If you end up driving from SD to Las Vegas across the Mojave, you can stop in the Mojave National Preserve near Baker. You see pretty much the same things as you would in Joshua Tree.
If you do the Preserve, you can stop for 1 night at Buffalo Bill's in Primm just over the border in Nevada on I-15. Buffalo Bill's has a roller coaster which may still be operating.
To get to Red Rocks go west on Charleston from LV about 25 miles. Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and Valley of Fire are good things to see east and NE of Las Vegas.

With the young age of your kids, I would add the extra days to SD and only spend a couple of nights in LV. More to do for them around SD. LV will be over the New Year's holiday weekend, so rooms may be more expensive and more of a party crowd in town.

Joshua Tree isn't that far from SD. tomfuller may have a good idea too. Although, I've never been to the mojave nat perserve. Use googleearth and see what you may prefer and plan your route.

You'll be seeing a whole lot of desert, it's a good thing you enjoy it :)

First things first. Sort out your accomodation in Las Vegas. When New Year's falls on a weekend, many of the hotels sell out months in advance. Most have 3 night minimums and higher-than-usual rates.

If joesorce is right and the only rooms available are the best (most expensive rooms), then you might stay longer in Primm. There are worse places to stay like Barstow and Baker.
Mitchell Caverns, which is CA's most remote State Park within Mojave National Preserve, will be reopening in October. http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2842726/mitchell_caverns/
Watch the video to see the highlights of Mojave.
Plenty of Joshua trees to see there too without such a long detour.

This is a great resource for planning you time at Disney http://www.scottware.com.au/theme/feature/atend.htm

We spent 5 weeks in California and Nevada with our kids last June/July. San Diego was probably the highlight for my boys (8 and 11 at the time) and they preferred LegoLand and Seaworld to Disneyland.

They found Vegas fascinating, but we didn't spent alot of time there. We stayed at the Mandalay Bay which has a wave pool and they also loved the Shark Bay Aquarium there.

As for shows, we went to the Lion King, which was the main reason that we stayed at the Mandalay, but another they would probably love is Le Reve, not actually a "Cirque" show but along the same lines and in a fabuolus purpose built theatre at Wynn.

You may find some interest in our trip report that I posted. Here is the link http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...lden-state.cfm

Shanek, thank you so much for pointing your report to me! I LOVED reading it!! What a wonderful trip of a life time for you and your family!! great pictures, great report, thanks for sharing it! I will treasure your tips and impressions. I wish I had more spare time to research and plan. But this site is defineletly giving me hints and ideas. Thank you all dear travellers!

You are more than welcome Angelica. I loved writing it and it is a pleasure to share it.

We will go back and explore the east coast soon.

Are you travelling from another part of the USA or are you from abroad?

I am so much more appreciative of all things American since our trip. It certainly bypassed all our expectations.

Shanek,

I am really looking forward to this trip!

The more I read about the country and the beauty of the coast and deserts, the more I fall in love with it!

I am just a little apprehensive about the planning and frustrated for not having enough time to explore the area as I'd like to. Only 2 weeks, I am afraid! And the only other time when we could have more days for travelling is in August since the school here in UK breaks end of July (way too late!)

We are an anglo-italian family (I'm italian and hubby is english) and live in England.

Hi everyone,

so this this is my preliminary itinerary:

1 week in LA (theme parks, hollywood, malibu, venice beach santa monica, and possibly santa barbara only for day trip, farmers market and of course an outlet for the lady!

4 nights in san diego (will just need to choose and pick up what to do and see -I have a lot on my list!)

1 night in the desert on the way to San Diego.
I thought we could visit the JT NP and stop over night to either a place in 29 palms or joshua tree, I had a look on google maps and seem like they're 20 min drive apart. Which area is better? Any racomandation?
I have been wondering whether with 2 young kids (my youngest will be 2 1/2) and being winter, and probably quite chilli there, I should spend the night in palms springs and visit the joshua tree the following day.
Any suggestions??

3 nights in LV and then leave for the loooong journey home...

Car rentals are much cheaper in Las Vegas than LA.
My thought-fly to LV and rent the car. One night in Primm. Next day drive through Mojave National Preserve. Lots of Joshua trees and pretty desert to see there without detouring all the way down to I-10 for Joshua Tree NP. The Kelso Dunes and Mitchell Caverns are worth seeing. You can come out the south entrance onto I-40 and still go through Barstow (I-15/I-40 split)
Next hit LA then SD then maybe Palm Springs with your last 2 days in LV after turning in your rental car.
You will find McCarran much less hectic to get in/out of than LAX.

tomfuller probably makes some vaild points, but from personal experience of twice hiring vehicles at LAX, I found it to be a simple procedure.

Once you exit the airport buildings, there are buses, every few minutes that head straight to the Car Rental offices. Each are brightly painted in the corresponding Rental Companies colors so you cant get on the wrong bus. We thought that National were the most effecient company and had such a wide range of cars to pick from. Subscribe to their webmail for special offers.https://www.nationalcar.com/index.do...BExact&sissr=1

You dont need to prepay or even make a deposit, so you can swap to a better deal if one comes along.

I like the balance of your trip but cant make comment about the Joshua Tree NP vs Palm Springs question as we didn't go to either.

Dont worry too much about the outlet malls near LA and San Diego as there are 2 in Vegas, convieniently located, North and South of the strip. Subscribe to their VIP club for discounts and offers ....http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=58.

Just we very aware of baggage limits on your flight and take a minimum with you.

Are you sport fans? You can prebuy tickets to basketball or football here http://www.razorgator.com/

You don't have to wait for the right color shuttle bus if you go to Vegas. All the rental car companies (except Fox) are in the same building. FYI National and Alamo are the same company.
Last Christmas I had a National reservation through Priceline.
I got an Alamo Mazda2 with less than 800 miles on it when I pulled out the single gate. I was very happy with my $14/day plus taxes/fees rental. We had a great Christmas meal at the Hofbrau Haus and then to church and then to Primm.

Your plan is just fine. Whether you stop over enroute to Vegas is up to you. Not entirely necessary but you might want to break it up. SD to PS is about 2.5 hours. IMO it makes no sense to fly to Vegas. That simply complicates things for not much benefit. It is about a 5 hour drive. When you add advance check in and car return/pick up flying won't save you much time at all.

And Primm is -- well, dry/ugly

http://tinyurl.com/3zu2ljm

Cars are not cheaper in Vegas for non-citizens. Foreigners get great deals from Hertz, National and Alamo all over the country, even for one way rentals. They pay less than U.S. citizens do and often their rates include insurances that the rates for the natives do not.

Have you decided where to stay in Las Vegas yet? I see one hotel over new years eve weekend is $445 per night with a 3 night minimum. I paid $65 for the same hotel last April.

$445 a night in Vegas. Ouchhh! You could get a whole floor for that in July!

I have to agree with janis. Flights for 4 of you would cost more that the "One-Way" hire car fee. Doesn't make much sense to me either way you look at it.

I got the full Insurance option with National and they even reimbursed me for the cost of a replacement trye. No hassles at all. I was impressed with their no fuss service. I paid about $50 a day all up for a small SUV.

Just a couple of specific responses toJacob's post - Lake Tahoe is slighty <i>under</I> 4 hours from San Francisco to either South or North Lake Tahoe, a little longer if you go on a Friday afternoon or during commute hours. Also, the rides on the Santa Cruz boardwalk are open very limited hours in December (not at all until the 26th and then short hours).

sf7307: I <i>think</i> Jacob might be advertising that website. since his post has next to nothing to do w/ the OP's plans.

If you are going to disguse a spam attack by hiding it amongst a post, would it not make sense to at least keep on topic?

Oops! (my Fodor's spam-dar is usually pretty sensitive!)