Can anyone offer some suggestions for Maralyn

[orlandobabe]

The holiday was really lovely. The villa was exceptional. First class accomodation, apart from the smell when we turned the taps on! haha. But we sorted this out with the guy in the office and after that all was ok.
The weather let us down a bit. New Years Eve was a total disaster the heavens opened up .....so, no fireworks! But we were there, so no problem.

We're thinking of going somewhere else in America this year. We've been to Florida three years in a row now and feel we'd like a change, but as of yet haven't decided really. Bearing in mind we have a 15 year old son. We thought of Los Angeles and Los Vegas. but would really appreciate any information as to sites to visit on the web to glean inside info. You know, places to see, places to go. Also if it's worth a go at booking everything ourself and just doing a flydrive, travelling around, that type of thing.
So....If you know of anybody..then we'd be very appreciative.
We were thinking of the summer months. School holiday time here in England. Which would be end of july to beginning of September. Just for the three of us this time.

look forward to hearing any suggestions.

Bye for now
Maralyn

[athurstance]

California is fantastic - we toured round in a big circle starting at Los Angeles then:
San Diego (day in Mexico - Tijuana)
Grand Canyon (is a long drive - took us 10 hours and friends of ours made a stop on the way)
Las Vegas - totally exhausting
Mammoth Lakes - they were still skiing in April when we went
Lake Tahoe
San Franscisco - one of my favourite places in the world. The bridge is awesome and Alcatraz quite sobering
Monterey and Carmel
Back to LA

Also New England is wonderful. We just got back from skiing at Sunday River and Maine is a fabulous area. Boston is great too - we only got a half-day there and not enough time at all. I plan to go back in the summer or autumn to tour around.

Hope that gives you some ideas.

Angela

[bellaepovera]

Not sure on the spelling but Nagshead North Carolina is beautiful in the summer and the beaches are fantastic. Have not been there for years but I remember it being wonderful.

[esprit]

We were there New Years Eve too. We were in Universal and drenched did not describe it. I had a poncho on but as to my jeans, well, they were as wet as it they had been in the washer. And there were no fireworks there though I believe Epcot did let theirs off.

I have done the California trip as Angela mentions too and that was great although there are long driving distances. If you like Orlando, you will probably also like Vegas as it is buzzing with lots to do as Orlando is. Many of the hotels have mini theme parks attached. Stay in one of the themed hotels to get the best feel for the place. I like the Mirage but Circus Circus is cheaper. Lots of good very cheap buffet style eating places, and Broadway type shows for the evenings ( to keep you out of the casinos!) HOWEVER, Vegas is the last place in the world to go in the middle of the Summer. It is in the desert and is hot, hot, hot. We went in March and it was perfect. We did side tripe to the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam plus a slight detour in Arizona to visit Lake Havasu where London Bridge is. A a little excursion into Death Valley. You could perhaps go in the Summer if you stayed in the air conditioning but no way could you have done all that.

[steph_goodrum]

We're planning the "circular tour" in the summer, tickets arrived today yippee and even better courtesy of Freeway miles so we don't even have to pay for them! I know it will b eexhausting but as we are still tied to school hols at the moment and Easter is out because of AS levels we'll just have to grin and bear it. We're intending to fly in and out of LAX and have arranged it so most of the long drives are at the beginning so we're having 1 night in Santa Monica when we arrive, then drive up the coastal route which we've been told is quite pleasant, 1 night in Monterey to go to the aquarium there, then 3 nights San Fran, followed by 1 night in Yosemite, then 3 nights in Las Vegs, so we can do the Grand Canyon etc, (we're staying at the Circus Circus as it will be our daughters 17th birthday and we figured it best to go to a family orientated place than somewhere with casinos etc she couldn't go in and then we're finishing off with 5 days "relaxing" at LA to get our Disney fix.! We've got 2 drivers so it should be feasible but we'll let you know in September if it all pans out as expected. Any other "must sees" will be appreciated, although if it's like Florida we'll have such a long list we'll never get them done.
Ps i know what you mean about New Year, we were at Epcot and saw the first fireworks but got so wet we decided another 4 hours wasn't really a good idea so we went home and watched it in tv and guess where one of the places they were filming from was Magic Kingdom, we resisted the urge to go back out and try and get on the telly as we knew they'd filled the park up by 11.30.

[neilandkay]

Just a note - if you haven't already you will probably want to book your accomodation. Yosemite is very popular in Summer, they were talking about restricting cars on the Valley Floor, but I haven't been in the last year so don't know if that is in effect. Campsites in Yosemite are booked well in advance, as well as the lodgings. The place is AWESOME!

It is a long drive from LA to Monterey and the costal Hwy 1 has some stunning scenery, but the drive can be slow, also check the weather when you arrive. Costal fog is very common (esp around Monterey/SFO) in the summer. Friends do the drive from San Jose (north of Monterey) to LA in 6 hours, using the freeway, not sure how long it will take to do the drive via Hwy 1. We did the costal drive from Monterey to Big Sur and it seemed to take for ever for the distance. If you are at Monterey, take a trip down the 17 Mile drive (Pebble Beach/Carmel Area) some loveley scenerey and very expensive golfing estates! How the other half live.

We have been in CA for 4.5 years and still have a lot of neat things to see.

--Kay

quote:Originally posted by steph_goodrum

We're planning the "circular tour" in the summer, tickets arrived today yippee and even better courtesy of Freeway miles so we don't even have to pay for them! I know it will b eexhausting but as we are still tied to school hols at the moment and Easter is out because of AS levels we'll just have to grin and bear it. We're intending to fly in and out of LAX and have arranged it so most of the long drives are at the beginning so we're having 1 night in Santa Monica when we arrive, then drive up the coastal route which we've been told is quite pleasant, 1 night in Monterey to go to the aquarium there, then 3 nights San Fran, followed by 1 night in Yosemite, then 3 nights in Las Vegs, so we can do the Grand Canyon etc, (we're staying at the Circus Circus as it will be our daughters 17th birthday and we figured it best to go to a family orientated place than somewhere with casinos etc she couldn't go in and then we're finishing off with 5 days "relaxing" at LA to get our Disney fix.! We've got 2 drivers so it should be feasible but we'll let you know in September if it all pans out as expected. Any other "must sees" will be appreciated, although if it's like Florida we'll have such a long list we'll never get them done.
Ps i know what you mean about New Year, we were at Epcot and saw the first fireworks but got so wet we decided another 4 hours wasn't really a good idea so we went home and watched it in tv and guess where one of the places they were filming from was Magic Kingdom, we resisted the urge to go back out and try and get on the telly as we knew they'd filled the park up by 11.30.

[neilandkay]

Fly drive is exhausting - you see lots but don't get to know a place or relax.

Vegas is cool but hot in Summer. I know they don't allow children to linger on the casio floor. There is a lot to do in Vegas, it is a big playground. But can get expensive. (depending on how much you lose at the casino tables!) There is a visitor center website http://www.onlylasvegas.com/

Near(ish) to San Francisco there are a couple of amusement parks, but nothing on the scale of FL.

North of San Francisco is Napa & Sonoma Valleys wonderful places if you like fermented grape juice!

My first suggestion would be to see what your 15yr old son would like to do. Nothing worse than a bored teenager!

--K

quote:Originally posted by orlandobabe

The holiday was really lovely. The villa was exceptional. First class accomodation, apart from the smell when we turned the taps on! haha. But we sorted this out with the guy in the office and after that all was ok.
The weather let us down a bit. New Years Eve was a total disaster the heavens opened up .....so, no fireworks! But we were there, so no problem.

We're thinking of going somewhere else in America this year. We've been to Florida three years in a row now and feel we'd like a change, but as of yet haven't decided really. Bearing in mind we have a 15 year old son. We thought of Los Angeles and Los Vegas. but would really appreciate any information as to sites to visit on the web to glean inside info. You know, places to see, places to go. Also if it's worth a go at booking everything ourself and just doing a flydrive, travelling around, that type of thing.
So....If you know of anybody..then we'd be very appreciative.
We were thinking of the summer months. School holiday time here in England. Which would be end of july to beginning of September. Just for the three of us this time.

look forward to hearing any suggestions.

Bye for now
Maralyn

[esprit]

I liked Circus Circus, Steph. They have a very cheap buffet which is literally the size on an aircraft hangar and of course the circus performers doing their stuff overhead etc. We went in the Mirage and I fancied it because it has a very nice pool area, Mandalay Bay is a new one which is Chinese themed and looks very nice too. I want to go back because the big tower with the roller coaster has opened since we were there and I would seriously like to do that ( or perhaps I should say I would hate to do it and a well known TV programme will take me there!)

[blott]

The Stratosphere Julie! The link is on another thread somewhere. I'm not convinced that Las Vegas is quite the right place for a teenager who's not allowed in the casino as, although there are plenty of other things to do in the hotels, they really are geared up to gambling in a big way.

Steph

When we went, we were so looking forward to Highway 1 but it was washed out with mud slides and we ended up on some dreadful inland route between SF and Monterey and we were soooo disappointed!

Be prepared to pay quite a lot of money (around $15 - $20 per day) to park your rental car in SF as parking is a nightmare and you can get around very easily without one. China Town is mega interesting so you've gotta have a look around there.

If you're going to Las Vegas you've also just got to go to the Grand Canyon as that really is absolutely awesome - you just can't take it all in! Grown men were just bursting into tears when they stood on the edge! I think you can get helicopter or plane trips from Las Vegas as it's quite a long drive away. If you get time, check out Bryce and some of the smaller canyon places too as they are also awesome in a different way. Also the Painted Desert which is where the native Americans were settled in the area is interesting.

I think you'll find the Disney in LA different to the one in Florida! I don't know where you're staying in LA but it's a bit of a drive away from the centre in Anaheim.

You're talking about mega distances here... It took us 5 days on a coach trip from LA to get around the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas (one night) and that was leaving at 7.30 am each day and driving most of the day. In the rental car it took us two days from SF to LA via an overnight stop in Monterey.

[steph_goodrum]

Thanks for all the tips. our daughter said we were mean to take her to Las Vegas, the gambling capital of the world when she wouldn't be old enough but we're going to Anaheim the day after her birthday, it happened to work out that way as Las Vegas hotels are so much cheaper mon-thurs (Circus Circus is only £36 per night for a room), The buffet sounds good. She's already been on the net and found out how many shopping discount malls there are on "The Strip". Michelle liked the idea of the mirage as there is a family of dolphins housed there apparently
We have looked into the day trips from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon and found one (I think it was through Virgin Holidays) for about £140 each for the day where they pick you up at your hotel for the drive to GC, then you have a flight over in a light aircraft, followed by lunch at an American Indian type camp then a boat trip down the Colorado river (not white water rafting I'm not that brave) and have a coach trip round the rim for sunset. I've just got to find out where I saw it now. The order may not be quite right but that was the itinerary basically.
Neil and Kay do you actually live in California ? Unless I misread it?
We've booked all the accommodation except for Santa Monica which is on the agenda to do next week, we're staying just outside Yosemite.
My daughters headmistress, when we were talking about it last, said she'd been told it was absolutely fantastic in the helicopter over the Grand Canyon but she'd been too scared to open her eyes and hadn't seen any of it.
And the best bit of the trip .....we won't have to go near a Home Depot or Lowes