Anyone visited Yellowstone National Park?

[HelloChum]

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=131

There are many threads on Yellowstone & Grand Canyon, etc. in this forum. I found the Disers very helpful in my trip planning!

Also, highly recommend Trip Advisors--especially when trying to decide on lodging!

Happy planning!

 

[cruisnfamily]

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=131

There are many threads on Yellowstone & Grand Canyon, etc. in this forum. I found the Disers very helpful in my trip planning!

Also, highly recommend Trip Advisors--especially when trying to decide on lodging!

Happy planning!

I never knew there was such a board here on the DIS, thank you so much!

 

[mafibisha]

I also think you should read the forums on Trip Advisor. I use them for all of our non-Disney trips. Using the nps.gov website, TA, and my big ol' AAA driving maps, I can spend months planning a National Parks trip!

TA is great for lodging and IMO you can't beat AAA maps.

But IMO, for all things National Parks, check www.fodors.com and especially their USA forum.
Type in the name of the National Parks in the search box and you won't believe how much information you'll receive! Its like the DIS for National Parks!!!

Hey cowboy,
Let me ask you, is there some way to book Old faithful lodge. I tried last year for th is summer on the national parks website and it seemed every day was booked. Do you know how far in advance do they accept reservations? Can I call the lodge directly?

Call back daily. Hourly. You'll eventually get in. (most likely)

People booking Yosemite have this down to a science. Cancellations for that park go back into the system at 7am Pacific, so people check then! I learned about this on the Yosemite TripAdvisor forum.

LOL, ITA its a science! Like Disney strategies! For all the National Parks. The parks have become very popular again in recent years and after several visits, you do get it down to a science, similar to *doing* Disney
Again, go to Fodors.com for ALL thinkgs National Parks!!
But be sure you have lots of time; you could spend hours .... days reading there!!!

I live just outside of Zion and I would highly recommend adding that park to any itenerary involving both Yellowstone and Grand Canyon. )

Oh ITA !!!!! And you are soo LUCKY!
Zion Canyon is STUNNING!! So is Bryce Canyon! Each so different from Grand Canyon! (so is Escalante and Capitol Reef and on and on!!)
We know people who MUCH prefer Bryce and Zion, and once they've seen the Grand Canyon, have never gone back to the GC while returning to Zion and Bryce countless times.
Did I mention how lucky I think you are to live there!!!

 

[azlaura]

We have been twice and went two different ways. First trip flew to SLC and drove to West Yellowstone (about5 hours), rented a cabin that was beautiful and drove into the park everyday from there. The second time, I wanted less driving so we flew to Idaho Falls and drove and stayed in Jackson for a few nights(rented a condo) and then moved to Cooke City MT for the last few nights. (rented a cabin)We loved Cooke City, very small town but so beautiful up in the Northeast corner and really close to all the animal viewing which was our priority for this trip. We then flew out of Bozeman. (small airport but it was great) If you wanted to PM me I can give you the names of the cabins and condos we stayed in they were all wonderful. We went both times the first week in June. First trip wonderful weather the whole week but one day cold and snowy. Second trip, rain or snow every day but one. We still did amost everything we wanted to but hiking was limited due to the mud...we did see tons of animals though If you want warmer weather go later in the summer but also plan to sit in traffic because it gets very busy, we had no crowd issues.

 

[Kathi OD]

DH and I are going this summer, at the end of August! We're flying into Bozeman and making a loop down the western side of the park, into the Grand Tetons and then back up the eastern side and across the northern part.

This is our itinerary.

Day 1 - fly into Bozeman and stay at Mammoth Hot Springs (cabin)
Day 2 - 4 Old Faithful area staying at Old Faithful Inn
Day 5 & 6 - GTNP - we'll be at Signal Mountain Lodge
Day 7 -8 Canyon Village (cabin)
Day 9 Mammoth Hot Springs (cabin)
Day 10 - home =(

I found this website to be helpful in planning our trip.

I called in the fall, between Halloween and Thanksgiving, IIRC, for the reservations in YNP. I was a little too early for the GTNP, so had to call back about 2 weeks later. I wanted to get it done early to make sure I was able to get what I wanted. As it was, there were already no rooms available at Roosevelt (YNP).

 

[MissAndrea]

We are going for 2 weeks in July! Starting in Colorado, then driving to the Grand Tetons, up to Yellowstone, then over to Mount Rushmore! I can't wait! I did a lot of searches on this site and found some great threads on the subject. Subscribing to this one!

 

[katman2540]

My wife and I are doing a 24 day road trip from CT to San Diego, up to Yellowstone and back across.

Highlights will be:
Roswell, NM
Meteor Crater
Painted Desert/Petrified National Forest
Sedona, AZ
San Diego Zoo
Pacific Ocean
Disneyland (first time for us both)
Las Vegas
Grand Canyon
Dinosaur National Monument
Grand Tetons
Yellowstone
Devils Tower
Mt. Rushmore
Badlands of South Dakota
Mall of america
and Possibly the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Camping most of the way and taking it all on in a my little Hyundai Accent!

Can't Wait

E.T.A. We are leaving July 1st.

 

[bamagirl@hrt]

We are going to Yellowstone and Grand Teton NPs this June! It will be our first time out west, and I expect it to be very different from any vacation we've ever taken before.

We are flying into Jackson and renting a car. We will spend 1 night in Jackson, followed by 2 nights at the Old Faithful Inn, 2 nights at Lake Yellowstone Hotel, and 1 night at the Roosevelt Lodge. There we have the roughrider cabin that doesn't have a private bath. It seems to be the most convenient place to stay to do the cowboy cookout, though.

We will then drive to GTNP where we will spend 2 nights at Jackson Lake Lodge. My husband will attend a national conference in Salt Lake City, so our last 2 nights will be there, and we will fly out of SLC.

To the OP, I booked our Yellowstone accomodations through Xanterra last July. It was already slim pickings for dates at Old Faithful Inn. We took what was available there and then worked the rest of our days around that. We knew when we had to be back to SLC. As for GTNP, if you want to stay at one of their lodges, they don't take reservations for the next year until their season is over. We called in October and were put on a waiting list. I got a call back (or an email, don't remember) in mid to late November with my reservation number.

One budget note, all of the Yellowstone lodges require a one night's deposit paid up front. If you are staying in 3 different lodges, like we are, you will have 3 nights prepaid. At GTNP lodges, they require a 2 night's deposit. It might be steep now, but I like having as much prepaid as I can.