Any suggestions for our day in Long Beach?

lesos69

Dis Obsessed
Joined
Mar 18, 2007
We are flying in early morning the day before our cruise and flying out the day after the cruise ends.

I have thought we can maybe do Shoreline Village or Santa Monica Pier...We will be staying in Long Beach and cabbing to the port. Does anyone have any other kid friendly ideas we could do for those 2 days. We can't do Disneyland:sad2:

Thanks!
 
Aquarium of the Pacific. All kinds of kid friendly things- touch a shark, ray, or jellyfish. Nice way to spend a couple hours in Long Beach.

Our family volunteers there, so if you see a 9 year old boy working there who acts like he knows everything about the ocean, that's our family... tell us you're from the DIS boards.

Within walking distance are restaurants and shops- if you look up The Pike, or Rainbow Harbor, it'll give you some idea about what is around.
 
Any Suggestions for our Day before heading home? We will be flying out of ONT and I can't think of anything to do for that Sunday.
 
We stayed at a hotel with a heated pool for the day after, and we swam for 5 hours that day. My children love to swim, and were so constrained on the cruise that this was their favorite part of the whole trip.

Katherine
 
Any Suggestions for our Day before heading home? We will be flying out of ONT and I can't think of anything to do for that Sunday.

Are you flying out on Sunday or Monday? If traffic is good, it is going to take you over an hour to get to Ontario. If you are flying out on Sunday, I would hit the road as soon as you get off the ship and then see how much time you have once you get to Ontario.
 
We are flying out Monday morning first thing Monday. Is there still a Rainforest Cafe in Ontario Mills?
Thanks for all the ideas...I really am stumped as to what to do for only 1 day.
 
Yes, the rainforest cafe is still at the Ontario Mills Mall but just a warning, it is getting a little shabby and the mall has gone down hill a bit, but with no other options it is close to ONT airport and could easily help you pass some time.

A better option would be the Victoria Gardens. It is about 10 minutes from ONT airport and it is a beautiful outdoor shopping area with playgrounds, great shops, a train, etc.
 
Aquarium of the Pacific. All kinds of kid friendly things- touch a shark, ray, or jellyfish. Nice way to spend a couple hours in Long Beach.

Our family volunteers there, so if you see a 9 year old boy working there who acts like he knows everything about the ocean, that's our family... tell us you're from the DIS boards.

Within walking distance are restaurants and shops- if you look up The Pike, or Rainbow Harbor, it'll give you some idea about what is around.



Long beach is horrible. Travel 15 - 30 minutes south to Huntington beach and you are in surf city USA. Great pier, beach, fun. On tusday nights they close the main street and have a street fair - good times. Ontario mills is 1 - 1.5 hours away and trashy. There are two amazing malls close to huntington in costa Mesa (south coast plaza [rainforest cafe is also here]) and fashion island in Newport beach (next to huntington) there is also balboa island - all much better than santa monica gangland. South coast plaza is consistently one of the top malls in the country. You can do all of downtown LA in half a day, don't stay there. Go to Huntington.

Going south is much better than north and heaven forbid inland to what we call the "909" - or land of trashy people. Flame away but everyone knows that the OC trumps the 909 anytime.
 
Long beach is horrible.....

Ontario mills is 1 - 1.5 hours away and trashy....

- all much better than santa monica gangland. ...

Going south is much better than north and heaven forbid inland to what we call the "909" - or land of trashy people. Flame away but everyone knows that the OC trumps the 909 anytime.


Wow, LOL. Nothing like the OC attitude rearing it's ugly head. Pretty sure she was looking for things to do that her family would like, not a critical overview of all the things you hate about socal.

OP, I too think the Aquarium would be a fun visit for the family. You can eat at one of the restaurants right near there and have a great day without having to venture very far :)
 
I have to give a strong vote for Aquarium of the Pacific for your day near the port. Shoreline Village is nice but small. There are several restauants in that area though that are good choices. That area of Long Beach is kept up pretty well primarily due to the activity they get during the Long Beach Grand Prix. If you look around you'll see markings on the asphalt for the start/finish line and corners for this popular street race.

I also know you said you can't do Disneyland but seriously consider Knott's Berry Farm as an alternative. The tickets are much less expensive (http://www.knottsberryfarm.com/public/admission/prices/index.cfm) and they are really cleaning up the park. They have done a lot of work over the last few months on making things cleaner. You could spend your extra day at Knott's and then do the Aquarium and the LB area on Sunday, since you are flying out on Monday.

You may also consider finding a Hotel near the Ontario airport for Sunday night and spend Sunday at Ontario Mills (as was suggested). It may help your travel mood on Monday morning if you don't have to get up as early to make that trek to the airport. Traffic will also be much better on Sunday mid-day than Monday morning. I know there was that Previous Poster who trashed that option and while I'll agree that the Ontario Mills Mall is a little worn, it is still a very large mall and is a good choice for killing some time.

Here is another thought for you. Even though you can't do Disneyland, you could choose to spend some time in Downtown Disney. They have a much nicer Rainforest Cafe there plus a very nice movie theater. They also have that giant Disney Store they call World of Disney and plenty of other options as well. You can also kill plenty of time at Build a Bear workshop and/or Ridemakerz. To me, that is a very viable option for your Sunday time.

I am making the above suggestions assuming you don't have a rental car. Each of those can be done by picking up a shuttle from the port area. It won't be free, but not too bad.

If you have a rental car then you could choose to venture out a bit.

One final suggestion for spending your "day". Getting to Hollywood isn't that difficult if you are in Long Beach. You can take the Blue Line from Long Beach to Union Station then take the Red Line from there into Hollywood. See the stars on Hollywood Blvd. Stand on the corner of Hollywood and Sunset, visit the Chinese Theater and even consider taking in a movie at the El Capitan theater if your timing works. Beauty and the Beast 3D opens there today. Just plan for your return to be before dark. If you don't like Hollywood, you could get off at Union Station and you are a short walk from Olvera Street (http://www.olvera-street.com/html/olvera_street.html) or take the Gold Line from Union Station to Chinatown (http://www.chinatownla.com/index.php).

There really is quite a bit to do. Depending on how much time you actually have, the ages of your kids and how adventerous you want to be, there are many options.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!


GET UP TO A $1000 SHIPBOARD CREDIT AND AN EXCLUSIVE GIFT!

If you make your Disney Cruise Line reservation with Dreams Unlimited Travel you’ll receive these incredible shipboard credits to spend on your cruise!















facebook twitter
Top