desi101

Thanks everyone for your input.

From the experts' advice on this forum, I have made some changes to my itenary. First is 11 days trip instead of 10 days. We figured, if we are investing this much time and money - might as well one extra day may help us to cover little more.

Day 1, 07/28/2006, Fri - Fly to Anchorage (reaching @ 7 PM), Get rental car, Spend evening in Anchorage
Day 2 07/29/2006 Sat - Leave for Denali by 9 AM - Stop @ Talkeetna (115 miles) for few hours - Take Mt. Mickenley Tour by air with glacier landing option (2 PM), Denali (155 miles)
Day 3 - 07/30/2006 Sun - Take the park shuttle bus (6:45 AM) into Denali National Park - Wonder Lake (11 hrs round trip - reservation done) - do some hiking
Day 4 - 07/31/2006 Mon -White Water Rafting (canyon Run) at 7:30 AM, Attend Sled Dog Demo (if not done on Day2), Leave for Fairbanks (128 miles), University of Alaska & Museum, Mini Golf
Day 5 - 08/01/2006 Tue - Go for El Dorado Gold Mine tour (if not done on Day4) Leave for Copper Center (260 miles), Stop by Santa-North Pole
Day 6 - 08/02/2006 Wed - Leave for Valdez (100 miles), Take 12:15 Ferry (boarding @ 11 AM - reservation done), Reach Whittier @ 3. Whitter Tunnel 4 to 4:15. Reach Cooper Landing (75 miles).
Day 7 - 08/03/2006 Thu - Leave for Homer (120 miles)
Day 8 - 08/04/2006 Fri - Leave for Exit Glacier & Seward (180 miles total), hike to the Harding Ice Field,
Day 9 - 08/05/2006 Sat - Spend a day in Seward (Sea Kayaking probably?)
Day 10 - 08/06/2006 Sun - Leave for Girdwood (90 miles), Dogsleeding, Tram & lunch, hike @ Alyeska Resort, Leave for Anchorage (37 miles)
Day 11 - 08/07/2006 Mon - Spend day in Anchorage - leave for Chicago @ 8 PM

Hotels
Night 1 - Sheration (Priceline $104 /wtax)
Night 2 & 3 - Lake View Inn $150, McKinley Creekside Cabins $140 , McKinley Chalet Resort $250 for two nights with toursaver coupon (though when I called they didn't want to give discount - might be able to get with some hassle), Denali Cabins $150, Denali River Cabins $200, Denali River Cabins (off river) - $149 for two nights with toursaver coupon, EarthSong Lodge $160 for night 3 only
Night 4 - Super 8 (free through Best Rate Gurantee)
Night 5 - Copper River Princess ($99)
Night 6 - Kenai Princess
Night 7 - Looking for Ideas
Night 8&9 - WindSong Lodge is available only on Aug 4 (neither on 3rd nor 5th) and $210 a night is little too rich for my blood.
Night 10 - Looking for Ideas

The part I am still debating -
Day 2 - we can possibly leave from Anchorage @ 7AM and take 11AM/12PM Flight for Mt. Mickenley instead of 2 PM. And then try to do WhiteWater Rafting @ 6 PM in Denali
instead of 7:30 AM on Day 4. This shall give us extra time on Day4 but will it be too much on Day 2?

Night 2&3 - lodging ideas

Day 4 - Is it worth visiting Arctic Circle (and taking risk of driving on unpaved road and driving 6 hours)? If we do cover Whiter Water Rafting on Day 2, we can skip Musueum & UAF and can do Arctic Circle instead.

Day 5 - If we decide to do White Water Rafting on Day 2 as well as not to go to Arctic Circle - we can do gold mine tour on Day 4 and can leave directly for Cooper Center.

I have already placed an order for MilePost through Amazon ($17 and free Ship for prime member) and should receive it on Jul 10.

I also ended up buying TourSaver book after debating for a while on it. I can easily cover my $100 investment by -
* Mt. Mickenley Air Tour - 20% discount on flight other than 7 PM (so will save $88)
* White Water Rafting - savings of $75 for BOGO
* Alyeska Tram - Savings of $16 for BOGO
more possible....