Our Epic Adventure - Canyons, Deserts, Vegas & Yosemite in December

[backinoz]

All thoughts, opinions, suggestions and comments are welcome... Thanks in advance - it's hard to plan a road trip from 1/2 a world away - there's almost too much information out there. If there's a particular website, blog post, map, or book you think I should check out, please let me know. Love Travel Caffeine for awesome to read trip reports and photo hints, and Aussie Wendy's fantastic trip report has been a great help too.

A little about us - DH & I, DD18 & DD16 (turning 17 on the trip). Us girls all Disney fanatics, dh not as fanatical but enjoys Disney holidays for the 'moments' and photo opportunities. DH is a serious amateur photographer & all of us are seasoned travellers and are quite used to 7-8 hour road trips in each direction over a weekend, so long distances don't bother us. Wasn't really planning a stop in Vegas until we found out Rock of Ages was showing so don't want any more time there, but would like 3 nights at Yosemite so am hoping to cut out a night at either Canyon de Chelly or Monument Valley. Especially looking for info on what traffic will be like from Yosemite back to Anaheim, and what time we should leave to avoid the worst of it.

We're not worried about the crowds in DL/DCA over Christmas, we did NYE in EPCOT and know as long as we plan things out, and book our meals as soon as reservations open, then we'll be fine.

Thanks everyone

 

[sheetz]

One thing to be aware of is that Yosemite may have tire chain requirements during the winter. Most car rental companies do not allow chains on their rental vehicles, so if there is a chance of a snow storm you may have to take a bus into the park.

 

[backinoz]

Thanks for that info sheetz. I'll make sure I take it into consideration when choosing a rental company. We really want to be able to drive ourselves around as DH will probably be doing a bit of 'to and fro-ing' with his photography, plus I can't see the shuttle buses running in the wee hours of the morning when he's gonna want to get the pre-dawn and sunrise photos. Here's hoping we can find one that allows the use of chains.

 

[elainesj]

Sounds like an ambitious road trip! I love how you have figured out how much driving you will be doing each day. Given that you have about a month, I'm sure it's doable. Sounds like you have broken it up into chunks - stay 2 nights, then drive 3-4 hours, stay 2 nights, drive 3-4 hours...My close friends did a midwest-west coast driving trip and took a whole month - they loved it.

I don't know much about the rest of your trip - but I have been asking about driving from Sequoia National Park to Disneyland - and was told that the best is between 10am and 2pm to arrive in the LA area. Another suggestion was that if I expected to hit LA around 5/6pm was to stop in Santa Clarita for dinner until 7ish when hopefully traffic would have cleared up a little. I am still doing more research...but it sounds entirely possible that even at 7pm, it will take me 2 hours to get from Santa Clarita to Disneyland.

 

[CAFarmerGirl]

I woul research the snow at the higher elevations...Yosemite, Grand Canyon, driving, etc...

 

[ahutton]

For your time in Williams you might check out the train into the Grand Canyon. It's a fun way to get to the South Rim/Grand Canyon Village area.

That time of year the weather can be very hit or miss - if the roads are clear then going from Williams down through Oak Creek Canyon into Sedona is a beautiful trip with lots of nice places to stop and take photos. The Oak Creek Vista overlook is super popular but a great place to stop and take in different views before going down into the canyon. Grasshopper Point is another favorite stop before you get into town when heading south through the canyon. Slide Rock is famous as a water playground but we avoided it then (hate the crowds) and enjoyed the scenery in the off season.

Make sure you reserve mule rides early - they book fast! If you don't get one there is still lots to see and do.