Was looking at one of these for the family to stay in winter 3-4 nights: https://www.nationalparkreservations.com/booking/new/2#.U6t2hpS-2Cd .

Here is the description:

Spacious, accommodating and great for larger families enjoying the park, the Family Rooms come furnished with one King bed, two Twins beds, one sofa sleeper and private bath, a dining room table and sitting area. There are only four of these rooms at Yosemite Lodge at the Falls and they book up to a year in advance!

Was hoping somebody here might have stayed in one of these and could report on their experience. Would like to have 1 room instead of 2 for Grandma, Wife, Me, 2 kids and maybe a stray Uncle.

Any insight would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

I stayed at one of those rooms as described years ago and I don't think that with the remodeling they exist in that configuration anymore. The best site to go to to see the rooms is the DNC site and not the website you listed. You can see the rooms at this link which is the DNC link: http://www.yosemitepark.com/yosemite-lodge-rooms.aspx Personally, I never make reservations in national parks through anything other than the concessionaire for that park. The website you posted is not the DNC site for Yosemite, the one I posted is. Some of them add extra charges to your reservation. Just a note: not all the rooms at the lodge have been remodeled yet so the room you get might not look like the room on the website. As for getting a family room, you should consider how much privacy you want since you would all be in one big room. BTW lodging in Yosemite is hard to get in the popular months not just those four rooms, the earlier you make reservations the more of the chance you will get want you want and on the days you want.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/2014 10:11PM by parklover.

Not my sort of thing, but when you google nationalparkreservations.com, the second answer is:
Ripped by National Park Reservations dot com?

The third answer is:
AVOID National Park Reservations

The fifth answer is:
This Business is not BBB accredited

Damn, what's wrong with people? Parklover's right.

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QITNL
Not my sort of thing, but when you google nationalparkreservations.com, the second answer is:
Ripped by National Park Reservations dot com?

The third answer is:
AVOID National Park Reservations

The fifth answer is:
This Business is not BBB accredited

Damn, what's wrong with people? Parklover's right.

That website is notorious for being a ripoff. They basically resell from other NPS concesionnaires with inventory that one can look up without their surcharge. They also make it more difficult to cancel compared to official sources.

There is no discount and no value added. I don't know why anyone would want to reserve through them. They're not even a real online travel agency like Priceline or Expedia.

Thanks for the info. I just did it the old fashion way and called to make my reservations. It's interesting that this site: : https://www.nationalparkreservations.com/booking/new/2#.U6t2hpS-2Cd showed the family rooms available at a higher rate than DNC link. The DNC link showed that the family rooms were all booked for the same dates. Shady. Anyway, we got the bunk room. It has a queen, and bunk bed with a double on the bottom and single on top as well as a couch. We are used to bunking together as a family in tight quarters so that won't be an issue. Praying for snow in early December.

I am glad that you got a room. As for snow, who knows if there will be any in early December since there wasn't the past two years. All we can do is hope that there will be a El Nino this year. If you are thinking of skiing at Badger Pass, even on a good year it is not opened in early December.

Thanks. Wasn't able to camp this summer and did not want to break the Family streak of going to Yosemity every year (70 + years for my Mother, my son has been every year since he was 3 months old). Wasn't counting on skiing at Badger cause we only have 4 days but it would be nice. We have season passes in Tahoe so not a huge priority although it's on the bucket list. What I really want to do someday is shoeing or touring out to glacier point and staying there or just snow camping somewhere on the rim.

Was hoping if conditions are favorable to hike up to the UYF ice cone via Sunnyside Bench/Fern Ledge. We did that route in July last summer and was awestruck. Went to Fern Ledge and looped around behind the Falls and down the Falls Trail. The flow was just low enough to safely duck behing the falls (and stand under and get the most intense show ever!) Anyone been up there in Winter? I have read some good trip reports including John Muir's.

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boomtown
Thanks. Wasn't able to camp this summer and did not want to break the Family streak of going to Yosemity every year (70 + years for my Mother, my son has been every year since he was 3 months old). Wasn't counting on skiing at Badger cause we only have 4 days but it would be nice. We have season passes in Tahoe so not a huge priority although it's on the bucket list. What I really want to do someday is shoeing or touring out to glacier point and staying there or just snow camping somewhere on the rim.

Was hoping if conditions are favorable to hike up to the UYF ice cone via Sunnyside Bench/Fern Ledge. We did that route in July last summer and was awestruck. Went to Fern Ledge and looped around behind the Falls and down the Falls Trail. The flow was just low enough to safely duck behing the falls (and stand under and get the most intense show ever!) Anyone been up there in Winter? I have read some good trip reports including John Muir's.

It is nice that you are sticking to family traditions. My husband, sister and I are the first of our generation to go to Yosemite and my son also took his first trip there at three months old. At 18 years old, he has been there over 50 times and I hope that someday he will have kids of his own to take. I hope that you get enough snow to snowshoe or tour out to Glacier Point, only time will tell how much snow we get this year. As for UYF ice cone, that is something that I have not done so can't help you there. As you know, no matter when you go or what you do, nothing beats Yosemite.

What was the rate for the family room you first described? When we went this past Feb we stayed in a loft room in Curry in the Stoneman house, having a family of 5 we needed it. However, as far as I can tell it was some sort of fluke that Curry was open during the week BETWEEN the two President holidays when my kids get the week off. I say that because there are no openings for curry at all during that week next year. I am beginning to wonder if they opened it up this year as a fluke, some promotion, or for some other reason.

The Family Room on the DNC site is 126 for weekdays and it was 170 on the other site.

I just looked and it is $238 in March (on the DNC site)

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hotrod4x5
I just looked and it is $238 in March (on the DNC site)

Prices at lodging in Yosemite change depending on what time of the year you go. During the summer and holidays it is higher than during the slow periods. There are times you can even get a room at the Ahwahnee for almost 1/2 price.