Budget Trip to Winter Park - advice needed

[riley2008]

Well, last year I got the Southwest Credit card deal and the 50,000 miles. We decided to use them for a spring break trip to Colorado (March 2014).

We are from south Texas and have limited experience driving in snow. We'll be flying in to Denver at 5:45pm. Our plan was to rent a car and drive to Winter Park that evening. (Time change is that previous weekend, so we'll have a little more daylight.)

My question is....will we need a car once we are there? We'll have a small kitchen and I think a bus runs to a nearby town at a Safeway, so we could potentially get groceries that way.If we likely won't be using a car, the cost difference in a using a shuttle service is minimal...and I won't have to deal with a frozen vehicle. However, it might be nice to drive around????

(We'll arrive late on a Monday and leave EARLY on Sunday...already made reservations at an airport hotel for Saturday night.)

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Docchio]

What's your itinerary look like for this trip? Mingling and dining or slopes and powder all day or summit a mountain or three? Also, do you and family travel to higher elevations very often?

I live in Denver. The drive from DIA to Winter Park is not terribly long, and would not be difficult for you all to navigate assuming there was no treacherous snow storm around the week of your vacation. I guess that's the gamble.

If you do rent a car, get a 4x4 or AWD to drive around in. Winter Park has been built into a ski resort for a reason... it's always covered in snow in the winter!

If you go with a courier service, I recommend CME (Colorado Mountain Express I believe it is).

 

[Sunshineminnie]

One of the best things to do up in (by) Winter Park is hitting the tubing hills in Frazier. It's just a few minutes away and everyone enjoy this as much if not more than skiing!

 

[riley2008]

Thank you for the information. Not really sure what our plans will be. I was tentatively thinking -arrive Monday, acclimate Tuesday and explore (get our bearings of where the slopes and rental shops are; get groceries); ski school Wednesday and Thursday; no plans for Friday (ski again or do something we see or hear about); Saturday pack and whatever then head to Denver and return car by 700pm.