and Phil, they said no way. The boys thought it was pretty disgusting that they'd have to avert their gazes from pamphlets and billboards that might not be suitable for their eyes. I would have liked to go for the fountains and beautiful displays but I guess it would have been too stressful being worried the whole time about what the kids might be seeing.

Pstreet1 - No, I didn't! Thanks for alerting me! I'll look into it and see if we can book it.

Emmy - yes we plan to revisit grand Canyon.

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

Christmas in LV does not sound appealing as much as I like Vegas. The major cities like SF, NY & DC would probably have more of a Christmas feel. If you really want a Christmas city, stay in Bethlehem, PA. It's about 1 1/2 hours from NYC or 45 mins from the Poconos which have a lot of timeshares.

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

Where you actually spend Christmas is not important to get the Christmas feel as all the stores, cities, etc are decorated for Christmas starting at Thanksgiving ( Nov. 24th this year ). New York is awesome during the Christmas season.

I would definitely stay in Carlsbad rather than Dolphin. It would be a shame not to visit San Diego because it offers so much more than the Los Angeles area and is much nicer. Downtown San Diego is very nice with lots to do and see. Downtown Los Angeles is a place to avoid, not visit. Downtown Long Beach which is pretty close to Dolphin is pretty nice with a lot of good restaurants and is a good place to visit.

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

Niagara Falls, American side, walk three sisters island. Small bridges & path, you walk right over the rapids. Not a long walk.

As NF is at least 400 miles one way from NYC, best to spend a night. Falls area hotels $ should not be too bad at that time of year, but there is also a nicer Holiday Inn on the river on Grand Island NY (my old home town, still have family there). Usually directions send you over GI to the Falls. Might be able to get a deal through priceline?

[Nancy Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Nancy]

If you need any info about DC, let me know. I live here part of the time.

Nancy