Lady Bird Johnson Grove · Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Sat 10 Oct → Sun 18 Oct · 2 adults, 2 boys
Universal Studios → Monterey → the Redwoods. Flights + hotels on points.
| Window | School cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 3 → 12 | 4 school days | SFO Oct 4 was seen at 47k pts. |
| Nov 14 → 22 | ped day Nov 20 | HHN is over by then. Rain risk up north. |
One open jaw, 1,190 miles of driving between them. Tap a chip to isolate a day, tap a marker for what you do there.
Drive times are road times with no traffic. Add a third on the LA legs.
Air Canada nonstop, about 6 hours, morning departure. Pick the car up at LAX. Afternoon in the hotel pool. Dinner at Universal CityWalk, a walk from the Hilton or the Sheraton.
Kid noteThree-hour time change. They will crash early and wake early, so use it.
Pier in the morning. Pacific Park unlimited-ride wristbands run about USD 40 a kid. Beach, then lunch on the Third Street Promenade. Late afternoon at Griffith Observatory, free, up top for sunset and the Hollywood sign.
Griffith is closed Mondays. It opens at 12:00 on weekdays and 10:00 on weekends, so Sunday works.
Kid noteSand and a Ferris wheel beat a museum on day two. Pack a change of clothes in the car.
The parks are busy on the holiday. California Science Center first: free general admission, Space Shuttle Endeavour. Check whether the new Air & Space Center wing is open on your date. Then La Brea Tar Pits, roughly USD 18 adult and USD 7 child, with mammoths and an active dig.
Lunch at Grand Central Market. Early night before Universal.
Kid noteEndeavour is the one they will talk about at home. Tar pits second.
Park hours 10:00 to 18:00, arrive at the tap stiles by 09:15. The full ride order, the height table and the ticket maths are in the Universal section.
Kid noteMario Kart first, before the Lower Lot fills up.
Leave 08:30. Solvang for lunch around 11:30: Danish town, aebleskiver, ten minutes off the 101. Optional pier stop at Pismo Beach to stretch legs. Arrive Monterey about 17:00, dinner on Fisherman's Wharf with the sea lions.
Kid noteAbout seven hours door to door with stops. Download the shows on hotel wifi before you leave.
Monterey Bay Aquarium at the 10:00 opening. Two adults USD 65, kids USD 50, buy dated tickets. Kelp forest, otters, touch pools. Lunch on Cannery Row. Drive north at 14:00, cross the Golden Gate and take the 20-minute photo stop at Vista Point or Sausalito. Sleep in Santa Rosa at a pool hotel.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Roaring Camp Railroads, Felton. One hour from Monterey, a 75-minute Redwood Forest Steam Train, weekday departures 10:30 / 12:00 / 13:30, USD 42.35 adult / 26.45 child. It costs you the aquarium morning. Choose one.
Kid noteTouch pools first thing, otter feeding later in the morning.
Shrine Drive-Thru Tree at Myers Flat, about USD 15 a car. Founders Grove next: a flat half-mile loop with the fallen Dyerville Giant. Stop at the Visitor Center in Weott for Junior Ranger booklets. Then drive the Avenue itself, 31 miles of old road running parallel to the 101. Continue to Trinidad and take sunset from Trinidad Head.
Kid noteThe Junior Ranger booklet turns the whole day into a game with a badge at the end.
This choice rewrites Saturday and Sunday below, and it drives the cost calculator.
07:30 at Elk Meadow, because the elk are out early. Then the Newton B. Drury Parkway and Big Tree Wayside, a five-minute walk to a 286-foot tree. After that, pick one of these two.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Eight miles of gravel on Davison Road with two shallow creek fords, then 50-foot fern walls. No permit needed in October. Budget about 2 h 30 round trip including the road.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
SkyTrail gondola and the Redwood Canopy Trail suspension bridges, with Paul Bunyan out front. The boys will pick this one.
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Kid noteElk at dawn, gondola after lunch, and a long car nap on the way out.
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Kid noteWheels up at 08:10 means the airport at 06:00. Put them to bed in clothes they can fly in.
Park 10:00 to 18:00, early entry from 09:00 with the add-on. Arrive 09:15 at the tap stiles. Parking is USD 35–40, or take the Metro B Line and the free shuttle.
One-day adults USD 109–154, kids 3–9 USD 94–140, date priced. The Super Nintendo World Early Access add-on is about USD 20–30 per person and buys an hour in the land plus one Studio Tour express ride before 11:00. On a short day it is worth it.
On event nights the day park closes between 17:00 and 18:00, and HHN itself is not for under-13s. Confirm on the official calendar that Oct 13 is not an event night before you buy anything.
| Ride | Min | Ness | Enzo |
|---|
Free on every ride. One parent waits with whoever is too short, then rides without queueing again. Nobody misses a coaster because of a centimetre.
Transfers 1:1 and lands instantly. Book the open jaw YUL→LAX and SFO→YUL as two one-ways.
| YUL→LAX, Sat Oct 10 | 18,738 pts + CAD 126 |
| Floor dates seen | 14,413 pts + CAD 173 |
| SFO→YUL estimate | 14–29k pts |
Prices seen 2026-09-22 on aircanada.com. Fallback: Amex Fixed Points Travel at 50,000 MR per ticket, capped at a CAD 700 base fare. Only reach for it if Aeroplan spikes.
200 pts = CAD 1, so 0.5 cents per point. TD's own redemption page covers flights, hotels, car rentals and attractions, which means the rental car does not have to be cash.
| Expedia for TD | 200 pts = $1 |
| Book Any Way, any site | 250 pts = $1 |
Book Any Way is 20% worse. Use the Expedia for TD portal unless the rate difference is bigger than that.
Every field is editable and everything you type is kept in this browser. The return option you picked above drives the hotel rows and the day count.
| Stay | Nights | CAD / night | CAD |
|---|
Switching the return option resets the Trinidad nights and the Bay Area rows.
| In | Attraction | USD |
|---|
Hotels are not in this total, they are on TD points. Flight taxes and fees are.
Every search link opens Expedia for TD with the right dates and two kids aged 6 and 7 already set. Rates are indicative; the portal shows the live price.
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