First Timers Itinarary

[MinneTinK]

Please tell me what you think...I've never been to Cali before so all advice is welcome. It is Me (22) and my bf (also 22) March 18-22.

Wed 3/18: Arrive SNA airport 12noon, rent car, check in at Marriott (I know it's a little further away from DL than most hotels but I got such a good deal I had to take it) Go to DL for rest of day, anaheim garden walk for dinner/bowling/drinks later at night.

Thurs 3/19: DL/DCA all day, drive to LA for dinner and Lakers game at night.

Fri 3/20:no plans today...advice please! I am considering Universal Studios or a San Diego day trip but I'm open to anything!

Sat 3/21: Drive to Hollywood for all the touristy things(walk of fame, Chinese theater, Rodeo Drive)...no night plans...suggestions?

Sun 3/22: Our flight leaves John Wayne at 4, so we will probably leave our hotel at about noon, should we use our MM today to get the most out of the parks...?

Please Please Please give advice, tips, tricks, anything!! Thanks!

 

[ballarinamom]

You're not giving yourself much time in the parks. On the day of the Laker game, you will not be able to do both parks AND drive to LA AND have dinner AND get to the game with the traffic.
Also your first day sounds like you may just have few hours in the park. Instead of bowling why not go back to the park as so many rides are different at night?
Tell us which rides are most important to you?

 

[ballarinamom]

Also, on the day you are leaving, you can leave your hotel about 1:30 and still have pleanty of time to get to the airport

 

[Echie]

Personally I'd do something like this:

Day 1: Arrival and DL/DCA in the late afternoon/evening

Day 2: Touristy LA stuff and dinner and Lakers game

Day 3: Hollywood area (if you didn't do it all yesterday) and universal studios

Day 4: DL and CAL

Day 5: DL and CAL in the morning before leaving

 

[TheZue]

Personally I'd do something like this:

Day 1: Arrival and DL/DCA in the late afternoon/evening

Day 2: Touristy LA stuff and dinner and Lakers game

Day 3: Hollywood area (if you didn't do it all yesterday) and universal studios

Day 4: DL and CAL

Day 5: DL and CAL in the morning before leaving

That's a good plan I agree that there wasn't much park time in your original plan too.

The LA traffic can be BRUTAL so you are better off trying to get the days where you have to travel grouped up instead of splitting each day with the park. Like if I was heading downtown to dinner and a lakers game I'd want to leave around 3 if the game started at say 7. Also when you are in the park sometimes it takes a while to get around, get through lines etc so your first day you might just want to stay in the park to eat and hang out. As for garden walk if you do day three with Universal you could always do the bowling when you get back to Anaheim.

 

[ballarinamom]

Personally I'd do something like this:

Day 1: Arrival and DL/DCA in the late afternoon/evening

Day 2: Touristy LA stuff and dinner and Lakers game

Day 3: Hollywood area (if you didn't do it all yesterday) and universal studios

Day 4: DL and CAL

Day 5: DL and CAL in the morning before leaving

Love this! I think it will give you enough time to enjoy everything and still have enought park time. Your original plan was waring me out already!!! Have a great trip

 

[pixiewings71]

Personally I'd do something like this:

Day 1: Arrival and DL/DCA in the late afternoon/evening

Day 2: Touristy LA stuff and dinner and Lakers game

Day 3: Hollywood area (if you didn't do it all yesterday) and universal studios

Day 4: DL and CAL

Day 5: DL and CAL in the morning before leaving

Another vote for this one!

 

[calidezchick]

I'd say you definitely need two days for both parks if you've never been there.. one full day is enough if you have. Universal closes early I believe around that time of year (I think they're 10-6 during the week?), so you could do that during the day and the Hollywood touristy stuff in the evening? If you get a chance I'd say a San Diego day trip is fun, bu tI'm biased cause I live here...

 

[Krissy Marissy]

Echie great plan!!!

 

[Princess_Couture]

Are you renting a car? Cause like it was posted elsewhere on these boards and I found the link for it

http://coachamerica.com/graylineanaheim/tours_all.cfm/tour_id/1035/mode/tour_detail/location_id/1021

there is a Gray Line tour that you can take. You get picked up at your hotel by the Gray Line bus company then driven to Universal, then after park closing, the bus once again pick you up at the park and drives you all around LA to all the tourist places you suggested giving you time to shop and poke around at your own leisure. That way you can do it all in one day and not waste a minute. Then you are driven back to your hotel after the day ends.

From what it looks like that would almost free up one whole day for you to do something else.

As for trying to make it to a Lakers game and dinner after a day of Disneyland... that would be nearly impossible. I would highly suggest re-arranging your plans regarding that.

 

[MinneTinK]

Thank you so much everyone! This is really great advice!!! As I said I've never been to SoCal before so I have no concept of how long it takes to get to everything. We are renting a car, also what is near the staples center for the lakers game? any good places to eat or fun things to see/do? How much time would you dedicate to seeing universal? Thanks so much again, please keep it coming!

 

[Leofoenget]

Please tell me what you think...I've never been to Cali before so all advice is welcome. It is Me (22) and my bf (also 22) March 18-22.

Wed 3/18: Arrive SNA airport 12noon, rent car, check in at Marriott (I know it's a little further away from DL than most hotels but I got such a good deal I had to take it) Go to DL for rest of day, anaheim garden walk for dinner/bowling/drinks later at night.

Thurs 3/19: DL/DCA all day, drive to LA for dinner and Lakers game at night.

Fri 3/20:no plans today...advice please! I am considering Universal Studios or a San Diego day trip but I'm open to anything!

Sat 3/21: Drive to Hollywood for all the touristy things(walk of fame, Chinese theater, Rodeo Drive)...no night plans...suggestions?

Sun 3/22: Our flight leaves John Wayne at 4, so we will probably leave our hotel at about noon, should we use our MM today to get the most out of the parks...?

Please Please Please give advice, tips, tricks, anything!! Thanks!

In order to get to LA for your dinner plans and the game you should leave Anaheim early like 2ish, or even earlier. I would almost plan on doing all the Hollywood junk early that day. Traffic is terrible in LA. Spend ALLLLL day in DL on friday IMO. Skip bowling, you can go bowling any day.

as an aside just me being bad here, it's CA not Cali

 

[Tasscrapper]

I second the idea of skipping the bowling. You can do that anytime anyplace. I kept thinking it would be a fun thing on our vacation with the kids but really it was just something that would have taken up time when could have been doing stuff we can't do in our own neighborhood.

I'd also be a bit flexible while there. If you're in the parks and having a great time don't make yourselves leave to go to dinner at he Gardenwalk just to go back to the parks. Mayeb check out if there is a restuarant in DTD that you would like to try ect.

Sounds like a busy trip. Have fun!

 

[Princess_Couture]

I dunno if you can see ALL of it, but you can see about 95% of Universal including the tram tour and City walk, and stopping for a sit down lunch in about 8-9 hours, and you will leave feeling like you got in a good full day seeing all you want. If you want a good place to eat there, go into the City Walk and find "Bubba Gumps" its theme is dedicated to Forest Gump. Its delicious.

Actually you could probably do Universal and a Lakers Game in the same day. Just leave a bit earlier for Universal and get there before park opening.

 

[fairycat]

My suggestion is to go bowling on your Hollywood day after Universal! There is a really cool bowling alley at the Hollywood and Highland complex. There is a lot to do in that area!

Near Staples, I would suggest China Town, Olvera Street or one of the other little towns in the LA area. If you like Musuems there are several in that area, and also some great places to see Theater Shows. You might also want to drive by the Disney Music Hall, it is a very interesting piece of architecture.

And I so agree with the schedule posted, getting to LA early is going to save you a lot of headache, because the traffic in the area near Staples is awful!!!! Especially with how old, small and poorly laid out the freeway is in that area.

 

[Teki]

Personally I'd do something like this:

Day 1: Arrival and DL/DCA in the late afternoon/evening

Day 2: Touristy LA stuff and dinner and Lakers game

Day 3: Hollywood area (if you didn't do it all yesterday) and universal studios

Day 4: DL and CAL

Day 5: DL and CAL in the morning before leaving

That's a much better plan, your grossly underestimating how much times it takes to do the parks, defiantly give your self more park time. Also Hollywood, doesn't take all day at all you could do it in a couple of hours.

 

[MinneTinK]

Ok so if I do this plan:

Day 1 Wed 3/18: Arrival and DL/DCA in the late afternoon/evening

Day 2 Thurs 3/19: Touristy LA stuff and dinner and Lakers game

Day 3 Fri 3/20: Hollywood area (if you didn't do it all yesterday) and universal studios

Day 4 Sat 3/21: DL and CAL

Day 5 Sun 3/22: DL and CAL in the morning before leaving

Would it be best to do Universal Studios & Hollywood stuff Early Day 2 and go straight to the Lakers game OR Just do Hollywood stuff and lakers game and save Univeral for day 3...? Also would it be better to switch day 3 & 4 to aviod some LA traffic and DL saturday crowds? Thanks again for all this help its great!

 

[fairycat]

Personally with traffic I would keep universal a seperate day, but that is me. But I haven't done Universal in years so am not positive how long a day takes there.

I also wanted to add this link for you it has a lot of information about things to do in the LA/Hollywood area and might help you plan what you would like to do

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1741375

 

[Alice_Mushroom97]

I vote for all disneyland and Cal the whole week, but the parks are my weakness. The other plan mentioned sounds good to though.

 

[Janomi]

Ok so if I do this plan:

Day 1 Wed 3/18: Arrival and DL/DCA in the late afternoon/evening

Day 2 Thurs 3/19: Touristy LA stuff and dinner and Lakers game

Day 3 Fri 3/20: Hollywood area (if you didn't do it all yesterday) and universal studios

Day 4 Sat 3/21: DL and CAL

Day 5 Sun 3/22: DL and CAL in the morning before leaving

Would it be best to do Universal Studios & Hollywood stuff Early Day 2 and go straight to the Lakers game OR Just do Hollywood stuff and lakers game and save Univeral for day 3...? Also would it be better to switch day 3 & 4 to aviod some LA traffic and DL saturday crowds? Thanks again for all this help its great!

I like the proposed schedule for a variety of reasons and would not switch days or events.

Day 1 - You will get a general feel and layout of the parks on a slower crowd day. You may also be able to catch rides multiple times. Great planning day for your Sat/Sun jaunt.

Day 2 - LA is a big town, and therefore, just driving around from place to place can/may take more than 20 minutes. Careful planning is important to see all the sites you may want to experience. Also, there's a myriad of freeways to traverse, so plan accordingly! Ending the day with dinner at the LA Live center (right across from Staples Center), then going to see the game is great.

Day 3 - I'd suggest an early start for Universal Studios, and you'll be able to experience most of the park. Getting there early allows you to check out Universal City Walk, and of course, get on rides just as they open (I got to ride Revenge of the Mummy x3, Jurassic Park x3 before it got busy). Shows/tours occur at different times, so make sure to arrange what you want to see. (I personally enjoyed the Studio Tram Tour and Backdraft). The mixture of rides/shows does make the park a full day event, so you may have to cut out a few things if you want to check out Hollywood. Hollywood sites are much more compact and you'll be able to see most of them in the general vicinity along Hollywood Blvd. You can also get a disney fix going to The Disney Soda Fountain Shop I also think the lights at night along Hollywood Blvd are great, so seeing them in the evening isn't so bad. Don't forget to find your favorite actor/actress' star of fame.

Day 4/5 - Disney and DCA. The previous idea of switching days would mean lots of driving back and forth. So I like consecutive days in a park. With that said, the early bird gets the worm, or in this specific case, gets lots of Fastpasses. Get there early and you'll be able to do/see lots of stuff! Escape during the afternoon if it gets busy, and return in the evening for fastpass rides/Fireworks/Fantasmic/etc.

Whatever you decide, have a wonderful trip!