Hi Janet
Got your pm. Figured I might as well respond on the forum.
We really loved our time in Yosemite and wished we'd had more. We spent three nights in Yosemite Lodge and one night in the Wawona Hotel. We really appreciated staying in the valley and if we return, will do whatever it takes to find accomodation in the valley---actually, we wouldn't be willing to pay Ahwahnee rates, but whatever else. The Ahwahnee is gorgeous and for us, a good place to visit and maybe have breakfast. We were very happy with Yosemite Lodge. There were some very negative reviews of it. I don't know if some of the buildings are in much, much worse condition than where we stayed, or if it was a matter of unrealistic expectations. We'd gladly stay there again. If we return, that's what we'd go for.
Reservations do get snatched up quickly, but there are cancellations. I was coached on the TA forum to haunt the reservation website. We started with reservations for unheated tents in Curry Village and went through several cycles of upgrading. They do have a very efficient online reservation system and it's quite easy to make or cancel a reservation. Or hold a few at a time. Our goal was three nights in the Lodge. We started with three nights in an unheated tent, upgraded to three nights in a heated tent, plus one night in the Lodge, and eventually were able to grab two more nights in the Lodge. Curry Village does have a few options in addition to the tent cabins, including Stoneman Cottage, which is sort of a motel. It got a bit slippery with keeping track of reservations, cancellations, credit card charges and credits, but it all worked out. I got a bit compulsive in keeping an eye on the website and started feeling like a stock trader might.
Here's the website for accomodations:
http://www.yosemitepark.com/Accommodations.aspx
There are other booking sites, but they operate as agents. This is the direct site.
We stayed in Wawona on our final night. We were heading to Carmel the next day and wanted to go to the Mariposa Sequoia grove before leaving. The hotel is old and worn and I can see why it would get some negative reviews. As for ourselves, we loved it there. As Promo phrases it, we slept with a sense of history. I have a very romanticized ideal of the Old West and this felt like I was in it. It is a distance from the Valley, though, and it would probably have felt like a drag pretty quick if we were making the commute. For a first night or a final night I think it would be great, but I'd really try to find something in the Valley for the bulk of the stay.
There are other many other options. The TA forum is a really great source of info about other choices for accomodations and for any info at all:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g6 ... ornia.html
We've used TA to plan a lot of trips and their Yosemite forum is really one of the best travel forums I've run into. A lot of really knowledgeable eager to share what they know.
We were there in late September. Most of the waterfalls had dried up and the remaining ones were just trickles. It was our first trip there, so we really didn't know exactly what we were missing. I think it would have been pretty spectacular with waterfalls, but it's pretty spectacular without them, too. But while you will have waterfalls, it may be too early to get to some of the parts of the park that we really enjoyed. Glacier Point and Tuolumne Meadows (Tioga Road) are stunning but the winters are pretty long and severe in the park and the roads to these areas may not be open. If they are open, they're absolutely worth going. Here's a site that lists past opening dates:
http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/tiogaopen.htm
There's a better chance of the Glacier Point Road being while you're there than the Tioga Road. Both areas are really unforgettable.
There's plenty to do and see in the Valley, even though some areas or trails may not yet be accessible. There are trails throughout and a shuttle bus that links different areas. The trails in the valley really are walking trails rather than hiking trails. It's a truly magnificent place.
When we were planning the trip we were thinking about either Napa or the coast after Yosemite, then on to SF for a few days. We finally decided on Carmel/Big Sur, but Napa/Sonoma certainly would have been equally wonderful. Promo's pics are lovely.
We had a really great trip, one of our best ever in many ways.
I'm glad to answer any questions, but be sure to get over to the TA forum if you haven't already.
