Faye

We are considering a family vacation next August to see Arizona, with a final stop in Vegas. Our 2 kids are 14 & 11, so we need activities that would suit their ages.

Thoughts so far were:

Day 1 Fly into Phoenix - Stay at Tapatio Cliff for a night. Thought the pool complex would be a great way to unwind for the adults and fun for the kids.

Day 2 - Drive up to Sedona, stopping off at Jerome. Would the ghost town be fun for the kids? Thoughts were to stay at Hilton Sedona Resort & Spa

Day 3 - Staying in Sedona for 2nd night, and visit Slide Rock State Park.

Day 4 - 7 - Drive up to Grand Canyon, stay at Kachina Lodge. Ideas for the day are still open.. thoughts?

Day 8 - Drive to Williams to break up car trip to Vegas. Saw other posts about the Canyon Motel, staying in the Caboose suite.

Day 9 - 10 - Drive to Vegas, stopping at the Hoover Dam. Thinking about Excalibur and doing their Tournament of the Kings -jousting dinner show. Any feedback on show?
Spend the 2nd day just taking in the other hotels on the strip. Its been a long time since we have been in Vegas.


Is this itinerary feasible? Any other thoughts to add?

Thanks!

kaudrey

Hi Faye,

Sounds good to me! I'd suggest the Broken Arrow Pink Jeep tour in Sedona (see www.pinkjeeptours.com). It was a highlight of my trip, and I would think the kids would enjoy it.

A short stop at Montezuma's Castle might be fun for the kids - it's awe-inspiring to see a rock castle built into a cliff a hundred feet in the air.

Drive through Oak Creek Canyon on the way to GC - there are scenic views along the way.

You could do a mule ride into the canyon with the kids, if you think they wouldn't be scared. If not, take them hiking (but you should do this early in the morning - it will be HOT in August). I don't have kids, so I didn't look to see what kinds of activities the rangers offered, but I do know that they offer different programs and guided hikes and things, so there is probably something geared toward kids.

Hope this helps. It sounds like a great trip.

Karen

Syv

Grand Canyon mule rides reserve 23 months in advance, & lodging also books up by December of the year prior. So better check into these ASAP at www.nps.gov/parks.html

Another idea for a day at Grand Canyon is the smooth water raft trip (bus takes you from the Village to Page where it begins).

But you'll be fine with 4 days there for the east and west rim drives & overlooks & short hikes, etc., plus the mule ride & rafting.

Time-wise, itinerary sounds good.

Faye

I was thinking about the mule ride into the canyon, but I have a son who has a fear of heights. I know he will freak out when we get there. The rafting down the river would probably be better. Do I need to book this early too? I did get reservtions at the Kachina Lodge, and requested the 2nd floor, per recommendations from other posts.

The jeep tour in Sedona sounds great! I will definately look into that one.

Momof3boys

We were in Arizona and Utah this summer. Jerome is interesting for a few hrs w/ the mining museum and other mining activities, but it's not a "ghost town" as in haunted. It's an artist town now and has some very nice galleries. Something for kids and parents. Sedona is wonderful - we went hot air ballooning in AM and took the Broken Arrow tour w/ Pink Jeeps - recommend them both. I also had one son who was concerned about the ballooning and hts, but loved it, and another son who refused to take the mules in the GC but was ok w/ them at Bryce. Slide Rock Park is fun and Oak Creek Canyon is beautiful but call to ck if water open - sometimes closed because of increase in bacterial counts. We loved GC - wish we had done more hiking, but ranger tours on condors and fossils very interesting even for teenagers, and took bus tour along west side of south rim which was good. Another tour along east too redundant and wish we had done this ourselves and used time hiking. Vegas was my least favorite place, but my teenagers fascinated w/ it - don't recommend roller coaster in New York - too short for money - but IMAX in Luxor good, fountains at Bellagio's, etc. We saw Blue Man Group which was different and fun. We spent a couple of days in Page and took float trip on Colorado, but you will have time to do this from GC. My teenagers disappointed no white water, but better trip than they thought and scenery was incredible. Have a great time!

Faye

Been checking on the raft trip from Page, and it looks really good.

One question, should we stay only 2 nights at Kachina and then relocate to Page for the last night? Or is there a shuttle from the area for the raft trip?

Also, does anyone have a website for the rafting company?

utahtea

You can take the rafting trip from the Grand Canyon but it cost a lot more and makes for a longer day.

If you don't mind relocating to Page, AZ then you can take the scenic route though Zion National Park back to Las Vegas instead of repeating the route you took to Sedona. From Page, AZ to Las Vegas via Zion is 280 miles. Same as the Grand Canyon via Willams, AZ to Las Vegas, but the scenery is a lot more spectular going though Zion.

The float trip is not white water, and we knew that going in and our 17 year old nephew thought it was the highlight of our two week trip and he even rented a jet ski on Lake Powell.

There is only one consession that does the float trip on the Colorado River out of Page, AZ. Here is the link:

http://www.riveradventures.com/trips_float_trips.shtml

Utahtea

utahtea

Ooops, I forgot to mention. They don't list the trip from the Grand Canyon. You will have to call them to find out the information on that.

Utahtea

Faye

Thanks for the website and information.
My thoughts were to drive to Page, and take the raft trip in the afternoon.
We are talking about August, will it be too hot to be down in the canyon at this time of day?

I found a hotel in Page, and thought about booking 2 nights. I'm not hearing much about Page, but I think my husband would love to rent a boat for a day at Lake Powell and go exploring.
Any recommendations to rent one from a marina around Page?

utahtea

Faye,

We did our trip in August 2003. We did the early morning trip and it was cool to begin with but then it got pretty warm even on the river. Our guide gave us these dispoable clothes to put in the water to get wet and then wear around our necks to keep us cool. We were the coolest raft of the bunch My float trip pictures:

http://www.utahtea.lithium.com/vacation2003/float.htm

I would NOT recommend renting a boat at Page, AZ UNTIL the lake levels rise. The area is in about an 7 - 8 year dought. We went with my BIL, SIL and nephew and BIL had a boat. The main channel is land locked with low water levels so you have to go though narrow Antelope Canyon and it's like being on the open ocean you get so bumped around ALOT with the choppy water. It also takes so long to go thought Antelope Canyon that it takes up to much time coming and going. We spent a week at the lake and only went though the channel once with them because it was so hard on our bodies. You can cruise around the marina area and get close to the Dam if you only want to go out for an hour or two. But if you want to really explore the lake, then I would wait until the lake levels rise again, then I would say..YES, rent a boat and explore the lake.

If you spend two nights, then I also would recommend doing the Upper Antelope Slots Canyon. This is a land tour (not water). It only takes about 1 1/2 hours but it's well worth it. My Slots Canyon Pictures:
http://www.utahtea.lithium.com/vacat...lopecanyon.htm

Also if you do the float trip, your kids will get a kick out of doing the short 3/4 mile hike to Horseshoe Bend where they can see the Colorado River Canyon they floated on. You can only see the beginning and this section of where you will be floating from above. My Horseshoe Bend Pictures:

http://www.utahtea.lithium.com/vacation2003/bigbend.htm


Utahtea

lwinokur

Everything sounds good. I just took 10 days and drove all around Arizona and to Las Vegas. My favorite stop was Page, AZ, and i see it's not on your itinerary. I found it to be the most beautiful stop on our trip. The Grand Canyon was nice, but we were in an out of there in less than a day, which is far less time than we planned on staying...after a while, it just all starts to look the same! But I think you'll find that the drives between these locals are beautiful and interesting. We even crossed through Navajo Indian reservations, and got out on the side of the road to talk to an old Indian man....very cool.

Faye

My itinarery has since changed from my initial post. I am now considering the following:

Day 1 - No change - fly into Phoenix and relax at Tapatio Cliff

Day 2 - Drive up to Sedona - stop by Montezuma Castle on the way, lunch in Sedona and then to Slide Rock State Park

Day 3 - 2nd day in Sedona - Pink Jeep Tour - shopping, pool at hotel...

Day 4 - Drive up to South Rim - stay at Kachina. Use the day to explore

Day 5 - Catch sunrise at South Rim - drive over to Page, raft trip for afternoon - check in Best Western (not much to choose from.. at least its a Jr Suite!)

Day 6 - Rent a boat on Lake Powell and explore

Day 7 - Drive to Zion - stay at the Desert Pearl - Tube the Virgin River

Day 9 - Do a hike in the morning at Zion (any recommendations?) Drive to Las Vegas - check in Excalibur - dinner show

Day 10 - Explore hotels and area at Vegas

Day 11 - Fly home

lwinokur
What did you do in Page that you enjoyed it so much? We were thinking about driving over to the Wahweap Marina and renting a boat for a day, if the water levels are okay.

por2gal

AUGUST IN ARIZONA IS HOT!HOT!HOT! so wherever you decide to go, even up north, please be prepared for the heat. O.k. now for the fun part.

In Phoenix check out the Pointe South Mountain... more fun than just a pool complex and summer rates are incredible for this type of hotel http://www.pointesouthmtn.com/onsite.htm (NO I'm not affiliated with the hotel in any way)

Sedona is AMAZING...I live in Arizona and still enjoy it no matter how many times I go there. My pre-teen niece and nephew could not take enough photos of "Snoopy rock"! I also think kids would enjoy the Jeep rides and check out the sunset from the airport (a well-kept secret that this is THE best place to view the sunset in Sedona)!

Jerome not really a kid-oriented place, nice to visit - very much an artist's colony (good shopping- who says the kids have to have all the fun?)

Montezuma's castle is worth a short stop to look at the "castle" - not much else to do unless your kids like history and museum tours.

Definitely take the steep drive through Oak Canyon on your way to Slide Rock. I agree that you should check out the water conditions before venturing into it due to problems with bacteria - also with the drought it may not be open for sliding. Good place for a picnic lunch among what's left of the orchard. Since you're coming at that time of the year when we like to get out of the cities and head north to cooler climes expect areas like Slide Rock, Sedona and GC to be busy.

You can easily spend the day touring the south rim and the rafting would probably be great if you're planning on spending that many days there. Otherwise, I agree with Utahtea's suggestion - besides there's not too much to do in Williams as far as I know although the train ride from Williams to the GC on the Grand Canyon Railroad was FUN when we did it (wild west show before you get on the train, and if you splurge for the first class cars you get food and drink, serenaded by cowboys, robbed by desperados, etc.) but I don't know how that would fit in with your itinerary.

Now to Vegas... let's put it this way, Vegas is starting to get away from the "family oriented" stuff like it was for the last few years. If you can get in and your kids like music/drumming the BLUE MAN GROUP is the WAY to go....just don't sit in the first 10 or so rows unless you don't mind getting splashed with glow-in-the-dark paint! Oh the Fun! The M&M store (all three?? floors with everything M&M you can think of) is a great place for kids (o.k. and child-like adults too!) We stayed at the Excalibur once with teenage daughters and it was "o.k." - kind of disappointed in the rooms/kind of shabby and there wasn't much for the girls to do while the adults gambled since kids are not allowed on the casino floor. Outdoor stuff like the Pirates of the Caribean show, the Fountains, etc. are fun too and you can easily spend a whole day just walking from hotel to hotel to see their "special" attractions.

Hope this helps.

por2gal

Just saw your revised itinerary....check out the boat rentals at Lake Powell NOW if you can....again, VERY busy time of the year for that area.

I forgot to mention that we opted out of the Excalibur show since we heard that it gets very smokey in there and that was a problem for us.

ccrosner

We just did a very similar trip with kids aged 8 and 10 (you can probably do a search to find my trip report from early September on this site).

I would make a change or two to your itinerary (we did a round trip from LV so didn't do Phoenix and Sedona). I would add a night at the Grand Canyon and subtract one in Page. If you spend some time hiking down into GC (recommend South Kaibab Trail), you will not regret it. My son and I have height issues (didn't like Eiffel Tower in LV or Hoover Dam because of it) but we had no trouble hiking into GC. You are on your own two feet and it really isn't bad. It's a totally different way to experience the GC and worth the extra night. We didn't do the float trip out of Page but did Antelope Canyon which was definitely a highlight. Page itself is interesting for its local topography but the town itself is definitely a lodging/tourist stopover. And I would agree with Utahtea about boating on Lake Powell. We stayed at Wahweap lodge for a night and were SO happy that we nixed our original plan of renting a houseboat. It's interesting to see but I can't see spending a day on Lake Powell instead of an extra day at GC or in Zion.

As for Zion, which we all enjoyed, don't think you'll get to tube on the Virgin. We had hoped to do that but a friend who went in late June told me that even then the water level was low. It wasn't even an option when we arrived there this September 1. Would definitely do the Zion Narrows Hike (rent equipment from our friends at Zion Adventure Company) as well as the Middle pools and other hikes.

Great trip. Vegas was actually more fun than we had expected. We stayed at the Flamingo for the pool and good rates. Room was fine and kids really enjoyed the pool. Location is mid-strip and convenient.