Salt Lake City

[kandb]

OK, I need help from my disboard friends. Skipping WDW this year after 12 years straight. Going out west instead. Flying from JFK out west. We were first going to do San Diego, Grand Canyon and then Las Vegas BUT now thinking of flying into Salt Lake City, going to zion, Bryce, flagstaff, petrified forest, meteoror crater, grand canyon and then Vegas???? We are thinking of skipping California for more "out west" stuff. Anyone have any experience with doing fun things in Utah? Salt lake City area? We have 3 children 16, 16, 10. Hope they won't get bored of "out west parks". Any ideas?

 

[PhoenixStrength]

I lived in Southern Utah for two years, visited Zion and Bryce several times. Both are amazing and if your children enjoy parks and hiking they will love them, but if not they may be bored as there is not much more there. If you go to Zion be sure to visit Springdale, the city in Zion, as it has a lot of cool shops and amazing food. I would imagine you probably did check it out, but just in case, those parks are about a 4-5 hour drive south of Salt Lake City, so plan accordingly. If you guys like Horseback riding both parks have a company (the same one services both, as well as the Grand Canyon) that does horseback tours of the parks. I've done both Zion and Bryce and really enjoyed them both. The company that I used was Canyon Trail Rides.

Only went as far north as Salt Lake City once, and we visited the Hogle Zoo, which is definitely worth checking out. What time of year are you going? If it's during the summer a lot of the ski resorts have cool summer activities during the warmer months and you may want to check them out. We never went to them, never got the chance, but we did a lot of research as we planned to one year but illness forced us to cancel. Seemed really cool and plenty for adults and children alike.

 

[Disneylvr1971]

DD was about 10 when we went to Salt Lake City. We did Dinosaur National Monument and Hogle Zoo. We enjoyed both.

 

[AlohaNow]

We love Moab and have been there a few times. Arches is amazing! If everyone is physically up to it, book the Fiery Furnace Tour in advance. Watch the video on it to make sure everyone is physically up to it! There are a few short hikes in Arches to see, well, the arches. Lots of driving through the park as well to view everything. We spent a few nights in Salt Lake City and enjoyed it. The kids would probably say they enjoyed the day in Park City the most. They did the ropes course at the Olympic Training Center and we watched ski jumpers practicing landing on grass and also the aerialists landing in a pool! We spent a day touring Temple Square and learning about LDS. Non-believers cannot enter the temple itself, but it was very interesting nonetheless. Have fun planning your trip!

 

[MickeyManiac]

I live in Salt Lake. As mentioned above, the kids would probably really enjoy Park City. There is a lot to do including hiking, ropes course, mountain biking, the Olympic Training Center. Park City is only about a 20 minute drive from downtown Salt Lake. If you're a baseball family, we have AAA team (The Bees), the stadium has spectacular mountain views and very reasonable prices. You can also tour the arena where the Utah Jazz play depending on availability. There is a really nice new aquarium at the south end of the valley and Thanksgiving Point that has a dinosaur museum and tons of other activities. About 20 minutes north of Salt Lake is Lagoon, our local amusement park. Have a great trip!

 

[WVMomof3]

We did a 2 week trip flew in and out of Vegas. We went from Vegas (over night left early AM) - Grand Canyon (2 nights) - Page, AZ (2 nights) - Monument Valley (1 night) - Moab (2 nights) - Bryce Canyon (1 night) and Zion (2 nights) back to Vegas (1 night flew out early AM). Was a great trip, did a lot of hiking. We really wished we could have stayed a little longer in Bryce and Zion especially. Had looked into flying in and out of different cities, but the one way rental added a lot. The circle from Vegas was perfect. Beautiful area of the country.

 

[AlohaNow]

Oh, forgot to mention a little Disney connection that we made while in SLC. If you are fans of the High School Musical trilogy, East High School in SLC is where the movies were filmed. Yep, didn’t have to change the name or the school colors! The school has been known as being very accommodating to fans and you are able to tour around when classes are not in session. We got photos at Sharpay’s pink locker, awesomely recreated some choreography in the cafeteria, and as luck would have it, basketball practice was going on in the gym while we were there.

(You can laugh at me behind my back about this, but please, not to my face. )

 

[makthompson]

Not sure about SLC, but Flagstaff is pretty neat. We took our son there to see our DD at college. While she was in class we took him to the indoor rock climbing and they have easier ones for the little ones. The pass is good for all day, so if you are there and want to leave and go have lunch, you can come back after. We also went to the Observatory which we enjoyed as well. Eating in Flagstaff, really enjoyed The Flame Broiler and Grimaldi's Pizzaria I highly recommend both of these places. We then went up to the Grand Canyon. Breath taking views! pictures do not do it justice. In Williams (on your way to Grand Canyon) there is Bearizona and Route 66 Zipline. Planes of Fame Air Museum. Hope you have a great trip!

 

[CAQDaddy]

I would suggest flying in and out of Vegas. Make a big circle. Everything is so spread out in the west that you'll be driving a lot regardless.
With the savings on rental car (no one way fees) and flight savings (Vegas flights are typically cheaper) I think it would be worth it.
As for your kids, it just depends on their personal preferences. If they are in awe of nature's beauty and they like hiking then it will be a great vacation. If they don't enjoy those things you will need to be more creative in choosing activities.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

I will also suggest flying in and out of Vegas. That's where we always flew in and out of and we liked the airport a lot and as others have said you can easily do all you want to do in a big circle and wind up back there.

Also, another vote for Bearizona in Flagstaff, interesting and cool nature park done a different way.

 

[gwynne]

SLC has a very nice planetarium that is fun and interesting for all ages.
https://slco.org/clark-planetarium/

 

[marthachick]

Antelope Island is an island in the Great Salt Lake that is very cool. We went in 2017. Check it out!