california questions

[we*luv*orlando!!]

Hello,

we hope to go to California next year in late July or early August. I have just started work as an Admin Assistant in a school and have to have my hols during the school hols time. This makes holidays to the USA very pricey now. Does anyone have any hints on how to beat the hughly inflated price rises during the summer months?

Have any Brits been to Anaheim and not hired a car? If so how easy was it to get around?

Does anyone know if the Anaheim hotels have trip pickups for the LA tours or theme parks or even the San Diego Zoo?

Can anyone give me any advice on trip planning. We hope to fly into Las Vegas for four nights and spend 10 nights in Anaheim?

Thanks!!

Toni

 

[mickg7dyd]

Hi,
We went to California and Vegas last year. Stayed 3 nights at an onsite hotel at Disney. We did hire a car so couldn't really say how you'd get on without one. As for saving money if you can plan to stay in Vegas Sunday to Thursday (inc.) you'll find the prices a lot cheaper. I have received e-mail offers from various Vegas hotels ranging from $35 to $150 a night. If you do decide to hire a car you could try find a cheap Flydrive and arrange your own insurance to keep the cost's down. As for California hotels I used Priceline and got a San Diego hotel ( 4*) for £60 per nite.
We also stayed in Palm Springs and it was great.
If you need anymore info give me a shout.

Mick.

 

[webprinter]

I think the train that runs down the coast goes from Anaheim to San Diego. If I remember correctly, the price wasn't too bad and I think you can find discount coupons. Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of it. Debby

 

[cocinelle]

My partner and I went to CA two years ago, as the last leg on a round-the-world trip. As he had never experienced any of the Disney magic before, we booked a hotel five minutes from the DL and DCA & had a blast! For me, WDW is by far superior (just as Walt hoped!), as it all feels more spacious and less built-up, but we had a fabulous time both in the Disney parks & at Sea World..

However, if you're not renting a car (which I strongly recommend), make sure you sort out/ pre-arrange most transfers. We arrived in LAX a day late (due to terrible weather in New Zealand), and missed our transfer. Becasue I had assumed we'd be sorted upon arrival, I had no idea about alternative arrangements from LAX to Anaheim, and we spent more on a taxi-fare to our hotel than we had the entire time we were in Thailand!

Most hotels do shuttles (usually free) t the parks, and some tour operators will pick you up from Anaheim to go to LA, LV and even the Grand Canyon! But again, much better to check it out before you leave, often by pre-booking you can get a discount & you're assured of them picking you up!

Btw, if you can squeeze it in- go to Universal Hollywood, it's amazing! (Don't lynch me, but i think it's better than Universal Orlando..)(not including IOA- obviously!) You can buy an add-on to your pass which gives your FOTL privileges all day, and reserved seating at the shows (i'm talking seats with cushions, people!)- definitely worth the extra $20!!

Anyway, that's my two cents,
Turned out to be much more like two dimes,

cocinelle

 

[we*luv*orlando!!]

thanks to everyone that has taken the trouble to reply....I'll be back soon with more questions!!

Toni

 

[jockey]

We stayed at the Shearaton Anaheim and they offer a free bus to disney. We used a company called super shuttle for transfers in LA, they offer services in a lot of cities in the USA and they are very reasonable!!

We stayed at the treasure island hotel in Vegas and we got a very good internet rate there - I think it was around $70 per night! You could use a taxi in Vegas for your transfers as the airport is about 15 mins from the strip and you will not need a car whilst here!

 

[TracyK]

I am also tied to school holidays as I also work in a school. We did a similar trip last Easter. We flew into LAX and stayed in Anaheim for a week. We then travelled by coach to LV and stayed there for four days including a day at the Grand Canyon. We spent the last few day back in LA visiting the Hollywood area. I booked all this independently online using different companies.
We stayed in Anaheim without a car. There is a shuttle service from the airport to Anaheim and from the Anaheim hotels back to LAX airport www.supershuttle.com. You can reserve online although we just paid when we got there. There are several hotels close to the parks that are within walking distance or offer shuttles. There are many trips available from the Anaheim hotels to the places you mentioned. This company should help www.allanaheimtours.com
In order to ensure you get a good deal on flights start looking as soon as they are loaded (August 2004 for July 2005). We used Air New Zealand who were fantastic. As you are intending using two airports you should ensure when you do an online search that you use the multi destination option rather than the single/return flight options.
Hope that helps
Tracy

 

[Spectromagician]

Hi!
We're off to California in a fortnight...
Flying into SF.......
travelling down the Pacific Coast to Hearst Castle, then inland to the Sequoia Forest....
Then onto LA for 3 days before we fly to Vegas!

Flight from LA to Vegas...7 nights in Circus Circus....flights back to LA...£130 !!!
Booked a helicopter and rafting trip.

Four nights back in LA near Anaheim to complete the trip. We're staying at Anaheim Islander Inn & Suites....2 Bedroom suites £65 per night. A two block walk from the parks, apparently, although we're hiring a car.

 

[vernon]

You can certainly make do in Aneheim without a car BUT I'm not sure I'd want to do 10 days there. California is a huge state and so many things to see I do think you're limiting yourself with those plans. IMHO you can cover Disneyland California in 2 days ( one for each park) a couple of days sightseeing (Hollywood etc) and maybe a day at Universal, after that I think you're stretching for things , particularly if you're relying on coach services or the (non existant) public transport services. If you can't drive I would look at maybe making it a 3 centre (flight) break and add either 4/5 days in San Fransisco (a much easier city than LA without a car) or 4 days in New York.

If you are prepared to drive it does open up a hell of a lot more options to you.

We drove down to San Diego and it's a pretty easy drive. We didn't get to SeaWorld down there but the zoo is an impressive sight. We didn't get to the "safari park" that is run by the same company but apparantly that is also worth the trip. You could prefer to visit Yosemite, Palm Springs, Sequoia National Park or Death Valley. IMHO all of those are achievable if you're driving, but trying to "do" those sights on coach/day trips from Aneheim would be very time consuming at best and impossible for many.

For keeping costs down I think priceline is a good ( already made suggestion) and as an alternative I prefer http://www.hotwire.com . It's a similar service to priceline, but it's much easier to keep tabs on what the prices should be. I've had some great deals all over the US using hotwire, including Aneheim. We got a couple of excellent hotels by LA airport for about $50 a night and the Hilton in Aneheim ( close to Disney) for about $65 . I haven't used them in Vegas yet, but there are often some great prices offered for quality hotels there as well.

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

I agree with Vernon that 10 days in Anaheim without a car might be a bit too limiting. Two or three days for Disney would be my preference, then moving on elsewhere (by car if that is possible as public transport options seem more limited than in Orlando).

Regards

Rob

 

[Sasha Jade]

I am going to Anaheim for 4 weeks in August. Most of the hotels offer a free shuttle to Disneyland and a lot of the hotels are within walking distance anyway.
I don't drive and the last time we went we paid for our tickets for seaworld etc in advance from Virgin and when we got there we had to pay for transport and paid way too much this way so we will book all trips when we arrive.
We used Coach USA as they pick up and drop off at your hotel and they go to a lot of places.
We booked through Virgin as I have to take my holidays in August. We booked back in October and for 2 of us for 3 weeks in a 4* hotel was just over £3.000 which I though was good.
I have a friend that lives in Anaheim and another that lives in Perris and they are going to help with transportation for us and one of them is driving us to Las Vegas and Grand canyon.
We found that you can get to different places using their transport but they dont have public transport like we do. We found a little minibus that took us to Hollywood from the Tourist centre. the tourist centre are very good at helping out with trips etc.
Love Sasha

 

[we*luv*orlando!!]

Thanks to everybody who has replied. I have learnt more from you all in two days than I have in 6 months worth of guide books!

One more question......has anyone been to Anaheim in March/April and if so was the weather warm and dry!

Thanks!!!!!

Toni

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

I've been during early April. Weather was nice - a couple of days were OK for shorts/t-shirts with warmer clothes for when it got dark. Other days needed trousers and a shirt. Apparently it had been warmer before we arrived - up to the low 80's.

Regards

Rob

 

[Firefly777]

Like others have said, I'd recommend either renting a car or splitting your stays up more. I think 3 days is good at the DLR if you are planning on going to other places in the area.

 

[Kal El]

Anyone been in November and able to offer advice on the weather?

 

[slinky101]

we got married in vegas in Nov.2001,had booked 12 mths in advance with Virgin atlantic and used Circus Circus--- Anyhow, the point is that weather was 70F--75F each day cooling to 45--50F overnight (Midday high in UKwas 46F) good bright sunny days, didnt see a cloud all week. as it was only 2mths after 9/11 prices were dropping in all hotels but Circus Circus was just a little cheaper and was same standard as other strip hotels. we were only half a days drive from san fran according to a very chatty helicopter pilot so the weather shouldn't be too different. have a good trip!!

 

[patdavies]

I was in Vegas last year in the summer. Very hot during the day -well over 100F. Still the casinos are air conditioned - LOL

Circus Circus is past its sell-by-date and doesn't measure up to the quality of similar priced establishments like Excalibur and Luxor. It is also at one end of the strip. However, if you have young children, it is the most child friendly and they will appreciate the circus acts going on around (and above) them

I think your helicopter pilot must have meant a half day flight to SF. It is a day's drive to LA by I-15, there is no direct route to SF and our trip was 1 day of driving to see Death Valley and another loooong day from there, via Reno and I-80 to SF.

If you are in the slightest, a Star Trek fan then the LV Hilton is a must for the Star Trek experience - it is fantastic. Likewise helicopter flights over LV at night and over Grand Canyon.

 

[slinky101]

i feel we're getting a little bit away from the original thread here but you mention flights over LV at night and to the G.Canyon. Must tell u that on our wedding day we booked the 3.30 PM flight and were lucky that, at that time of year, sunset was happening while we were on the return leg. So we got the daylight flight out and the nightime view of the strip on the way back in. felt like we had the two experiences in one flight----great if u do it deliberately but, like i said, pure luck on our part, would recommend it to anyone doing a kwik trip to vegas.

 

[Firefly777]

Originally posted by patdavies

Circus Circus is past its sell-by-date and doesn't measure up to the quality of similar priced establishments like Excalibur and Luxor. It is also at one end of the strip. However, if you have young children, it is the most child friendly and they will appreciate the circus acts going on around (and above) them

If you are in the slightest, a Star Trek fan then the LV Hilton is a must for the Star Trek experience - it is fantastic. Likewise helicopter flights over LV at night and over Grand Canyon.

I agree. Out of the three, I would choose the Luxor, as it's the least tacky IMO. We tend to prefer Paris or Mandalay Bay, as they are newer and much nicer.

I would also recommend the Star Trek Experience and I'm not a Star Trek fan AT ALL. It's a really fun experience. They also have a new 4D show that sounds good.

 

[catherine]

Kal El I have been to DL several times in Nov. and it has always been warm and sunny. Warm enough to wear light weight pants or shorts, and a t-shirt during the day, adding a sweatshirt at night. Hope that this answers your question.