LA to Salt Lake City December / January. Need guidance.

[Bandit 25]

Hi
We are a family of 5 from Australia arriving LA Christmas day for a couple of days in LA then heading to Salt Lake City (Park City Ski) by road. Will have around 14 days to travel to finish destination and were wanting to see a few things on the way, but getting a bit confused with which is the best direction to head and see the good stuff.
Things on the list so far are:
Disneyland - what is it like that time of year?
Universal Studios - same
Hollywood
Bit of the Coast North from LA
Grand Canyon
Las Vegas - if we have too, not essential
Bryce Canyon - if convenient
Route 66
Any other places that people suggest...
We are quite happy to take our time and experience the journey
Any other tips are gladly welcome.
Cheers
B

[Midwest Michael]

Disneyland and Universal will be extremely busy when you are there. The week between Christmas and New Years is typically the busiest week of the entire year at those parks - as people look to take advantage of their vacation time, and get away from winter weather elsewhere in the country.

Are you returning to LA after your time in Park City? If so, you might consider waiting until the end of your trip, as they should be significantly less busy in early January. Of course, I suspect the ski resorts in Utah will also be very busy in the week after Christmas, so everything has trade-offs.

For the rest of your trip, a lot of the advice you received in your post from last year could still apply. You could still go up the coast past Big Sur, and cut over to Yosemite. You wouldn't be able to do Tioga Pass at this time of year, so you'd have to go down to Bakersfield to cross the Sierras, but from there it would be a straight shot across to the Grand Canyon, and Zion and Bryce Canyon would both be on the direct route from the South Rim to Salt Lake City. Of course, how much of that you want to do depends a bit on how much time you plan to spend in LA.

[Bandit 25]

Hi looking at a revised itinery of a trip we have been planning a while. Arrive LA on Xmas day. Was told Disneyland a bit busy at this time so thinking of doing Hollywood and universal then heading up coast to SF for a day or 2 then heading back to LA to see Disneyland before heading off to hopefully and not in this order: Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Monument Valley then to Park City Utah. All by driving. Would like advice on order to drive between sites/cities ans well as any tips. Cheers

Moderator Note: Please don't create multiple threads about the same trip

[DonnaR57]

DL is going to be busy ANY time between Christmas and New Years, and the same for Universal Studios, Knotts, and other theme parks. Everybody's out of school, so that's one thing folks like to do that are locals - visit the local theme parks. Hollywood, probably not so much. You can either choose to skip the theme parks in favor of the more natural wonders, or just decide to grit your teeth and spend a lot of time in lines at the theme parks (particularly Disney and Universal). Disneyland has Fast Pass available on quite a few of the most popular attractions, and it comes with your ticket -- unlike Universal and Knotts, who make you pay extra for the privileges of Fast Pass. However, for the latter, it counts on all rides, not just the most popular, AFAIK.


Donna