California trip-DLR, Universal, LA, Northern California

mbh106

Mouseketeer
Joined
Aug 26, 2009
Leaving next month for a 2 1/2 weeks in California with my three kids age 19-27 and I have some questions. Starting in SanDiego to visit family for a couple of days, then heading to DLR for 3 days, then LA for 3 days and up to San Francisco stopping along the way. We will have a rental car the entire time. Parking at the hotels in LA is so expensive, I struggled to find a hotel in a central location that didn’t have insane parking fees. We’ve been to LA once before and did most of the tourist things. We plan to be mostly in the West Hollywood and Santa Monica areas, plus the Getty and Universal. I booked the Holiday Inn Express West Los Angeles-Santa Monica which is on Santa Monica Blvd in Sawtelle. It seems pretty central to everything we want.

-Is that a good location and pretty safe area?

-We want to get to Universal as early as possible one morning. Should we drive or would the Metro be faster with rush hour traffic? It seems like rush hour traffic is usually going in the opposite direction.

-Is the Warner Brothers tour worthwhile? My kids are Harry Potter fans, but not any of the other shows that seem to be featured.

-On the drive up to SF, we’re planning to stop in Malibu, Santa Barbara, Pismo Beach, and San Luis Obispo, spending the night there. Is Santa Barbara worth visiting? Should we consider Ojai?

-Then driving up to spend a couple of nights in the Monterey area to visit some of the state parks, Pebble Beach, and drive PCH south to Bixby Bridge. I’m terrified of heights so I don’t know if I’ll be able to drive across and drive some of the scarier parts of PCH down to Pfeiffer State Park, but we may do that if I’m up to it. Any hotel recommendations in the Monterey area that aren’t insanely expensive? Doesn’t have to be in Monterey itself.

-Then driving up to the San Francisco area for a few nights, stopping at Henry Cowell. Again, parking at the hotels in SF is $60+ a night. There’s some budget hotels in the Marina District with free parking, but across the bay in Emeryville there’s much nicer hotels with inexpensive parking. We plan to spend most of the time in San Francisco, but also going to an A’s game, Berkeley, and some other areas. How bad is the traffic on the Bay Bridge if we stay in Emeryville and avoid rush hour?
 
Santa Monica is a nice area, but then again it's like a lot of places with homeless wandering the streets. I remember some mentally ill guy yelling on the sidewalk as I was trying to sleep, but otherwise he seemed harmless. West Hollywood is a large area and some parts are better than others. But then again, big city problems are like that - you really need to know the exact location because a few blocks difference can be vast.

I would't call it PCH when you're up in Northern California. Nobody in Northern California will know what' you're talking about. Nobody up there refers to it as anything other than "Highway 1".

Emeryville is fine, and traffic is unpredictable. The only issue is that there are no more cash tolls, so I'm not sure what your rental car policy will be on license plates or toll transponders. I've heard they often charge a lot of money for it per day.

I live in the Bay Area, so maybe I can think of some other answers late since I need to run.
 
-Not the best location being right next to both freeways but in general, it's not an unsafe location, I'd imagine. But not far from everything you're wanting to do.

-You're looking at around 35 minutes to an hour driving and over an hour if you take the Metro.

-I would say if they're not fans of the other WB shows or movies then I would skip it. The Harry Potter portion is pretty small and it's more things you can do like a sorting hat experience and some photo opportunities. It's much better if you're a fan of Friends, Big Bang Theory, and have seen movies shot on location there like La La Land and Casablanca.

-Santa Barbara is beautiful. I love the pier there and had a great crab meal there on the pier. Never been to Ojai but I heard it's great for hiking.

-We stayed at a motel right by Lovers Point Park in Monterey called Lovers Point Inn. It was fine and certainly nothing to write home about. The location was great though. If you can make it there, go to the Nepenthe restaurant in Big Sur. Wonderful views and good food. I love their burger.

https://www.nepenthe.com/menu

-Not sure on Bay Bridge traffic

Sounds like a great whirlwind vacation. You're going to love the PCH drive.
 
Santa Monica is a nice area, but then again it's like a lot of places with homeless wandering the streets. I remember some mentally ill guy yelling on the sidewalk as I was trying to sleep, but otherwise he seemed harmless. West Hollywood is a large area and some parts are better than others. But then again, big city problems are like that - you really need to know the exact location because a few blocks difference can be vast.

I would't call it PCH when you're up in Northern California. Nobody in Northern California will know what' you're talking about. Nobody up there refers to it as anything other than "Highway 1".

Emeryville is fine, and traffic is unpredictable. The only issue is that there are no more cash tolls, so I'm not sure what your rental car policy will be on license plates or toll transponders. I've heard they often charge a lot of money for it per day.

I live in the Bay Area, so maybe I can think of some other answers late since I need to run.
Thanks for the tip about Hwy 1!
Our hotel we booked in on Santa Monica, right off the 405.
I was wondering about the tolls throughout California and how that would work. I think the rental agencies do charge a lot for the toll transponders, so I need to see what my options are.
Any other info or suggestions you have would be great and really appreciated!
Thank you!
 


-Not the best location being right next to both freeways but in general, it's not an unsafe location, I'd imagine. But not far from everything you're wanting to do.

-You're looking at around 35 minutes to an hour driving and over an hour if you take the Metro.

-I would say if they're not fans of the other WB shows or movies then I would skip it. The Harry Potter portion is pretty small and it's more things you can do like a sorting hat experience and some photo opportunities. It's much better if you're a fan of Friends, Big Bang Theory, and have seen movies shot on location there like La La Land and Casablanca.

-Santa Barbara is beautiful. I love the pier there and had a great crab meal there on the pier. Never been to Ojai but I heard it's great for hiking.

-We stayed at a motel right by Lovers Point Park in Monterey called Lovers Point Inn. It was fine and certainly nothing to write home about. The location was great though. If you can make it there, go to the Nepenthe restaurant in Big Sur. Wonderful views and good food. I love their burger.

https://www.nepenthe.com/menu

-Not sure on Bay Bridge traffic

Sounds like a great whirlwind vacation. You're going to love the PCH drive.
Thanks for the help. I think we’ll drive to Universal and skip WB. Nepenthe is definitely on my list if we make it to that part of Big Sur! It sounds beautiful. I’m just really scared about driving near high drop offs, but I’ll have to see how it goes once I start driving.
 
Just a few more thoughts.

There are some interesting spots on the way. You don't have to spend a whole lot of time in these places, but there is Solvang, which is stylized Danish architecture everywhere. I haven't really been there other than going through on an Amtrak bus connection. It seems kind of random, but there's a history to the place where they were interested in bringing in tourists.

99b9e1b53eb1167424fcb9e67cbd29fe66495459923f14a11b4593d7c7af8d1f.jpg


Another place to consider is the Madonna Inn. It's really hard to describe other than it's eclectic.

https://www.madonnainn.com
https://www.madonnainn.com/viewrooms

This is the Caveman Suite:

137-Caveman.jpg
 
Just a few more thoughts.

There are some interesting spots on the way. You don't have to spend a whole lot of time in these places, but there is Solvang, which is stylized Danish architecture everywhere. I haven't really been there other than going through on an Amtrak bus connection. It seems kind of random, but there's a history to the place where they were interested in bringing in tourists.

99b9e1b53eb1167424fcb9e67cbd29fe66495459923f14a11b4593d7c7af8d1f.jpg


Another place to consider is the Madonna Inn. It's really hard to describe other than it's eclectic.

https://www.madonnainn.com
https://www.madonnainn.com/viewrooms

This is the Caveman Suite:

137-Caveman.jpg
Thanks for the suggestions! That room looks really cool, but I don’t think my daughter would be up for that, lol
 


Thanks for the tip about Hwy 1!
Our hotel we booked in on Santa Monica, right off the 405.
I was wondering about the tolls throughout California and how that would work. I think the rental agencies do charge a lot for the toll transponders, so I need to see what my options are.
Any other info or suggestions you have would be great and really appreciated!
Thank you!

Everything in California uses FasTrak, but there are multiple agencies that issue the transponders. It's mostly for toll lanes (normally carpool lanes but that's kind of complicated now).

I live in the Bay Area and my agency is Bay Area FasTrak which is a consortium of Caltrans (runs all the toll bridges and toll lanes other than the Golden Gate Bridge), the Golden Gate Bridge Board, and a few other smaller operations like San Francisco International Airport (they use it for parking). Only Bay Area FasTrak transponders work at SFO for parking. There are a bunch of others and the tolls are all interoperable. There may be differences in maintenance fees, which mine doesn't have.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FasTrak

You might be able to buy a transponder (with toll value) and then temporarily register it to your rental car, just in case it doesn't work all the time. I've gone too fast or had a dead battery and it charged it to my license plate. But I'm not sure what happens with rental cars.

Pay with FasTrak​

If you are using a rental vehicle and have an existing FasTrak account and toll tag, you can simply log into your account and add the rental vehicle license plate number to your Registered Vehicle list and mount the toll tag to the windshield of your rental vehicle. Set the effective START and END dates to reflect the period you will be using the rental vehicle. Your account will be charged each time your rental vehicle crosses any toll bridge during this period.​

Several Costco locations should have them, if you're a member or otherwise have access like with a Costco Cash card. But it really depends on your location. I've heard that a lot of rental car agencies charge something like $20 a day (for your entire rental) as a "convenience fee" if you trigger a license plate toll even once or will charge something like that for a transponder, where they'll bill you later for any tolls that accrue.

https://www.costcobusinessdelivery.com/fastrak-flex-toll-tag,-$24.99.product.100372194.html

This is for LA County's Metro ExpressLanes. They mention being able to buy prepaid FasTrak transponders at AAA, Albertsons supermarkets, or Costco and needing to activate them via their website. You could then set up a credit card and once you return you can take it off and then ask for a refund of any residual value, along with sending back the transponder. I think if you buy it at a store or AAA they don't require a deposit and often have a higher value than the cost.

https://www.metroexpresslanes.net/activate-transponder/

Login to your account to update your vehicle information by adding the license plate of the rental car. You can provide an end date for the rental period. Then, simply mount your transponder in the rental vehicle. These steps are important because if the plate is not listed on your account and the transponder is not read, the transaction will be processed as a notice of toll evasion violation, which may result in penalties by Metro ExpressLanes and/or the rental company.​

If you're starting off in San Diego, you might be able to get a transponder there, although I'm not sure how. I think most people get them through the mail and I can't see anything from their local agency on whether or not they have them available at AAA or Costco. But if you're going from San Diego to LA/OC, I don't think you're likely to be needing them for San Diego County toll roads/lanes.

https://www.myfastrak.511sd.com/en/learn/fastrak

There is an agency in Orange County, but I'm not sure. But there are just so many different transponder providers and I'm not sure where you'd be able to get a particular agency's at AAA, Costco, or Albertsons.
 
Thanks for the suggestions! That room looks really cool, but I don’t think my daughter would be up for that, lol

That's one of their more extreme rooms. This one is called "San Francisco" (Room 121):

San+Francisco.jpg
 
I would say the WB studio tour was one of the highlights of all of our California trips. If you are interested in the making of tv shows or movies, or sets, costumes, props at all, it is definitely worthwhile. It doesn't really matter that you might not know the shows themselves well. There was a lot of talk of Gossip Girl and its filming spots on our tour because we had some big fans on our tram-- it was interesting even though my family had never seen the show. We also got to tour the set of a show called All American, that I didn't know at the time. It was pretty amazing to turn a corner on a sound stage and feel like you are actually walking through a high school hall, lockers and all. The tours vary some based on filming schedules. I think we spent around 3 hours there, so you definitely can do that and something else the same day. I think we went from there to the Hollywood area, and then maybe down to Santa Monica Pier after that. Being used to the beaches down in the San Diego area, we weren't crazy about Santa Monica. For a beach area, I'd rather be in the San Diego area, or Newport Beach. I've heard the Malibu area is really nice. If you are Disney fans (and I assume you are since you are on the Disboards), the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco is worth a visit!
 
I’m just really scared about driving near high drop offs, but I’ll have to see how it goes once I start driving.
If you are driving south, you will be ocean side. Driving north you will not.
 
As games are pretty empty. It should be easy to get tickets.

Emeryville is perfectly safe. Parking in the city will be difficult (and expensive). Depending on where you are going, you might consider taking BART. There is a free shuttle from Emeryville to the MacArthur station. You could pick up a 3 day Visitor Passport for unlimited rides on Muni, Muni Metro, historic streetcars, and cable cars in the city.
 
I second the WB studio tour. As a resident of Southern California, it's the most interesting thing I've ever done here. Doesn't matter if you aren't a fan of the featured shows. The tour is so much more than that.
 
Thanks for the help. I think we’ll drive to Universal and skip WB. Nepenthe is definitely on my list if we make it to that part of Big Sur! It sounds beautiful. I’m just really scared about driving near high drop offs, but I’ll have to see how it goes once I start driving.
Hmmm...
If you think that will be a deal-breaker, that is the wrong time to decide. The coastline is gorgeous the whole way along, but really starts to get twisty and turny with the drop-offs when you get to Monterrey County. That's just about San Carpoforo Beach. Take a look at a map; that's easily an hour past your last chance to head inland and take the 101 instead (Hwy 46). I do recommend getting at least as far as Piedras Blancas and the Elephant Seal lookout NMW.

If you like sea otters (and who doesn't?), Make a stop in Morro Bay. Head to Morro Rock, but stop on the harbor entrance side. There is usually a raft of sea otters there, and often times you will even find a naturalist with some binoculars there that will answer any questions you might have.

Edit to add;
If you do decide to head inland on Hwy 46, that takes you right to the Central Coast wine country if that's your thing. Yeah Napa County gets top billing for CA wines, but the Central Coast is a close second.
 
If you do decide to head inland on Hwy 46, that takes you right to the Central Coast wine country if that's your thing. Yeah Napa County gets top billing for CA wines, but the Central Coast is a close second.

Sonoma Valley. Sonoma Coast is pretty good too.
 
As games are pretty empty. It should be easy to get tickets.

Emeryville is perfectly safe. Parking in the city will be difficult (and expensive). Depending on where you are going, you might consider taking BART. There is a free shuttle from Emeryville to the MacArthur station. You could pick up a 3 day Visitor Passport for unlimited rides on Muni, Muni Metro, historic streetcars, and cable cars in the city.
Yes it should be pretty easy to get A’s tickets. We are a little over half way through attempting to visit every MLB park, so we will be going to a Giants game as well. We already went to the other 3 California parks on our last trip.

I’ll definitely look into the 3 day passport. That might workout well for us. Thank you
 
I would say the WB studio tour was one of the highlights of all of our California trips. If you are interested in the making of tv shows or movies, or sets, costumes, props at all, it is definitely worthwhile. It doesn't really matter that you might not know the shows themselves well. There was a lot of talk of Gossip Girl and its filming spots on our tour because we had some big fans on our tram-- it was interesting even though my family had never seen the show. We also got to tour the set of a show called All American, that I didn't know at the time. It was pretty amazing to turn a corner on a sound stage and feel like you are actually walking through a high school hall, lockers and all. The tours vary some based on filming schedules. I think we spent around 3 hours there, so you definitely can do that and something else the same day. I think we went from there to the Hollywood area, and then maybe down to Santa Monica Pier after that. Being used to the beaches down in the San Diego area, we weren't crazy about Santa Monica. For a beach area, I'd rather be in the San Diego area, or Newport Beach. I've heard the Malibu area is really nice. If you are Disney fans (and I assume you are since you are on the Disboards), the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco is worth a visit!
Thanks for sharing your experience with WB studio. We’re planning to do the studio tour at Universal, so I wasn’t sure how different WB would be. It’s good to hear it’s worthwhile. I’ll talk it over with the kids and see what they think. We don’t plan to go to the beach in Santa Monica, mostly Third Street. We were thinking of visiting Zuma, El Matador and Pismo beaches on the drive up. I’ll definitely check out the Disney Family Museum. Thanks!
 
Hmmm...
If you think that will be a deal-breaker, that is the wrong time to decide. The coastline is gorgeous the whole way along, but really starts to get twisty and turny with the drop-offs when you get to Monterrey County. That's just about San Carpoforo Beach. Take a look at a map; that's easily an hour past your last chance to head inland and take the 101 instead (Hwy 46). I do recommend getting at least as far as Piedras Blancas and the Elephant Seal lookout NMW.

If you like sea otters (and who doesn't?), Make a stop in Morro Bay. Head to Morro Rock, but stop on the harbor entrance side. There is usually a raft of sea otters there, and often times you will even find a naturalist with some binoculars there that will answer any questions you might have.

Edit to add;
If you do decide to head inland on Hwy 46, that takes you right to the Central Coast wine country if that's your thing. Yeah Napa County gets top billing for CA wines, but the Central Coast is a close second.
We’re planning to take the 101 from Malibu to Monterey. The only time we’re driving on Hwy 1 is when we drive from Monterey down to Bixby Bridge. How bad is the stretch from Monterey to Bixby Bridge? If I feel comfortable enough, we’ll drive across the bridge and down to Pfeiffer, but the thought of it terrifies me. If we were to stop at Morro Bay on the way north, how is the drive on 41 and the stretch of Hwy 1 between San Luis Ebispo and Morro Bay? Looking at maps it seems pretty level.
 
Thanks for the tip about Hwy 1!

The way freeways/highways are referred to gets all weird in California.

The state officially calls it "State Route 1" with different highway names depending on which segment. I don't know of anyone who calls it "Shoreline Highway" or "Cabrillo Highway" around here - just "Highway 1".

Then there's the way the major urban freeways are called.

Living in the Bay Area, we tend to refer to I-80/I-5 (or just numbers like 80 or 580) for the interstates, something like Highway 1/13/17/etc. for the state routes, and for the only US highway, just 101. Some of the major freeways have well known names, like the Nimitz Freeway for all of I-880 or the Bayshore Freeway for US-101 from San Jose to San Francisco.

In LA and Orange Counties, it's "The 5" or "The 101".

Highway 101 stretches from Los Angeles all the way up California, but there’s a noted difference between how a resident of L.A. refers to it and how a resident of San Francisco refers to it. Thanks to my Southern California upbringing, I refer to “taking the 101,” while a denizen of Oakland or San Jose, or someone further up the coast in Oregon or Washington, would probably instruct a traveler to simply “take 101.”​
This is the only time Southern Californians get particularly attached to their definite articles compared to natives of other regions. Why the difference?​

They aren't quite correct about US 101 though. It goes all the way to Washington, around the periphery of the Olympic Peninsula, and ends near Seattle. Really nice drive through temperate rainforests up there.
 
Thanks for sharing your experience with WB studio. We’re planning to do the studio tour at Universal, so I wasn’t sure how different WB would be. It’s good to hear it’s worthwhile. I’ll talk it over with the kids and see what they think. We don’t plan to go to the beach in Santa Monica, mostly Third Street. We were thinking of visiting Zuma, El Matador and Pismo beaches on the drive up. I’ll definitely check out the Disney Family Museum. Thanks!

There is no comparison between the WB Studio tour and the Universal one. Universal's is a 45 minute theme park ride. It barely scratches the surface of the studio. WB is a 4-6 hour deep dive.
 

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