Hi everyone! My husband, our 4yold daughter and I are returning to USA again June 2011 and were hoping for some suggestions from the experts!!
We holidayed in USA June 2010 but only west coast. We will be returning to Vegas initially, for 7 nights but are not sure whether to stay again at MGM Grand. We really enjoyed it last time and price was fabulous at $55 per night!! This time I think it will vary between $55 pn and $97 but still think that is great. Does anyone else have any suggestions for another hotel to try around this price??
We will then fly to New York for 7 nights and have booke dthe Hotel Wolcott as it seems to be in a great location and grea price. Any thoughts about this hotel??
Also we would love suggestions for value meals (kid friendly please) and suggested things to see and do.
We will then travel to Orlando for 6 nights and obviously go to Disneyworld and Space centre. Any other suggestions would be great!!
We are very very lucky to have made friends last time with a delightful family from north carolina and they have invited us to stay with them for a few days and then continue on to Atlanta to spend 4th July with them and their friends in the mountains! Can't believe how lucky we are to be able to spend this special time with an American family and their friends....too generous! Hopefully we will be able to return their hospitality if they venture to Australia!
I would appreciate any tips, tricks regarding anything at all!!
Last trip I found replies so helpful.

THanks so much..this is a fabulous site!
Kerrie

Hi Kerrie

Congrats on your trip sounds fun.

www.betterbidding.com is a great site for hotel deals

up to 70% off bidding www.priceline.com

Get great deals everywhere...amazing values

www.tripres.com another great value site for LV Orlando

if you do not want to bid.

your NY hotel ok you could do better.

Lots of fast food pizza options for kids everwhere no worries.

In LV find best values at the Stratosphere or Luxor

for more upscale both very kid friendly.

For Orlando the Lake Buena Vista area has cheap resort

Hotels 1 block from Disney Village

without WDW resort hotel expense.

www.wdwinfo.com good general info for you.

When there last stayed at the Royal Plaza bidding Priceline

$30/nt awesome value...so shop around to save more have fun,

The Wolcott is acceptable but old - I wouldnt rate it any higher than that. And the location isn;t very convenient - primarily a business district that is quite deserted at night and not very near the subway. And dining options are limited.

With a child that age I would stay on the upper west side. This is a mid/upscale residential area that has several benefits: tons of good inexpensive restaurants that are used to and welcome kids; location right near Central Park with playgrounds, zoo, carousel, etc - close to the Museum of Natural History (which every kids loves, never mind the adults) and 2 subway lines to get you around the city quickly and easily. Also several gourmet places (Zabars et al) where you can get prepared foods or makings for a picnic. in the park

You might look at the Beacon, the Lucerne or On the Ave or the Excelsior - or for more budget, check out the Newton.

"We will then travel to Orlando for 6 nights and obviously go to Disneyworld and Space centre. Any other suggestions would be great!!"

Kerrie, there are many of us who can help you with this portion of your trip, but please give us some additional information first (e.g. likes, dislikes, budget, modes of transportation, etc.) Orlando and Central Florida offer much more than the theme parks, just like Queensland's Gold Coast has more to see than theme parks and tacky attractions. Give us some ideas about your interests.

Assuming you do want to visit Disney & KSC, here are some links to get you started:

Theme Park Insider
http://www.themeparkinsider.com/

AllEars.net
http://allears.net/index.html

DISboards.com
http://www.disboards.com/

Mousesavers.com
http://www.mousesavers.com/

Disney Phone Numbers
http://www.islandcruisetravel.com/di...ne_numbers.htm

Kennedy Space Center
http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com

But, at the risk of being redundant, what other types of things would you like to experience in Florida?

_____________________________________________
Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

The Wolcott is a very basic hotel and I think you can do much better depending on how realistic you are about hotel prices in NYC. June is not cheap. What's your hotel budget for NYC?

I also can't imagine wanting to spend a week in Las Vegas with a 4 yr old especially if you've been there before.

A week in Las Vegas in June???

Bring your sunscreen!!! That's like spending a week at Uluru in February (minus the flies, of course). Agree with mclaurie. There is not much there for a 4-year old. The Grand Canyon might be a better option.

_____________________________________________
Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

Sorry to jump on the bandwagon here, but my threshold for Vegas is 3 nights. I'd consider 3 nights then a 3 night roadtrip and return for the 7th night.

I agree with nytrav's suggestion of upper west side. (unless most of your plans are midtown and downtown) Were you getting great rates or a suite to make that hotel a consideration? Location is a bit off imho

Check out this place in Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. I like the location if you're looking at midtown and neighborhood vibe a few blocks from TSqu and Central Park and close to the river.

http://www.skylinehotelnyc.com/

Well that's my two cents worth a penny.

I agree with McLaurie. The UWS is a residential area and you will see other families with children. Depending on your budget, you can also look at Milburn and Belleclaire hotels.

Oops , sorry that was NYtraveler who suggested UWS.

OOHHH HOW I LOVE THIS SITE!! Thanks to everyone so far who has responded. Given we are travelling for 4 weeks, our budget for accommodation per night is not huge. Our booking at Wolcott in New York is a triple at $180. The rooms appear to be quite spacious with 2 beds in one area and one bed in another "room" separated by a doorway only not a door if that makes sense. The Newton seems to be the closet in price at $225 per night so thanks NYtraveler! Will keep an eye on this. May ask them if our car club RACV will suffice for their AAA discount. It has been almost 20yrs since I was in NY and we stayed at Hilton then. Location is always important for us as we like to be close to everything so I do appreciate the comments from you all. We will definitely consider the areas suggested. I love the idea of Priceline qwovadis but have a feeling when I was organising our trip this year that the bedding configuration cannot be requested. Am I correct with this?? If it was just hubby and I it would be magic but not sure if it works with a little one. Don't want us all in one king bed! We have booked a suite at Buena Vista Suites in Orlando and that looks great. We will defnitely go to Disneyworld and Kennedy Sc. but not sure how long to spend at Disney parks. To be honest Orlando_Vic I haven't researched much into Orlando to know what it has to offer . I absolutely understand that there is more than theme parks on offer. We generally like to be on the go the entire time and as much as we enjoy going to the beach, we are not the sort to lay on a beach or by the pool all day..get too bored. We love to hop on and off buses, trains, whatever and see the places we visit. We can hire a car if necessary as we did last time. Our gorgeous Ella is very adaptable and relishes our journeys together. We try to always include activities and sites she would enjoy wherever possible but this does not always need to dictate our plans as she is so social and just loves chatting with people. The thought of seeing Minnie M again has her bags already packed in readiness! Again given our daughter's age we don't delve into anything too strenuous although she is a very good little walker! You know it is funny last time I enquired on this forum re Vegas and many wondered why we would take a 4yold even for 3 days. We don't enjoy gambling at all but loved soaking up the sites. Keeping in mind we will most likely have a very late sleep in on our first or second day due to jet lag and everything always takes just that bit longer when you have a little one with you. I just loved looking at the buildings and some of the free shows on offer. We will also be able to take advantage again of the many pools at MGM if we stay there again. Am I correct in saying Stratosphere and Luxor are at the complete other end of the strip from Mgm Qwovadis?? Actually my husband would love to visit Hoover Dam so perhaps we could take a road trip Kealalani! He also has a thing for bridges! We know it is hot in June. The days we were there this year saw over 110 deg temps but it was a dry heat and found it ok...not sure how we will fin Florida though..or Wilmington! May appreciate the escape to mountains in Atlanta! Thank you all so much for your help so far. I look forward to many more hints and comments!! Lovvve it!! Kerrie

PLEASE use some paragraphs! It's much too early to find best prices for August in NYC. The Affinia suite hotels usually run specials either on their own website (affinia.com) or on travelzoo.com or travel-ticker.com some 3 months before a stay. If the Wolcott is a cancelable reservation, keep it until something better comes along. You might also have a look at the radiocityapartments.com and the nycsalisbury.com These are budget suite hotels in midtown where you'd have a small kitchen that could come in handy.

You're correct, you can't use Priceline in NYC for a room for 3 and it's also not usually good for a stay of 7 days.

You can, however, specify 3 people (and therefore be guaranteed two beds) on Hotwire, which is a slightly-higher- priced-than-Priceline anonymous hotel site, but by using betterbidding.com, you can usually figure out what hotel you're likely to get based on the list of amenities.

Thanks mclaurie and sf7307. I shall check them out too. Sorry about no paragraphs. We are going in June too by the way but understand it is still early perhaps to get deals.

If you are in New York on June 21 (and try to arrange your itinerary to do so) - that is the day ( the summer solstice and sort of a pagan holiday) when you will find live music all over the city - in parks, plazss, street corners -- everywhere. Last year Central Park was alive with music and a special production on the lake adjoining Bethesda Fountain. Directories will be published listing the events and where they are. This is an extension of the Fete de Musique started in France - and found all over France on that day - and especially in Paris (that's where we will be).

OOh thank you jroth! We will be in Ny from June 16 to June 23 so that is very exciting!