That is a lot of bus. I think you'll run out of stuff to do in SLC. It is not an interesting place. The route is sound, however, because that train will take you through back-of-beyond Nevada, which may very well be more empty than you've ever seen in your young life. veen spent four days with us in LA; let's see if he wanted more or less time. I agree with Galen. Dallas is not an interesting place. I'm not a big fan of Texas in general and you will have seen all the empty you can handle crossing Nevada. Austin if you must; I'd happily replace all of the Southwest with some time in and around DC/Boston/Baltimore/Etc. I've been to Orlando. I haven't been to Memphis, Nashville, Louisville or Charleston. Given my choice between going to Orlando or any of the previous, I'd go to any of the previous. Given my choice between going to Orlando or going to Dallas, I'd go to Dallas. Make of that what you will.
kb is dead on here... the buses in the USA are really terrible. They are almost never on time, they usually smell terrible and are not well kept. If you're lucky and get on a nicer, newer bus, it will still be filled with typical bus clientele - which at the risk of sounding like a dick... means you'll be traveling with the unbathed poor. I've taken the bus from Detroit to SLC twice, and from LA to SLC once. Those are different stories for different days - but I'll just say, speaking from experience, it's not an easy experience. I worry about your NYC to chicago leg. And when I say - not running on time.... they might leave on time, but they almost never arrive on time. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that whatever they tell you for duration - double it and subtract 25%. If they say it's a 10 hour trip? that realistically means 17.5 hours. But you're right about one thing - they're cheap. The rail trip from Denver to SF will be gorgeous. One word of warning - that time problem on the buses? it's as bad or worse for the train. I have an uncle who retired from Amtrak. It's a standing family joke that if Uncle Larry tells you he's showing up on Thursday at 2pm, just plan on midnight or later. In the world before mobile phones... I kind of hated Uncle Larry, because it meant sitting in some scary parking lot for hours and hours and hours just waiting for the train to arrive. Now it's not so bad - I just wait for him to call (I only live about 10 minutes from the main station downtown. Salt Lake City... ok - it's been heavily trashed by others already... but I'll give you a slightly different spin: SLC is "fine". It's a clean, lovely city that's EASY to get around in via the public light rail system (free in many parts of downtown). BUT... unless you're A)Mormon, B) Have friends there, or C) Really into Mormon history... SLC isn't a place to burn more than a day layover. And you're going in August, so I ruled out the main reason to go to SLC - SKIING. That place has the most amazing snow... but that's another story for another day. I'm stoked you're coming to Denver. We'll have some fun.That is a lot of bus.
Amtrak has the deck stacked against them: they're a public utility running on private rail. Across vast swaths of their network, that means that if BNSF feels like running today, Amtrak gets to wait. I've noticed that within a single Amtrak line (Coast starliner, Pacific whatever) their timetable ain't bloody bad. But as soon as you get from one principality to another, you're dealing with our dear friend BNSF and he don't give a fuck.
The fact that Amtrak can lose $800m in 10 years selling $8 sandwiches speaks volumes as to the level of dysfunction that entity operates within.
Yup. Yup. Yup. The only good experience I've had with buses was with RedCoach while I was in Miami for freshman year. My family's used it for years. You have legroom, free wifi, a comfy chair, smells clean, sometimes comp'd water and a snack. Unfortunately, it's exclusively in FL. I went ahead to look for other "luxury" lines similar for travel just to be an extra set of eyes looking, but I can't find anything comparable as of yet. I mean... I guess you'll really be experiencing America if you go this route so far...? They are almost never on time
they usually smell terrible
are not well kept.
I thought LA was really nice to visit. How long one can last really depends on what you're into, I think. The best sights can be seen in a day or two if you have a car and four without one. Creativity, do look into how the hell you're going to move around LA. The city is endless - the public transport certainly is not. For me I could've easily spent another week because LA and Atlanta are an urban planner's Sodom and Gomorra. Plus there's also a few good museums and themeparks there. Your mileage may vary though.
Thanks for the tips. After more research, it seems that it doesn't cost that much to go to Yosemite so I will definitely cut down some days in SLC in order to be able to enjoy the park. I will be able to enjoy DC/Boston on the week-ends of July (I will be working in NYC for the entire month) so that's great. I thank you so much for the link to Harry Potter in Hollywood, I had absolutely no idea and I would probably never have thought of searching if such a thing existed. Will definitely scrap Orlando and see with what I can replace it. Might be Memphis, Atlanta or another National Park.
You can totally go to the UHS version of Hogwarts, it's identical to the one in Orlando. But IoA in Orlando has way more amazing rides in the park - The Hulk, fan-favorite ride Spiderman, Duelling Dragons, Revenge of the Mummy... Plus Orlando has Busch Gardens Tampa Bay with phenomenal rollercoasters and has Animal Kingdom with Expedition Everest where Disney literally built a fucking 200ft / 60m mountain for one amazing rollercoaster: If you mostly want to get the HP experience I understand why you'd scrap Orlando, but if you don't mind the super expensive park tickets and want the best experience, I'd put it back up your itinerary.
Ahah this is crazy. I will save money by skipping Orlando in order to go to Yosemite, the real mountains should be nicer :) I get the opportunity to go to the park with friends in LA while I would be mostly alone in Orlando, so that journey is going to be for another time in life !