Southwest general questions

[ohMom]

we are very very early in thinking of this trip -- wow it looks fantastic and i've read good reviews here. but i do have a few general questions if you have a moment?

i'll give you a little background, we are a family of four, DDs ages 15 1/2 (will be turning 16 around time of trip) and 11 1/2 at time of trip. We live in Ohio and my kids have never traveled west of Indiana....

are my girls too 'old' to enjoy the family events? are they geared for elementary aged children?

how do you tour the Grand Canyon? no one in my family has ever been there...and though a mule ride would be fun my DD is too young anyhow from what i have read on line.

how's the meals?

though the landscape is beautiful and one of the main reasons for us to go....is it redundant after a couple days?

DH and I are sold on 'disney quality' after cruising three times, but I like to compare so i feel more at ease dropping 8k for a week vacation, is there any other travel packages close for comparison?

for any and all input!

 

[Aunt Cawa]

Hi!

My DH and I did this trip last year. There were 17 children on this trip ranging from age 5 to 19. There was also another couple besides us without children. With the exception of the Kid's BBQ, the family activities were geared toward the whole group. Some we participated in and some we decided to do other things. It appeared to be the same way with most of the families.

The food was good. There was plenty of variety. Breakfast was always a buffet. Our guides (Mike and Rae ) provided great advice for the meals we had on our own.

The Grand Canyon is awesome! You visit for a short time the first night. Then next day you get a tour of some of the highlights from the bus. After that you are on your own for the rest of the day. The group gathers together again to watch the sunset over the canyon. There was an option to return to the hotel for awhile or you could just spend the entire day there. We spent the entire day there. There is a historic walking tour you can take as well as hiking down one of the trails. The Junior Ranger programs looked quite popular and the Park Dept. provides shuttle buses to get you to various parts of the South Rim.

Everyone on our trip really enjoyed themselves. We did not think it became boring at all. The awesome local guides really kept everyone involved.

HTH

 

[Planetsis]

I can't really answer your question about the kids, as there were only 4 on our September 2007 trip, but they all seemed to be having fun in spite of the differences between their ages -- 2 were teens and 2 were 8 or younger. The guides made sure they were included in everything, and they had their own special events as well. By the end of the trip, they looked to be fast friends.


As far as whether the landscape is redundant after a few days, absolutely not. I had never been out west before and the landscape is quite different than anything I've ever seen. I frequently felt like I might have been another planet altogether -- say, Mars, for instance. I'd love to go back again some day and spend more time and see even more. There's just no way you'll get bored with the scenery.