A trip to the ocean from Disneyland

[jkpmac]

One of the things we would like to do while in California is dip our toes in the Pacific Ocean. I see that the distance between Disneyland and say Redondo Landing for example is about 30 miles. Any suggestions how we might be able to get there and back without a car? We are staying at the Holiday inn on Walnut in July 2015.

Thanks in advance!

 

[SMD]

Is this a full day activity? Are you sure that you want to go to Redondo? Google Maps has a public transportation search option. You're looking at 3 hours each way with a bunch of transfers. How long were you planning to stay there? If you rent a car for the day then the driving portion would be under 2 hours total and you could spend more time there or add something else to part of the day. There are also closer beaches like Huntington Beach which will only take 90 minutes to 2 hours each way with few bus transfers. Or you could take cabs or rideshare (Lyft or Uber), which will probably be more than a 1 day car rental for a taxi with a rideshare possibly in between. Keep in mind that if your child is under 8 years old you'll need some kind of safety seat for everything but the bus. There are also full day tours that will include a beach stop, but you don't control the itinerary on those, so you'd have to make sure the cost is worth it for the other stops and that you're happy with the amount of time allotted to the beach.

 

[jkpmac]

We are only going to be in California for 6 nights, which includes a tour of WB Studios, a day at San Diego Zoo and three days in DL/DCA. So I was thinking a half day. Our flight arrives at LAX at approx. noon so I thought it would be a half day thing, going into the early evening with maybe a meal on the beachfront. Conversely it could be somehow tied into the trip to WB. From the east coast of Canada so I thought it would be a significant event, sea to sea that sort of thing. Which beach doesn't matter, just the most efficient cost effective way to reach it, but a board walk would be nice as part of it.

 

[SMD]

We are only going to be in California for 6 nights, which includes a tour of WB Studios, a day at San Diego Zoo and three days in DL/DCA. So I was thinking a half day. Our flight arrives at LAX at approx. noon so I thought it would be a half day thing, going into the early evening with maybe a meal on the beachfront. Conversely it could be somehow tied into the trip to WB. From the east coast of Canada so I thought it would be a significant event, sea to sea that sort of thing. Which beach doesn't matter, just the most efficient cost effective way to reach it, but a board walk would be nice as part of it.

I think the best spot would be to fit it in in San Diego. Look into Belmont Park at Mission Beach. It's not really that easy to get from Burbank to the beach either. If you are doing the hop on hop off bus in Hollywood then there is a stop at Santa Monica beach. Where are you headed from LAX? Anaheim? You could conceivably do a half day at SM or Venice beach from there and then drive to Anaheim at night after rush hour. I would highly, highly recommend a car if that's the plan, though.

 

[jkpmac]

We are definitely heading to Anaheim, staying at a hotel on Walnut, the Holiday Inn. I don't think a car is something that we want not sure I want to drive in such a big population. I wouldn't want a taxi, but I wonder if there is a shuttle service. We had a nice and reasonably priced one in Orlando that took us from Disney to universal and return.

 

[nikkislaght]

From Disneyland to Huntington Beach, it is basically straight up Harbor... about 30 to 40 minutes away.. the traffic is not too bad going that way... we did it last year.. went up Harbor and came back via Beach Blvd because we were going to Medieval Times for dinner that night ..

 

[ncc1701]

From Disneyland to Huntington Beach, it is basically straight up Harbor... about 30 to 40 minutes away.. the traffic is not too bad going that way... we did it last year.. went up Harbor and came back via Beach Blvd because we were going to Medieval Times for dinner that night ..

We have stayed in Huntington Beach and driven up to Anaheim to go to DTD and the Angels store. We did the same drive, no issues. Closet beach imo from DL.

 

[rentayenta]

I vote for Huntington as well. Redondo is rather far and traffic could be a mess. DTD has an Alamo Rental Car; maybe rent a car for the day?

 

[mickey+minnie91]

Another vote for Huntington Beach. We go there every year and love it. Short drive and well worth it. You can also rent bikes by the beach and take ride along the walkway all the way to Newport. You can also have a bon fire at night for a change of pace. Its my favorite place to go

 

[mickey+minnie91]

PS you can rent a car in Anaheim for a day fairly cheap. I would do that. I believe a few of the big hotels have a rental in their lobby

 

[SMD]

Another vote for Huntington Beach. We go there every year and love it. Short drive and well worth it. You can also rent bikes by the beach and take ride along the walkway all the way to Newport. You can also have a bon fire at night for a change of pace. Its my favorite place to go

There's a new law. You either have to use a gas burning camping stove or certain kinds of charcoal in the pits. You can't burn wood near homes anymore. Unless they relocated the pits.

 

[jkpmac]

Thanks for the tips. What about Long Beach, with the Queen Mary, can you take a tour? The car rental idea sounds pretty good, going from Anaheim to Huntington beach. The closest piers are in Newport and Seal Beach and they are just a drive up or down the highway.

 

[Flossbolna]

What about something like this: http://www.allanaheimtours.com/body.asp?tour=ANA-C0001&page=TourDetails

 

[Golf4food]

With the onsite car rentals, what about car seats? We have a 4 year old. I assume he needs a seat. We also want to at least do an afternoon at the beach, aren't big fans of public busses and transfers. Would rather rent or hire a car/taxi...

 

[jkpmac]

I checked with the Alamo service. It looks like they have booster seats as well as rear facing child seats upon request.
https://www.alamo.com/en_US/car-rental/products.html

 

[Golf4food]

I checked with the Alamo service. It looks like they have booster seats as well as rear facing child seats upon request.
https://www.alamo.com/en_US/car-rental/products.html

Thanks. I should've thought to check their site. Never rented a car with a kid before. We usually drive everywhere.

$55.07 for a day rental with booster seat certainly seems like a cheaper option than multiple cab/towncar trips.

 

[huladancer1984]

You might check into Grayline Anaheim tours. We did this one year and went to Hollywood with a stop at Santa Monica at the end of the day.
http://www.graylineanaheim.com/toursAna.cfm/tour_id/1029/mode/tour_detail/location_id/1021

 

[jkpmac]

Taking a tour of the Queen Mary is very tempting, especially one of their haunted tours.

 

[jkpmac]

I am thinking that renting a car, going to Huntington Beach or Seal Beach and then driving up to Long Beach to see the Queen Mary might be a nice afternoon and evening for our first day in California. thankfully there won't be any jet lag as we are only flying from Vancouver.

 

[SMD]

The Queen Mary ticket booth sells dining vouchers for $15. You get to board the ship and get $15 credit towards food. Now, the food is all way over priced for what you get, but the only other ways to get on the ship are all $25 or more. I don't think you can combine the dining voucher with the cost of a tour.