Leaving next Saturday for a week in Phoenix

[GADisneyDVC]

We are a family of four with a teenager and an 8 year old. What are some must sees while we are here? This is our first time out west and we don't mind doing some touristy things. Some indoor ideas would be great too for the heat of the day!! Thanks in advance for all of your advice!

 

[BlueBayou]

There was one time that we had friends in town for a week and we did tourist type things:
Rainforest cafe
The BBQ/Western - Rustlers Rooste - place at the Arizona Grand (formerly Pointe South Mountain)
Rawhide old western town
The Phoenix Zoo (Early in the am - the heat is a lot to take right now)
Arizona Science Center
IKEA (if you don't have one where you live)

You could also go to Golfland/Sunsplash water park.

A lot depends on where you are staying - the Valley is pretty big. Everything except Sunsplash and Rawhide are pretty centrally located.

 

[eduk8r26]

A Diamonbacks game if they are in town, a tour of the ballpark if they are not. Arizona Mills Mall--there's an IMAX theater there, I think.

 

[GADisneyDVC]

Thanks for the ideas so far. We do already have tickets for a Diamondback game and we are planning on Rawhide and the Science Center. Has anyone been to the Challenger Space place-don't know the official name. We were thinking about doing the stargazing thing there on Saturday night. Keep the ideas coming with fun and good restaurants too, please!!

 

[Barbday62]

We have three water parks. One in Mesa, One in Tempe and One in the West side of Phoenix.
Sunsplash, Water world and Big Surf are what they are called. (Ive only been to Water world and Big Surf and I like Big Surf better of those two)

With teenagers I would go to a go cart track. Most are indoors around here. I took my then 16year old Nephew and the cars go as fast at 45 MPH. Needless to say he lapped me because I wasnt doing 45MPH lol.

Its been unseasonable cooler here. We have not gotten over a 100 very many days so its nice to do outdoor things right now. That could change soon though. Hiking is very popular here in the desert.

Did you know the Grand Canyon is only about 3 1/2 hour drive from Phoenix? We do it in a day trip. Sedona is about a 3 hour drive.

My nephew liked the park at Metro Center. They have an amusement park and goofy golf and also a lot of video arcade games. The Arcade is all indoors and rest outside so visit early or late there. Metor Center is a Mall. It was nice back in the 1970's but I dont like it now. The Amusement park is nice though.

Go up South Mountain. Its a beautiful way to see the city and take pictures. They allow hiking and the kids may enjoy hiking there a little. They also have horseback rides but Ive never tried that there.

 

[sand2270]

If you are willing to make the 90 minute drive to Tucson, we have the Desert Museum here.

http://www.desertmuseum.org/

There is also the biosphere which is kind of between Tucson and Phoenix

http://www.b2science.org/

There is also Tombstone but that is probably a good 4 hour drive from Phoenix.

 

[sand2270]

you have a week, not a weekend (I read it wrong)...in that case...here are some other things in or near Tucson if you are willing to drive...

there is Saguaro National Monument...

http://www.nps.gov/sagu/

For shopping you can go to Tubac or cross the border into Nogales, again if you are willing to drive and spend a day or two in Tucson.

Colossal Cave, http://www.colossalcave.com/welcome.html

Katrchner Caverns http://www.desertusa.com/azkartchner/

 

[Barbday62]

If Biosphere is still open I highly recomend it. I heard a rumer it was sold and will be closed if it isnt already. Its the place where they lived in a closed environment (Like the movie Bio Dome but it was not filmed there FYI)
The experiment ended with problems and Columbia University took over the place for study purposes. They also gave tours. I believe someone else bought it from them now. Ive done the free self guided tour and a paid tour before. Both were excellent. Its a great learning experience and interesting too. (In the paid tour we saw the bellows below. In a closed environment you need a place for heat to rise as the desert heated up and these bellows grew up like balloons and went back down at night,. Kind of like lungs. Ayway its well worth the drive to see. We do it in a day trip (round trip and the tour) when we go.

EDIT:
I just went to that link above and it looks to still be open.

 

[GADisneyDVC]

Okay, Tucson sounds like it might be worth a drive. How far of a drive are we talking here? Thanks so much for all the good info so far and don't forget some great restaurants too! We like to eat

 

[sand2270]

The time to drive to Tucson just depends where you go. I live on the far Northwest side and it takes me about 90 minutes to get to Phoenix. So if you were to go to the Desert Museum or Saguaro National Monument for example that would be another 30-45 minutes. I would give yourself 2 hours to get anywhere in Tucson from Phoenix.

Kartchner Caverns is close to Bisbee so I think that would be about a 4-5 hour drive from Phoenix. Nogales would be about 3 1/2 to 4 hours from Phoenix I think. If you are looking to do things that are close to each other I recommend this:

- Tucson Far West Side - Desert Museum, Saguaro National Monument, maybe Old Tucson (old west amusement park and working film studio - there was a huge fire years ago and unfortunately they never really rebuilt it to what it used to be. It is basically a shell of what it was when I was a kid. Also overpriced, unless really interested I recommend skipping this).

- Tucson South - San Xavier Mission (I forgot this one), Tubac, Nogales (I recommend Tubac and Nogales if you are looking for regional souvenir shopping). Youi do have to cross the border to go into Nogales, I am not sure if you need a passport or not. You didn't but that may have changed recently.

- North of Tucson, closer to Phoenix - Biosphere

- East of Tucson (and farthest away from Phoenix) - Colossal Cave, Tombstone, Kartchner Caverns, Bisbee

I can only comment on Tucson restaurants but for great mexican food I recommend El Charro (the downtown location). However, it is very hard to get bad mexican food in Tucson, just avoid the chains (like Macayos).

 

[debabe723]

Okay, Tucson sounds like it might be worth a drive. How far of a drive are we talking here? Thanks so much for all the good info so far and don't forget some great restaurants too! We like to eat

Where are you staying in Phoenix? Knowing where you are staying will help with restaurant recommendations.

 

[GADisneyDVC]

We are staying at the Marriott Desert Ridge Villas near the JW Marriott Desert Ridge.

 

[debabe723]

OK, you are very close to where I live. Across the street from your hotel is Desert Ridge shopping center. Lots of places to eat there, mostly chains but still good. Rock Bottom Brewery gets good review, there is a Yard House which always has good food, Macaroni Grill, Mimi's Cafe, In N Out Burger (a must do if you've never been to one), California Pizza Kitchen, Sweet Tomatoes, Dave and Busters. These are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. Don't miss the Paradise Bakery...I've been there for breakfast and lunch (and pastries!). There is also a Target Greatland, Kohl's, DSW and other shopping. It is outdoors but the misters will be on to help keep you cool. Go to www.shopdesertridge.com for more info. Desert Ridge is a great resort to stay.

You are super close to Scottsdale Road, which has a ton of great restaurants. Let me know what you are looking to eat and maybe I can give more suggestions. One of my new favorite places for Saturday lunch is a new Whole Foods that I swear is 2/3 preprepared food. I love getting a little of this and a little of that and sampling things that I normally wouldn't try. If you are going to take a road trip to Tucson, this might be a good place to get something to eat prior to hitting the road.

Also check out www.kierlandcommons.com for some other great places to eat that aren't far (within 5 miles) from your resort. Lastly, check out www.azcentral.com for lots of restarant, tours and attractions in the Phoenix metro area. Let me know if you have any more questions.

 

[GADisneyDVC]

Wow, you guys are a wealth of info. I don't ever want to go on another trip without checking in with y'all first! Thanks for all the great tips.
We will eat just about anything. We are hoping to not eat at too many chains-would rather do places we can only do out here--if at all possible. We love Mexican, Italian, Chinese, just about anything.

 

[Barbday62]

Paradise Bakery is a chain but I have never had such good sandwiches as they make there. And of course the dessert lol. Its lets just say Great!!

Mexican food seems to be a specialty every where around here. I agree I dont like Macayos any more. I have found so many great ones that are so much better. Im on the West side so I dont kow of many East side recomendations for restaurants.

 

[GADisneyDVC]

We would love to have some wonderful Mexican so if anyone has ideas we would love to hear them!!

 

[GADisneyDVC]

Okay, so we have been here since Saturday and are having a great time so far. We have been to In-N-Out Burger and it was quite yummy! We also had a wonderful Father's Day brunch at Blue Sage at the JW Marriott which was just wonderful. I would highly recommend that. We have done a tour at Taliesin West, the Frank Lloyd Wright home that was just fascinating. We have done a desert tour that was lots of fun and we have been to the Challenger Space Center in Peoria for stargazing that was incredible. Today we have a Diamndbacks game and we may do either the Heard Museum or the Arizona Science Center before the game tonight. It is really hot here--like 110 degrees hot! But we are managing by trying to be in the pool or lazy river some and staying indoors for part of the day. We would love to hear any more good ideas for lunch or dinner! Thanks!!