Yellowstone / Grand Tetons

[Hidden_Mickey]

We are planning a trip for next July. I feel like I need a Yellowstone version of the DIS, lol. Can anyone recommend any good resources? A forum? A guidebook, kind of like the Unofficial Guide to WDW? We are in NY. What airport should we fly into? DH wants to rent an RV while we are there. Can anyone recommend a good RV rental company? Any hotels, just for reference? Restaurants? Side trips? Is there a website with good info? Sometimes the "official" ones are like commercials but don't offer any practical advice.

Our kids will be 12 and 9 next summer, if that helps.

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks!

 

[Simba's Mom]

There is a message board, www.yellowstone.net/forums
However, there aren't too many new people there, it seems that a lot of people know each other. We're going on our third trip next month. We've been to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons twice before, so don't hesitate to PM me with questions. Also, did you check www.travelyellowstone.com for info? And if you want to stay inside Yellowstone, they're probably taking reservations already! The Grand Tetons' hotels don't seem quite as busy-we didn't book there until after Christmas.

 

[CPT Tripss]

Yellowstone.net is a site where folks know each other, but they are knowledgable and willing to share information. You ought to go over there, read up and then ask questions.

I would first check to see if you can get in any of the lodging in the park, before deciding to rent an RV. YNP is huge, the roads are not the greatest, so driving a car will be much easier than driving an RV. I think that the campgrounds inside the park that take RVs are as tough to come by as the hotels.

If you stay out of the park, you need to allow at least an hour each day to get to the attractions . . . that can be a daunting drive in a big rig (unless you are a professional driver.

it's a beutiful park . . . so far my favorite place on earth! Enjoy!!!

 

[Claire L]

With regards to the Tetons, Jenny Lake is very pretty and a raft trip on Snake River is a must do

Claire

 

[Hidden_Mickey]

OK, more questions....

I see that there is no TV or radio on the parks. So, what the heck do you do with kids when the sun goes down? I would say board games but it's not practical to pack them in our suitcases on the plane. If it was just me & DH, uh, I'm sure we could think of something .

A friend told me there is a water park near one of the park entrances but I have not seen anything about it in the research I have done so far. If anyone could tell me the name or location of a water park, please let me know.

I found a good book on Yellowstone - Yellowstone Treasures by Janet Chapple. I haven't read it yet but I looked through it and it looks pretty good. Can anyone recommend a good book about the Grand Tetons? I'm looking for something like the Unofficial Guide.

Thanks, you guys are the best.

 

[dismsn]

I haven't heard of a water park and we have entered from Cody, West Yellowstone and Livingston. It's possible there is one near those entrances and we just missed it or there is a new park (we visited last summer and didn't enter through the north entrance then).

We stay in West Yellowstone. It's not the best place for lodging. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort last summer and it was kind of sad and run down. My husband gets rewards through the Holiday Inn and that's why we picked it. I did look at other lodging in West Yellowstone and there wasn't much to pick from. The good thing is my kids had a pool to swim in and TV to watch for a few minutes before they went to sleep each night.

The PP who stated an RV would be hard to get around in when driving through the park is correct. We were on the road all day driving from one site to another. We spent three entire days driving through the park (Yellowstone) and still missed some of the sites. Also, if there is wildlife to see, the cars all pull off on the side of the road and an RV would be difficult to pull far enough off the road (it was hard enough in a minivan).

Good luck and I'm sure your kids will enjoy the trip--there are all sorts of interesting (and strange) things to see.

 

[CPT Tripss]

No TV no problem . . . wake up early, walk a lot, get tired, read a little, go to sleep semi-early. Repeat as necessary. There are always the small "travel" versions of games and a couple of decks of cards take up next to no room.

 

[Simba's Mom]

OK, more questions....

I see that there is no TV or radio on the parks. So, what the heck do you do with kids when the sun goes down? I would say board games but it's not practical to pack them in our suitcases on the plane. If it was just me & DH, uh, I'm sure we could think of something .

A friend told me there is a water park near one of the park entrances but I have not seen anything about it in the research I have done so far. If anyone could tell me the name or location of a water park, please let me know.

I found a good book on Yellowstone - Yellowstone Treasures by Janet Chapple. I haven't read it yet but I looked through it and it looks pretty good. Can anyone recommend a good book about the Grand Tetons? I'm looking for something like the Unofficial Guide.

Thanks, you guys are the best.

DS just bought some small thingy (has memory, so it's beyond my knowledge) for our trip next week (see, it's not just kids that miss the TV). He read that he can "load" several movies and plans to watch the movies in the cabin at night. I'll let you know how it works out after we get back-we'll be back 6/15. For info I always referred to Frommer's book, Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks I've got it in front of me now, and it doesn't mention any water park.

 

[CowboyCO]

We are planning a trip for next July. I feel like I need a Yellowstone version of the DIS, lol. Can anyone recommend any good resources? A forum? A guidebook, kind of like the Unofficial Guide to WDW? We are in NY. What airport should we fly into? DH wants to rent an RV while we are there. Can anyone recommend a good RV rental company? Any hotels, just for reference? Restaurants? Side trips? Is there a website with good info? Sometimes the "official" ones are like commercials but don't offer any practical advice.

Our kids will be 12 and 9 next summer, if that helps.

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks!

Yellowstone is a tremendous experience for a family. Wyoming, howver, well it's not like any place else. There aren't any waterparks. There isn't anywhere to rent an RV. There's no TV.

You can fly into Denver or Salt Lake City and rent RVs there and drive into Wyoming. Pack DVD movies to play on the road or at night, but I recommend doing the evening ranger programs, toasting marshmallows by the fire and crashing after a dayof walking hiking and exploring. Also, the altitude will tire you out and have you sleeping like a baby. I owrked in Grand Teton for two years, spent a lot of time in YNP and lived in Wyoming for 30+ years.

As for activities - I'd recommend snake River Float trips, horseback rides, hiking, walking the geyser area boardwalks, canoeing on the lakes, etc. This may be the only time in your life where you can get away from TV and bond as a family. As for games - card games and dice games are easy to pack. You could also hit a WalMart in Salt Lake City and buy a few cheap board games to take in the RV. RV America is a good, reliable RV rental company.

 

[godalejunior]

I just finalized our plans for a Yellowstone trip this last week. We are driving and doing the Lodging and Learning series at Mammoth the first four nights, the Yellowstone for Families program. We are then moving to Canyon for two nights and then Old Faithful snow lodge. When talking to reservations they told me things fill up quick and we are planning a year in advance (June 2010).

I agree the Yellowstone Treasures book is awesome. I just bought it last week and don't see how you would need any other book.

We are planning on packing board games, baseball/mitts, frisbee, etc. DS is 7 and I was worried about him getting bored in evening but I know at least our days with our guide in the L&L series will keep us busy.

 

[Hidden_Mickey]

OK, I've read a few books and we are now in the beginning stages of planning... OMG it's overwhelming! We think we may want to fly into Billings, drive through Yellowstone & the Tetons, then fly out of Jackson Hole. I'm trying to research flights for all the airports (one way/RT, whatever) for July 2010 to see what the options and prices are, but the airlines' schedules only go through May 2010! I can see the flights on Expedia but not the prices, which, duh, is the most important factor in the decision. So, until I can decide on what airports we are going to use, how can I make hotel reservations? I looked at July 2009 flights for comparison, but can I be sure that the prices will translate to next year? When should we book flights? Way early? Or closer to when we leave? How many months ahead? How are y'all dealing with this issue? The airports we use will determine what route we will take, which will dictate which hotels we need on certain dates... Ugh.... TIA!

 

[SouthernExplorer]

The front desks usually have board games, cards, etc. Bring along a book and curl up in a lobby chair. Lake Hotel usually has a string quartet or pianist and Mammoth has a pianist.

There are no water parks near the park's entrances. Does your friend mean the popular swimming spot Boiling River in Mammoth?? There's also Chico Hot Springs just north of Gardiner that has two hot springs pools.

 

[CPT Tripss]

We flew from the east coast to Salt Lake City . . . granted it was a few years ago, but we got a good fare and a nonstop flight and a decent price on a rental car. Even with an extra hotel night in SLC, we paid less than if we took a flight into one of the closer, smaller airports. It was a bit of a drive up to GTNP aand YNP, but very scenic . . . we did enjoy a couple days in the SLC area too.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

We are also planning a trip to Yellowstone/Grand Tetons in June of next year. We are planning on flying into Salt Lake City and renting a car. It is about a 5 hour drive to Jackson where we plan to spend one night there. We are then planning on 2 nights in the Tetons and 3 nights in Yellowstone at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge. I already have my reservations there.

If you know which nights you plan on being in the park, I would make my reservations now. You can reserve a night or two extra just in case and always tweak them once you know your flights. Xanterra requires one night's deposit when making your reservations in Yellowstone.

 

[ScooterL]

We flew in/out of Bozeman, MT last summer - it was a LOT cheaper than flying into Jackson Hole, and a lot closer than Billings. And it was less than two hours to drive to the northern entrance of Yellowstone (Mammoth Hot Springs). On our final day we left from the Old Faithful area and returned to Bozeman via West Yellowstone - I think that took about 3.5 hours of driving time, but I'm not really sure because we stopped several times on our way out of the park.

I echo the suggestion of the previous poster - make your reservations NOW so that you have something on the book. And be sure to try to stay in several places - Yellowstone is huge, and if you stay in just one place you'll spend a lot of time each day driving to different sights, and then driving back to your hotel again. We stayed at Mammoth Hot Springs, Lake Yellowstone, and Old Faithful. Yes, we had to move three times, but we were going to be in the car driving someplace anyway - it really saved us a lot of time.

For airfares, I would just look at what they are for this summer. I actually got airfare to Bozeman cheaper in 2008 than what it was when I priced it in the summer of 2007. But the relative prices stayed the same, in that Bozeman was still a lot cheaper than Jackson. I looked at Billings, but I don't remember how much it was compared to Bozeman - obviously not enough of a difference to consider flying there instead of Bozeman.

Remember that you'll be waaay up north, so you'll have daylight for a LOT of hours a day in July - the sun won't go down until 9:00(?) or so, and it won't get really dark until after 10:00! So you still have evening hours of light to do something outside with the kids.

 

[chasbos]

We are flying into Jackson Hole from Detroit on July 31 and back again on Aug 7. We paid $400 person on Frontier Airlines with a stop in Denver.

That is not too bad I did not think - yes it would be cheaper to just fly into Salt Lake City but I did not want the extra driving to get where we actually want to be.

We are doing 2 nights in Jackson Hole (Snow King Resort Condo's), 2 night in Cody (Cody Cowboy Village), 1 night in Mammoth (Best Western Mammoth Springs) and 2 nights in West Yellowstone (Clubhouse Inn)

We picked an early flight to get to Jackson (we arrive at 1:30 p.m) and an afternoon flight heading home (2:00 p.m.)

It has been a challenge planning this trip!! So much information to take in!

Can't wait though.

 

[maiyasgram]

When we planned our Yellowstone/Grand Teton trip a couple of years ago I got a load of great info from the Fodors Travel website. There are a few people on the Wyoming thread that are very informative. Good luck planning your trip and BTW I'm jealous, it was our best vacation ever!!

Cherie

 

[SouthernExplorer]

If you know which nights you plan on being in the park, I would make my reservations now. You can reserve a night or two extra just in case and always tweak them once you know your flights. Xanterra requires one night's deposit when making your reservations in Yellowstone.

Slight clarification. Xanterra requires the first night's deposit at each location you stay at. For example, if I stay three nights at Lake Hotel, two nights at Mammoth, and four nights at Canyon, then I would have to pay the first night's deposit for Lake, Mammoth, and Canyon.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Slight clarification. Xanterra requires the first night's deposit at each location you stay at. For example, if I stay three nights at Lake Hotel, two nights at Mammoth, and four nights at Canyon, then I would have to pay the first night's deposit for Lake, Mammoth, and Canyon.

Sorry, you're right. I should have made that more clear. I did have to make a night's deposit for each lodge we are planning to stay at.

 

[CowboyCO]

We are flying into Jackson Hole from Detroit on July 31 and back again on Aug 7. We paid $400 person on Frontier Airlines with a stop in Denver.

That is not too bad I did not think - yes it would be cheaper to just fly into Salt Lake City but I did not want the extra driving to get where we actually want to be.

We are doing 2 nights in Jackson Hole (Snow King Resort Condo's), 2 night in Cody (Cody Cowboy Village), 1 night in Mammoth (Best Western Mammoth Springs) and 2 nights in West Yellowstone (Clubhouse Inn)

We picked an early flight to get to Jackson (we arrive at 1:30 p.m) and an afternoon flight heading home (2:00 p.m.)

It has been a challenge planning this trip!! So much information to take in!

Can't wait though.

Flying into Jackson is awesome. The approach path usually takes you north to south, flying in front of the Tetons. It's incredible to fly down that valley and land. Try to get a seat by the window on the right side of the plane for the best chance for views.