Talk to Me About Arizona.

[disneyseniors]

October is a great month in AZ in terms of weather. I live here and don’t consider it beautiful, but it’s nice to hear that tourists do. I miss the green stuff and the ocean. Originally from So-Cal.

I agree with you My sisterinlaw lives in Phoenix and we visit once a year. After looking at sand, no grass or trees (the type I'm used to), just desert landscaping, I was really missing Mn. It's very nice to visit with a lot to see and do, but I don't think I could live there. However, we live in the very cold north. The only reason we stay here is because of the kids and grandkids

 

[irlandaise]

It's time to book tours. I'm hoping you guys will be willing to share more advice. Below is a list of places we plan to visit. Which locations should we book a tour & which can we tour on our own with driving tour apps?

Just to reiterate, I have health problems, which means no steps or strenuous hikes. We're willing to book tours anywhere, if it makes a difference on whether or not I can access the site. If we can do a self driving tour, that's probably preferable. It's easier to be able to go at my "slow" pace.

Sedona
Sunset Crater
Grand Canyon
Wupatki NM
Montezuma Castle
Montezuma Wall
Upper Antelope Canyon (I know I need to call to see if I can find a guide that will provide an accessible tour.)
Horseshoe Bend
Canyon de Chelly (I'm pretty sure a tour is required here.)
Monument Valley
Petrified Forest
Scottsdale

Please, feel free to offer suggestions for tours. I need all the help I can get. Pricing out this trip is making Disney seem like a budget vacation.

I think driving yourself is preferable for the areas that are managed by the National Park Service. They'll have informative visitor centers, often with an introductory film; possibly some talks or walking tours; and of course wonderful NPS rangers to answer your questions.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I think driving yourself is preferable for the areas that are managed by the National Park Service. They'll have informative visitor centers, often with an introductory film; possibly some talks or walking tours; and of course wonderful NPS rangers to answer your questions.

Thanks

 

[Imzadi]

Please, feel free to offer suggestions for tours. I need all the help I can get. Pricing out this trip is making Disney seem like a budget vacation.

We took a Pink Jeep tour around Sedona. We weren't impressed. We stayed in the jeep. Maybe walked around a little bit. But, we could have done that on our own. And we would have preferred to do it in our own time. The jeep didn't go anywhere special, like they had secret routes they took us on.

For the Grand Canyon, we did a helicopter tour one time. It was fun. None of the helicopters are allowed to go DOWN into the canyon though. But, it was still fun seeing it from above, especially the north rim, where I still have never been.

 

[Imzadi]

Lol. We're actually thinking it will be chilly for us in October.

It really depends on where you will be. There are some areas of AZ that are in the mountains and have snow, whereas 50 - 100 miles away, at lower altitudes, it's 70 degrees.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

We took a Pink Jeep tour around Sedona. We weren't impressed. We stayed in the jeep. Maybe walked around a little bit. But, we could have done that on our own. And we would have preferred to do it in our own time. The jeep didn't go anywhere special, like they had secret routes they took us on.

For the Grand Canyon, we did a helicopter tour one time. It was fun. None of the helicopters are allowed to go DOWN into the canyon though. But, it was still fun seeing it from above, especially the north rim, where I still have never been.

Thanks for the feedback. If we take the Pink Jeep tour, it will be the Broken Arrow tour. It doesn't sound like that's the one you took. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I'll look into the helicopter tour.

It really depends on where you will be. There are some areas of AZ that are in the mountains and have snow, whereas 50 - 100 miles away, at lower altitudes, it's 70 degrees.

We're South Floridians. 70s are chilly for us. I'm expecting it to be cold at night, but that's okay. That's what coats are for.

 

[Imzadi]

Thanks for the feedback. If we take the Pink Jeep tour, it will be the Broken Arrow tour. It doesn't sound like that's the one you took. Correct me if I'm wrong.

No, this one just drove around to the various buttes, stopped. There was a brief lecture. We got out, looked a bit, then went onto the next one. All stuff, with Googling, we could have done on our own. The only positive is that their vehicle got spattered with all the red mud & dust, not ours.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

@mom2rtk & anyone else with Utah experience, since I last posted in this thread, I've been told that Upper Antelope Canyon won't work for me. The tour guides I spoke to said they had been instructed to tell anyone with any type of mobility issues that the tour isn't appropriate for them. Unfortunately, Horseshoe Bend was also questionable, so we've had to change our plan.

Since we already planned to go to Monument Valley & Four Corners, we've decided to spend that now free day near Bluff, UT. We have Bluff Dwellings Resort booked for that night. Some of the suggestions we've received are Edge of Cedars State Park, Bears Ears National Monument, the Petroglyphs @ Sand Island Golf Course & Gooseneck State Park. We were thinking we could possibly see Gooseneck State Park on our Monument Valley day instead leaving us more time further north.

We're open to any other suggestions. Also, is there anything listed above that we should skip?

 

[mrs. magoo]

@mom2rtk & anyone else with Utah experience, since I last posted in this thread, I've been told that Upper Antelope Canyon won't work for me. The tour guides I spoke to said they had been instructed to tell anyone with any type of mobility issues that the tour isn't appropriate for them. Unfortunately, Horseshoe Bend was also questionable, so we've had to change our plan.

Since we already planned to go to Monument Valley & Four Corners, we've decided to spend that now free day near Bluff, UT. We have Bluff Dwellings Resort booked for that night. Some of the suggestions we've received are Edge of Cedars State Park, Bears Ears National Monument, the Petroglyphs @ Sand Island Golf Course & Gooseneck State Park. We were thinking we could possibly see Gooseneck State Park on our Monument Valley day instead leaving us more time further north.

We're open to any other suggestions. Also, is there anything listed above that we should skip?

So we did both Lower Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe bend on our last trip and I can confirm that the slot canyons would be difficult with mobility issues but Horseshoe bend was a paved walkway to the overlook. It was all sun and no real shade but it was a pretty picture just not that exciting in my opinion.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

So we did both Lower Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe bend on our last trip and I can confirm that the slot canyons would be difficult with mobility issues but Horseshoe bend was a paved walkway to the overlook. It was all sun and no real shade but it was a pretty picture just not that exciting in my opinion.

I'm so glad you see that. Horseshoe Bend was near the top of my list of things to see based on pictures online. After hearing Upper Antelope Canyon isn't possible & Horseshoe Bend would be challenging, we decided it wasn't worth going to Page to possibly only see the Dam. I was still bummed about missing it though. This helps me to not feel like we're missing out.

 

[leebee]

General question: Are we crazy to consider UT/AZ in the summer? DH and I are tied to the academic teaching schedule so only have vacation time in July and August.

@tarheelmjfan When you return from your trip and have time, would you outline your vacation- where you went and stayed, and for how many days? I am TERRIBLE at planning vacations. DH would love to go to this area, but it's never held interest for me (I don't think it's pretty at all, not like mountains, ocean, or forests). Maybe if I have a "trip outline" to work from, there's actually a chance that we'll do this! Hope your health holds and you have a great trip!

 

[jdb in AZ]

General question: Are we crazy to consider UT/AZ in the summer? DH and I are tied to the academic teaching schedule so only have vacation time in July and August.

@tarheelmjfan When you return from your trip and have time, would you outline your vacation- where you went and stayed, and for how many days? I am TERRIBLE at planning vacations. DH would love to go to this area, but it's never held interest for me (I don't think it's pretty at all, not like mountains, ocean, or forests). Maybe if I have a "trip outline" to work from, there's actually a chance that we'll do this! Hope your health holds and you have a great trip!

The north rim of the Grand Canyon has lots of pine trees and is cool in the summer. And it's more scenic than the south rim. Meanwhile, the hot desert is not my idea of a fun place to vacation during July and August. It's less humid than Michigan but we basically hibernate as much as possible during the summer months (or escape on a cruise to Alaska.)

As for Southern Utah, it depends on how you like to spend your time. My dad was not a hiker but loved the annual Shakespeare Festival. https://visitcedarcity.com/event/utah-shakespeare-festival/51/

 

[Kennywood]

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Anyone have a suggestion for Monument Valley tours?

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Anyone have a suggestion for Monument Valley tours?

Quoting myself to share that I booked the Dreamcatcher tour. https://emonumentvalley.com/tours/dreamcatcher-evening/ I'd love to hear opinions, if any of you have taken this tour. I'm still up for other suggestions, if there's a better option for afternoon tours.

 

[jimmymc]

General question: Are we crazy to consider UT/AZ in the summer? DH and I are tied to the academic teaching schedule so only have vacation time in July and August.

@tarheelmjfan When you return from your trip and have time, would you outline your vacation- where you went and stayed, and for how many days? I am TERRIBLE at planning vacations. DH would love to go to this area, but it's never held interest for me (I don't think it's pretty at all, not like mountains, ocean, or forests). Maybe if I have a "trip outline" to work from, there's actually a chance that we'll do this! Hope your health holds and you have a great trip!

I did it, and I'll say it depends on where you're going. Phoenix is brutally hot in the summer, and I would avoid it if I could. Grand Canyon was actually pretty nice. Because of the altitude, the temperature at the rim was around 82 with low humidity.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Did any of you do self driving tours in Grand Canyon? We used a self driving app in Yellowstone & had a great time. The same app in Acadia left us feeling like we missed out by not taking a tour. It didn't help that Acadia was more limiting for those with mobility issues. We're wondering, which of these parks would be most similar to the Grand Canyon experience, as far as touring goes. (We don't expect the parks themselves to be similar.) We'll book a tour, if it really adds to the experience, but we'd rather not. The tours we already have booked are really adding up.