17 Days in California

[wthchristi]

Thanks to finding this board I have put together an itinerary for our 17 day adventure in California. We are leaving the evening of July 3 from Seattle and returning home July 20. Our trip will consist of my mom and dad, my hubby and I, our 3 children ages 16, 9 and 6, and our nieces ages 6 and 9. We are taking our trusty minivan and a car. We considered the RV, but decided with the price of fuel and my need to sleep on a real bed, to stick with the cars.

We are staying with family for 8 nights of our adventure and at motels/ lodging for 8. Hi! At this moment our itinerary is the following (subject to change, lol)

July 3 Leave home and drive as far as possible hopefully with sleeping kids (I can dream right?)
July 4 101 to San Francisco (LaQuinta Motel)
July 5 San Francisco (La Quinta Motel)
July 6 to LA with stop at Monterey Aquarium
July 7 Disneyland (Day 1)
July 8 Universal Studios
July 9 San Diego Zoo (hoJo in San Diego)
July 10 Sea World (HoJo in San Diego)
July 11 Explore San Diego, lay on the Beach
July 12 Hollywood, Possibly warner bros Tour with Oldest
July 13 Knott's Berry Farm, Pirate Show Dinner
July 14 My Birthday at Disneyland! (Stay at HoJo Anaheim)
July 15 Disneyland (Stay at HoJo Anaheim)
July 16 Beach day, get ready to leave (
July 17 Yosemite Natl Park (Curry Village)
July 18 Yosemite Natl Park (Curry Village)
July 19 Homeward Bound

I have to plan an adventure that appeals to all ages and this is what I came up with...(after perusing the boards ) Any ideas or suggestions??

 

[audrabolster]

I think your oldest would really get a kick out of WB. It is the best studio tour I've been on so far! It's great, because unlike Universal's tour, each time I've gone we've been able to see them actually filming! We've been able to see Gilmore Girls and the Nancy Drew movie. You can also get off the tram in certain areas which is cool!

 

[wthchristi]

My son is a total movie buff...I get daily lectures on special effects and why things "appear" the way they do on the big screen. He's not so excited about Disneyland but Hollywood and the Beaches are definitely planned with him in mind. I have heard good things about the Warner Brothers tours...thank you for the feedback!

 

[Judy from Boise]

I am going to move this over to our So Cal board, you should get even more help there.

 

[PrincessSitka]

I am interested in the Warner Brothers tour. Can anybody tell me about this. When is it and where? How far from disneyland? Do they have a shuttle that can take us there?

 

[farmfresh]

It looks fun. I would suggest a couple of minor changes though, just to avoid all the driving. It would be better to go to universal when you are in LA rather than drive between anaheim, LA and san diego. Why not drive owm to anaheim affter universal, then be able to get up early and going at Disneyland the next day?

Similarly, I wonder about going back and forth towrads the end of your trip. the traffictimes between San diego and LA are not always favourable.

So it's just the order, rather than the mix that might neeed a tweak. Looks like you have everyone's interests well covered!