Help!! East Coast girl needs info on Southern Cal!!

[DisneyMim]

Hi all!! I am hoping somebody can help me out. I would like to know what areas would be good to stay in and around LA and what areas to avoid. We are looking for an area near enough to major attractions (Hollywood, etc.). We are planning to start in LA and go on to San Diego and end in Disneyland (of course!!). Also my daughter would love a nice beach area somewhere along the line, we're thinking Laguana Beach maybe? We've NEVER been to California, but I've always wanted to go and see Walt's first park, and all the other great stuff there. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. I am especially concerned with knowing what to avoid in LA. We're from Boston and there's some areas I would not want to be in after dark as there are in any city. I know some of you are experts and I would love any advice!!

 

[cinderella_mom]

Are you planning to see specific sights in LA? LA is two things, a city and a county. There are some great places in LA county to see - Getty Museum, LA County Museum of Art (LACMA), Music Center (Live theater), Universal Studios, Hollywood (city tour mostly to see the homes and outside of movie studios). If you stay in hotels near the touristy areas, you should be fine. Best thing to do is to decide what you want to see in LA.

Disneyland is in Orange County, also home to Laguna Beach (about 30 minutes south). There are a lot of great beaches with hotels at the beach, Huntington Beach, Laguna, San Clemente. There's the San Juan Capistrano Mission (about 15 miles so of Laguna). The area is full of quaint shops and eateries as well as rich with CA history.

The first attraction in San Diego (also a city and county) is in Carlsbad - Legoland (and an outlet mall). Further south into SD city is SD Zoo and Sea World. East of the city is SD Wild Animal Park. The beaches/bays in SD are also very nice.

When are you coming?

 

[DisneyMim]

cinderella mom, thanks so much!! We are trying to plan a summer visit (hubby is a teacher, daughter soon will be and son will be starting college) for this summer or next. We realize that we will never see everything in one visit, but we hope to hit the "highlights", Hollywood tours, etc., really the real tourist stuff. It sounds like the areas aound these things will be ok. I'm guessing any hotel within this area will be safe. Laguna beach (I better learn to spell it correctly LOL!!) or Huntington Beach sounds like what we are looking for, a real California beachy spot like in my imagination (sorry, too much Beach Boys when I was young, really showing my age now!) and as for Sn Diegeo, we want to go to the Zoo and exlpore the area a bit maybe hit a beach there too. We love the beach having grown up in NE so we are looking forward to comparing the two coasts although I already am pretty sure you have us by a mile, hands down!!

Thanks again!

 

[ArielsMelody]

Welcome (whenever you decide to come) to CA! I'm originally from Mass. (Springfield) and moved out here a little over a year ago. My advice would first of all make sure you're getting a car! A car is absolutely essential out here when you want to see that much stuff. Starting from the north it sounds like the things you want to see are Universal, Hollywood, Disneyland, Beaches, and San Diego. I know that's not the order you were planning, but just know that there is a LOT of driving involved if you are planning to go back and forth to those places. Universal and Hollywood are very close, but they are anywhere from 45 mins (no traffic) to 2 hours (with traffic) to Disneyland. San Diego is about 3 hours from Hollywood, in distance alone. So just plan accordingly to get the most out of your time.

As far as where to stay, most places you're looking for will be fine. It's parts of south LA that can be a little shifty. Although one thing that does surprise people is how UN-glamorous Hollywood is -- it can be pretty rough in areas. I would say stay in Universal City in the Hilton or Sheraton right near the park, then drive the 5 minutes into Hollywood to see the touristy stuff. It will be MUCH nicer there, and so close that it seems silly to switch hotels.

Also, make sure to see the Warner Bros tour in Burbank. It's less than 10 minutes from Universal, and a MUCH better backlot tour. The one in Universal is not much more than a ride, but the Warner Bros. one is a two hour behind the scenes tour in a small group of 12 people and a guide. It's by far the best of the studio tours.

For beaches: my favorite is Manhattan Beach. It's not overrun by tourists like Santa Monica, and it really has some great California beach town charm. You'll be wanting to sing those Beach Boys songs!

Hope that helped you out and happy planning!

Ariel

 

[DisneyMim]

ArielsMelody, thank you so much!! This is just what I wanted to know. Thanks for the tip about south LA. When you are trying to plan thiings this is the kind of thing you just wouldn't know about. Yes it does sound like a lot of driving and we will have a car. We are planning to stay in three or four different hotels in different locations so we can see what we want. I do understand that traffic and driving is bad, but my husband and I are originally from Cambridge (now live north of the city) so we are used to bad Boston drivers (hey, we do have that reputation!! LOL!!). It was great to hear from a original MA native. I'm sure you are really enjoying living in Ca now. Thanks again for the help!!

 

[ArielsMelody]

No problem! People tend to freak out about the driving when they first get here, but it's really no big deal. I've lived in Mass and Minnesota (Minneapolis) and strangely, I find that drivers here are the most accomodating to others on the road. When there are 7 lanes on the highway, being nice is a bit of a survival tatic! Now whenever I go back to visit my parents I find myself on the Mass Pike thinking "These people need more LANES!!"

I hope you'll love LA as much as I do -- I certainly don't miss the snow!

Ariel

 

[DisneyMim]

Yiikes 7 lanes!! Oh well, my husband will drive and I will sit in the backseat!! LOL!! I am freaking out a bit over the driving, but then I tend to freak out over everything! I'm sure it will all be ok. I'm guessing I won't want to come back home, I think the weather is really going to do me in. I hate the cold and we always go to WDW in the summer so we're used to temps in to 90's and high humidity. I've always been told that I would love the weather in Southern Cal.


Thanks again.

 

[WatchinCaptKangaroo]

Well Surf City by Jan and Dean was written about Huntington Beach...

 

[JenLoy]

Thanks for all the great information in this thread.

We're in the same boat as the OP, we live in the Midwest and this will be our first trip to CA. We will be down there for 10 days starting the last week of Aug. Thanks to these boards we narrowed down our DL hotel choice to a few but have no idea on where to stay while we're in Hollywood. Like the OP, we want somewhere safe and close to the touristy stuff.

 

[Zoemakes5]

Hello! I grew up in Torrance and Redondo Beach CA, and family lives in the San Diego area.
Couple of questions to ask yourself before making any decisions. First, do you want to stay super high quality (ie. big money) for all of the places or do you want to mix it up or only stay for moderate or inexpensive? Second, do you want to have one location that you stay in for most of the time and then a day here and there for something else?
My absolute favorite beach is Corona del Mar. It's a little known beach just south of Newport. There is a nice bathrooms/shower area, lifeguards, little snack stand, nice clean beach area with a good stretch of beach. What I really like the most about it, though, is that there's a break-wall right there that (a) keeps the water a bit warmer and (b) keeps the waves a bit smaller and (c) keeps the seaweed content down. There's a public parking lot.
Staying in the Costa Mesa/Newport area might be a good "home base". You can get to DL area in about 15-20 minutes. I *think* you can even get Hollywood bus tours from that area, if not, drive in closer to anaheim and you can.
Unfortunately, there's not really any place near Hollywood to stay that's nice and safe unless you're actually IN Hollywood. If you want a "splurge" night, I'd recommend the Roosevelt hotel in Hollywood. It has a nice little pool area, very historic, right on Hollywood Blvd. And, on the second floor is a pictoral history of Hollywood. Very cool. If you're driving in the Hollywood area, in addition to the "typical" hollywood ventures, I have to recommend taking a walk down Melrose and going to the farmer's market.
Down in San Diego, I really like Oceanside beach. It has a really nice pier and shops and the strand. Places I'd really want to see include the Zoo, the Wild Animal Park, Old Towne, and Sea World. I REALLY enjoy Sea World myself. Skip the LA Zoo.
Since you have older kids, if they are ride junkies, I'd say that a trip to Six Flags is a must.
Sample itinerary.....get to LA, drive up to Six Flags area and stay in inexpensive area there. Last time I was there, they had places like Americinn and Comfort Inn type places out at the exit for Six Flags. Day 2, go to Six Flags. If you're thinking you'd be very tired, stay at six flags again for day 2, if not, drive into Hollywood and spend night in hotel there. Day 3 play around in Hollywood. If you didn't stay overnight, stay overnight on day 3, otherwise, after you've seen Hollywood, head down to Newport. Stay at Newport days 4-8 go to the beach, see area attractions and do DL (or stay in Anaheim near DL and take a day or so to see the beach and other areas). Day 8-10 go down and do San Diego stuff and head back to the airport. These recommendations are for flow of traffic and what I think you might enjoy given the ages in your family.

 

[Zoemakes5]

For beaches: my favorite is Manhattan Beach. It's not overrun by tourists like Santa Monica, and it really has some great California beach town charm. You'll be wanting to sing those Beach Boys songs!
Ariel

In the LA area, Manhattan Beach, and it's neighbor Hermosa are the best beaches by far. There's lots of little shops and restaurants, some of the best hole in the wall places with great breakfasts! Real "beach boys" feel to it, like ArielsMelody said. MB is about 45-60 minutes driving from anaheim and is about that to Hollywood area. There are quite a few hotels in the area.
I also agree that the driving can be a real bear. That's one of the reasons that I asked re: whether you were wanting a "home base" or various hotels. Unfortunately the areas between Anaheim and Hollywood include Watts and downtown LA and many other undesirable areas. There's not really anything "in between" place you'd want to stay. And, it's too much of a trek to San Diego to stay somewhere in between as well. If you wanted to do DL first, then go to Anaheim, then go to Hollywood for a day or two (you'll need two if you want to go to Universal or Six Flags which is closer to Hollywood than Anaheim) and then go straight down Interstate 5 to San Diego.

 

[ymn]

The Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood is very nice. The walk of fame, Chinese Theater, El Capitan Theatre, Hollywood & Highland center are right outside the hotel. It is a short subway ride to Universal. Just stayed there in April and loved it.

 

[DisneyMim]

Thank you, Thank you everyone!!! I knew I could count on people from the Dis!! I have bought tour guide books and my head is spinning. We were planning to do the "Hollywood" thing first, stay at one hotel, then drive to a beach area and stay at another hotel (now ALL the beaches sound nice, Newport, Huntington, Laguna, what's a family to do! LOL!!), then drive to San Diego and stay at another hotel, and finally because Disney has been in my heart forever, end our stay at one of the DisneyLand Hotels. Price is a factor, but we're ready to pay more for safety and convience. I never knew how big and confusing LA is. I'm learning though. A hotel right in Hollywood seems to be our best bet for seeing things in that area. ymn thanks for the tip about the Renaissance. My kids would love to stay in Beverly Hills (too much watching of the OC, they would probably like to stay right in the Cohen's house in Newport, but I doubt it's available! LOL!). We are looking forward to seeing your beautiful state. WatchinCaptain Kangaroo I did not know that Surf City was about Huntington Beach. I LOVED that song when I was a kid. I think deep down I really am a california type of gal!

Thank you all so very much, you are all very helpful!