How much in 3 months?

[DonnaR57]

The girls have a lot to say in where we go and they have already said the obvious Disneyland, Las Vegas (Honey I Blew Up the Kid), Kansas (have had to tell them that there will be no Yellow Brick Road to follow!) Niagara Falls, New York! My 9 year old would love to go to Houston and Cape Canaveral and she is a space girl. The 6 year old wants to go to Atlanta and Charleston..........a Gone with the Wind Girl!!! I have told her that Tara and Twelve Oaks are not real buildings but there will be other thing to see. Including Margaret Mitchells House. They also wanted to see Richie Rich's Monument. When I said that isn't real, but there is one called Mt Rushmore, they thought that was pretty cool as well. And they want to go to every amusement park possible. (Ah no, that wont be happening!)

For the adults it is all of the above plus definitely most of the NP, San Fran, San Diego, New Orleans, Miami, plus for me Gettysberg and other sites from the Civil War (another Gone with the Wind fan!)Washington DC, My husband would like to see the big sports fields.

Disneyland is about a 2-to-3 day deal, depending on whether you've been before, or not. To do it reasonably, I'd recommend that you stay off-site. If you're in an RV, there are a couple of places not far away, and a shuttle that can take you back and forth. If doing a motel, there are some that are actually closer than the 3 Disney-run motels and certainly more affordable.

In Liberal, KS, there is Dorothy's House and Museum. No, no Yellow Brick Road though.

Houston's Space Center is worth at least 5 hours of your time. There are two tours, the Red Tram Tour and the Blue Tram Tour. One takes you to the Rocket Park and Center, and Historic Mission Control. The other also takes you to the Rocket Park and Center, and the Astronaut Training Center. Then there is the big museum there. We were there in summer 2013 (we're space fans, too) and didn't regret anything. While there is food there at a Cafe', it is easy to stop at the grocery store and throw some sandwich makings in the cooler.

NASA Cape Canaveral in Florida is equally interesting. We allowed 5 hours and honestly, wish we'd allowed the whole day. We took the bus tour which takes you to 3 stops. The last stop is at the Apollo Building, which is where we spent the vast majority of our time in summer 2012 trip. Bear in mind, because of the cost of the bus tour, it costs over $40 per day per adult for the Cape, where Houston is about half that price.

The one thing about amusement parks here in the USA: they are definitely not budget friendly. When our girls wanted us to stop at every one they saw advertised, we always claimed the budget.

Gettysburg was another stop on our 2013 summer trip. We allowed 2 days, wanting to do 3 but were running into lodging issues. We spent one day on the museum and the first half of the 13 mile drive, and finished it out the 2nd day, but did not do anything like the David Wills house. If you want to do the Haunted tours, I suggest booking ahead, as we could not make a reservation for one when we got there as they were already booked. We really enjoyed Gettysburg, and are now looking forward to seeing Antietam, Manassas, and a few others, on future trips.

Click here for San Diego information. If you have any questions about San Diego, feel free to ask, as I've lived here for over 20 years.

Donna

[2016USAHoliday]

Thank you everyone, all this information has been so helpful and made it more real!

Lifey, I remember when I was 8, we had 8 weeks in a campervan around the UK and Europe.....I remember Dad saying the same thing about the flag! With Australia Day next week, I will grab my Aussie stuff! Cant wait for the map and atlas to arrive, have already got a wall for it to go on, plus the post-it notes ready! And yes, Niagara Falls was in the girls checklist. Great idea about the Vancouver start for the cruise, I didn't even think of that!

Donna, WOW, thanks all that information is invaluable! My 9 year old will be over the moon (opps no pun intended there!) with this space information! And will have to mark the Dorothy house on the map. As for my 6 year old, I have a feeling she thinks Atlanta is still in the Gone with the Wind era and she will get to wear the beautiful clothes! What amusement parks have you been to that you would recommend? The ones I have heard off are the obvious Disneys, Universal Studios, Sea World, Knotsberry Farm and Six Flags. We do have to STOP watching some shows on Discovery as they are all about the best waterslides or rollercoasters and most are in the US...too many ideas!

Another question, when in LA, I am thinking it would be better value to have a car and motel and hire the RV once LA is done. Your thoughts? Or is public transport a better option? I know if someone were to come to Perth (only 1million people so tiny!) I would recommend a car as even though the public transport is great into the city, it wont get you to the outer attractions.

Thank you once again!
Katherine

[Lifemagician]

Seems like you are getting along with the planning nicely. But there is still sooooooo long to wait. Lots of time to change things around. The first plan rarely works. LOL

As for my 6 year old, I have a feeling she thinks Atlanta is still in the Gone with the Wind era and she will get to wear the beautiful clothes! What amusement parks have you been to that you would recommend? The ones I have heard off are the obvious Disneys, Universal Studios, Sea World, Knotsberry Farm and Six Flags.

Your six year old may not find any of the old costumes, but if she has recently seen the film, there are some local routes in Georgia which made me feel as if I was driving through Gone With the Wind.

As for amusement parks. - not my scene! I have never been to one, never took our five children to any. I have always felt one gets much more from the national parks and historical sites.... for a fraction of the price of just one ticket to these commercial conglomerations. Thank God in those days we never had discovery channel. I still don't have it.

Lifey

[DonnaR57]

Amusement parks: My husband and I love Disney here in Southern California -- after all, it is the original. We "did up" Disney in Florida back in '12 and enjoyed it, but we're in no hurry to re-do it as the original is still our favorite (and a lot closer). We've done Universal Studios California and Florida. Both had their good points, but we wouldn't have bothered with the Florida one except that it has Harry Potter World. (California will get it sometime late 2016, I believe.) Since I am NOT a roller coaster fan, would rather not get on one if I can help it, we usually steer clear of most other amusement parks. I've been to Six Flags Mid-America (St Louis area) but it's been a very long time. My daughter has been to Six Flags Magic Mountain (Valencia, north of Los Angeles) and she always enjoyed it as a late teenager, but won't go back there now. She prefers Disney. Knotts Berry Farm, not all that far from Disneyland and California Adventure, is also a lot of fun but is very focused on the thrill rides. Our middle and elementary school band kids play there every spring for Music in the Parks, and they enjoy it.

Like Lifey, when we traveled with the kids, the focus was ALWAYS on national and historic parks and monuments. It still is, without kids. The nice thing about those is the $80 for one family/one year's worth of national parks, instead of $80 for one person/one day's worth of amusement park (Universal and Disney).


Donna

[JDAdams]

Some thoughts from a fellow tourist to the US - for reference, I'm planning my own west coast road trip for 2017, and have "done" Orlando three times (back for Orion EM-1 in 2018), New York/DC twice, and Miami and Maine once each (Hawaii/Alaska next year, and Oz is planned for 2019 :)). I will concentrate on places we've been or, to a lesser degree, which I've researched, and will not cover travelling as A) I haven't really experienced it yet and B) my own trip has proven somewhat ambitious. It is, of course, a bit touristy, and we like aviation/spaceflight, scuba/marine life, animals, and Disney, so it is a bit biased in those directions, sorry!

- As you are travelling the entire country, a major solar eclipse will occur over a long west-east track on August 21st 2017. I realise you are looking at 2016 and will probably want to keep things that way, just mentioning this as I moved our own trip from 2016 to 2017 to view the eclipse, all other things being equal

- Not sure if you have specific cruise plans, but I've been looking at Alaska cruises myself for next year, and I found Princess Cruises to do an excellent range of cruise/tour packages which go from Vancouver all the way up to Fairbanks if you want them. I'm not sure what you are looking for in a cruise company either, but my parents are going on a European cruise this summer and also chose Princess, entirely independently.

- If you have 3 months, try to get to KSC when there is a launch scheduled. It is like nothing else on Earth (no pun intended). I cannot adequately describe it and would not try, but it is something everyone should experience.

- Seconded that KSC needs a full day. We spent a long day there in 2011 (final Atlantis launch) and saw maybe 2/3 of the Center, before the Atlantis exhibit was built. We then went back last November and spent our entire three-hour visit (postponed EFT-1 launch) in the Atlantis exhibit. Having seen three of the four shuttles on display (Enterprise in NYC, Discovery in DC - Endeavour in LA will be in 2017), Atlantis is our favourite by some margin. It helps that we saw her fly, but the way they present her is itself truly wonderful.

- Disney is an essential for us if we are in the area (speaking as a 33- and 44-year old couple travelling without children) and with kids I'd think it even more so. You just sort of have to! That said, it is only part of a complete trip. Having stayed onsite at WDW, I wouldn't consider staying offsite now either. The value hotels in particular are very competitive and the same excellent service exists throughout. The internal transport is a real boon and might be nice after a while on the road. You can technically do any of the parks in a single day (having ridden/seen everything in MK in 15 hours with extremely thorough planning), but with children I'd only advise to please, please don't try it! The Frozen ride should be online in EPCOT by your visit, unless you have managed to avoid that particular phase with your girls? EPCOT also has Mission: Space, which has more health warning than I have even seen on a ride. I thought it was good fun; my OH felt sick all afternoon! Animal Kingdom should also have their Kilimanjaro Night Safaris and Rivers of Light show running by March 2016 (Avatar Land is late 2017). The Great Movie Ride at Hollywood Studios has a Wizard of Oz section - it is being refurbed early this year but the scenes should remain unchanged. At all the parks, the parades, shows and fireworks make it - don't undervalue these. Don't forget to book Fastpass+ online before going either, especially if wanting to meet Anna & Elsa (the scourge of many a parent) without a 3-hour wait. I cannot compare with Disneyland as we haven't been there just yet...

- Universal Studios / Islands of Adventure. Some of the larger-scale individual attractions at IoA perhaps more intense than at Disney: Dudley Do-Right=Splash Mountain on steroids (theming not half as good though), Jurassic Park=Splash Mountain of nightmares, Popeye's Barges=Kali River Rapids with someone throwing continuous buckets of water at you, Harry Potter=Soarin' on fast forward with a movie licence) but somewhat newer so a little unfair to judge. US felt more individual in terms of attractions and I would say superior to Hollywood Studios. Overall I would rate the parks as well worth a visit, but if you don't want to be drawn into spending time/money at parks then I don't find them as essentual a Disney. The scale of the Harry Potter attractions was rather impressive - as was the length of the associated queues! King Kong attraction coming to IoA in early 2016.

- Busch Gardens is well worth a visit. We found that the day trips usually offered don't do it justice - it is a large theme park plus a large zoo in one, and if we had to pick just one I think this would be our favourite of any park. Also has white tigers and a ski-lift like ride over the savannah, if you like that sort of thing.

- Driving the Florida Keys at sunset was a really great experience for us - watch out for the tiny deer on Big Pine Key. Would probably stay there overnight rather than drive back in the dark if we go again - though a large thunderstorm over the ocean was well worth seeing as well!

- The Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta has four whale sharks on exhibit - this is the only place outside of Asia (China, Taiwan, Japan) that the world's largest fish can be seen and is worth stopping in on if you will be passing through Atlanta.

- DC and NYC both have interesting attractions which must be booked some time in advance to gain admission at all, or to avoid lengthy queues: the Pentagon and the crown of the Statue of Liberty must be booked months in advance, whereas the Washington Monument and US Capitol are much easier to visit if you arrange tickets online first.

- Whilst up in NYC, it is well worth continuing up the coast to Boston and on to Maine (we visited Bar Harbor) for some amazing scenery. Daft as it sounds, I am not sure to where you would then go to head back west and continue the loop - perhaps someone else can advise here. Niagara Falls is in northwest New York state (right on the Canadian border) whilst up that way.

- The Smithsonian Air & Space in DC has the original Apollo 11 Command Module, Columbia, along with many other aerospace exhibits. All of the Smithsonian muesums offer free admission, and all are worth a visit. Be warned, the Star-Spangled Banner itself is rather larger than you may be expecting.

- Nasa does a Passport to Space, in which stamps can be collected for visiting the various centers they have spread out around the country (including places like the research centers as well as the major sites like KSC and JSC). This might be something which your 9-year-old would enjoy. They can be collected for free from any visitor center - you may need to book them online first but "free" is the important part.

- I see you have polar bears in Australia at Sea World on the Gold Coast, and pandas at Adelaide Zoo, but am not sure if you have seen either of them there or elsewhere. We find both species hard to find and rewarding to view, so make it a priority to see them when we get the chance. There is a single polar in the Bronx Zoo and three pandas at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington should you be interested. The San Diego, Memphis and Atlanta Zoos also have pandas and quite a lot of other zoos have polar bears; if you can make it up on your cruise there then the Alaksa Zoo in Anchorage has two polar bears in the closest you will see them to their natural envionment (they have them wild in Kaktovik and sometimes Barrow if you really want to go for it - not during the summer though).

- Regards Hawaii, I guess you're probably flying back via Honolulu on Oahu. I'm not sure if it's possible to fly via Kona instead or to get to Big Island via an internal flight, but in my trip planning I've noted that some of the more unique sights are on there - Mauna Kea and its Observatory, live volcanoes and (if you like that sort of thing) SCUBA/snorkelling with manta rays at night just off Kona itself.

[Lifemagician]

- If you have 3 months, try to get to KSC when there is a launch scheduled. It is like nothing else on Earth (no pun intended). I cannot adequately describe it and would not try, but it is something everyone should experience.

Such an experience can not be over rated. I was there in August 2009, when the shuttle blasted off. An experience I will never forget.

A warning though - When I was there, the majority of the crowd was on A1A, just north of Cocoa Beach (of I dream of Jeanie fame) south of Cape Canarveral. We were east of the bridge over the intercoastal. It gave us an excellent view. I got there quite early in the morning for a scheduled blast off of around 5pm.... and had to park quite a bit away from where I viewed the launch. Even then I was three back on the side of the road. After the launch it took us three hours to get back to Orlando via the shortest route.

On a hot day, it is a long wait without shops nearby. So if you have the opportunity to have this once in a life time experience, make sure you are prepared. Lots of food and drink, hats, seats and I suggest you take the Aerogard (pref roll on and lotion), there is nothing available in North America which compares. and the mozzies are prolific in Florida..

Some folk in motor homes were parked right by the water's edge. I suspect they had been there for a while, though I did not see any camping facilities. There are also hundreds of folk who watch the launch from boats.

Seconded that KSC needs a full day. We spent a long day there in 2011 (final Atlantis launch) and saw maybe 2/3 of the Center, before the Atlantis exhibit was built.

It is not for nothing that the tickets to the Kennedy Space Centre are valid for two days. You are going to need them, especially if you take the chance to see some of the movies.

[keithg]

I may be wrong here but ive always thought if i was doing the round trip at that time of the year, id leave Los Angeles and head across the bottom and come back across the top so as to avoid the summer heat in the south. If it was in the fall, id go the other way around.
Sounds like a fantastic trip in the planning.

Keithg

[Southwest Dave]

Nope, you're not wrong Keith. Not only will it help avoid heat, it will also give the mountain areas time to thaw out.

Dave.

[keithg]

I agree Dave. If you went up the north first, parts of Yellowstone may not be open.

Keith

[2016USAHoliday]

My road atlas and map arrived today......we have a wall big enough for the map and everyone has their own colour post it notes to stick on! Bring on the planning!

Thanks everyone for their suggestions!