Day Trips from DL?

[cloudnut220]

My husband and I are planning our first trip to DL in August/September for the Disneyland Half weekend. I'm starting to feel a little bad about flying all the way to CA from Baltimore and not doing anything else that CA has to offer. Are there any MUST DO day trips from DL? We're in town from late Wednesday through Tuesday AM.

I was looking at the Temecula Wine Region near San Diego--does anyone know if its any good? We're two adults without kids.

Hopefully a CA local help me out on this one! Thanks!

 

[skiingfast]

A lot of things area day trip from DL.

Beaches. Hollywood. San Diego.

 

[Huff]

Temecula is lots of fun for wine lovers. There are numerous wineries there and pretty countryside. The Wineries are only 5-10 miles off of I-15 so very easy. There are large elaborate wineries and there are tiny family run ones. Everything from cheap wines to very expensive.

We like to stop at the grocery store in Temecula and grab some picnic items. Visit a few wineries and then have a picnic lunch at one of the wineries with picnic tables. Also there is Old Town Temecula with lots of small boutique shops.

What kind of wines do you enjoy and I maybe able to point you to a few.

 

[ImDMous]

We go to Temecula all the time and are members at a few wineries there. It is a beautiful valley. Late August/early September will be very HOT, probably low 100's and dry. Just something to consider if you're not used to it. Some of the wineries have air conditioned tasting rooms and some don't.

 

[Huff]

Late August/early September will be very HOT, probably low 100's and dry.

You're right that highs average 90-100 in late summer but we've only visited a couple times when its been too hot to enjoy. Mornings are around 60 and we've found it doesn't hit 90+ till late afternoon and we're headed home by then. But then we're used to heat and for us, 85 and no humidity is a VERY nice day to be out at the wineries! I die in places like Disneyworld when its 85-90+ with their high humidity.

 

[Tinker82]

How bizarre I just logged in to ask this same question!!!

Me & my hubby are flying in from the UK Mon 27th August til Mon 3rd Sept for me to run the Disneyland Half (& get the Coast to Coast medal )

We've never been to California before so I was thinking about a 2 day Disney hopper? I want to see the Hollywood sign & the walk of fame & Hubby would like to drive around & do some less 'touristy' things as our Florida holiday was all about the theme parks!

 

[msheriffm]

Be aware that wine tasting is no longer free and can add up quickly. Maybe go wine tasting part of the day and something else too.

 

[nana50]

If you have young kids, Legoland is only an hour and a bit from Disneyland. Also Carlsbad is beautiful.

 

[Huff]

Be aware that wine tasting is no longer free and can add up quickly. Maybe go wine tasting part of the day and something else too.

Have to agree there! In the 80's it was still easy to find free wine tasting in Napa/Sonoma but thats long gone. We've found a few scattered around California but its rare. What I have found is that if you go into a winery and seem interested in wines, they will often pour you wines not on the standard wine tasting list. If you are just out for a sunday drive and are wine tasting for something to do with zero interest in buying even a bottle or glass for a picnic then they are less likely to offer up any freebies.

In Temecula Hart, Doffo and a few others will quite often give far more tastings for your fee than stated if you seem interested. Always ask if you can taste wines you see for sale but not on the tasting list.

 

[KCmike]

San Diego is a must do.
Hotel Del Coronado and beach (Think Grand Floridian but right on the ocean)
Balboa Park
SD Zoo and Seaworld
Old Town
etc.

 

[msheriffm]

If you are traveling with kids, I give a big vote for Sea World!

 

[endy]

An Angels game. We don't have MLB here so we love going to a game.
Whale or dolphin watching. We've gone thru danawharf.com twice and loved it.
Wander around the Block at Orange. Our favorite since last summer. Spent time and money at Dave & Busters, another thing we don't have.
Long Beach Aquarium another favorite.
If you have time - a trip to Catalina Island. Hard to do it justice in a day but we absolutely loved it there. So laid back and beautiful.
Golfing if you're into golfing. My ds15's new favorite activity, lots of golf courses everywhere.
Drive down the coast at a relaxing pace.
Try Inn & Out burgers.
Living Social has the half price wild animal park coupons up again, they changed the name to safari something. This could be done the same day as wine country. There are wineries on the way into the park too.

 

[dougsmom98]

We were just there and came from Maine and felt the same way. We spent 1.5 days in Hollywood and .5 days at the ocean - mostly to say that we put our feet in the Pacific Ocean. We had a BLAST in Hollywood and the ocean and there are still so many places we want to see and do if we go again.

I started my trip report and you can read about our first day in Hollywood here:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2915848

 

[BretJMiller]

I would definitely make my way up to Santa Monica, it is just such a beautiful area, and you can even spend some time on the Pier and just enjoy the beautiful area and weather.

 

[bruinred]

My favorite half marathon. Nice and flat, through the parks. Some years through Angel Stadium. Oooh, you'll love it.

I think what else you see in So Cal depends on what you are in to. I think and Angels game is a great idea. Dh and I used to love to spend time at the Hotel Del Coronado in SD too. Depending on whether or not you mind to drive; that would be a good 2 hours from Disney. But you could easily spend the day down there.

As for Hollywood, you can park at Hollywood and Highland. There are restaurants there and Disney's El Capitan Theater is across the street. You can check their website to see what movie they are showing at that time. Gramann's Chinese Theater is there as well.

In addition you should check websites for the Hollywood Bowl and the Greek Theater; maybe they have something at that time you'd like to see. Concerts there are wonderful.

Oh, one other thing. In the city of Orange (which is adjacent to Anaheim) on Labor Day weekend they have the Orange Street Fair. There is a traffic circle that gets blocked off. Different groups from around Orange County come and set up food booths. There are also craft booths. You can walk up and down each street and sample food from all over the world. It is REALLY Fun and if you are without kids (alcohol involved) I would recommend it. Intersection of Glassell and Chapman in Orange.

Temecula is fun too. But driving back after wine tasting could be tough, especially if it's warm and it's likely to be.

Have a great time, enjoy the race.

Felicia
legacy Disneyland half marathoner and 3rd generation OC native.

 

[cloudnut220]

Thanks for all of the tips, especially the ones on Temecula! I'm not sure how we'll do in 100 degree heat--but probably okay since we routinely get summer weather in Maryland where the temps are in the 90s with high humidity (sort of like Florida). I'm guessing we'll rent a car for just a day or two, does anyone know of a place in Anaheim.

Huff, as for wines we enjoy, we like a little bit of everything, unless its sweet--I'm definitely a dry wine girl. I tend to prefer wines in Old World styles, but I'm also up to trying new stuff. We're definitely buyers when we go to winieries, so I would be interested in your thoughts.