1st trip to DL...need some advice :)

[noabeliv]

My daughter and I will be taking a quick long weekend trip to celebrate her high school graduation. We have never been to Disneyland or California. She would like to see the Hollywood area, a beach and the two parks. We will be arrive at SNA very late on Friday. We have Sat.,Sun and Mon. before heading home Tues. afternoon. Which day should we tour the parks? Hollywood and the beach? I am getting 3 day hoppers so we can visit a park a little each of the days if we want. We won't have a car unless we decide to do a "one day" rental from Downtown Disney. We are considering taking public transportation at this point to Hollywood/beach.
I am a little overwhelm in the planning and can't figure out the logistics. Any advice will be appreciated... Thanks!

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

My daughter and I will be taking a quick long weekend trip to celebrate her high school graduation. We have never been to Disneyland or California. She would like to see the Hollywood area, a beach and the two parks. We will be arrive at SNA very late on Friday. We have Sat.,Sun and Mon. before heading home Tues. afternoon. Which day should we tour the parks? Hollywood and the beach? I am getting 3 day hoppers so we can visit a park a little each of the days if we want. We won't have a car unless we decide to do a "one day" rental from Downtown Disney. We are considering taking public transportation at this point to Hollywood/beach.
I am a little overwhelm in the planning and can't figure out the logistics. Any advice will be appreciated... Thanks!

If you want to see Fireworks, Fantasmic and all the parades and shows, then you should do Sat/Sun in the park. If you're going in the peak summer season (July) then they most likely will be running everything every night, so it wouldn't matter. I woud imagine that the parks would be open until late everynight as in normal peak seasons, but don't know for sure until Disney publishes their calendar. Good luck and have fun!

 

[noabeliv]

Thanks for your quick response...we are actually going next weekend. The weekend hours are longer of course but I didn't know if it would be better to go to DL on a Monday if the crowds were smaller or if going to Hollywood/beach would be better on a weekend or week day. We know we can do DL in the late evening after a beach since the park is open until midnight.

 

[jakoky]

HI there, we are going just after you for my daughter's grad also...she is bringing two friends, so there are are 7 of us going ....With 3 day hoppers, you get early entry one day...you could use your early entry/mm one morning and head to the beach in the afternoon...i recommend newport beach, my kids all loved it (all teenagers)...the beach is great, along with a great boardwalk, lots of little shops, and many beautiful houses...monday is usually a quieter day in the parks (from our last couple of trips)...i believe there are bus tours that you can take to see hollywood, but i know they are very long and full days...have an awesome trip, we are at 15 sleeps

 

[wannagoback]

Thanks for your quick response...we are actually going next weekend. The weekend hours are longer of course but I didn't know if it would be better to go to DL on a Monday if the crowds were smaller or if going to Hollywood/beach would be better on a weekend or week day. We know we can do DL in the late evening after a beach since the park is open until midnight.

I will be there the same time. I understand what you're saying about wanting to head to the park on Monday because crowds should be lower. I'm really looking forward to the Monday on our trip. Yes, hours are shorter, but what we're doing is going to Goofy's Kitchen for a character breakfast that morning before the parks open so that we don't feel like we're missing out on "Disney Time." In your case, I would choose Sunday as the beach day for two reasons: 1. wanting to enjoy lower crowds on Monday; and 2. knowing that I wouldn't be able to arrive Friday night and NOT go to Disneyland the next day.

What time do you land at SNA on Friday? We arrive at LGB at 9:30, but we're planning to head to the park that night since it's open till midnight.

 

[noabeliv]

What time do you land at SNA on Friday? We arrive at LGB at 9:30, but we're planning to head to the park that night since it's open till midnight.

Our flight gets in at 10:10 pm. We are flying in from TN so to our bodies it will be 12:10. No parks for us that night but we WILL be ready for the extra hour morning on Saturday!

 

[cakegal]

Hi. I wouldn't recommend public transportation to Hollywood unless it is the train. I think there is a station in Anaheim that goes to LA Union station. From there, you can take the red line subway to Hollywood. If you're going to Hollywood via the train, go during the day. The shady people come out at night. It might be worth it to rent a car instead. The LA area doesn't have good public transportation. It's more of a car city.

It might be better to go to DL on Sunday or Monday (less people for sure). I'm not sure about the bus system in OC (Orange County) but the beach is relatively close to DL. You could look for a bus line that runs off of Harbor Blvd. Also, Beach Blvd going south takes you directly to the beach.

Good luck & have FUN!!

 

[mechurchlady]

you cannot get to Hollywood without a lot of trouble.

Take OCTD transit to the Blue line then the blue line to downtown then red line to Hollywood in theory,

Take the 460 to downtown Los Angeles which is about 90 minutes to two hours then walk or shuttle bus to red line to Hollywood.

OCTD transit to Amtrak then north to Downtown then transfer to red line.

It is an hour drive to Hollywood from Disneyland on a good day.

Try Greyline and other tour operators.

 

[noabeliv]

Hi. I wouldn't recommend public transportation to Hollywood unless it is the train. I think there is a station in Anaheim that goes to LA Union station. From there, you can take the red line subway to Hollywood. If you're going to Hollywood via the train, go during the day. The shady people come out at night. It might be worth it to rent a car instead. The LA area doesn't have good public transportation. It's more of a car city.

Good luck & have FUN!!

Wow! I had no idea this could be so complicated.
Thank you for the heads up. I am a little leery of driving a car myself in a big city but I also hate the thought of a tour that eats up a whole day. My dd really wants to Hollywood and Highland area and a beach. I just wish we could get up early spend a few hours doing each thing and then get back to DL for a few hours at night.
What to do, what to do.....

 

[Boo Bear]

It sounds like you have your planning cut out for you but honestly, you're probably over thinking it. The way I plan for trips like that... I figure out what locations are most important and leave room for things to potentially skip (you just never know where the priorities will go, especially with teenagers!) So I map out the important things and take one thing at a time. For example, research beaches. Involve your daughter, ask her to get online and find out what she wants to do most in Hollywood and research options. Then I'd get a really good DL guidebook. The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland is my Disney equivalent of a bible. Another really cool book if you love nostalgia is the Disneyland Encyclopedia by Strodder. It gives you a detailed description of the attractions, shops, and events that are current, as well as things that are no longer there. THEN once you have a semi-understanding of strategy, choose how you want to handle the transportation. I travel quite a bit. Again, if there's anything I've learned about trip planning is that it's harder to get your fellow travelers to follow your involved, meticulous plans. Make room for a lot of things and prioritize the desire for each thing. That way you won't ever be like "what next?"

Good luck! Have a blast!

 

[mystic_path]

If you check out Southern California Grayline, they have tours that take you around LA to show you some of the sites and also to the beach. The Gray Line bus picks you up at the closest bus stop to your hotel, takes you to LA and does the whole beach thing too, and then drives you back to your Disneyland area hotel at the end of the day. This I would recommend doing on the Monday.

For Disneyland I would also say do the parks on the weekends. You will get longer park hours giving you more time to take in the parks and you can catch all the major shows that are playing as the big shows only play on weekends.