Thinking about a Grand Canyon/Disneyland trip for summer 2018

[WVU Disney Fan]

Will be traveling from West Virginia with wife and 2 daughters (7 and 5). Flying into Phoenix, renting a car and driving up to Williams, Az and spending the night. Catching the train next morning to the Canyon and staying one night in the grand canyon. Then catching the train back to Williams the train the following afternoon. Plan on driving a few hours towards Disneyland and finding a place to stay that night somewhere along the way (mapquest says Williams to Anaheim about 6.5hrs). Get up next morning and drive rest of way to Disneyland, check into hotel and maybe spend evening at downtown Disney. Then plan on spending next 3 days at the 2 parks. Then fly home from LAX.

We've been to WDW 3 times and wanted to check out Disneyland. Never been there or L.A. for that matter. Does this itinerary seem decent? 3 full days enough for Disneyland? 1 1/2 days enough for Grand Canyon? Any good places to stop between Williams, Az and Anaheim? Any and all advice or suggestions appreciated. Wife and I keep going back and forth between loving the idea to thinking it might be too much.

 

[longboard55]

sounds good, nothing worth stopping for, I would get up early and go for it. The grand canyon is fabulous but you only need a couple days to see it.

 

[aymiewilson]

Welcome (in advance!) out to the West Coast! I've lived in Phoenix for almost 7 years and done the drive to/from Disneyland and to/from the Grand Canyon many times now. Before I give an opinion on your itinerary, may I ask what your reason is for including the Grand Canyon in with a Disneyland trip? Have you always wanted to see the Grand Canyon and are thinking of this as a way to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak?

 

[WVU Disney Fan]

Before I give an opinion on your itinerary, may I ask what your reason is for including the Grand Canyon in with a Disneyland trip? Have you always wanted to see the Grand Canyon and are thinking of this as a way to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak?

Definitely always wanted to see Grand Canyon and Disneyland, so yea a 2 bird with one stone kinda thing. Figured if were going clear out west might as well knock out 2 things always wanted to do.

 

[aymiewilson]

Gotcha! If you have never been before but always wanted to see the Grand Canyon, then you will definitely want a full day there. To be honest, I would recommend that instead of staying in Williams, you just stay two nights in Tusayan or at the actual Grand Canyon South Rim if you can find lodging there. It is only a four hour drive from Phoenix's airport to the Grand Canyon's South Rim. That way you have a full day to just relax and explore, as well as the potential to see a sunrise and/or sunset at the canyon. The Canyon looks GORGEOUS at sunset in particular! There is a TON to do at the Grand Canyon, but with two little ones who have short legs, you're probably going to want to stick to the Rim Trail for your views. The shuttle system at the South Rim is VERY helpful. I highly recommend taking it out to Hermit's Rest which is a quaint little area that's the farthest west end of the park. You can stroll along part of the Rim Trail from there and see some breathtaking views!

The road trip from Williams or the Grand Canyon South Rim west to Anaheim would be a fun one! You will be driving along Route 66 for the first 1/3 of the drive, going through a lot of the scenery that inspired the Pixar team to create Cars. I think it will be really fun for you and your family to drive through the real life version and then to visit Cars Land in California Adventure and see how true-to-life they created it! Here's a fun article that details some of the Cars sights along Route 66 in Arizona: https://www.ocregister.com/2012/07/25/cars-land-inspiration-greetings-from-route-66-in-arizona/. If you're going to have an overnight stop on that drive, you might consider Seligman, AZ, which is supposed to be the real-life Radiator Springs.

I think it sounds like a really fun trip. And I personally think that 3 full days is enough for Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. If you go in with a solid plan of action for your touring order and ESPECIALLY if you are able to be there at rope drop and stay until mid-afternoon for nap time, I think you'll be able to see everything you want. Also DEFINITELY get Park Hopper tickets!! You can walk from one park to the other in a matter of minutes!

 

[bcla]

There are a bunch of ways you could do it. On I-40 there's Kingman, Lake Havasu City (ever wanted to see London Bridge?), or Needles, CA.

Or go a little further on I-10, and maybe the Coachella Valley (Palm Springs area) will have lots of options.

 

[WVU Disney Fan]

Thanks for the advice and info. We are looking at some package with the train company in Williams. Staying 1 night in Williams and 1 night at the actual canyon. So I think it will be roughly 1 1/2 days there. Kids do pretty good at wdw. Usually don’t rope drop but get there around 9-10 and stay till close(my kids don’t nap, guess it’s the one time it’s actually an advantage lol). Heard that Disneyland is totally different then Disney World though.

 

[bcla]

Thanks for the advice and info. We are looking at some package with the train company in Williams. Staying 1 night in Williams and 1 night at the actual canyon. So I think it will be roughly 1 1/2 days there. Kids do pretty good at wdw. Usually don’t rope drop but get there around 9-10 and stay till close(my kids don’t nap, guess it’s the one time it’s actually an advantage lol). Heard that Disneyland is totally different then Disney World though.

No reason why you can't just drive all the way from Williams to Anaheim in one day. Might even be easier if you can split up the driving.

 

[VandVsmama]

Thanks for the advice and info. We are looking at some package with the train company in Williams. Staying 1 night in Williams and 1 night at the actual canyon. So I think it will be roughly 1 1/2 days there. Kids do pretty good at wdw. Usually don’t rope drop but get there around 9-10 and stay till close(my kids don’t nap, guess it’s the one time it’s actually an advantage lol). Heard that Disneyland is totally different then Disney World though.

I have many friends who have visited the Grand Canyon through that train company. ALL of my friends who have seen the Grand Canyon through that Grand Canyon railway have LOVED it. Really....loved it enough that they now do it once a year. I think it's a great idea.

 

[WVU Disney Fan]

No reason why you can't just drive all the way from Williams to Anaheim in one day. Might even be easier if you can split up the driving.

Well by the time train drops us back at Williams it will be 530-6pm. Figured we might as well drive a few hours that evening.

 

[twoolle]

Sounds like so much fun and something we want to do with our kids when the youngest gets out of diapers!

 

[bcla]

Well by the time train drops us back at Williams it will be 530-6pm. Figured we might as well drive a few hours that evening.

Sorry wasn't thinking of the Grand Canyon Railway schedule. Are you staying at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel?

Forget about Palm Springs then since it's like 80% of the way to Anaheim.

I also forgot about the most obvious choice along the way which is Laughlin, NV. The casino-hotels can be pretty cheap for their quality, although you might have to deal with the smell of smoke. I don't think you'd make it in time for a dinner buffet either unless it's on a Friday or Saturday night.

 

[WVU Disney Fan]

I have many friends who have visited the Grand Canyon through that train company. ALL of my friends who have seen the Grand Canyon through that Grand Canyon railway have LOVED it. Really....loved it enough that they now do it once a year. I think it's a great idea.

We actually got the idea from friends of ours. They loved it and have children of similar age to ours.

 

[WVU Disney Fan]

Sorry wasn't thinking of the Grand Canyon Railway schedule. Are you staying at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel?

Forget about Palm Springs then since it's like 80% of the way to Anaheim.

I also forgot about the most obvious choice along the way which is Laughlin, NV. The casino-hotels can be pretty cheap for their quality, although you might have to deal with the smell of smoke. I don't think you'd make it in time for a dinner buffet either unless it's on a Friday or Saturday night.

Staying at Railway hotel first night. Then staying at a hotel at south rim the next night. Catching train back to Williams following day, don’t have a hotel for that night. Thought we’d start making our way towards Anaheim that evening.

 

[VandVsmama]

TKids do pretty good at wdw. Usually don’t rope drop but get there around 9-10 and stay till close(my kids don’t nap, guess it’s the one time it’s actually an advantage lol). Heard that Disneyland is totally different then Disney World though.

My advice re: your 3-ish days at Disneyland....

• DL **IS** a bit different than WDW. Go read this thread --> https://www.disboards.com/threads/a-dlr-guide-for-wdw-vets.1162599/
• At DL in the summer, it PAYS OFF TO WAKE UP EARLY! regular park opening will probably be at 8 am every day. At DL in the summer, it really is the early bird that gets the worm. Be there for rope drop. The parks for the first 3-4 hours are great.
• use your Magic Morning entry at DL on a Tues, Thurs, or Sat. In the summer, MM at DL will be 7-8 am. So be in line at the turn stile at 6:45 am. In order to do this in the easiest way possible, stay at a hotel within walking distance. Our family prefers places along Harbor Blvd.
• take a break at the hotel in the hottest part of the day.
• Fast passes operate a bit differently at DL. No magic bands. No reserving your FP rides before you arrive. There is now Max Pass available for $10/person per day, which allows you to get a FP anywhere you happen to be once you've activated (i.e., used your ticket to go through the turnstiles)

Well by the time train drops us back at Williams it will be 530-6pm. Figured we might as well drive a few hours that evening.

Hm, ok, well 1 option would be to drive about 1-1.5 hours south on AZ Hwy 89 to Prescott. It's a neat town with a nice little downtown area that reminds me a lot of Main Street USA in Disneyland.

If you were in the mood to drive about 4 hours, you could stop for the night in Blythe, CA. It's just on the CA side of the Arizona border. There isn't much to Blythe, but there's more there than there is in Quartzsite, AZ.

Or if you wanted to drive about 2.5 hr, you could go from Williams to Wickenburg and spend the night there. Frontier Street looks an awful lot like some of the store fronts in Frontierland. Wickenburg to Anaheim will take you 5 hours.

** edited to add **
At the height of summer, the sun doesn't set here in Arizona until almost 9 pm, so you'd still get to see some cool scenery on the drive out of Williams.

 

[VandVsmama]

If you stay in Wickenburg, you should go take pics in front of the Jail Tree. It's a 200 yr old mesquite tree that served as the town jail for almost 30 years in the late 1800s. They'd chain up the outlaws to the tree. The town also has a Desert Caballeros Western Museum, but I've never been to it.

 

[bcla]

Staying at Railway hotel first night. Then staying at a hotel at south rim the next night. Catching train back to Williams following day, don’t have a hotel for that night. Thought we’d start making our way towards Anaheim that evening.

Like I said earlier, Laughlin would probably have the best combination of location, quality, and price. Harrah's can go for $25 Sun-Thu summer, although Fri-Sat jumps up a bit. I think you might need to deal with "resort fees" though.

https://www.caesars.com/harrahs-laughlin

There are of course more options:

https://www.visitlaughlin.com

 

[VandVsmama]

On the other hand, if you go the I-40 route from Williams west toward Las Vegas in order to get to Anaheim, you should definitely consider a brief stop in Oatman, Arizona. It is THE quintessential old west town.

Here's a video example of what I'm talking about -->

AND if you do drive that route, stop in Seligman, which is full of fun Route 66 road side stuff...

 

[WVU Disney Fan]

Lots of great info, thanks.

 

[webcreatrix]

On the other hand, if you go the I-40 route from Williams west toward Las Vegas in order to get to Anaheim, you should definitely consider a brief stop in Oatman, Arizona. It is THE quintessential old west town.

Here's a video example of what I'm talking about -->

AND if you do drive that route, stop in Seligman, which is full of fun Route 66 road side stuff...

Thanks for sharing these videos. His entire series around this area is awesome! Very helpful to show the kids the kinds of things we will see.