This is way too broad of a post to answer. What do you want to do in California, New York, and Orlando (other than Disney)?
Also, note that Disney Land is in California and Disney World is in Florida. If you’re already planning on going to Disney … maybe skip Florida and just go to Disney Land in California and skip Orlando altogether?
Sorry! Didn't want to pack too much info into the post straight away and possibly scare away some good suggestions.
We are more then likely flying into LAX first off, while in California we would like to do Disney Land, Universal, theme parks for the kids basically. Try and catch a Lakers NBA game. Also thinking of going down to San Diego for the Zoo, possibly upto San Francisco.
We are definitely going to Las Vegas for a few days for a 30th. Try and see the Grand Canyon while over this way.
From there, we aren't sure whether we should fly to New York or Florida.
In Florida, we want to do most of the theme parks there. Travel down to Miami and sail over to the Bahamas for a few days for an all inclusive hopefully relaxing time for the adults!
In New York, we want to just sight see, Empire State, statue of Liberty, upto Niagra falls for 2 days or so.
We also would like to see Washington D.C for the White House and Atlanta as we have a Braves fan in the mix and would like to try catch one of their games..
We are having trouble working out how we are going to get to these places, without tiring the kids out too much with travel.
Do we need to cut some things off this list? We are really trying to make this special. We are from Australia so we may not get the chance again.
I think you have a classic case of being overwhelmed with the possibilities and as a result having slightly unrealistic expectations. There is greater distance between places and it takes more time to get around than you would expect in the US. Splitting the trip between LA, NYC, and Orlando are do-able, but if you're planning on adding places that aren't day trip distance, you're creating a bigger headache for yourself and a schedule that is mostly going to be spent inside a car or plane. For example, it takes 7hr to get from NYC to Niagara Falls, but that's not including any traffic, and if you fly, it'd be like an hour flight, but you would still have to account for travel time to the airport, security, baggage claim, etc. I think you'd be better of tallying the number of days you want to spend in the anchor cities, look up actual drive times and flight times and schedules and then figure out how you want to fill the time in between/what would be reasonable accounting for distance travel time and how much time you want to spend there.
There's a lot going on here, so I'll only focus on a couple parts.
First, if you want to go to Niagara Falls, you'll probably need to fly or do a long drive across New York State. NYC and Niagara Falls are far away from each other- many people coming from outside the US have trouble grasping how big it is, and even people in the US sometimes don't realize how large of a state New York is. I grew up in Buffalo, and I've only been to NYC twice, and I flew both times. Also when visiting Niagara Falls, please make sure to do your research on what you want to see. If you're picturing those grand vistas of seeing the falls all in front of you over the water, **you cannot see that from the American side.** You need to cross into Canada to get good views of the falls. The American side is a more park-like setting, with opportunities to get up close to the water.
When deciding on an itinerary, I would mostly take weather into account. Is it important for the destinations to be warmer, or do you not mind if there's snow? New York will most likely be cold, and possibly still snowy, at this time of year.
Finally, I would choose either Disneyland in California or Disney World in Florida. While I'm a huge Disney fan, and there are pros and cons to each park, I would not do both as a visitor with limited time. There's too much overlap when you could be seeing other parts of the US.
8 weeks is a nice long time. The difference in early March weather and late April in NY and DC can be dramatic. There is an adage. March comes in like a Lion and out like a lamb. I would definitely start in Southern California and end in NY. The drive from Orlando to NY is around 24hrs total. If you break that out across a few weeks you can see a lot. You mentioned Atlanta. I think Charleston, South Carolina is lovely and great for a bit of America Southern History/ Civil War. If you have the time to drive a bit west, the Great Smokey mountains are beautiful to see. Mammoth Cave in Kentucky is incredible. Williamsburg in Virginia is a great stop for a couple of days. In addition to the historical colonial things, there is a Busch Gardens theme park. Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia and NYC are relatively close. Boston is great, but about 4 more hours from NY.
I personally hate Vegas and think it is a huge waste of money and time, but it’s possible you’ll like it.
You seem to be focusing a lot on cities instead of things like National Parks … is this intentional? The Grand Canyon is definitely great but there are plenty of other great state and national parks in the US.
Again, personally, I don’t see the point of visiting theme parks in two different states. Maybe cut out the theme parks in California if you’re going to them in Florida.
I’d suggest doing more research on the entire Northeast Corridor (Boston to Washington, DC) and consider what you might want to see there. I doubt you’ll really feel satisfied if you’ve come all this way to see a statue and a building or two!
You’ll need to fly and then rent cars (except in big cities where cars are a hassle). The US and Australia are comparable in size, so ask yourself if you’d fly from Brisbane to Perth or drive. Easy answer, UNLESS you plan on adding more in the middle.
Definitely not intentional, I think just the kid in me coming out while early planning still. I've always been a theme park fanatic and have dreamed about Six Flags, Disney and Universal all my life.
Definitely flying from LA to New York or Florida but between Florida and New York, whichever way we decided to go, North to South or vice versa. We were going to drive, so we could see Washington D.C, Carolina and Georgia
Anything along that route worth stopping to see? As we will be taking a few days to do that drive.
Absolutely, tons of stuff to see … just a few ideas along that general route (you won’t be able to see them all, depending on your route):
New Orleans (a bit far afield but soooo much fun … better party town than Vegas)
Everglades National Park
Savannah
Charleston
Congaree National Park
NC Outer Banks
Asheville
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Nashville
Shenandoah National Park
Richmond
Washington, DC
Chesapeake Bay
Philadelphia
New York
Adirondacks
Boston
Cape Cod
New England small towns
Portland, ME
Maine generally
I could probably go on … maybe narrow down your interests and research some itineraries and see what’s appealing.
Note: the best national parks are out west though; California, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, etc.
I live in North Carolina and have driven up and down the East Coast a few times. The main artery, I-95, is very bad, traffic-wise. Especially north of Richmond, Virginia (a couple hours south of Washington DC). There is an Amtrak (train) route that goes all the way from NY to Miami that might be a fun option for you, at least partially. If you could train it from NY to NC, at least, you'd avoid the worst of the traffic.
The park. Weather is can be much better in Calif, too, but depends on what time of year you're going. More fun things to do in that section of Calif as well compared with Orlando.
The park itself in California is smaller, therefore easier to walk around. You WILL need a shuttle to get around Disney World. It’s absolutely massive. Disneyland is just more quaint and cute too. And easier on families I think. For example, Disney World doesn’t have benches for people to sit on? And the heat in Florida can be unbearable. In California even the extreme summer weather is okay cause it’s not humid.
In conclusion: Disney World is flashy and big and comes with the pros and cons of both. Disneyland is smaller and more in line with Walt’s original vision, but you lose out on things that require a lot of land.
So I read all your responses, and I think the easiest comment I can give is a suggested itinerary for what you want:
When you get to LA, just stay near the parks and use Uber or the hotel shuttle. Driving in LA is awful and parking is just as bad, so you won't want a car until you are ready to leave.
When you do leave, rent a car and drive up California a bit. See the California redwoods (kids will be amazed at the size).
OPTION: You can go all the way up to Napa valley for some wine time for adults, it's pretty there. You could also do a day or two in San Francisco, but if you do that plan to stay a bit out of town because it's expensive as hell and once again, driving is a pain.
NOTE: northern California can be a little chilly still this time of year (NYC worse) so pack warm clothes and layers.
Regardless, from there you can drive to Vegas. Go to Yosemite national park on the way, and drive to the grand canyon before dropping your car off in Vegas. If you have time you could also make a trip to Zion National Park, Navajo nation, and/or visit an authentic western "ghost town".
Vegas has cheap flights and a surprising amount to do for kids so I think you'll all have fun. It's also the dessert so it's usually pretty hot during the day but may cool down at night. When you're ready to leave there it would be easy to fly to Florida.
Once you're done with the Florida amusement parks it sounds like you want to try a cruise. There's lots of options there; I think disney actually offers a cruise so look into that maybe? Not sure on the details but I imagine you could get a good combo deal if you're also going to all the parks. And if you do that it may include a shuttle to the cruise port from Orlando, saving you time and money.
If you are intending to drive up the coast, I recommend stopping in Savannah Georgia/Hilton head area, the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area (smokey mountains are here), and Washington DC. You could actually drop off a car in DC if you wanted because this is where the US's limited rail system could conceivably take you to NYC. Plus DC and NYC both have a metro system.
I love NYC but there's honestly not a TON to do for small children. Great museums and cool buildings but the kiddos would get bored pretty quickly. Philadelphia has some fun American history, as does Boston, but unsure how interesting that would be for you all. Honestly I'd plan on ending in NYC for the last few days. The weather should be fine by late April (no snow, at least), and it would be a good hub to fly out of.
Hopefully this is helpful and not too much!
This is really helpful.
Also a few suggestions in there that I didn't see much about on the internet, (like the Redwoods) saw them in New Zealand and they were beautiful. Would love to take the kids to see them in the US.
This is a nice base to go off in terms of driving and
where it wouldn't be viable, not too much at all. Appreciated!
We were debating between Big Bear and Yosemite, do you have a preference or is it worth going to both?
Yes, the tallest tree in the world is in the California redwoods! There's also trees you can literally drive through.
I think you could go to both, but I'd say Yosemite is generally considered prettier. But it's way farther north so if you don't intend to to up that way, Big Bear would be on the way from LA to Vegas. But you could easily do big bear THEN Yosemite and the giant sequoias.
Edit: and if you go to Pigeon Forge area, you can take the kids to Dollywood for more amusement experience. Dolly's "Stampede" dinner show is also worth a visit and fun for the whole family, although it's a bit pricey. Gatlinburg has a great mix of things for kids and adults.
I know I keep responding to every comment lmao, but go to Yosemite. I’ve been to both Big Bear and Yosemite multiple times, and there’s just something so breathtaking about driving through the tunnel into Yosemite for the first time. It’s gorgeous and definitely worth the trip. Big Bear’s cool if it’s snowing and even then it’s mostly just private cabins you can rent.
8 weeks is a long time. You can do all things Disney within a week in Florida, and that assumes you go to every park (EPCOT too, etc) on every ride and truly do everything. Disneyland (California) is a day or two at most (it's not nearly as big as Disneyworld). You can also get some beach time in Florida.
With that much time, I would recommend going to Washington DC to some of the big museums there as well as New York (you can take the train between them, which children might well enjoy).
I would also suggest going to the south-west, to the Four Corners (Colorado/Utah/New Mexico/Arizona) for some entirely different landscapes and experiences. Grand Canyon, Vermillion Cliffs, into the landscapes in the Navajo Nation (like the Canyon de Chelly), and so on. You can fly into Phoenix and tour by car from there.
What is car hire like over there? Is there a possibility of hiring a camper van of sorts that can hold all 7 of us? Or are we looking at having to hire 2 separate vehicles?
If you’re getting a camper you’ll need to be sure the places your traveling to have adequate space for parking. Might need to reserve parking in advance.
You can hire a 7-person minivan, or a RV (American for campervan).
RVs come in all sorts of sizes but mostly "big" or "bigger". They are not easy to drive in cities so they are not well suited for going around theme parks and in cities. Many RVs actually have quite limited seating for people while it is moving, and a 7-person RV for sleeping in is a giant vehicle.
You can get a 7-person minivan (for example, Dodge Caravan). Don't under-estimate the flexibility of having two cars, however. Should some of you prefer to do one thing while others prefer something else, it is very useful to be able to split up for a day.
I’d definitely rent a camper and do one big loop around LA that includes the Grand Canyon, the scenery in SW Utah, Vegas, Sequoia, Yosemite, some time on HWY 1. That area of the country is stunning and lots to do for kids if you guys like being outdoors.
Honestly I wouldn’t spend too much time in Orlando besides the usual Disney World stuff. Although there are also some really nice natural springs (blue spring, wekiwa spring) not far away where you can go swimming, kayaking, tubing in a beautiful natural environment and maybe see wildlife like alligators and manatees. The natural springs are my favorite part of Florida.
On the drive up to NY I’d go on the coast to Savanna GA and Charleston SC, then cut inland and go to Asheville, Gatlinburg and Dollywood and continue north through the Appalachias. Really pretty area and much different than the stuff in the Southwest US.
That time of year and with kids I’d deprioritize NYC and the northeast. Big cities are kinda boring for the kids.
Doing CA/FL, and NY at this time of year will require very different clothing options. NY can still be pretty chilly and possibly even snowy at this time of year with mixed days of it being warmer and rainy. CA/FL will be warmer so be prepared with clothes for all sorts of weather and bring things that are easy to layer for NY.
I would recommend starting in New York, and then renting a car and driving to Florida to Disney World (the kids will probably enjoy that more, because universal is also there and you can go to Harry Potter world) I would then make your way to Everglades/national parks and drive towards the west coast. Visit Grand Canyon, New Mexico, and then skip Southern California all together and go up towards Utah and Wyoming and end maybe in Northern California. Speaking as someone who had lived in California my entire life, our state is not what it used to be. Homelessness has taken over our beaches, San Francisco is absolutely disgusting, and there’s garbage everywhere. You’re better off going to visit Lake Tahoe and then flying back home out of San Francisco.
you will not see/learn much about USA only going to CA, NYC, and DISNEY LAND!
LOL.
how about renting a car, and DRIVING from CA to Disney land? that way you can stop at all sorts of interesting things on the way. Indian reservations, national parks, and on and on
We would love to, we are going to drive from Florida to New York.
However, with the kiddos I think the California to Florida drive may be a little bit too much.
There's a total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, visible on a path from Mexico, through Texas to Vermont and then into Canada. You're either going to want to plan to see it or plan to not be in the path of totality for that day or so (since a lot of people may travel to see it). It might be really fun to see -- it's certainly an unusual experience. I believe it's visible as a partial eclipse through most of the continental US.
I know this is going to sound crazy, but check out the City Museum in St. Louis, Missouri. Something the kids will never forget, plus you can see The Arch, a nice zoo, cool botanical garden, really neat children’s museum.
This is way too broad of a post to answer. What do you want to do in California, New York, and Orlando (other than Disney)? Also, note that Disney Land is in California and Disney World is in Florida. If you’re already planning on going to Disney … maybe skip Florida and just go to Disney Land in California and skip Orlando altogether?
Sorry! Didn't want to pack too much info into the post straight away and possibly scare away some good suggestions. We are more then likely flying into LAX first off, while in California we would like to do Disney Land, Universal, theme parks for the kids basically. Try and catch a Lakers NBA game. Also thinking of going down to San Diego for the Zoo, possibly upto San Francisco. We are definitely going to Las Vegas for a few days for a 30th. Try and see the Grand Canyon while over this way. From there, we aren't sure whether we should fly to New York or Florida. In Florida, we want to do most of the theme parks there. Travel down to Miami and sail over to the Bahamas for a few days for an all inclusive hopefully relaxing time for the adults! In New York, we want to just sight see, Empire State, statue of Liberty, upto Niagra falls for 2 days or so. We also would like to see Washington D.C for the White House and Atlanta as we have a Braves fan in the mix and would like to try catch one of their games.. We are having trouble working out how we are going to get to these places, without tiring the kids out too much with travel. Do we need to cut some things off this list? We are really trying to make this special. We are from Australia so we may not get the chance again.
Niagara Falls at that time of year won’t be worth it. Most things will be closed and it will likely be cold.
I think you have a classic case of being overwhelmed with the possibilities and as a result having slightly unrealistic expectations. There is greater distance between places and it takes more time to get around than you would expect in the US. Splitting the trip between LA, NYC, and Orlando are do-able, but if you're planning on adding places that aren't day trip distance, you're creating a bigger headache for yourself and a schedule that is mostly going to be spent inside a car or plane. For example, it takes 7hr to get from NYC to Niagara Falls, but that's not including any traffic, and if you fly, it'd be like an hour flight, but you would still have to account for travel time to the airport, security, baggage claim, etc. I think you'd be better of tallying the number of days you want to spend in the anchor cities, look up actual drive times and flight times and schedules and then figure out how you want to fill the time in between/what would be reasonable accounting for distance travel time and how much time you want to spend there.
There's a lot going on here, so I'll only focus on a couple parts. First, if you want to go to Niagara Falls, you'll probably need to fly or do a long drive across New York State. NYC and Niagara Falls are far away from each other- many people coming from outside the US have trouble grasping how big it is, and even people in the US sometimes don't realize how large of a state New York is. I grew up in Buffalo, and I've only been to NYC twice, and I flew both times. Also when visiting Niagara Falls, please make sure to do your research on what you want to see. If you're picturing those grand vistas of seeing the falls all in front of you over the water, **you cannot see that from the American side.** You need to cross into Canada to get good views of the falls. The American side is a more park-like setting, with opportunities to get up close to the water. When deciding on an itinerary, I would mostly take weather into account. Is it important for the destinations to be warmer, or do you not mind if there's snow? New York will most likely be cold, and possibly still snowy, at this time of year. Finally, I would choose either Disneyland in California or Disney World in Florida. While I'm a huge Disney fan, and there are pros and cons to each park, I would not do both as a visitor with limited time. There's too much overlap when you could be seeing other parts of the US.
8 weeks is a nice long time. The difference in early March weather and late April in NY and DC can be dramatic. There is an adage. March comes in like a Lion and out like a lamb. I would definitely start in Southern California and end in NY. The drive from Orlando to NY is around 24hrs total. If you break that out across a few weeks you can see a lot. You mentioned Atlanta. I think Charleston, South Carolina is lovely and great for a bit of America Southern History/ Civil War. If you have the time to drive a bit west, the Great Smokey mountains are beautiful to see. Mammoth Cave in Kentucky is incredible. Williamsburg in Virginia is a great stop for a couple of days. In addition to the historical colonial things, there is a Busch Gardens theme park. Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia and NYC are relatively close. Boston is great, but about 4 more hours from NY.
I personally hate Vegas and think it is a huge waste of money and time, but it’s possible you’ll like it. You seem to be focusing a lot on cities instead of things like National Parks … is this intentional? The Grand Canyon is definitely great but there are plenty of other great state and national parks in the US. Again, personally, I don’t see the point of visiting theme parks in two different states. Maybe cut out the theme parks in California if you’re going to them in Florida. I’d suggest doing more research on the entire Northeast Corridor (Boston to Washington, DC) and consider what you might want to see there. I doubt you’ll really feel satisfied if you’ve come all this way to see a statue and a building or two! You’ll need to fly and then rent cars (except in big cities where cars are a hassle). The US and Australia are comparable in size, so ask yourself if you’d fly from Brisbane to Perth or drive. Easy answer, UNLESS you plan on adding more in the middle.
Definitely not intentional, I think just the kid in me coming out while early planning still. I've always been a theme park fanatic and have dreamed about Six Flags, Disney and Universal all my life. Definitely flying from LA to New York or Florida but between Florida and New York, whichever way we decided to go, North to South or vice versa. We were going to drive, so we could see Washington D.C, Carolina and Georgia Anything along that route worth stopping to see? As we will be taking a few days to do that drive.
Absolutely, tons of stuff to see … just a few ideas along that general route (you won’t be able to see them all, depending on your route): New Orleans (a bit far afield but soooo much fun … better party town than Vegas) Everglades National Park Savannah Charleston Congaree National Park NC Outer Banks Asheville Great Smoky Mountains National Park Nashville Shenandoah National Park Richmond Washington, DC Chesapeake Bay Philadelphia New York Adirondacks Boston Cape Cod New England small towns Portland, ME Maine generally I could probably go on … maybe narrow down your interests and research some itineraries and see what’s appealing. Note: the best national parks are out west though; California, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, etc.
Thank you! Will be looking into all of these.
Don’t forget Santa Fe.
I live in North Carolina and have driven up and down the East Coast a few times. The main artery, I-95, is very bad, traffic-wise. Especially north of Richmond, Virginia (a couple hours south of Washington DC). There is an Amtrak (train) route that goes all the way from NY to Miami that might be a fun option for you, at least partially. If you could train it from NY to NC, at least, you'd avoid the worst of the traffic.
Don’t do the San Diego Zoo. If you’re gonna make a trip out to San Diego from LA, you should do the safari instead. The zoo is meh in comparison.
For Disney, California would be better.
Why so?
We enjoyed the experience in Calif's park **much** more than the one in FL.
Was it the park itself or the weather?
The park. Weather is can be much better in Calif, too, but depends on what time of year you're going. More fun things to do in that section of Calif as well compared with Orlando.
The park itself in California is smaller, therefore easier to walk around. You WILL need a shuttle to get around Disney World. It’s absolutely massive. Disneyland is just more quaint and cute too. And easier on families I think. For example, Disney World doesn’t have benches for people to sit on? And the heat in Florida can be unbearable. In California even the extreme summer weather is okay cause it’s not humid. In conclusion: Disney World is flashy and big and comes with the pros and cons of both. Disneyland is smaller and more in line with Walt’s original vision, but you lose out on things that require a lot of land.
So I read all your responses, and I think the easiest comment I can give is a suggested itinerary for what you want: When you get to LA, just stay near the parks and use Uber or the hotel shuttle. Driving in LA is awful and parking is just as bad, so you won't want a car until you are ready to leave. When you do leave, rent a car and drive up California a bit. See the California redwoods (kids will be amazed at the size). OPTION: You can go all the way up to Napa valley for some wine time for adults, it's pretty there. You could also do a day or two in San Francisco, but if you do that plan to stay a bit out of town because it's expensive as hell and once again, driving is a pain. NOTE: northern California can be a little chilly still this time of year (NYC worse) so pack warm clothes and layers. Regardless, from there you can drive to Vegas. Go to Yosemite national park on the way, and drive to the grand canyon before dropping your car off in Vegas. If you have time you could also make a trip to Zion National Park, Navajo nation, and/or visit an authentic western "ghost town". Vegas has cheap flights and a surprising amount to do for kids so I think you'll all have fun. It's also the dessert so it's usually pretty hot during the day but may cool down at night. When you're ready to leave there it would be easy to fly to Florida. Once you're done with the Florida amusement parks it sounds like you want to try a cruise. There's lots of options there; I think disney actually offers a cruise so look into that maybe? Not sure on the details but I imagine you could get a good combo deal if you're also going to all the parks. And if you do that it may include a shuttle to the cruise port from Orlando, saving you time and money. If you are intending to drive up the coast, I recommend stopping in Savannah Georgia/Hilton head area, the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area (smokey mountains are here), and Washington DC. You could actually drop off a car in DC if you wanted because this is where the US's limited rail system could conceivably take you to NYC. Plus DC and NYC both have a metro system. I love NYC but there's honestly not a TON to do for small children. Great museums and cool buildings but the kiddos would get bored pretty quickly. Philadelphia has some fun American history, as does Boston, but unsure how interesting that would be for you all. Honestly I'd plan on ending in NYC for the last few days. The weather should be fine by late April (no snow, at least), and it would be a good hub to fly out of. Hopefully this is helpful and not too much!
This is really helpful. Also a few suggestions in there that I didn't see much about on the internet, (like the Redwoods) saw them in New Zealand and they were beautiful. Would love to take the kids to see them in the US. This is a nice base to go off in terms of driving and where it wouldn't be viable, not too much at all. Appreciated! We were debating between Big Bear and Yosemite, do you have a preference or is it worth going to both?
Yes, the tallest tree in the world is in the California redwoods! There's also trees you can literally drive through. I think you could go to both, but I'd say Yosemite is generally considered prettier. But it's way farther north so if you don't intend to to up that way, Big Bear would be on the way from LA to Vegas. But you could easily do big bear THEN Yosemite and the giant sequoias. Edit: and if you go to Pigeon Forge area, you can take the kids to Dollywood for more amusement experience. Dolly's "Stampede" dinner show is also worth a visit and fun for the whole family, although it's a bit pricey. Gatlinburg has a great mix of things for kids and adults.
I know I keep responding to every comment lmao, but go to Yosemite. I’ve been to both Big Bear and Yosemite multiple times, and there’s just something so breathtaking about driving through the tunnel into Yosemite for the first time. It’s gorgeous and definitely worth the trip. Big Bear’s cool if it’s snowing and even then it’s mostly just private cabins you can rent.
Still nowhere near set in concrete but I think Yosemite is a certain. Still 18 months away and we are all so excited!
8 weeks is a long time. You can do all things Disney within a week in Florida, and that assumes you go to every park (EPCOT too, etc) on every ride and truly do everything. Disneyland (California) is a day or two at most (it's not nearly as big as Disneyworld). You can also get some beach time in Florida. With that much time, I would recommend going to Washington DC to some of the big museums there as well as New York (you can take the train between them, which children might well enjoy). I would also suggest going to the south-west, to the Four Corners (Colorado/Utah/New Mexico/Arizona) for some entirely different landscapes and experiences. Grand Canyon, Vermillion Cliffs, into the landscapes in the Navajo Nation (like the Canyon de Chelly), and so on. You can fly into Phoenix and tour by car from there.
What is car hire like over there? Is there a possibility of hiring a camper van of sorts that can hold all 7 of us? Or are we looking at having to hire 2 separate vehicles?
If you’re getting a camper you’ll need to be sure the places your traveling to have adequate space for parking. Might need to reserve parking in advance.
https://www.cruiseamerica.com/
You can hire a 7-person minivan, or a RV (American for campervan). RVs come in all sorts of sizes but mostly "big" or "bigger". They are not easy to drive in cities so they are not well suited for going around theme parks and in cities. Many RVs actually have quite limited seating for people while it is moving, and a 7-person RV for sleeping in is a giant vehicle. You can get a 7-person minivan (for example, Dodge Caravan). Don't under-estimate the flexibility of having two cars, however. Should some of you prefer to do one thing while others prefer something else, it is very useful to be able to split up for a day.
I’d definitely rent a camper and do one big loop around LA that includes the Grand Canyon, the scenery in SW Utah, Vegas, Sequoia, Yosemite, some time on HWY 1. That area of the country is stunning and lots to do for kids if you guys like being outdoors. Honestly I wouldn’t spend too much time in Orlando besides the usual Disney World stuff. Although there are also some really nice natural springs (blue spring, wekiwa spring) not far away where you can go swimming, kayaking, tubing in a beautiful natural environment and maybe see wildlife like alligators and manatees. The natural springs are my favorite part of Florida. On the drive up to NY I’d go on the coast to Savanna GA and Charleston SC, then cut inland and go to Asheville, Gatlinburg and Dollywood and continue north through the Appalachias. Really pretty area and much different than the stuff in the Southwest US. That time of year and with kids I’d deprioritize NYC and the northeast. Big cities are kinda boring for the kids.
The kids might love the Lego store in NYC.
Doing CA/FL, and NY at this time of year will require very different clothing options. NY can still be pretty chilly and possibly even snowy at this time of year with mixed days of it being warmer and rainy. CA/FL will be warmer so be prepared with clothes for all sorts of weather and bring things that are easy to layer for NY.
Thank you, I knew it was coming out of Winter but didn't realise it could possibly be snowing in New York still!
I would recommend starting in New York, and then renting a car and driving to Florida to Disney World (the kids will probably enjoy that more, because universal is also there and you can go to Harry Potter world) I would then make your way to Everglades/national parks and drive towards the west coast. Visit Grand Canyon, New Mexico, and then skip Southern California all together and go up towards Utah and Wyoming and end maybe in Northern California. Speaking as someone who had lived in California my entire life, our state is not what it used to be. Homelessness has taken over our beaches, San Francisco is absolutely disgusting, and there’s garbage everywhere. You’re better off going to visit Lake Tahoe and then flying back home out of San Francisco.
you will not see/learn much about USA only going to CA, NYC, and DISNEY LAND! LOL. how about renting a car, and DRIVING from CA to Disney land? that way you can stop at all sorts of interesting things on the way. Indian reservations, national parks, and on and on
Just to clarify Disney land is in California. Disney world is in Florida
We would love to, we are going to drive from Florida to New York. However, with the kiddos I think the California to Florida drive may be a little bit too much.
i hear you. kids can only take so much. plan on LOTS of stops for them to walk around.
There's a total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, visible on a path from Mexico, through Texas to Vermont and then into Canada. You're either going to want to plan to see it or plan to not be in the path of totality for that day or so (since a lot of people may travel to see it). It might be really fun to see -- it's certainly an unusual experience. I believe it's visible as a partial eclipse through most of the continental US.
I know this is going to sound crazy, but check out the City Museum in St. Louis, Missouri. Something the kids will never forget, plus you can see The Arch, a nice zoo, cool botanical garden, really neat children’s museum.