What's the best way to arrange this?

[Tikitoi]

We went to Vegas a few months ago and enjoyed it thoroughly (it is in the link below if you wish to read it). But, at the same time I did miss going to Disneyland, especially since we haven't been there in a few years. So we are planning to definitely go back to Vegas in 2009, probably March or April. And we still want to hit the Grand Canyon, but we definitely want to get to Disneyland, too. We plan to do 2 days at Grand Canyon, 3 days at Disneyland and 5 days in Vegas. Although, not necessarily in that order. So I geuss that brings me to my question as to how to best plan this? I know we will definitely be renting a car. And I believe, for the most part that these places are about 4 hours apart? So should we do shortest days to longest days or further distance first? Not even sure which city to fly in to. Any ideas are appreciated.

 

[mamacatnv]

I'd start with cheapest airfare, then cheapest car rental, then hotel rates - Since all 3 are on the agenda, price would be my deciding factor. You could look at flying into one airport and out of another. Same with the rental car. I like SWA because you can buy 1 way tickets easily and as cheap as round trips would be, also they are easy to change if you change your itinerary.

If airfare and cars worked in my favor, I think I would do 3 days at DL, then the Grand Canyon and end with Vegas. The main reason is DL wears me out, once in Vegas you could do a combo of play and relax. I can't relax at DL I fear I might miss something

 

[Tikitoi]

Thanks for the ideas. That sounds like a good plan to start with the air. I will see which is cheapest. I think I will be going with Southwest, since they do have the non stop flights to Vegas. Only in case we decide to just fly into and out of Vegas, which if we can get nonstop both ways we may just do that altogether. Then we would pick up a rental car from there and drive to Cali. I may even add an extra day onto Cali, because we figure we may as well go to Universal Studios also. But that would just be for the day. But yes, a good idea to end in Vegas to also relax there. I'm sure we will need that after all this. Again, Thanks.

 

[jlima]

My recommendation:

Fly to Las Vegas.
Take taxi or shuttle to your hotel and spend 5 nights in Vegas.
Rent Car on the day you check out, then drive to Southern California.
Spend 3 - 4 nights in Southern California.
Drive to Grand Canyon
Spend 2 nights in Grand Canyon
Return to Vegas, return rental car & fly home

You get the benefit of round trip airfare; and you don't pay for a rental car during the days you are in Vegas.

However, if you plan on doing any site-seeing in Vegas during your stay, you may want to rent a car anyway . . . sometimes the rentals are really cheap and taxi fares can add up.

Good luck!

 

[buddydecat]

I recommend you fly to Vegas, drive to Grand Canyon, then drive to So. Cal. Fly home from LA. I wouldn't waste my time driving back to vegas. A roundtrip ticket does not mean you have to fly in and out of the same city. When checking fares online, look for multi-city option. Also check one way from each city. Depending on days of travel, you may get a better fare with one way tickets on the same or even different airlines.

 

[LuvTigger]

I agree with the advice about looking at flights, and also consider flying out of a different airport from the arrival (but beware of car rental drop off fees, although I've never had a problem with added fees). However, also look at mapquest or something that will show you the driving route. I did a quick search of driving from the Grand Canyon to Anaheim, and mapquest says it's 7 hours, so basically that would take up almost an entire day. Vegas to Anaheim is about 4 hours, and Vegas to the Grand Canyon is about 4 1/2 hours. So you'd have to decide if you're willing to spend 7 hours on the road in one day. It could be fun though -- one trip, BF and I drove all over (starting from Vegas), and we always joke about the day we had breakfast in San Diego, lunch in Palm Springs, dinner in Lake Havasu, and dessert in Las Vegas. Needless to say, it was a leisurely drive! It would normally be about 6 hours from San Diego to Vegas, but because of our route, it took something like 12 hours!

If you're planning to fly in and out of Vegas, I would agree that it might be better to end with the 5 nights there so you don't have to worry about getting back in time, etc. Another option is to spend the first night there so you don't have to hit the road immediately, depending on what time you're arriving and if you feel you'll be up to driving 4 hours after getting off a plane, then start off on your journey.

Sorry, I know I didn't really offer an alternative plan, but just wanted to throw the thing out there about driving routes!