2014 trip. Thought we knew what we were doing but .....

[stba2006]

I have been looking at our trip for 2014 and we had decided on a 4 week trip. First 2 weeks in a cheap hotel and 2 weeks at old key west. All i had to do was wait for the deals and start booking.

Except, when we went to visit relatives, they started telling us about a caoch trip they took from LA to Las Vegas a few years ago and how amazing it was.

Now my heart really is in Florida, but it did sound amazing. So now we are thinking 2 weeks coach trip LA to Vegas and the last 2 weeks in Orlando (probably just a cheap hotel instead of OKW depending on the coach trip price)

I'm going to look also at a DIY trip around this area to see if it works out cheaper, but am a little nervous at how this might turn out, as neither of us have been to those places so not sure whats what (hotels, places to go, not to go etc)

Have any of you ever done this, or even just the coach trip part and do you have any tips on what to look for?

 

[Magic Megadegs]

Slightly similar, we flew into Orlando for our Disneymoon and then flew across to San Fran and 'road tripped' up to Napa Valley, through Yosemite National Park, through Death Valley to Las Vegas. We didn't do LA but can highly recommend the west. You would love it and could always check out Disney Land in LA if you were getting 'D' withdrawal?

 

[buzz242]

We flew to Vegas last August and spent 3 nights there before driving on to San Diego for a further 3 nights. While there we visited Seaworld and San Diego Zoo which were both amazing. We then continued on to LA for a week, the drive up the Pacific Highway was fantastic, we stopped at lots of places en route but especially liked Newport Beach. We spent a couple of days at Disneyland and also visited Universal Studios Hollywood which we thought was better than the one in Orlando. We spent a day in LA itself on one of their hop on hop off bus tours, we also spent a day touring the coast from Long Beach up to Malibu. We loved the quirkiness of Venice Beach and our least favourite place was Santa Monica Pier although it was on our must see list. Just wish we could have had a couple of extra days there. We also managed to see an outdoor rock concert in Irvine which was amazing. We then drove back to Vegas for our last night before flying home. There were so many high points but I think the best was our helicopter flight into the Grand Canyon, we landed near the base and had a champagne lunch. We would definitely recommend it and we plan to do a similar trip in a couple of years as we didnt manage to get to San Francisco. The driving was very easy and because we had our own car we had the freedom to go where we wanted. The drive from LA to Vegas is under 5 hours and is mostly on one road.

 

[chmurf]

Coach trip ? ... make it a road trip instead (unless you're totally against driving in the US)
I hate coach trips (my opinion). I made one once, through the wild west (vegas, page/lake powell, grand canyon, momunent valley, arches, bryce canyon, vegas) and that was great ... until ... until I made the same itinirary as a road trip, and was amazed by how much more we were able to do and see, even if the driving was taking quite a toll on me.

plus, planning a DIY road trip is fun (if you don't know where to start, look at coach trip itineraries )

good point on taking advantage of being in the West to make it a Double Disney trip. Disneyland California and DCA ... why miss out if you're already half convinced that 2 weeks in the west would sound great.

 

[mollies_mum]

We are also thinking of a similar California trip after our October 2013 trip to Florida, it sounds awesome!

 

[Terkina]

We are going on a road trip from Orlando to Los Angeles and/or San Francisco in February 2013. I wouldn't go on a Coach trip because then I'm not free to stop where I want to see things I discover on the way. It has not been easy planning the trip because it is so difficult to decide what we have to miss because we don't have time to see it all in the 3 weeks we are on the road trip. Maybe we will to another road trip another time so we can see even more.

 

[stba2006]

Well I have looked into this and I think we are going to do it, but as a road trip not a coach trip.

Just as a rough draft, we may start at LA stay there a few days.
Drive up towards San diego with a few stops maybe
Then head to Las Vegas where we will stay for about 4 days
Down to the Grand Canyon
Back to LA to stay maybe for another day, before heading to Orlando.

I have a few things on my list of to do and see such as
Disneyland
Universal
Grand Canyon (the helicopter ride sounds awesome)
Long Beach


Are there any other must sees that any-one can recommend?

Also do you think we should pre book all of our hotel for the road trip, or just a few and see where we get to on the rest of the days.

 

[Disneynutinlondon]

Well I have looked into this and I think we are going to do it, but as a road trip not a coach trip.

Just as a rough draft, we may start at LA stay there a few days.
Drive up towards San diego with a few stops maybe
Then head to Las Vegas where we will stay for about 4 days
Down to the Grand Canyon
Back to LA to stay maybe for another day, before heading to Orlando.

I have a few things on my list of to do and see such as
Disneyland
Universal
Grand Canyon (the helicopter ride sounds awesome)
Long Beach


Are there any other must sees that any-one can recommend?

Also do you think we should pre book all of our hotel for the road trip, or just a few and see where we get to on the rest of the days.

Just a small thing .... San Diego is south of LA so you would be driving DOWN to San Diego

 

[consumermonkey]

Hiya, I did the West Coast coach tour with TitanHitours ten years ago come December and it was AMAZING. My first visit to the States and I loved it so much. It took two years in the saving and did very little research apart from comparing the market at that time. I got to see so much of the West that I had only ever dreamed about.

I did the trip to see the bright lights and big cities, but ended up loving the nature and beauty instead. Loved San Diego, Grand Canyon, Yosemete etc. HATED Las Vegas and did not have much to say about San Fran either. Managed a day at Universal (the real one IMHO) and a day at Disneyland (also the real, or original).

Would go again at the drop of a hat. Titan pick you up from home and drop you off at home too. their service was amazing. Admitedly, it was a little more than the competition, but when I factored in getting from here to the airport and back again, the extra cost was very small.

Florida is great, but there is a lot of the USA and even more to see.

 

[stba2006]

Just a small thing .... San Diego is south of LA so you would be driving DOWN to San Diego

Lol. I meant San Fransisco. That could have been disasterous