I feel I am betraying an old friend? :(

[daytonababe]

Originally Posted by Tweety1

Thanks Ems you have been very helpful along with DB and hawki.
Wow a lot to think about... arghhh. The other frustrating thing is my eldest starts Uni but as it's an NHS course doesn't get the standard July/Aug school hols when my other children are off and I don't want to experience too much of this without her but it all sounds so fab I don't want to wait 3.5 yrs hence why I thought if we did Vegas I could see a bit of it.
I wonder if other 20 yr old go with their parents? My DH says she's too old now but how can you leave one behind

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Well my eldest will be 19 later this year , she isn't coming to Vegas next year as she will be working in a school but otherwise she would do .

I don't feel guilty leaving her behind she has her own life and we have taken her to America 14 times ..and she's coming to Florida next summer .

I think as the get older you have to expect to do things without them.

But as for Vegas as I said it might be a bit different for my kids, they've grown up going to Vegas , so are well aware of the restrictions etc .

I'm sure my eldest will come with us again in the future though, as we plan on spending a lot more time there l

[TRACCOOPER]

We did the west coast as a family for the first time last July/August. We are a family of 4, DD 18 and DS 15 with me and DH

We flew to SFO, had 3 nights at Hilton Union Square. Did Alcatraz, cycled the bridge with lunch in Sausalito and ferry back, Fishermans Wharf, trams, shopping.

Flew to LAX as we didnt want to do the drive on this trip. Picked up a car.

Spent 4 nights in Hilton at Universal, did Universal, Santa Monica Segways, Hollywood Rodeo Drive etc, WB from this base.

Drove at Anaheim to Hyatt Regency Orange County for 4 nights. From here we did 2 days at Disneyland, outlet shops, and Huntingdon beach.

Drove to Vegas via old Route 66 stopping at Barstow and Baker for photos and Elmers Bottle tree ranch.

3 nights in Vegas, Hoover Dam, sightseeing on the strip, zip wire at Freemont street, more outlet shopping and time by the pool.

Flew home from Vegas

There is so much to do you can get carried away with trying to fit too much in. The traffic is heavy but driving is OK. We involved the kids
in the planning.
We still have a to do list for another trip

[Tweety1]

Originally Posted by TRACCOOPER

We did the west coast as a family for the first time last July/August. We are a family of 4, DD 18 and DS 15 with me and DH

We flew to SFO, had 3 nights at Hilton Union Square. Did Alcatraz, cycled the bridge with lunch in Sausalito and ferry back, Fishermans Wharf, trams, shopping.

Flew to LAX as we didnt want to do the drive on this trip. Picked up a car.

Spent 4 nights in Hilton at Universal, did Universal, Santa Monica Segways, Hollywood Rodeo Drive etc, WB from this base.

Drove at Anaheim to Hyatt Regency Orange County for 4 nights. From here we did 2 days at Disneyland, outlet shops, and Huntingdon beach.

Drove to Vegas via old Route 66 stopping at Barstow and Baker for photos and Elmers Bottle tree ranch.

3 nights in Vegas, Hoover Dam, sightseeing on the strip, zip wire at Freemont street, more outlet shopping and time by the pool.

Flew home from Vegas

There is so much to do you can get carried away with trying to fit too much in. The traffic is heavy but driving is OK. We involved the kids
in the planning.
We still have a to do list for another trip

See more...

Sounds amazing... what was the weather like?

[TRACCOOPER]

In SF we needed light jumpers despite being the summer. Once we got to LA the weather was great as you would expect for a SoCal summer

[shack69]

Lots of good thoughts above and some of the trip plans i agree with a lot.
the last few trips we have done we have not been to SF mainly because of price, but also as we have our son with us we needed more theme park time.
We generally fly into LAX . Flights can be really good value if you pick the right time to book, as we go from Manchester we do sometimes choose indirect either via amsterdam or london, both work ok. But as Thomas cook fly to LA we used them last time and got flights for £400 each. You could look ate flying into LA and out of Las vegas.
As for places to see , yes Disney is good and it has a different feel to Orlando. We have done six flags lots of rides. Universal is a great one day park and the warner tour is good our son was 10 when we did it and enjoyed it. Hollywood bvl'd. I would say go and see it for an hour or so and move on.
The beaches around the area are nice if you are beach people and lots of choice.
For me Yosemite and seeing the different areas on the drive are the best part of southern california. I could spend a week in Yosemite and not be bored, the sights and walking is great, and the sense of achievement on some of the walks lives with you.
Las vegas is good and my son loved it when he was 8 and we found lots to do as listed above you have the dam a short drive away and red rock canyon also. We used the helicopter to the grand canyon and that is special plus you can do it in a day.
Palm springs is a nice place and a good option for some relaxation and nice food.
I think your biggest challenge will be accommodation for 5 and you should look at suite hotels.

[tj+alana]

Hi,we are doing our first californian road trip this June.We are 2 ad and 3 children.Like you we always go to Florida.We will be driving alot but we dont really mind that as we know we will get to see much.Our trip is New York,flight to San Fran to pick up car, then Yosemite,Shaver Lake,Hollywood,Anaheim,Palm Springs,Prescott,Flagstaff,Kingman and Las vegas.We go for 26 nights with the last 8 in Las vegas to relax around the pool.We dont plan to drive more than 3 hours in a day,only Palm Springs to Prescott is about 4-5 hours.We managed to pay on average €150 a night with breakfast and all hotels have good reviews so no dumps.In las vegas we are staying in Desert Paradise Resort as we prefer this type of accommodation,lots more room and quieter than the strip.We were also considering Desert Rose as is similar.Apart from Las Vegas i booked all hotels on free cancellation in Oct-Nov last year ,so 8-9 months ahead and they all went up in price as the months passed.The Desert Paradise Resort was the only one that came down in cost,only booked that last week.Hope this helps a liitle.

[tocpe321]

We have just booked Knotts Berry Farm for our first day as we will be up early and fancied a theme park. I signed up to Viator newsletter and got 10% off for our first booking.
Plan to have Dennys breakfast first.

[tonymc]

Regarding flights, could be worth also checking Jet Blue out of Long Beach. It may be cheaper than flying out of LAX and probably quieter, although the airport is further south than LAX.

We have booked flights between Vegas and San Francisco (Oakland Airport) on Southwest Airlines, who include 2 checked bags free of charge, whereas most other airlines charge $25-30 per checked bag. It cost $79 each (flying on a mid-September Monday).