I just booked the Grand Canyon Railway trip! Have you taken it?

[Born_A_Truman]

I just booked a Memorial Day weekend trip to take my grandchildren (ages 11, 8, 7, 3) on the Grand Canyon Railway to the Grand Canyon.

Our package includes:
Grand Canyon Railway Hotel 2 nights (2 rooms)
Dinners & breakfasts
Railway to the Grand Canyon round trip (of course!)
Bus tour of the Grand Canyon + box lunch
Gift certificiates to the hotel gift shop

Has anyone done this trip? I wanted to take the grandchildren someplace fun and educational.

[seemunkee]

1. Sounds fun

Thats a pretty wide range of kids, but this should be good for all of them.
Hope you have help watching them.

My FiL wants to do the Copper Canyon rail trip in Mexico but my MiL doesn't want to go. I'm trying to convince my BiLs that we should do it as a father/son/son-in-law trip.

[Born_A_Truman]

2. I have help!

My youngest daughter & her husband will share their hotel room with their kids (GS, 7; GD, 3)
I will share the other hotel room with my oldest daughter and her children (GS, 11, GD, 8).

I would never attempt watching Adeline, my 3yo granddaughter at the rim of the GC by myself. :rofl: She can be a handful!

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

3. I just saw a show about that on TV.

Looks like a lot of fun.

[Born_A_Truman]

4. Really?

Do you remember what channel it was on? Maybe I can find it and watch it.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

5. It's called "The Desert Speaks" on one of the HD channels on DirecTV.

It's a travel channel that covers deserts all over the world. Hosted by a particularly interesting guy named David Yetman.

This episode covered the western stretch of Route 66, and they stopped in Williams and discussed the train.

[Born_A_Truman]

6. Thanks!

I can do a search by program name on my DVR as I have DirecTv.

[Ptah]

10. The Desert Speaks is produced here in Tucson at KUAT (PBS)

http://thedesertspeaks.org/

The current host, David Yetman, was a Pima County Supervisor

http://thedesertspeaks.org/bios.cfm?PhoneID=79

"Host David Yetman, Ph.D., is research social scientist at the
Southwest Center of the University of Arizona in Tucson.
He has worked as a university professor, camp manager,
clock maker, construction worker, legal researcher,
member of the Pima County (Arizona) Board of Supervisors
and executive director of the Tucson Audubon Society.
He received his doctorate in philosophy from the University of Arizona."


I'm glad to know this program has a wide audience. I'm not sure
how long it's been on the air, but I think it started in the late sixties.

:thumbsup:

[Zomby Woof]

7. I worked at their corporate HQ for 2 years

Great company, great people, great times. They offer a trip worth taking.

You should enjoy the train, and the food at Max & Thelma's is serviceable - don't expect too much from there and you will be fine. The hotel is very nice, if you are staying at the GCR Hotel, that is. Soem packages use offsite hotels, with mixed results.

However, our office was flooded with complaint letters about the box lunch and the tours at the Canyon. Those tours and the food are done by third party vendors, and sometimes do not live up to the expectations created by the quality of service delivered elsewhere from within the company.

There are entertainers aboard the trains, and a park ranger is usually available for lectures onboard. The usual judgment is that those lectures are better than what you will get on the bus tours. However, I expect that you will enjoy this vacation, no matter the occasional shortcomings. In short, good help can be hard to find in remote areas like northern Arizona.

Feel free to ask me whatever you like about GCR. :-)

[tanngrisnir3]

8. I was there just after Xmas. The train line looks cool because.....

It is completely removed from the looooong stretch of highway that goes to the Canyon. It leaves the Flagstaff area and then goes through the middle to nowhere to get to your destination. Problably some good photo opps.

[fishwax]

9. I did that a few months ago--it was good fun

We didn't do any of the food/lodging/tour stuff, so I can't speak to that, but we did a round trip on the train and it was quite fun. For the most part, everyone we interacted with was friendly and helpful.

The train ride is nice and relaxing, and they have entertainment on each car. I'll confess that the entertainment was a bit of a mixed bag--each car has a kind of hospitality coordinator, and while we had a good enough time on the way to the park (the lady gave some history/facts about the park, the railway, etc.) on the way back we had a different guy who wandered through the car talking with different parties, which would be all well and good except that (a) many in our party were rather in the mood to sit quietly and meditate on the scenery rather than chat, but he was rather insistent; and (b) he chose to speak about politics, by saying: "I don't like Obama more than anyone else does" (:wtf:), which set off an awkard and increasingly tense conversation as everyone in our party tried (without success) to not take the bait. :rofl:

They also have performers on board--on the way out they had a guy with guitar and harmonica playing western(ish) songs and selling CDs. He was pretty good. On the way back we had a different musician, and he was entertaining and amusing as well (though he also expected audience participation in a way that was a bit grating).

Also, they have a staged train robbery on the way back as well, and the kids will get a kick out of that, I'm sure. :) It's a bit cheezy, of course, but all in good fun.

All in all, everyone in our party had a good time--I hope you and your family will as well :hi:

[CreekDog]

11. I was a ranger at the Grand Canyon for one season

I haven't been on that tour, but you can't really beat the Grand Canyon as a destination.

That and you will avoid the long entrance lines at Grand Canyon Village by being on a tour/train.

And those waits at the entrance can be long any summer weekend, Memorial Day weekend --even worse!

[Born_A_Truman]

12. Now I can't wait!

We are staying at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel. Our package includes meals but we're going to take along water and snacks for the room and the train and the car trip anyway, so I'm sure we'll be fine.

I'm just excited to take the kids.