Florida nil - California 5

[Claire]

Our trip to Florida for next August had turned into a trip to California inc. Anaheim.

Sadly the views of a very, very small no of people on another website miles from this one has made my husband a teeny tiny bit cross and he's decided to take their advice and see more of the US than just Orlando. Has anyone any recommendations on where to stay. We would be looking at a villa but is there an area we should try for?

Apart from The Disneyland Resort, what else is worth a visit?

Thank you lots!

[Tink]

Hmmmm, California is a huge state. There are loads of things to see and do. What sort of things does your family like? Indoor, outdoor, beach, forest? California really does have it all.

[Dawn]

San Diego rules!

[Claire]

Hmmmm, California is a huge state. There are loads of things to see and do. What sort of things does your family like? Indoor, outdoor, beach, forest? California really does have it all.

Probably beach, not too far from where ever we would be staying. I'm guessing we need to pinpoint a base first then?

San Diego? Tell me about San Diego!

[Johnie]

WE just visited CA for the first time this past August. We stayed at the Doubletree Hotel on City Drive. It was quite nice and they had a private, free shuttle to DL. Many of the other hotels have the ART which costs and shares with many other hotels.

We looked at getting a timeshare but there just aren't many out there.

We did the OC Beach tour and it took us to Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and Laguna Beach. It was quite nice.

We also went cemetary hunting but I understand that is not everyone's cup of tea.

We also went to Grauman's Chinese Theater and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was fun. It was cleaner than Times Square in NYC.

Apparently we should have visited San Diego. Many locals were upset that we didn't make a trip there. Oh well, next time!

[Dawn]

Probably beach, not to far from where ever we would be staying. I'm guessing we need to pinpoint a base first then?

San Diego? Tell me about San Diego!

Sea World.

Awesome zoo. Loads of museums. Very scary bridge over to Coronado. Get the trolley to La Jolla and eat burritos. Go shopping. Eat food on the street full of restaurants who's name escapes me. And take the harbour tour. Sit down by the marina and watch hummingbirds. Get the train to Tijuana and get tequila.

They may have a beach. I never got round to looking for it.

[Taja]

You'll need to rent a car in California, Claire. Everything is spread out. No one area is really developed as a tourist destination.

I recommend skipping Las Vegas (in Nevada, but about 1.5 hours from LAX by plane) if your holiday includes children. It's gone from family-friendly to adult playground again. Really not much for children to do there.

If you don't need the information immediately, I'll poke around and look for some websites for you.

Some areas to consider (besides Disneyland):

Santa Barbara
San Diego
Drive up the coast to San Francisco (plan about 4 days)
Universal Studios (not one of my favourites, but it's apparently improved from many years ago)
Knott's Berry Farm--in the vicinity of Disneyland
Magic Mountain--maybe. Have to ask Shelly (Leu's DD) if she knows anyone who has been there recently. She had a very bad experience there a few years ago.
Los Angeles in general--museums, shopping, Olvera Street, China Town, Little Italy, American Girl (have to ask Leu about that one--never been there, but it's one of Lexie's favourites).
Hollywood Bowl--concerts late spring through early fall. Wonderful experience--horrible parking!

Remember, Disneyland/CA is very different experience than WDW. A bit like comparing DLRP and WDW--some things are better at one place than the other. And prepare yourself--there's a Build-A-Bear at DTD!

If you're interested in spending some time in the San Francisco area, one possibility would be to book flights into Los Angeles and out of San Francisco, or vice versa. Not sure if that's practical, but it's possible!

[Claire]

Thanks for the advice everyone. We have chosen San Diego as our base and plan to visit San Diego Zoo, Sea World, Disneyland, Legoland, Petersen Automotive Museum, Universal, the usual shopping destinations and some of the gorgeous beaches including Laguna Beach. I'd like to stay here but DH isn't so keen. Ideally we'd have a villa with pool but what's available is much more expensive than Florida.

Anyone else Know anywhere we might like?

Taja - How many days should we allow for Disneyland?

[Taja]

Are you visiting during summer or other popular holiday time?

If so, I'd say four days to see everything, including the evening parades and fireworks. Otherwise, you probably could see most of what you want in each park in a day, with a third day for favourites. These parks are much smaller than WDW parks and tend to be packed during summer and other holidays.

Remember, it's about a 1.5 to 2 hour drive from San Diego to Anaheim, depending on traffic. Ditto to Universal, which isn't far from where Leu & Grandpa Sweetie live. You'll probably want to plan to stay in that area for several nights while visiting those parks.

In the San Diego area, check into Carlsbad for lodging. It's about 20 miles or so north of San Diego--in the vicinity of the Wild Animal Park, if I remember correctly. The last time I was there was about 12 years ago and I didn't drive, so my concept of distance is a bit funky. I was staying with friends who lived there at the time.

[Jazmine]

If you decide to visit Tijuana be very careful, we went a few years ago and my disabled DS had a chain pulled off his neck by 2 local teenagers, DH shouted after them but some of the locals shouted back at us, it was very scary, lots of little kids begging in the street too, which was very upsetting we only stayed a couple of hours and wouldn`t go back
Jacqui xxx