2017 Yellowstone or bust
 

Our family, kids 12 and 9, are planning a first-time trip to Yellowstone arriving about June 11, 2017. I’ve had many successful trips with knowledge of Fodorites, but for Yellowstone, I am completely overwhelmed. From reading the wonderful info on so many posts, my Yellowstone to-do lists are lengthy and am not sure how to prioritize or if I even need to at this point.

We plan to stay four nights in Yellowstone. We’re traveling from MN and thought a good half-way point would be sleeping in Medora, ND. They have Roosevelt National Park and the outdoor Medora Musical with steak dinner that we’re interested in. We can do the musical the night we arrive, so how long should we devote to Roosevelt when Yellowstone is imminent?

I’m trying to choose two different lodging for our four nights – Is May 1, 2016 the date the reservations open? I like the newest accommodations, but can only guess at this by the photos online. Besides the Premium Lodge rooms at Canyon Lodge which others have been recently remodeled or built? We’re attracted to Old Faithful Inn because it seems to be a large complex with restaurants and shops. What other accommodations have an atmosphere like this? Your help is sooo appreciated. Thank you!

You will see some buffalo in the south unit of Roosevelt.
I know you will be seeing buffalo and a lot of elk and other wildlife in Yellowstone.
From Medora to Old Faithful is a solid 8.5 hours of driving coming in the north entrance through the Roosevelt Arch in Gardiner.
Why not take the route through South Dakota and see Mt. Rushmore and Devil's Tower?
Anything at Mammoth would be OK for 1 night before going to lodging at Old Faithful.

Thanks tomfuller. Mammoth looks like plush accommodations. That's a good idea to stop there or even Gardiner after Medora. I wonder about taking too much time at Roosevelt on day #2, esp if it's more than 8 hours to Yellowstone.

We did the Badlands-Black Hills and Devil's Tower a few years ago. We may go home that route and hit our fav spots. Cody activities sound fun for kids and adults.

If you decide to go in on the east entrance from Cody, the Lake Hotel/cabins might be a good choice for a night.

I called the number on the USPARKLODGING.com site and they were helpful telling me about the newly renovated lodging at Yellowstone. She went on to tell me she could take my order ahead of time and I thought, wow how cool. Today I realize it’s not YELLOWSTONENATIONALPARKLODGES.COM run by Xanterra. USPARKLODGING.com is a scammy site to appear they’re the National Parks, charging more for rooms and even having forest green web site.

Coffee is important to me and not the kind you can brew in your hotel room. Do all of the lodges have to-go coffee shops? Other than that, wildlife viewing and scenery is what we're most excited for.

Here’s my rough itinerary:

Day 1
From MN, travel to and sleep in Medora, ND
Attend Medora outdoor musical and steak dinner

Day 2
Explore Roosevelt National Park
Sleep in Billings, MT

Day 3
Explore Yellowstone
Sleep Canyon Lodge

Day 4
Explore Yellowstone
Sleep Canyon Lodge

Day 5
Explore Yellowstone
Sleep ____ (in Yellowstone)

Day 5
Explore Yellowstone
Visit Cody and Rodeo
Sleep in Yellowstone or Cody

Day 6
Travel through South Dakota visiting fav spots in Black Hills
Sleep in

Day 7
Homeward bound

On the interest list.

Interests are: Uncle Tom's Trail, Artist Point, Gyesers, rent bikes, Grand Prismatic Spring, Fountain Paint Pots, Boiling River, Lamar Valley, Grant visitors center, Mammoth Falls, whitewater rafting, West Yellowstone Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center, South Rim Trail and maybe the cookout at Roosevelt.

Would it be ok to stay at Canyon the whole time, to access the above?

As much as I like scenery, I like above-average accommodations. Wondering where to stay with the May 1 reservations opening. I wish there was a grid with all lodging to easily compare accommodations.

I am a bit concerned about two items.

As to above-average accommodations, that's hard to come by in national park lodges. Although the public areas can be beautiful, rooms tend more toward rustic or basic and away from upscale or luxurious Even the more upscale rooms in newer lodges tend not to reach the level of facilities outside of parks. But that's the trade-off for being able to be in a national park.

Coffee - You'll probably be able to get coffee at most of the lodges, but again it might not be terrific. At least, that's what I've found. Some on this forum have mentioned bringing a pot with them when traveling. The food at Canyon Grill was pretty bad (lunch), but we did enjoy dinners at the Obsidian Room at Old Faithful Snow Lodge.

Of course, take my opinion with a grain of salt, but I didn't want you to set your expectations too high.

With respect to staying at Canyon for the entire time - July will be peak time, the park is huge, and with the animal jams, you will be spending a LOT of time just trying to get around. It would easily take an entire day to do the figure 8, or maybe just one half of it. I would recommend picking two locations, as you were planning.

Sorry, was thinking it was July. June still primetime, maybe not quite so frenetic though.

I agree fully with everything Sludick said. Although I am not particularly fussy about upscale accommodations, the national park lodges can be pricey but pretty basic but well worth it, particularly in Yellowstone. We stayed in Snow Lodge (Old Faithful) and it was fine. The dining wasn't bad either.
In Mammoth, we had a funky old cabin and we loved it although it was very rustic. Dining in Mammoth was quite good.
In Canyon, we stayed in a really cheap, ultra-rustic cabin - very bare bones but fine. Especially loved the evening concert of wolves howling and the rutting elk whining - so awesome! The food in Canyon was the worst.
Being a somewhat fussy coffee drinker, we bring a tiny camp stove and percolator with us and a bag of freshly ground beans and make our own - had no problem firing up that camp stove at the cabins and we even did it at Snow Lodge! Plus we like to get a very early start for best wildlife viewing and having the stove makes it easy.
Definitely stay in more than one location - the park is big!

There was a big, slow-moving line for the espresso bar at Mammoth Lodge the morning after we stayed in one of the cabins there. You might be better off bringing a travel French press or maybe an Aeropress.

Lee Ann

I would vote for 2 nights at Roosevelt Lodge and 2 nights at Old Faithful Inn. Frankly, I like the rooms without the bathrooms best. My wife would disagree.

Great info on the coffee!

Thanks for grounding me, sludick. I will lower my expectations --- I had the train of thought that I'm paying quite a bit for the rooms, I would be getting Park Ave accommodations.

I enjoyed your lodging descriptions, sharondi.

ElendilPickle, I'll have to Google Aeropress.

spirobulldog, why did you like the non-bathroom rooms better?

I talked to the real Yellowstone Park last night and was told the Lake Hotel and Lake Lodge are the most posh, but kind of stuffy and not great for kids. I like the idea of having a mini fridge and she said only Snow Lodge and Canyon have them.

When on hold with the park I heard you can make dinner reservations. Is this as competitive as making dinner reservations at Disney World? How far in advance do I need to do this?

Googs, I'm sure you'll have a great time, even if you are paying Park Ave prices for a Motel 6 room. ;) You'll be surrounded by splendor.

I tend to make dinner reservations at park lodges pretty far in advance if I know my timeframes. I've seen people without reservations being turned away or given late-hour, just-before-closing times. Given that there are few alternative dining options, this can put a real damper on things. Also, you may want to choose a time that works with your plans for a sunset or some other activity.

Don't laugh, this means I might reserve months in advance for a dinner reservation. OTOH, I think that is probably overkill (as one poster here once said, "why plan when you can overplan?"). Just try not to do the walk-up routine, if you can.

Haven't stayed at the Lake Hotel, but we have been inside. Our impression was also that it was lovely, but a bit too formal/stuffy for us. We have stayed at the Snow Lodge in a Premium Lodge Room, and it was quite comfortable. Given that it is next door to the Old Faithful Inn and the Visitor Center, there are more options and amenities than you will find at Lake.

Motel 6 - I love it sludick!

Thanks for the dining feedback. I will overplan too.

I'm thinking about two nights at Mammoth for the free lobby coffee. LOL. Mammoth seems to work well with coming from Medora, ND the night before (we'll scratch Billings). We can discover the north and central of Yellowstone. If the hot tub accommodates 6 in the hot tub cabin, why is there only one bed? Trying to figure premium lodging at Mammoth without booking suite.

Old Faithful Inn I think will be our next few nights. Seems to capture history, eye candy and a bustling atmosphere for our city kids.

Any advice - better to call or use web site when booking May 1st? Can you book both lodges on the same order or will I have to go back in and get the other lodge? Thanks!!

<i>Googs, I'm sure you'll have a great time, even if you are paying Park Ave prices for a Motel 6 room.</i>

That is the perfect description of National Park hotels. I love them, but you have to go in knowing that the room is pretty bare bones given the price you're paying!

My favorite is the Many Glacier Hotel in Glacier; the views are incredible! The rooms and food...eh.

Yellowstone is quite similar. :)

Googs, I tend to go online first. When looking for availability when it's not showing online, trying to pick up a cancellation, etc., then it's best to call.

Can I copyright my National Park room motto? ;)

Great motto!

I called again today for more info. Unfortunately when booking online (and maybe on the phone also) you have to pay one nights lodging PER lodge.

At Mammoth....the Hot Tub Cabins look the nicest and have a hot tub to boot. In the Hot Tub Cabins, I was told you can sleep four. There is only one bed, but said we could bring our own. Anyone have experience with how roomy they are?

My other idea is get a Hot Tub Cabin and a Cabin Without Bath (to save $), but would split up the family. Not too detrimental when you are in a car together for a week. The Mammoth rooms don't get great reviews with heat issues and small rooms.

Please advise....less than 24 hours till lift off! :)

So does anyone know the deal on when reservations open. I tried to book online and it's only showing 2016 dates. I then tried to call both numbers on the xanterra site and get a "busy-like" signal.

awayfromitall, it is more of a "fast busy" tone than a regular slower busy beep? If so, that is a network reject. What are the numbers you are trying to dial?

I was able to book online for 2017 on Sunday, May 1. It was a busy site in the morning, but I got both my reservations through by noon. I got all my first choices/dates. Yahoo!

I'm making lots of notes, as I hope to visit Yellowstone--preferably off season--in the next couple of years.

Re: coffee ... I travel with a collapsable cone and my own favorite ground coffee. The cone is less than an inch thick. If I'm staying somewhere that does not have a way to boil water I bring an immersible heater. These are much easier to carry than a French press or a percolator--and make really good drip coffee.

Congrats, Googs!

Thanks Sludick!

Now I have one year to devise my coffee plan. Haha.

We stayed in a hot tub cabin in Mammoth. We loved it but it is quite rustic, especially the bathroom - very small and old. Only one bed in the room, not a huge room but you could squeeze in a cot. I'd suggest a separate room for the kids.

From the photos on the reservation site it looks like some or all of the Mammoth cabins have been renovated. I hope we get a Frontier cabin that is. I would have loved the two room cabin, but no bathrooms.

After Yellowstone I think we'll splurge with a suite in Cody. Does anyone recommend a hotel in Cody? Maybe with pool for the kids.

We didn't find great lodging in Cody. But we loved the rodeo and BEST of all is the Buffalo Bill Museum. It's like 5 museums in one. Absolutely fantastic!! We had no idea and thankfully had enough flexibility to see it all .... It's a do not miss :)
Of all the National Parks, Yellowstone remains our favorite so far. Enjoy!!

Superb pk305! Now, two must-do's on the Cody list. My father visited Cody 30+ year ago and the only thing he can recall was the wonderful Buffalo Bill Museum. I'm wondering if I need to book Cody as far out as I did for Yellowstone.

Medora, ND shows no vacancies in the top two hotels (of three). I hope they aren't booked.

Someone gave me the recent National Geographic which features Yellowstone. Very insightful and inspiring!