Death Valley "Road Trip" and hike (4-5 days)

Here's the tentative plan:
Leave the Bay Area early on Dec 28, arriving at Death Valley late afternoon. People can either camp or stay in a hotel.
Dec 29 and 30 we'll explore the Park, hiking through canyons, over dunes, etc.
Dec 31: Some people may leave early to return home on the 4th day. Others will stay another day to celebrate New Years (the moon is full!), or may drive to another nearby park--Mojave?--if agreed on in advance.
Jan 1: The rest of us will drive home. This group may decide to travel to hot springs on the way home, or other trip-lengthening detours, but that's up to those in each car/carpool.

We'll be staying in the Furnace Creek area, which has both camping (it will be cold at night) and motel rooms at the Furnace Creek Ranch (Furnace Creek Inn is just down the street for those who want more luxury). Each morning we'll carpool to our hikes--we'll aim for a moderate pace, but leave no one behind--this is a hiking group, so I'll assume everyone understands that this is not just car-touring :-)

I'll be posting some files (camping, park map, etc.) in the "Files" section of our Meetup site for people to look at, or you can visit the Death Valley National Park web site (https://www.nps.gov/deva/).

Hikes:
Once we know who's going, we can make decisions about best destinations (Racetrack Playa is high on my list). We may decide on longer hikes, or multiple shorter hikes, driving between them (there are many 1-2 hour hikes in the park).
If we have cars with "high clearance," we can get down a few roads that are a bit too bumpy for most cars (e.g. I drove the five miles down the bumpy road to Racetrack Playa in my Saturn wagon, but it was quite bumpy and might have been difficult with 4 people in it!); but we'll probably not go down 4-wheel drive roads.

Camping:
Camp sites hold up to 8 people and 2 cars--some are "pull through" others are "walk-in, tent only". We'll make and coordinate reservations in mid-October so we'll be close to each other. I checked reservations on September 27th, and there are plenty of spaces still open.

Motel:
If you want to stay in the Furnace Creek Motel or the FC Inn, make your own reservations now (https://www.nps.gov/deva/planyourvisit/lodging.htm). If you want to share a room, leave a comment below stating your desires/preferences.

Food:
We'll work out the details on food in early December, but plan on having at least your own lunches that you can take with you on hikes (we may coordinate breakfasts and dinners).

Cost:
Each participant will be responsible for:
helping with gas if they carpool
camping ($18/site/night) or motel (2 queen=$169/night)
entrance fee ($20/car)
their own food (some may be shared).