Has Anyone Been California

[angel659]

Hi

We are looking to go to Los Angeles either Oct 07 or early 08. We are not sure at the moment as I have recently booked NYC. It really depends on when we can afford to go. We are trying to decide between FL or LA.

We have been reading on the net and Disneyland California looks lovely. Is this where Fantasmic came from? They have two parks and there are other parks out there as well as Universal Studios.

Has anyone been and what did they think? Is it worth going instead of FL? We will be travelling with 3 children aged 7,3 and 3. The boys will nearly be 4 and Casey will nearly be 8.

Thanks

 

[Claire L]

California is great and USH is much better than USF. I would say though travelling distances are alot bigger and with young kids it may be more tiring. Also the cost of getting to California can be alot more, but once there we found it to be cheaper than Florida for food alot of the time. I think it may be best to leave it until the kids are older and you could combine a trip there with San Francisco, which is a great city or San Diego.

Claire

 

[Adz1984]

To be honest i prefer florida over california for parks and weather, but if you want lots of sights then you definatly have to do california. We travelled for 3 weeks and got to see lots, there are some brilliant places to visit. One thing you do have to do is a visit to alcatraz, something you will never experience anywhere else, especially if you can book one of the night ghost tour things.

 

[alisonbestford]

We spent 1 week in Los Angeles and 1 week in San Diego 8 years ago when they were building onto the Disney park
My kids, at the time, were 10 and 14

We had a great time but, as Claire says, travelling distances are much greater.
Whilst we stayed 'off-site' Disney was just across the road but we needed to hire a car to drive to Universal Studios which was quite a distance away The trip to Universal in Hollywood proved to be a very long hot day

I, personally, found the food to be more expensive than in Orlando but that might just be because it was our first experience and we didn't know where to look

 

[angel659]

Hi

Perhaps we should wait then until the kids are older. San Fransico sounds lovely and would love to go to Alcatraz as well. I dont mind anyway I love WDW Thanks for the advice. I am pleased I asked otherwise we probably would of booked it.

 

[Miffy2003]

Moving this across to Community as it's about California

Angel we are really keen to go to California - our DDs are now 10 & 7 and we would definitely go for it now, but I'm not sure I would have been up for it when they were younger

 

[Kevin Stringer]

Angel

We went to California last August - here's a link to my trip report. The last few days are in Los Angeles.

It's a great place I'm sure you would have a wonderful time

http://www.kevinstringer.streamlinetrial.co.uk/august 2005 trip/index.htm

Kev

 

[Danauk]

DH and I have been to San Diego and loved it, we went to the zoo, the wild animal park, sea world and to the beach! We are planning our next trip to America to be to Las Vegas and California. This time we intend to do Hollywood (all the studio tours inc universal) and Disneyland. Saying this we don't have kids and we do hire a car so getting around isn't a problem. I would say that as this type of holiday does require more planning and more moving around maybe it isn't the thing to do with young kids.

 

[wayneg]

After 13 trips to Florida we are trying Cali, October half term 8 nights. We booked months ago with Virgin Heathrow-LAX £375+2000 frequent flying points
They have a sale on now, I checked if we had waited we could have got the same flights now for £340 and kept our points, you win some you lose some.
staying at the HOJO where we have been told is very good and 10 min walk to Disneyland and only £40/night
Got Southern Cali city pass for £100 each which lets us into all theme parks we need
So at these prices its no more expensive than Florida, Just hope we enjoy it as much as Florida.
Have you been to NYC before? Its one of the best cities in the world, we had a brilliant 4 days there.

 

[catherine]

DH is from CA and I lived there for about 10 years, so I am a little bit biased! It is my favourite place to be and we go frequently. However I really don't like LA and Hollywood. San Francisco on the other hand is a wonderful place to be! but I trhink that your children would be bored if they went to Alcatraz Fantasmic originated at DL. DH and I saw the very first time it was presented all those many moons ago! It usually takes us around 12 hours to fly from Manchester to San Francisco, so the flight is quite a bit longer than the flight to Orlando. Personally if I was only planning on going to CA once I would wait until the children are older because I think that they would get much more out of it.

 

[#1MMFan]

Been twice, firstly to Disneyland Hotel, second time to Grand Californian. Liked the parks, but felt after perhaps 4 days a feeling of - dare I say - slight boredom if just confined to Disneyland. We also took in USH which is much more spectacular a setting compared to Florida, and San Diego Zoo which we loved. We were meant to take a trip to Vegas to take a flight over the Grand Canyon but it fell through (grrr!). Can't say I was remotely impressed with LA or Hollywood (actually didn't feel particularly safe in Hollywood or on Rodeo Drive at night). Worth seeing tho'.

 

[CustardTart]

We went to DL for last New Year as I wanted to make the trip during the 50th anniversary. We stayed at the lovely Grand Californian and all in all it was fab BUT DL felt sooo much busier than MK which made it a little more stressful - the park just wasn't designed to handle the level of visitors it gets. TBH I wouldn't attempt it with younger kids (my youngest is 13) as it's quite a long flight and the atmosphere IMO isn't as child-friendly as at WDW. There's quite a distance between parks and other POI so a car is really essential. We went to Knotts Berry which is fantastic if you have thrill seekers in your party but not so great for little 'uns IMO. Having said all that, we fully intend to go back but as part of a much longer holiday, seeing more of the West Coast, Hawaii and Las Vegas.

 

[carolfoy]

I wouldn't let the amount of travelling involved put you off too much, my Ds loved our time in Utah, Arizona and Nevada that we did in april although a lot of the time we had 4-5 hours travelling each day. Will second California for amazing sightseeing, with yosemite and sequoia national parks as well as DLC and San francisco, LA, Carmel and monterey its an amazing state.

 

[angel659]

Hi

Dh really wants to go. Having read about perhaps its not the right time for the kids I might re-consider. Dh and I have agreed to sit on it for a while and not to book anything until we are sure its what we want. Dh said he is not fussed on San Franscisco at the moment, so it would be purely a 14 day trip to CA, by the sounds of it that maybe too long We also want to move to the USA in 5 years time, by then I would be qualified nurse at the moment I want to move to FL, but dh said it would be best to try and see much of America as we can in case we prefer somewhere else. I find it hard to believe I love FL. We will have a think.

I have not been to NY before and we are so excited I can not wait. My children are staying at home with my inlaws and my parents are also looking after them. We will be able to see what NY offers. I cant wait

Thanks for your advice it really helps.

 

[catherine]

Hi

Dh really wants to go. Having read about perhaps its not the right time for the kids I might re-consider. Dh and I have agreed to sit on it for a while and not to book anything until we are sure its what we want. Dh said he is not fussed on San Franscisco at the moment, so it would be purely a 14 day trip to CA, by the sounds of it that maybe too long We also want to move to the USA in 5 years time, by then I would be qualified nurse at the moment I want to move to FL, but dh said it would be best to try and see much of America as we can in case we prefer somewhere else. I find it hard to believe I love FL. We will have a think.

I have not been to NY before and we are so excited I can not wait. My children are staying at home with my inlaws and my parents are also looking after them. We will be able to see what NY offers. I cant wait

Thanks for your advice it really helps.

In no way would 14 days be long enough for me! There's so much to do and see in both southern and northern CA. Driving down the coastal highway is incredible and it's well worth doing. That can take days to do, if you stop at some of the different places along the route

We keep kicking around the idea of moving back to CA. One of the reasons that we don't is the state of health care at the moment (for patients and nurses). As I would be employed as a nurse in some capacity, I'm not quite ready to make that commitment! Hopefully by the time you are qualified and have sorted out all your immigration stuff things will have improved!

 

[SusanEllen]

Michelle,
You've gotten lots of helpful advice--some with conflicting opinions as obviously a lot of people have strong feelings about traveling and vacationing in Ca vs. FL. Of course, you want to maximize your time anywhere you are on holiday. I would encourage you and your DH to click on the link Kevin sent and read his wonderfully detailed CA 2005 TR. I agree with others on this thread that SF is a fabulous city but as you read Kevin's report you may find there are problems to be avoided in SF (I'm hoping Kevin gives SF another try some day).

I'd like to say something in defense of LA and Hollywood--they're beautiful if you know where to look and fun if you know where to go. It's a fascinating place , unique in all the world and if you're a movie (or TV) fan, it's Mecca. Old Hollywood is still a little tacky, but no longer seedy thanks to the Disney led restoration of Hollywood Boulevard. The haunted Hollywood tour is a hoot if you like ghost stories. West Hollywood (different city from the section of LA called Hollywood) has some lovely, upscale restaurants and shopping. West Hollywood is between LA and Beverly Hills--with no spacing in between. Like most places being visited for the first time, it really does pay to have a local person or someone who's been there a few times help with the planning (whether we're talking about SF or LA--or anywhere for that matter).

About Disneyland--I think of it as cozy rather than crowded. The very fact that it has always dealt with a tiny area compared to WDW has made the Imagineers be very resourceful and little space is wasted. This actually makes it an ideal park for small children as you don't have to cover so much territory to get from one attraction to another.

Hope you have a great California trip when you finally decide it's time to go. Best luck, Susan

 

[SusanEllen]

Wait just a minute! While I was writing that long-winded reply, I failed to address the fact that you might be scouting for a place to live in the US. Allow me to suggest for your consideration, beautiful Oklahoma, my home. In addition to its many fine features, Oklahoma is halfway between Disneyland and Walt Disney World, making trips to both equally convenient. In any case, do know that there are 48 other choices in addition to CA and FL for you to consider. Best, Susan

 

[Lizzybear]

We also want to move to the USA in 5 years time, by then I would be qualified nurse at the moment I want to move to FL, but dh said it would be best to try and see much of America as we can in case we prefer somewhere else. I find it hard to believe I love FL. We will have a think.

Personally I don't think i'd choose Florida as a place to live. Sure it's great for holidays but most of the jobs are poorly paid/tourist trade kinda stuff, it's an extremely conservative state (guess that wouldn't matter to some but for me it definitely would), the climate isn't very temperate and the risk of hurricanes is quite high and the crime rate worries me a bit. I think there are much nicer places on the east coast like New Jersey and Virginia which are reasonably close to Florida but have a better standard of living overall.
JMHO, hope you get to fulfill your dream of moving to the US!