Q: What's your overall rating of the tour group? Is it a trustworthy agency?
I think on the whole, I will give 8/10 for the entire trip. The agency didn't have any hidden cost, so i feel it is quite trustworthy.
Tour schedule wise, maybe the only part I regret is going to Great Canyon (refer to my blog below), because of the distance, we leave las vegas maybe 7 in the morning, but only arrive in Great Canyon around 11. They go and watch a 3D theatre movie then go to see the real canyon. So we are only at the edge of the canyon for 2 hours, then all the way drive back. By the time we arrive at Las vegas, it is already 6+, so got little evening time there. So i feel didnt see Great Canyon well, also didnt explore Las Vegas enough. I rather spend the day to explore Las Vegas better, although you have to stay in door. The tour guide actually told us the option not to go the day before, but we feel a waste if not going to Great Canyon. We didn't realise there are so much to do at both Great Canyon and las vegas that we only have time to do well at one place.
Cost wise, the initial lum sum paid (about 400 USD in 2004) covered everything, except there will also be a service fee of $5 per day to the tour guide paid at the end of the tour, which i think is quite reasonable for his good service.
We spent a little extra in Las vegas for the adult show, which the tour agency recommend and most people are interested. But I was quite disappointed by the performance (I think singapore will soon have topless dancer show too). Unless if you can catch the Rockets' performance which is really about Braodway Style dancing. and of course, we spent some coins at the betting machine.
And we also spent some extra at Disney World for the ticket to go to California Adventure Park. It is about 30+, but optional. The original fee covers the Disney World ticket, so if you don't want to go to Adventure Park, you don't need to pay the extra. I only regret we can only go to Disney for one day. So didn't really fully utlised the tickets. One tips is if you go to the disney/universal, follow the tour guide because he can queue for you when the group is playing some games. So we actually play more game than individual tourists coming on their own.
Q: How's the accommodation and food they offer?
check out the photos of the hotels. It is really nice accomodation I must say. At least 3 star standard.
Hotel in Yosomite and Las Vegas.
Hotel in Los Angeles, near Disney World
The eating on the road is quite good since the tour is targeted at chinese ppl. so they will bring you to chinese buffet retaurant. For most meal, it will cost btw 7 to 10 USD. Of course there will also american fast food options of about same price. They also bring us to supermarket in los Angeles, so we had the chance to buy normal priced fruit and some food.
Q: Are there many factory outlets at Las Vegas? Are you able to shop a lot when you are at Las Vegas?
I am not sure whether there are factory outlets in Las Vegas, but the tour group has brought us to one on the way to LV. It is a mall of factory outlets for branded goods, so I think for people like shopping, it will be a nice experience.
Because of the dessert climate in LV, there are many classy hotels with air-conditioned shopping streets inside buildings. So there are definitely enough shops to shop around, except that I don't know there are factory outlets.
A typical classy hotel in LV
Does this look like Venice? Yes, but this is actually built inside Venician Hotel in LV. You can pay 20USD for a Gondola Tour along the man-made waterway down from the second floor all the way to a lake on the ground floor in front of the building. There are numerous shops along the way.
Tour Schedule
18th Arrived in Las Vegas in the afternoon. Toured all the big Casinos and watched interesting shows.
20th We Arrived in Los Angeles in the afternoon. First went to Hollywood Boulevard and Walk of Fame. Followed by a tour of the city’s centre and Small Maxico Town. Then check in a really nice hotel near Disney World.
Walk of Fame star directory:
21st Universal Studio and Hollywood again.
We both feel the time we spent in Hollywood is too short. However, our hotel is on the other side of the city, just opposite to Hollywood. It would be too costly for us to take a taxi to go there on our own. But we got to know from our tour guide that Universal Studio is just a few subway stops away from Hollywood. So we planed to spend the entire morning with the group to tour all the major attractions in Universal Studio and leave for Hollywood around 4pm and return before 8pm to catch our coach back to the Hotel. The most difficult part of the plan is to stick strictly to the time. But with careful management, we successfully executed our plan. And our effort really paid off when we found all our favourite stars on the Walk of Fame. I think our success shows that even with a tour group, you could still have some individuality if planned well.
Universal official website:
22nd Disneyland Park and California Adventure Park
We really regretted not visiting Winnie’s House. So check out the attractions at the following addresses. Highly recommend the Musical Aladdin and the Parade with all the cartoon figures..
DisneyLand Park official website:
Disney’s California Adventure Park
23rd Bus trip back to San Francisco
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