Last year my 13 year old son and I had a brief visit to Jackson Hole/GT/YS. We stayed at the Jackson Lake Lodge. All we had time for was Old Faithful (and the drive up there).
I'm considering flying into Cody this time. Possibly staying one night in Cody, 1 night in YS, and I’ve already booked 3 nights at Jenny Lake (couldn't get anywhere near there on our last trip...too crowded), Does this sound like a plan? My son enjoys Wild West history, but we also really enjoy "easy hiking" (hiking that is well traveled even if it's moderate to difficult). My other option would be to spend 3 nights in YS. At this late date I don't know if I could find anything available as we are going late August.
Any lodging suggestions for our first 3 days? Either Cody or YS?

Wow! Three nights at Jenny Lake? That will set you back a pretty penny. It's a great location, but I'm assuming you're paying for all the meals. If so, that may not be a great idea if you are spending the day driving around - and I wouldn't want to be driving back and forth from Jenny Lake to YS and back every day.

Cody is great if he likes Wild West history, but three days in Cody is a lot - and you still have the drive back and forth issue.

Why not look into flying into Jackson, renting a car, spending one night at JLL and enjoy the Tetons, spend one night in Yellowstone (keep calling for cancellations and book something in West Yellowstone if you can't find anything in the park) and then move on to Cody and fly out of Cody.

We just got back from our trip and have recently done that driving and those drive times. Because of the ages, our trip was mostly a drive trip, but you want time to get out and hike and do things.

Thanks starrs.
Actually, my thought was fly in to Cody for 1 night
night 2 at the Lake Lodge Hotel or cabins
night 3 at Old Faithful Inn
nights4-6 Jenny Lake Lodge.

While I'm at it, what were the drive times? Would you make changes to these lodging choices? as I may not get any of my changes?

If your son loves wild west history, then the museum in Cody may very well be the high point of his trip!

It doesn't take that long to get somewhere in Yellowstone if you just want to drive, but you'll be stopping frequently to look at the sites and critters - or you'll get stopped by other people looking at critters. There is road construction between Norris and Madison with about a 30-minute delay.

It's about 1 1/2 - 2 hours from Cody to the Lake Lodge, so that's easily doable in a day.

Lee Ann

Thanks for the help.
What I was able to book:
Fly into Cody, stay at Americinn in Cody
Day 2 Lake Lodge
Day 3 Old Faithful Inn
Days 4-6 Jenny Lake Lodge

I was wondering if I should drop one of the Jenny Lake Lodge nights and substitute it for the Jackson Lake Lodge?

If you get a room at Jackson Lake Lodge with a view, yes or maybe.
If you don't, no.

Sounds great either way to me. In Yellowstone, I would see the Canyon and Tower Area. Mammoth is our least favorite area of the park. Lamar and Hayden Valley has good wildlife opportunities, but really you may see wildlife anywhere. In Canyon there will be plenty of people on all of the trails there. At OFI, I would spend an entire day geyser gazing. Riverside, Castle are two really cool geysers. Take one of the Yellow Bus Tours.

Did you check out The Cody hotel in Cody? Hotel only couple years old. www.thecody.com

Thanks for the suggestions. Yes, I did check out the Cody Hotel. If all things were equal, I got a better rate at the Americinn and I think Tripadvisor had them both rated about the same. Is there a big difference in your opinion?

I don't know either, but the Comfort Inn was nice. A LOT nicer than most Comfort Inns.

Your son will LOVE the Buffalo Bill museum. So much to see - and you'll have the chance at a photo op with Buffalo Bill

Instead of staying 3 nights at Jenny Lake you might want to stay 1 and spend the other two on a wagon train. We did this years ago and it was one of the most memorable experiences we ever had with our kids. Here is the link of the place we used: http://www.wagonswestwyo.com/ Great food. Lots of fun riding beginner horses, fun lunch, storytelling, campfire program, etc. Good animal sighting. We only took the 2 day one night excursion and since we started on a Monday we had horses at our disposal all of the time. They add and drop people from the trip daily as the train moves along.