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[Pembo]

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[ahutton]

It's a great place, but summer can be a bit tough for outdoor activities. We spent two weeks there in June, but we were between Phoenix (in the Awahtukee area) and Green Valley (south of Tucson). At Arizona Mills Mall there is a Gameworks and Rainforest Cafe, there is also an IMAX theater. For water fun Big Surf in Tempe a neat place. Fiddlesticks has mini golf, go-karts and bumper boats. There is the Mesa Southwest Museum, and a Science Museum too.

As for places to stay, summer is the CHEAP season in Phoenix. There will be a ton of resorts that are very, very nice and reasonable. Depending on what you want to be close to (where the wedding is) you could check out Westcourt at the Buttes, Pointe Resorts (several locations) or Palms (in Tempe).

One of my favorite get out of the heat trips is to go from Phoenix up to Sedona for a day, you can hike a little and then do some lunch and shopping. Then from there head over to Williams for the night. Get up the next morning and take the Grand Canyon Railroad up to the canyon for the day or even overnight.

 

[Briarmom]

Disneyland is a pretty quick trip if you can stay a couple of days.

It is soooo hot here right now (like 107) so...I have no idea what to tell you to do. We try to stay indoors.

 

[Jcricket Fan]

Pembo just to encourage you....when my Dh wanted to take a trip to AZ to visit some observatories I asked if somehow we could "swing by" Disneyland...he's such a great guy and Disney fan as well and said sure!

We arrived at the airport in Phoenix (from CT) picked up our rental car and drove straight to Disneyland! We stayed for 2 days I got to see Disney & the Pacific ocean 2 things I have always wanted to do in my life. It was wonderful!

I hope your trip is wonderful!

Colleen

 

[lucky1]

Summer is the value season in Phoenix, but be prepared for HOT, DRY weather. You will want to find in door activities in during the day and then spend some time outdoors in the evenings.

Pointe Hilton resorts have some wonderful activies for children and are very nice. They have good pool areas (small water parks).

Take in a diamondbacks game, which is indoors.

 

[debabe]

We stayed at the Hilton Pointe at Squaw Peak in June. All the rooms are suites, we had 2 double beds in the bedroom and a pull out sofa in the living room. Lots of room, plus a small refrigerator and sink (no microwave, that I remember). But the best part was the water park on site. It had a lazy river, large pool and a big water slide, all of which is included in the hotel rate. We also had another pool near our room, which we used in the evening. They also have 'dive-in movies' on selected nights during the summer. We paid about $85 a night during the week. The Hyatt Regency in Scottsdale also has a great pool area but their rates are about $140 a night (and the rooms aren't suites). HTH

Deb

 

[golfgal]

We stayed at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge when we were in Phoenix. It is a GREAT hotel for kids. The pool/lazy river is a blast. It is spendy, but I am guessing it won't be too bad in the summer. Drive up to the Grand Canyon for the day. The railroad is fun, but it is spendy. Sedona is nice, but I think your kids would get bored quickly there. There is a great park in Anthem, about 20 miles north of Downtown Phoenix. THere is also a good outlet mall near the park.

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

My DSis lives in Paradise Valley, outside of Phoenix. We enjoyed Sedona. There is a great jeep ride that you can take.

My DSis told me the other day that there isn't any social function in Phoenix that you can't wear a cami, shorts and flip flops! LOL

Lori

 

[jajuan]

I agree with Sedona 100%. There are pink jeep tours, there is a park called Slide Rock State park that has natural water slides (they are little..nothing your children couldn't do) and tons of beauty. It was one of the most beautiful places that I have ever seen.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

DH and a coworker are going to Phoenix for training seminar in December. They are planning on spending the day before at the Grand Canyon (it's about three hours away). In the summer, I bet that would be pretty darn hot.

 

[Cantw8]

We stayed at the Wyndam Butte Resort in Tempe this passed April. Gorgeous hotel with awesome views. We took a Hummer ride through the desert one day. Lots of fun and very educational. We also took a one day bus trip that went to Sedonda, the Grand Canyon (at the canyon, we took a helicoter ride down to the bottom), the Painted Desert and an Indian Reservation.

It was the best vacation I ever had. Have fun.

 

[justhat]

We stayed at the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak once and we really liked it. The pool area was great (and we didn't have any kids back then either!) and the room was nice too. They had a bunch of quiet pools too, I remember one in the courtyard of the building we were in. We also went to the Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs to go on a trail ride, and that resort looked very nice too, maybe even nicer than Squaw Peak. We looked into it, but it was a little further north than we wanted to be, but after seeing it, it really wasn't that far and looked very nice.

We've also stayed at the Hyatt Gainey Ranch, which I thought was a beautiful hotel, and they had lots of nice activities for the guests, including a great wine tasting event (again, no kids back then!). The restaurants there were pretty good (better I think than Squaw Peak's), but really we ate out most nights anyway.

2 other gorgeous hotels we've stayed in are the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess and the Phoenician. We were there with conferences so we didn't have to worry about the high price tag, but maybe in the summer they're not too expensive. (When we looked for a place to stay this Thanksgiving, the Phoenician was $850/night!! It was a suite cause that was all that was left, but still!) There's a restaurant at the Princess that has great breakfast items-fluffernutter french toast, for example-so maybe go check that out one day if you're in that area.

I know it will be hot, but there's a great zoo, called World Wildlife Zoo that is about 30 minutes outside Phoenix. It's smaller than the Phoenix Zoo (which I also thought was a great zoo), but unique and worth seeing if you're into animals/zoos and it's not super hot (I'm guessing you'd have to go in the evening). Out of Africa Wild Animal Park is pretty nice too.

I also agree with making a stop in Sedona if you have the time, it's an absolutely beautiful area. So pretty, in fact, that my mom and I had to pull over to take photos of the red rocks on the side of the road cause we couldn't get over them. The weather there is very nice, and it has a cute little town area to explore. We stayed there overnight on the drive back to Phoenix from the Grand Canyon, at Los Abrigados, and it was a very nice resort (they're all mini-suites) and we enjoyed the area.

We're going to Phoenix for Thanksgiving this year and are staying at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge so I'm glad to hear that this is a nice resort too. I'm hoping it will be warm enough to use the pool while we're there. We plan to move to Phoenix in 4 years, we love it there!

 

[golfgal]

We're going to Phoenix for Thanksgiving this year and are staying at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge so I'm glad to hear that this is a nice resort too. I'm hoping it will be warm enough to use the pool while we're there. We plan to move to Phoenix in 4 years, we love it there!

I am pretty sure the water is heated. We were there in January and the water was warm enough to swim. The staff at the JW is outstanding. I am guessing we will be going back there in Jan of 2007!

 

[Pembo]

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[spb999]

I agree with Sedona 100%. There are pink jeep tours, there is a park called Slide Rock State park that has natural water slides (they are little..nothing your children couldn't do) and tons of beauty. It was one of the most beautiful places that I have ever seen.

Another vote for Sedona....I've been to Slide Rock Park too - jumped in with my clothes on