Old Faithfull Inn

Adventures by Disney's Quest for the West

If you’re a regular around the DIS , you’ve probably noticed how much everyone here loves Adventures by Disney . To be completely honest, before I started working here, I had never even heard of it. Then suddenly Cristina and I were being whisked away to Wyoming for a week with ABD and I had absolutely no idea what to expect. I’m the kind of guy who likes to take it easy so a strictly scheduled “vacation” sounded like a pretty bad idea. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a suitable place to hide on the final day of the trip to prevent them from dragging me back to the airport.

First, a little background. When I was a kid, circa 1994, my family took a trip to Park City, Utah. It was my first real trip that I can remember and, as a Florida boy, I instantly fell in love with the mountains. A couple of years later we went back out there and did a road trip with my uncle and aunt who live in Wyoming. We saw Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, a dinosaur dig site…it’s one of my favorite memories as a kid. Ever since then, I’ve been dying to get back out to that area of the Rocky Mountains but never had an excuse.

When I heard that we had the opportunity to go on the “Quest for the West” ABD trip , I freaked out! I would finally be able to get back to the place that I’ve been trying to go for over 10 years! I think that a lot of people don’t know what to think when they hear “Wyoming.” The state is huge with the lowest population in the country…only about a quarter of the population of the metro Orlando area. So what is there to do?

As far as I’m concerned, I could sit on a bench and stare at the mountains for 6 days straight and be completely content. Luckily for everyone else on the trip, ABD has a much more exciting itinerary in store. Let’s run through each day.

Day 1: Wyoming Welcome The first day pretty much consists of flying into Jackson Hole Airport, which is the only airport in the country that’s located inside a national park (Grand Teton National Park). The airport doesn’t have the traditional gates of a larger airport, so passengers deplane down a set of stairs directly to the tarmac. The view as soon as you exit the plane is absolutely stunning as you’re immediately greeted by some of the most beautiful mountains you’ll ever see.

One of our guides, Geraldine, met us at the airport and led us to our transportation to the Wort Hotel in Jackson (Side note: Jackson is the name of the town, Jackson Hole is the name of the region…so Jackson is located in Jackson Hole). We arrived at the Wort Hotel, one of AAA’s top 10 historic hotels, around 1:30 pm and were told that our room wasn’t ready yet. We gave the desk clerk my cell phone number and then met our other guide, Michael, upstairs for some ABD business. He gave us a map of Jackson with all the best places to visit highlighted, he had us sign our wavers for the following day’s whitewater rafting trip, and he even took our lunch order for the next two days.

National Park Road Trip 2011: The Lodges of Old Faithful In ...

The Old Faithful area of Yellowstone National Park is busy, busy, busy. As usual, there are lots of people, lots of tour groups, and lots of vehicles. The new Old Faithful Visitor Education Center that opened in August of last year probably adds to the crowds because travelers tend to stay in this area of the park for a longer period of time. Still, it is the famous geyser that attracts the multitudes. We can’t complain, however, because the new education center is very impressive, Old Faithful is still impressive, and Old Faithful Inn is its usual wonderful self. Returning to the inn is like visiting a favorite grandparent. It’s old, but in a wonderful way.

The Visitor Education Center is a major improvement over the small visitor center it replaced. The center includes a large area devoted to exhibits, an interactive area for children, a theater, a library, and of course, a gift shop.

This is probably the finest national park visitor center we have experienced. Over half the $27 million cost was covered by funds raised by Yellowstone Park Foundation . The remaining $12 million was paid by the National Park Service.

As we have discovered in several newer NPS buildings in other parks, synthetic shake shingles, including those used on the education center, often result in roofing problems.

Following our last report from Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park we drove north and stopped at Flagg Ranch to try and take some better photos of the cabins. Next was a stop at Grant Village for the same task. Leaving Grant Village we ran into a rain and hail storm for the ages. Fortunately, the hail wasn’t sufficiently large to damage our vehicle.

It was pouring rain as we drove into the Old Faithful area and the visitor center and hotel lobbies were packed with people. The rain eventually ended and the trapped masses escaped their shelters to hike the boardwalks through the geyser area and watch Old Faithful perform.

There is more lodging in the Old Faithful area than the famous inn. Here visitors have a wide range of lodging options ranging from small rustic cabins without a private bathroom to an upscale and relatively new lodge. Likewise, prices span a wide range from $70 to $236 per night.

Three lodges at Old Faithful are in close proximity to the famous geyser and to one another. Guests at one lodge have an easy walk to the neighboring lodges, to Old Faithful, and to the NPS education center. Nearby, Snow Lodge and Cabins is by far the newest lodging facility in the Old Faithful area and it offers some of the nicest lodging in this section of the park.

Old Faithful Inn, Crown Jewel of National Park Lodges

Old Faithful Inn, 100th Anniversary

Frommer's Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks

Frommer's National Parks of the American West

Moon Yellowstone and Grand Teton, Including Jackson Hole