A national park vacation doesn't have to mean spending every day hanging your snack bags out of the reach of bears. Just outside Yosemite National Park, the classic and plush Tenaya Lodge is offering an Unlimited Summer Fun Pass Package, which starts at $295 to $335 a night this summer. Set two miles from the south entrance of Yosemite National Park, the
294-room lodge has indoor and outdoor pools and a kids' club for ages 5
to 12, where they can practice archery, fishing, rock climbing and crafts.
The lodge provides a good range of dining options, from pizza to a chuckwagon BBQ by a campfire. The package includes:
- lodging in a deluxe or cottage room (normally $310 for a cottage room, $330 for a deluxe)
- daily evening flashlight hike ($15 x four people = $60)
- daily morning nature walk ($15 x four people = $60)
- rock wall climbing session ($8 x four people =$32)
- half-day mountain bike rental ($22 x four people =$88)
We did some comparison shopping for a three-night stay in July in a deluxe room with two beds, balcony, fridge and microwave (plus one wilderness neccessity: Nintendo access). If these lodgings and activities were booked without the package, a family of four would spend $570 a night, or $1,710 for three nights. If booked with the package, the nightly rate would come to $428 for a family of four, or $1,284 for three nights, which translates to a 25% savings.
The key question is: How active do you intend to be? For the package to be a good deal, you'd need to do two activities every day—hike, walk and/or bike—to get your money's worth and justify spending the $428. If you can't see your family maintaining that pace, you're better of booking your room and activities separately. A better alternative might be The Yosemite Park Pass Package for $338 a night in a deluxe room, which includes a seven-day Yosemite pass (worth $20).
Deal or no deal? If your family intends to put the "active" into activities, start packing the Gore-Tex. A key factor with this package is that the “unlimited” activities are for real: You can do all four activities every day that you stay. But how many would you do? Two a day? That's the $428 question.
The Unlimited Summer Fun Pass package is good for travel through September 15, and requires a minimum three-night stay. When booking online, enter dates and look for the Unlimited Summer Fun Pass listings, or use promo code UNLIMITED.
