Frustrated with CA vacation budget

[Katy Belle]

I'm mostly venting, and thought my budget friends would understand.

We are planning to visit Southern California this summer. We are a family of 5, the boys are 11,14,16. We have never been to CA before and this will be the only time we visit as a family. I guess that makes me feel like we have to see and do everything on this trip.

I set a budget of $5,600, not including airfare because I have a huge credit that will cover it completely. Saturday to Saturday, so 8 days. It seems to me like it should be possible to do it all for that price! But its not!

Figure $1,225 for rooms, hoping for free breakfast and free parking. $ 200 dog care at home. City pass tix, gets us into disney, universal and San Diego zoo, $1380. Warner Brothers Tour $240. Hollywood on/off bus tour $175. Snorkeling $225. Indoor skydiving $240. Improv theatre $66. Rental mini van $550. That leaves only $1300 for food, which is $32 a person per day. Factor in tax and tips, that isnt enough! Take out the skydiving and its $38 per person per day. Eating in theme parks and touristy places, it will be high.

What do you cut? We are not lay on the beach and relax people. We like to go, go, go!

Thanks!

 

[RangerPooh]

What about reducing the cost some by renting a 4 door sedan instead of a minivan?

If it was me I'd omit the snorkeling. Having grown up near Santa Cruz this was not something that could be done as the water is too dark. So it has me wondering if it's really feasible in Southern California.

I would also consider getting rid of the bus tour, but that's me.

 

[iheartdisney]

Do you need to do the bus tour in Hollywood? You can park at the Highland parking structure for $2 an hour and walk around Hollywood and Sunset.There is the Walk of Fame, Disney Soda Fountain, Chinese theater theater, Ripleys, etc. Was there something outside of that immediate area that you wanted to see?

 

[Katy Belle]

I might cancel the snorkeling and just hope to play in the water and check out the tide pools.

I guess the bus tour appealed to me because we know nothing about the area, and those usually give a good over view ... But i will look at it closer and see if it makes sense to do it ourselves.

I dont think renting a sedan saves us much, and DS16 is 6'4, so space is important to him.

Thanks for the help!

 

[java]

I would drop
Hollywood on/off bus tour $175. Snorkeling $225. Indoor skydiving $240. Improv theatre $66.

With the city pass don't you get seaworld too? I would think Disneyland, California Adventure, Universal Studios, Seaworld, San Diego Zoo- are a full trip!
Monterey is a great place to visit and the aquarium there is great. There is tons of free fun. The tide pools are so interesting.
Here are a bunch of FREE Southern California things to do
http://www.daytrippen.com/free-southern-california-attractions.htm

Getty center is a good one! oh and the observatory!

 

[kimara3]

Do you need to do the bus tour in Hollywood? You can park at the Highland parking structure for $2 an hour and walk around Hollywood and Sunset.There is the Walk of Fame, Disney Soda Fountain, Chinese theater theater, Ripleys, etc. Was there something outside of that immediate area that you wanted to see?

I second this! We went to Hollywood last summer (2 adults), and if when you get there you feel like you need to see more than what is free, there are literally tons of people selling these tours on the street. You can haggle price with them. We were there over a holiday weekend, and they were all willing to some down on their advertised prices(we paid $25 total)! FWIW, I was not initially thinking that I would enjoy this, but it was actually fun!

 

[Califgirl]

I'm another one that would drop the snorkeling. Southern California water is cold, even in the summer. Plus the water is very murkie, and we don't have many of the pretty fish that you would find in coral reefs like you might see in Hawaii or the Bahamas.

Sky diving? That's not particularly Calif. specific. Is it something you could do closer to home on another vacation? I guess if you are avid skydivers, you would like to do it somewhere different, rather than your regular home turf.

 

[fortwildernessishome]

We went to Ca. two summers ago. We went for two weeks. The first we visited some National parks, (Yosemite, Sequoia, Kings Canyon) the second week we spent at Disneyland. We never spent 34.00 a day on food for each of us. Not even close, actually. Of course we only did one sit down meal, so that explains why. (We did eat at the Cheesecake Factory, because we dont have those in NH and we love them.) The first week, we had free continental breakfast at various hotels and we ate out of our cooler, sandwiches and the like for lunch. (Every time we fly on Southwest, I check a cooler. Once we land, we do a grocery stop and fill the cooler.) For dinner, we would get an inexpensive meal in the area, pizza, burgers etc. At the most we spent 15.00 per person, but usually less. The second week at Disneyland, we had a fridge and micro in our room. The hotel offered a continental breakfast. We would eat the free breakfast, do the parks, return to the hotel in the afternoon, go for a swim and eat a simple lunch. In the eveing we would eat at a counter service place in the park, which averaged about 10.00 per person. Now let me say, eating like this is NOT for everyone!!!! We are NOT big foodies and enjoy the destination more than the food we eat at the destination. However, if we had unlimited resources we would have eaten lots of pricey meals for sure, but instead we travel ALOT and the way we can afford it is to not spend thousands on food. I hope you can find a way to make your vacation work, it sounds like a lot of fun. I know we had a blast when we went!! good luck!---oh yes, at Disneyland we also bought a snack or two each day, so we probably averaged about 15.00-16.00 per person, and again some days less.

 

[JaymeC]

Figure $1,225 for rooms, hoping for free breakfast and free parking. $ 200 dog care at home. City pass tix, gets us into disney, universal and San Diego zoo, $1380. Warner Brothers Tour $240. Hollywood on/off bus tour $175. Snorkeling $225. Indoor skydiving $240. Improv theatre $66. Rental mini van $550. That leaves only $1300 for food, which is $32 a person per day. Factor in tax and tips, that isnt enough! Take out the skydiving and its $38 per person per day. Eating in theme parks and touristy places, it will be high.

Okay, this is just my two cents but we did live two years in SoCal so I had some experience there. Are you planning to spend most of your time in San Diego or LA? Either way, I'd try not to be moving too much. That is a looooooong drive between the two, especially during trafficy times.

That city pass alone is going to take up a LOT of your time. 3 days at Disney (you could comfortably do 2 1/2 with good scheduling), one at universal, one at the San Diego Zoo and you could do one more if I remember right? That's 5 days right there already booked. I personally would skip the snorkeling as well as the indoor skydiving. My choices there are because the snorkeling won't be that great and the skydiving is available to do many places. I would also drop the hollywood bus tour and just do a do-it-yourself tour (do it during the day... Hollywood is kind of seedy at night).

Other than that it sounds like you're very, very booked honestly. I know you said you're a go person, so is my family, but my family would have a hard time with that itinerary. If you really are out of things to do, how about more low cost things? It costs nothing to walk the stars at Hollywood or check out the Crystal Cathedral. There are also some beautiful hiking trails in San Diego, and I'm sure there are some in the LA area as well.

Good luck on your trip

 

[Taja]

Personally, I would eliminate snorkeling (most coastal areas not great for this), indoor sky-diving and the bus tour, particularly if it's one of the "Hollywood" bus tours. Unless your family is into the era of Hollywood's Golden Age and a few other formerly well-known celebrities, it won't be particularly interesting. Not sure about the Warner Brothers tour, either. Probably not much to it. At one time Universal had a studio tour--many years before the theme parks--and it was rather boring. Everyone was loaded into a tram, taken to sets and dressing rooms no longer in use and a couple of the "streets" featured in various films/shows. I'm guessing the Warner Brothers tour would be similar.

Instead, I would go with a day or two at a beach (may have to pay for parking). There are a lot of options--choose different locations. Pack a picnic lunch, drinks and snacks. You can purchase a styrofoam cooler inexpensively at any of the large discount department stores. Pack or purchase a couple of Frisbees, a Nerf football, or something similar for when your DSs--and parents--are tired of lounging/swimming and are in need of some physical exercise.

Visit the Getty museum--it's different than what you would expect. I don't recall what the cost is, but I think it's pretty minimal. You do have to reserve parking in advance, if I remember correctly, so check the website.

Unless you're hauling your luggage with you--and you might be at times if you are going to San Diego and changing hotels--I would look into a sedan instead of a mini van, if there is significant savings.

Visit Olvera Street and Chinatown in downtown Los Angeles. Have lunch at Philippe's (not far from Olvera Street, if I remember correctly--moved away in 1978!), visit the Farmer's Market (used to be at Fairfax and Third, but I think it moved). You'll probably have to pay for parking.

Drive up the coast to Santa Barbara. There used to be some antique shops (you may not be impressed in you're from an area rich in antiques--sometimes "junque" is a more appropriate term) along the highway. Poke around the town, stick your toes in the ocean, visit the mission (make sure it's open), find a place to have a picnic lunch, drinks and snacks. Purchase the fixin's there or take them from your home base. Stop along the coast on your way home and watch the sunset. It's usually gorgeous!

Southern California--most of the coastal areas, in general--tends to be fairly expensive for tourists--and residents! But your vacation doesn't have to be about how much you spend, just how you enjoy your time together.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I'm mostly venting, and thought my budget friends would understand.

We are planning to visit Southern California this summer. We are a family of 5, the boys are 11,14,16. We have never been to CA before and this will be the only time we visit as a family. I guess that makes me feel like we have to see and do everything on this trip.

I set a budget of $5,600, not including airfare because I have a huge credit that will cover it completely. Saturday to Saturday, so 8 days. It seems to me like it should be possible to do it all for that price! But its not!

Figure $1,225 for rooms, hoping for free breakfast and free parking. $ 200 dog care at home. City pass tix, gets us into disney, universal and San Diego zoo, $1380. Warner Brothers Tour $240. Hollywood on/off bus tour $175. Snorkeling $225. Indoor skydiving $240. Improv theatre $66. Rental mini van $550. That leaves only $1300 for food, which is $32 a person per day. Factor in tax and tips, that isnt enough! Take out the skydiving and its $38 per person per day. Eating in theme parks and touristy places, it will be high.

What do you cut? We are not lay on the beach and relax people. We like to go, go, go!

Thanks!

I would drop Warner Brothers Tour, Snorkeling, Indoor Skydiving, improv theatre and if that's still not enough, bye, bye to the Hollywood Bus tour.

We are going to CA this summer too for 8 days but we are just doing Disney, Universal, going to Hollywood for my husband to see the Chinese Theatre and we are going to see La Brea Tar Pits then too. Plus if we have time we are going to tour the Queen Mary. That is plenty to me since disney is going to be crowded with the new rides so we'll be there for a minimum of 3 days.

We also figure this will be the only trip as a family to Southern California since my oldest is 15. The next time we go west will be for the Grand Canyon and other natural type sites.

Good luck. It's tough when you can't do everything you'd like too.

 

[Mom2m&k]

Having lived in LA most of my life...I would skip snorkeling, you will be very dissapointed. I would also skip the Warner Bros tour, you will be very dissapointed with that after being at Disney and Universal. If you can do San Diego I would highly recommend the zoo or SeaWorld. Unlike the others I think the Hollywood tour would actually be fun and worth it to see "those places" but you could also do it yourself. You are also probably going to find that you could fastfood it as there are places you don't have in OK, In and Out and Rubios just to name two! Have a great time! Oh and try priceline for rental. I have been able to get amazing deals with them!!

 

[southern_redhead]

I would drop
Hollywood on/off bus tour $175. Snorkeling $225. Indoor skydiving $240. Improv theatre $66.

I'm trying to plan a trip for five to CA in the next two years. My kids would be similar ages and these are what I'd drop, too. Is anyone in your party a big fan of the Improv? If not, I'd probably drop it. But, if they are, it's one of your lower cost activities so I wouldn't sweat it if it stayed on the list.

 

[mtemm]

I personally would not skip the warner brothers tour. dh and I did it a few years back and it was really good and very interesting. the one thing I would say was it was a lot of info on the inner workings of the studio...facinating for some, but if you don't think your boys would be interested in seeing sets and learning about how backdrops are made and that sort of thing, you might reconsider. I agree with others and would skip the snorkeling (head to tidal pools instead!), the skydiving and the bus tour. There is so much to do for free or for not much money in southern california, too. some beautiful drives and hikes that would give you a really good introduction to california, not just the theme park/hollywood side of it.

 

[3boymthr]

We have an indoor skydiving place around here. If you look around you can probably find a place closer to home to do that and make a day trip of it. Plus, if the pricing is similar to the one here, for what you get for the time spent, it's really really really overpriced. (The one here each person only gets 15 minutes of flight time )

We did LA a few years ago, we walked the Walk of Fame which was fascinating and then visited LaBrea Tar Pits. The Tar Pits aren't free but they cost less than $40 for all of 5 us.

As for food if your kids are like my kids and like pizza, right on Hollywood Boulevard there is a pizza place that sells by the slice. Each slice was as big as a Domino's medium pizza and cost about $5/slice. It was sooo good.

 

[Mouse13]

Katy Belle, from one Okie to another, you're in the right place to make your family's dream trip happen within your budget. I've read the posts so far and the DisBoard experts will lead you in the right direction and help you make it the trip of a lifetime. Good luck with your planning!

 

[MomToOne]

I'm mostly venting, and thought my budget friends would understand.

We are planning to visit Southern California this summer. We are a family of 5, the boys are 11,14,16. We have never been to CA before and this will be the only time we visit as a family. I guess that makes me feel like we have to see and do everything on this trip.

I set a budget of $5,600, not including airfare because I have a huge credit that will cover it completely. Saturday to Saturday, so 8 days. It seems to me like it should be possible to do it all for that price! But its not!

Figure $1,225 for rooms, hoping for free breakfast and free parking. $ 200 dog care at home. City pass tix, gets us into disney, universal and San Diego zoo, $1380. Warner Brothers Tour $240. Hollywood on/off bus tour $175. Snorkeling $225. Indoor skydiving $240. Improv theatre $66. Rental mini van $550. That leaves only $1300 for food, which is $32 a person per day. Factor in tax and tips, that isnt enough! Take out the skydiving and its $38 per person per day. Eating in theme parks and touristy places, it will be high.

What do you cut? We are not lay on the beach and relax people. We like to go, go, go!

Thanks!

I'm with everyone else. Drop the Warner Brothers tour, Hollywood bus tour, snorkeling (the water is cold even in summer so it's not like you'd see a bunch of caribbean fish) and indoor skydiving (I never even associated that with Southern California before ). The City Pass tickets will keep you pretty busy and take up most of your time - especially when you add in the time sitting in traffic getting from one place to another. Add a day at the beach - you can't say you've been to SoCal if you haven't been to a beach! If you aren't into sitting in the sun, maybe sign up for some surfing lessons. Or pick a beach like Santa Rosa where there is lots to do, or Venice Beach where walking around people watching is half the fun. Drive into Hollywood - you don't need a bus tour - that way you can pick where you spend your time. California is land of the car - while driving in a strange area is never easy, it's not hard to get around. Parking lots are easy to find, although cheap ones take some searching LOL And someone else mentioned the Getty Museum - you really shouldn't miss it!

ETA: Also take a look at whether or not the City Pass tickets are really the right tickets for you. I noticed you didn't list SeaWorld in your plans, which is included in that ticket. If you don't plan to hit all the parks it includes for the number of days they have, you might be able to get individual or other ticket bundles cheaper. There are all sorts of bundle offers out there - check out the ticket page of all attractions you want to hit to see what bundles they have, and figure out what combination gives you what you want at the cheapest price. Also, check out AAA and CostCo if you have those memberships - they often have discounts (and I think sell City Passes at slightly cheaper rates).

 

[Katy Belle]

Thanks everybody! I've gotten some excellent ideas here. I will definitely drop the snorkeling, I hadn't even mentioned it to the family.

The indoor sky diving... I think I will ask the boys if its important to them, one of them discovered it on a web-site... if it is, they can each save the $60 to do it and they can do it on their own dime.

Probably will keep the Warner Brothers Tour... I have 2 interested in acting/directing and this seems to be a good tour.

Probably will cancel the Hollywood on/off tour bus...Considering doing Sea World instead of Universal...

That frees up $540... I looked at my hotel points and I think I can get reduced price rooms, using points, in San Diego, that will help too.

Priceline for rental cars? I will have to check into that! I think I might be able to get reduced rental car rates through DHs employer..or free upgrade or something... certainly something to check on.

Oh! I have AAA and I think I might be able to get reduced rates at some of these places...

Thanks so much for the help! It really did help me to think through all of it and I feel better about it now!

 

[mafibisha]

I personally would not skip the warner brothers tour. dh and I did it a few years back and it was really good and very interesting. the one thing I would say was it was a lot of info on the inner workings of the studio...facinating for some, but if you don't think your boys would be interested in seeing sets and learning about how backdrops are made and that sort of thing, you might reconsider. I agree with others and would skip the snorkeling (head to tidal pools instead!), the skydiving and the bus tour. There is so much to do for free or for not much money in southern california, too. some beautiful drives and hikes that would give you a really good introduction to california, not just the theme park/hollywood side of it.

ITA. Its a great tour. If not this one, check into the NBC tour. That too was fun. I'd definitely do a studio tour because they're so SoCal, and unlike anywhere else.
I would skip the Indoor skydiving $240. Improv theatre $66. Both can be found closer to home, I'm sure.
Have fun planning!

 

[undertheradar]

The area around San Diego Zoo is full of museums. If you are a member of your local museum, check and see what participating options are here. You will lose most of your time driving around. We live within a 45 minute drive of Disneyland and depending when we go, it has taken as long as 2 1/2 hours each way. There are also 3 MLB teams here in SoCal, don't know if that interests your family. You can spend less money on meals by not eating in Universal, the zoo, or Disney. All have inexpensive options nearby.