It is time to announce the winners of the Bear World giveaway. This was a fun one and we hope to offer it at the beginning of the season next year!
Remember that there are two winners to this giveaway!
Congratulations to winner #1 – Beth W.!!!
Congratulations to winner #2 – Bob S.!!!!
Watch for your emails on how to claim your tickets!
{ 0 comments }
We did a review of one of the most memorable quick vacations we have had as a family to Yellowstone Bear World. Well…. how would you like to experience it for FREE?!?!
You have the chance to win one of two Family Car Load passes which will allow up to 7 people in one car to enter the park and all of the regular ticket admission experiences for FREE!!
This is a $55 value! This is a quick giveaway and the tickets will need to be used in the 2010 season which ends on Oct. 17th. We will run this giveaway until September 29th and your tickets will be sent out ASAP to have three possible weekends to take advantage of the FREE tickets before the season is closed! Yellowstone Bear World is approximately 230 miles from downtown Salt Lake City, which is about 3.5 hours on the freeway. This could be a cool day trip (arriving late morning/early afternoon, staying for a couple of amazing hours – which you will experience it all and coming home), or overnight trip and getaway!
There are two winners to this giveaway and there are 6 possible ways of entering:
You can do 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 possible entries. You can do one or all of the above – just leave a separate comment for each! Maximize your entries by doing all 6!
A couple of additional points:
1. Leave a separate comment for each of the above things you do, each comment and activity you complete is an entry.
2. Be sure to leave your comments for entries here on this post to be counted as an entry.
This giveaway ends at 11:59 p.m. MST on Wednesday, September 29th! One winner will be randomly selected (via randomizer.org) and then contacted after that deadline. Make sure to check back though in case we can’t contact you!
{ 42 comments }
We must say that every Utahan must go to Idaho….. that is at least Yellowstone Bear World as they are passing through Idaho to Yellowstone National Park!
We had a recent visit to Yellowstone Bear World and this has been a place that we have wanted to go for a very long time. We finally had the opportunity and can’t believe we didn’t go before now!
Cassie was most excited as bears are her favorite animal. Also, as Human Microphone sleeps with his “brown bear,” these creatures hold a special place in his heart too!
But it wasn’t just those two that were excited and it wasn’t just bears that we saw. It was an up close, personal and quick mini-Yellowstone- at least in terms of the animal sightings that we were all excited to experience!
Bear World is located between Rigby and Rexburg Idaho, near Idaho Falls, ID and on U.S. Highway 20 heading out to the West Yellowstone park entrance.
First, you will pay an entrance fee to just enter into the parking lot. Why? Well because your ticket costs gets you and your family into almost all of the sights and the sights begin as soon as you enter. We thought the cost was more than worth the experience. I guess growing up around Yellowstone and have been there dozens of times and really yet to see a bear officially makes it quite nice to finally say we saw a “Yellowstone” bear – the price was worth it!
Here are the prices to enter into Yellowstone Bear World:
Here’s what your fee covers:
You are guaranteed to see a bear, or two, or a dozen!
In fact, you will see animals up close and personal in their natural habitats just as if you were in Yellowstone. We have heard about Yellowstone Bear World for many years, but really had no idea that they had many animals there!
The wildlife that you will see are:
To see the wildlife, you will drive along a paved road and encounter each of the wildlife in their “areas” of the park. The first wildlife that we saw were the Mountain Goats. Shortly after, you will come up on the Rocky Mountain Elk.
The Elk viewing was a sweet surprise as Yellowstone Bear World is home to a couple of rare White Rocky Mountain Elk (1:6,000,000) and they were very beautiful creatures and so amazing to see!
We did see all of the animals above, which was very cool, but…….. after seeing the goats, elk, bison, deer…. you enter a gated area where you are strictly required to keep your car windows up and restrain your temptation of rolling them down to get a closer view/touch of those cute adorable fuzzy things. Why? Well, they are bears of course! Safety comes first.
The first part of the bear habitat is where you will find the Grizzly’s. There were three Grizzly’s living there when we went: a sister and brother (who is huge!) and the papa bear. They are in the grassy areas behind an electric fence, so they do not walk all over the roads like you hear bears are doing at Yellowstone Bear World.
See the single electric fence line - the protection - even though you are driving with windows up! This was Sister Bear.
The Brother Bear was swimming and Sister and Papa Bear were just hangin’ around.
Shortly after the Grizzly habitat, you enter the American Black Bears habitat. There are more than a dozen of these cute cuddly’s roaming the grounds. The will walk down the road, walk across the road, lay on the road, lay on your car if you secretly planted fresh meat, swim in the little pools, attempt to climb the trees, wrestle, run, play, roll, and scratch their heads and backs with the trees around them! Jungle Book was telling the truth when it comes to those “bear necessities.”
In fact, we caught one doing just that:
This bear has found a log to scratch that head itch!
And then, wouldn’t you know it….one of the curators told us that Baloo from The Jungle Book (the real deal) lives at Yellowstone Bear World and we got to see him!
They were all over the place roaming and doing what bears do. We had one that walked in front of us slowly, then walked to the side of our vehicle about 1 ft. away. We got several picks of him, but we liked this shot as he looked right at the camera!
And guess who it was…… Baloo! I (Cassie), just wanted to jump out and hug him!
They have an area of the drive where the bears that just left the baby pen (when they hit 2 years old) hang out that you will see on the drive. These small American Black Bears are behind a two line electric fence to protect them from being hit by cars while they learn the ropes. The older American Black Bears are the ones roaming the wild.
Also, keep your eyes peeled for the few resident Gray Wolves that live amongst the bears. They are right there next to you, but difficult to see as they hide in the tall grasses.
The drive is around 20-30 minutes and going at a speed of around 5 mph. It is a very thrilling ride even at that slow pace. You can go through this drive as many times as you want with your 1 day pass. We went 4 times!
You will need to make a reservation for either of the two, and they fill-up very quickly.
The Curator Tours are where you will be able to stand up in the back of a truck and feed the bears from the top of this truck! You are standing for the whole ride and they will stop so you can first feed the elk. Then you will see the Grizzly bears from up high (but not feed them) and then you can start feeding the American Black Bears from the truck. The price includes the ride, food to feed the bears, a picture of your family taken by them, and the narrated tour/ride by the Curator. We loved driving the drive, but wanted to experience a family bear feeding and thought it was more than worth the $25 cost for the whole family to experience the feeding of the big bears. They come right up to the truck and you toss the food down to them. The Curator will also teach you how to get them to wave at you with their big bear paws for some yummy bear treats. And don’t worry, you will not be tossing them raw meat, but dessert! Donuts and breads are a treat the bears love!
He is a picture from the top of the truck and looking down at the bears we are feeding.
And the additonal experience that you can pay for is the Baby Bear Feeding. Cassie had the opportunity to feed two baby bears. They were all American Black Bears. The feeding takes place in the baby bear pens that are visible near the petting zoo and food stands. You can watch the babies playing in their habitat and with each other. They were so adorable!
So for the feeding, they take groups of about 12 people into the baby bear pens areas. Then each person gets in line and they will get to feed an entire bottle to a baby bear (just a regular baby bottle) which is about a 30 second to 1 minute process. They rotate between six bears and about five bottles each. This means that the 12 people will get to feed around 2-3 bears. While you are feeding the babies their bottles, you will be able to pet them on the head. The whole experience is about 20 minutes.
” This was an AHAHAHmazing experience! It is quick, but quite memorable! They drink out of a regular baby bottle and each one had their own personality and feeding style. When I was petting them, I was very surprised to find out that their fur is not as soft as you would think (based on your many Teddy Bear encounters). Their fur was almost like dried stiff grass/hay. Not some much cuddly, but kinda prickly!” – Cassie
The $35 covers the cost of the feedings, a picture that their photographer takes and memories to last forever! If this is something you want to do, you will need to call ahead a day or two in advance as they fill-up quickly!
The petting zoo is a fun place for the kids to get out and roam and explore. They have many of the classic petting zoo animals: goats, hens, turkeys, pot belly pigs…. but they also had DEER. Something we haven’t seen at many petting zoos. They had both mommies and their babies when we went.
The amusement rides were definitely geared towards younger kids.
They had five total rides;
We did the rides last to end our Yellowstone Bear World adventure. The kids (and adults with around a 180-230 weight limit depending on the ride) can ride as many as they want, as many times as they want.
It was a fun way to end the day!
They do have an outdoor cafe and sno-cone stand to enjoy a treat or a snack. Here is a picture of the menu so you can budget accordingly!
We just ate at our campsite before coming and then brought a few snacks with us for a snack break when needed. We did get a sno-cone treat. We recommend coconut for small kids as it is white and does not stain (but leaves things very sticky). Unfortunately, our sno-cones were drenched in sooo much syrup, that neither Alex or Cassie enjoyed theirs and the kids only ate a small portion of theirs, probably for the same reason! It could have just been the person that made ours that day, but it was actually gross because of it. It would have been a perfect refreshing treat if it had 1/2 to 1/4 of the syrup. So we recommend giving the sno-cone maker directions on your sno-cone!
All-in-all, we highly recommend this pit-stop. It has ended up being one of the most fun and memorable experiences we have had has a family. We talk about it all of the time. Someone around here is always bringing it up! We look forward to our next trip to Yellowstone Bear World!
{ 2 comments }
If you are looking for a few FREE things to do in Utah this weekend, well there is good news! On Saturday, September 25, it is both FREE Museum Day and FREE National Parks Day.
This is a great way to see some sites that you have not seen before or revisit some of your Utah favorites! Let us know which is your favorite and what you plan to see! It looks like the participating museums are found all across the state.
From this list, we like the Ogden Union Station Museums. The Railroad one specifically is very fun for our whole family, but they do have quite a nice car and gun museum. It is also a fun place to go as you get 3 museums in one!
Art Access Gallery - Salt Lake City Braithwaite Fine Arts Gallery - Cedar City Chase Home Museum of Utah Folk Art - Salt Lake City Fort Douglas Museum - Fort Douglas Ogden Union Station Museums - Ogden Orem Heritage Museum at Scera Center - Orem Rock Cliff Nature Center - Kamas Springville Museum of Art - Springville St. George Art Museum - St. George Utah Museum of Natural History - Salt Lake CityYou will need to request your FREE tickets to one of the above museums by filling out the form on the Smithsonian website. You can request two for FREE. Many of the above attractions will let children 3,4,5, or even 6 under for free without a ticket all of the time.
Thanks Money Saving Mom
Here is the list of National Parks that you can visit on Saturday for FREE Public Lands Day:
Finally, don’t forget that Oktoberfest is still going on at Snowbird, UT! It is FREE to attend, just plan to spend money if you want to eat there, the food is good, but pricey!
{ 1 comment }
Thank you all for entering the first two giveaways here on More Utah For Less and being some of the first to participate and be a part of this community!
We had a great turnout for the debut and had a lot of fun with these first two giveaways!
On with the announcement of the winners. We use a website called Randomizer.org to decide who the winner is!
For the Amazon gift card…..
Congratulations to Lona W. (lona728@)!!
And the 4 Circus ticket winner is……
Congratulations to Worthy L. (couponworthy@)
Thank you again and be on the lookout for a new giveaway to start very soon. Please continue to spread the word about our site!
{ 1 comment }
Things To Do Utah – Labor Day Weekend 2010!
A Holiday Weekend is in our future here in Utah and along with it come lots of fun things to do! Help us with this list by adding anything that you know about in the comments section of this post. Let’s have a fun and frugal weekend in Utah!!
I addition to the picnics, BBQ’s, hikes, outdoor play - Here are some things we know about in each area.
Salt Lake City Area:
Red Butte Garden FREE Entry on Monday, Septmeber 6th from 9 am – 7:30 p.m.
This is the Place Heritage Park Children’s Day September 4th and 6th, 9 am – 5 pm. Two days filled with crafts and games for the kiddos. Regular admission fees apply, but you can find a $1.00 off coupon by snagging a brochure inside a hotel lobby or the Salt Lake City Visitor’s Bureau. The regular admission is $7 for kids and $9 for adults.
Tracy Aviary Vulture Awareness Day September 4th all day from 9 am – 5 pm. Special bird shows and bird encounters. Regular admission fees apply, but you can find a $1.00 off coupon by snagging a brochure inside a hotel lobby or the Salt Lake City Visitor’s Bureau. The regular admission is $3-$4 for kids and $5 for adults. See the Tracy Aviary site to also find out about getting a $1.00 discount per person if you have 10 or more in your party. You will need to reserve 24 hours in advance for the group discount!
Plus see our previous post regarding Utah Museum of Natural History FREE the first Monday of every month!
Park City Area:
Oktoberfest at Snowbird Resort. Open everyday until October 11 from noon – 6pm. Admission is FREE, but be prepared to spend a lot on food if you want to eat there. Or eat before or take food to avoid this expensive fee!
Midway Utah Swiss Days. September 3rd and 4th. FREE admission and a festival to enjoy Swiss inspired parades, entertainment, vendors and food. Plan to spend money on the food.
Layton Area:
Antelope Island Stampede Festival Friday, September 3rd through Sunday September 5th. The cost is $10 per carload, but once you are on the island the entertainment is FREE. You will need to pay for some activities and food. See all of the details on Antelope Island site.
Hill Aerospace Museum - FREE Admission all the time, so you could add it to your list this weekend! The hours are 9 am – 4:30 pm. In addition, there will be a Rocket & Space Presentation on September 3rd. NASA Space Ambassador Randy Bond will make a fun presentation on rockets and space technology geared primarily toward families and kids. It starts at 1 p.m. just outside the ACE Learning Center inside the Lindquist Stewart Gallery.
Ogden Area:
Labor Day Rendezvous September 3rd – 5th from 9am – 7pm and Monday September 6th from 9am – 3pm. This is located at Fort Buenaventura Park in Ogden. The Rendezvous hosts events such as a black powder shoot, candy cannon, storytellers, period demostrations, primitive games and a mountain man run. Admission is $2 per person or $10 for a family.
All Over The State:
Military free on Labor Day – there are 27 Museums in Utah that are FREE through September 6th for Military and their families. See our post on The Thrifty Couple for the details.
{ 2 comments }
Have you heard of City Deals?
City Deals is a site where you are able to purchase discounted gift cards everyday at a 10% discount or a 10% bonus. Cassie and I have used them for years, even before we had kids. It is one of our secret Utah savings that we are now sharing with you. Although they offer deals nationwide, they are based in Utah. This is good news as this means that Utah has the most selection and the biggest discounts.
The reason why it is such a stellar savings secret is that most gift cards are like cash (and can be combined with other discounts in some cases) and City Deals will have these amazing sales on these gift cards to help your dollar go further.
Every once in a while – they offer some sales and clearances on the Citydeals website. While right now they are having an incredible clearance today until items are sold out – and they sell out fast!
Utah Sales: 169 businesses on clearance right now (the local area discount gift cards sell very fast!!). Here are a few that we loved.
Remember that these are gift cards- which essentially means you are getting a discount on cash. Stretch your gift card further by combing with store coupons and discounts too when you go to use your gift cards.
They are offering deals for some nationwide stores too:
PLUS – FREE Shipping on all orders!!
{ 0 comments }
Welcome and thank you for stopping by! This site is for you and by you and dedicated to saving you money on everything in Utah!
Join the Discussion on Facebook
