Do US schoolchildren have a lot of holidays? I am hoping to plan to visit in either September/October but I could go at any different time, I want to avoid children as much as possible lol. It is awesome that you had a great day at Six Flags :)  Thank you so much for the recommendations! :D, the Sequoia trees and the National Park have been high on my hit list for a long time, I want to go camping and hiking in that area too :) California does look awesome, I was thinking of starting in California, I know I can get a good flight from Heathrow straight to LAX, I hope I can avoid domestic connection in the US, I will do them if need be though. If I could only do one park, which one would you say I do? My SO has never been to a Disneyland so it would be cool to take him to one but at the same time he is not a thrill seeker and I am, I like extreme, fast rollercoasters.  Joshua Tree National Park sounds interesting, thank you for telling me about it, I will check it out :)