Help! Going to San Francisco. Can I go to DL too?

[harleyquinn]

My husband has been offered a trip for himself and me to San Francisco sometime this summer. He is going to paint a mural for a business. The company is paying for our airfare and hotel. The company is super accomodating, so they'll probably give us enough time to go down to DL. I really don't know very much at all at this point, I'm just trying to see if you guys think it makes sense to drive from San Fran to DL for 3 or 4 days and then back to San Fran. Maybe we can get them to do an open jaw flight so we can fly out of LAX? Would that be better? We'll probably spend about a week in San Fran.

TIA!

 

[daannzzz]

The drive from San Francisco to Anaheim can be anywhere from 5.5 - 9 hours dfepedning on which road you take and the traffic. Those of us who live up in the area often only take 3-4 day trips. I save the week or two trips for WDW.

 

[harleyquinn]

Maybe we should just to Yosimite instead? We've never been anywhere near California before, so I'm really clueless.

I thought the drive to Anaheim looked a little scary--going so close to LA and that area in the summer probably isn't a good idea.

Is flying into LAX from SF worth considering at all?

Oh! When I said we'll be a week in San Fran, I didn't mean that was all the time we had. We can spend more time than that in the area. That's why I'm considering DL. Plus I'm a disney-aholic.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

Go for it! Drive down in a rental car or look at discount flights from either Oakland or S.F. to any of the following airports: LAX, Orange County, Burbank, Ontario, or Long Beach. I think they all have some type of transportation to DL if you don't want to rent another car. The best thing would probably be to have the person paying for your flight have you fly into SF, but return from one of the airports listed above. That way your only expense would be a one-way flight down to S. Ca. and you wouldn't have to worry about paying drop-off fees on a rental car by returning it to a different location.

 

[harleyquinn]

Go for it! Drive down in a rental car or look at discount flights from either Oakland or S.F. to any of the following airports: LAX, Orange County, Burbank, Ontario, or Long Beach. I think they all have some type of transportation to DL if you don't want to rent another car. The best thing would probably be to have the person paying for your flight have you fly into SF, but return from one of the airports listed above. That way your only expense would be a one-way flight down to S. Ca. and you wouldn't have to worry about paying drop-off fees on a rental car by returning it to a different location.

I think that would work best too. I hope we can pull it off.

It is going to be nuts at DL in the summer like it is at WDW? Is it cooler at all in DL? I've been reading the boards, but I don't see the answers to those questions.

There's so much to do near DL! Any of you ever done the the SOCal CityPass? We'd probably completely wear ourselves out doing that...

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

The city pass is a great deal...buy it from Costco if you can as it's cheaper. DL will be hot, but not humid like WDW. As for crowds -- just take advantage of FastPass as much as possible. There are several machines that are not linked, which means you can get more than one FP at a time. I can't remember which ones they are, but I'm sure someone can find the link for you.

 

[minniecarousel]

SoCal heat is so much different than WDW heat. The crowds will be enormous at DLand, but at least you don't have the humidity! There are plenty of off-site motels nearby that are within walking distance to the Parks - going back in the afternoon for the nap/swim is very do-able. Plus Disneyland usually stays open 'til midnight during the summer. It's a nice add-on for a trip to SF.

 

[Lissete]

We are driving from SF to LA in June. We have 3 days in SF, 2 in Yosemite, 2 in Monterey, 2 Cambria, 3 Anaheim & 4 in LA. We want to see as much as possible, in case we don't make it out there again. Our first trip to California so we are not much help on logistics. I'm still hoping that my research & planning works out ok. We are paying a rental car drop off fee of $99. With the cost of gas though, it might be cheaper to fly if you just want to get from point A to point B with nothing in between. It's great that 1/2 your trip is paid for!
Good Luck & Have Fun

 

[JulieNMM]

If it were me, I would opt to fly down and even fly back up if you have to. John Wayne is the closes airport to DLR, but like another poster said, there are 4-5 airports within an hour's drive.

From SF, it will be a whole day drive and it is not an interesting or pretty drive, so you'd basically be wasting 2 days driving. And once you get to DLR you don't need a car. Unlike WDW, DLR is very compact and it is all walking.

It will be hot but you can just go back to your hotel and go to the pool or take advantage of the indoor attractions. It's not as hot as Florida was when I was there last month! And no humidity, either. If you're a Disney nut, you definitely should go!

We will be going in July and getting a CityPass, too, because it's a great deal but if you do that, you will probably need a car to get to Universal Studios (an hour to the north) and Sea World and the zoo (2 hours to the south).

Have fun!
JULIE

 

[harleyquinn]

Awesome! Thanks everyone! This is great info.

Now if DH can just get some extra time off work, and I can find out the actual dates, I can really start planning.

This is so out of the blue, and DH needs something really good like this right now, so I really hope everything works out.

Thanks for your help. I'm sure I'll have more questions when I get details. i don't want to get my hopes up to high and then not be able to come...I could always use the planning for a future trip though!

 

[MrShiny]

We did the same thing back in '97 - wife had to go to San Fran for a conference. We flew into SNA (closest airport to DL, although LAX often has some great rates), then we flew to SF and flew home from there.

The flights from Southern California to/from SFO are usually not too bad - maybe $100-125 per person. Definitely better than diving (especially with what gas will most likely cost this year!)

For a couple of adults, 3 days in DL should be plenty to see and do just about everything. It does get crowded (especially since the 50th), but if you go early and stay until closing you'll find plenty of times when the lines are short (especially at the beginning and end of the days). DCA is usually uncrowded unless they are doing a 2fer promotion (gives locals basically a free ticket to DCA).

The CityPass is great - gives you DL, San Diego Zoo or Wild Animal Park (if you've done neither, do the zoo!) Sea World, (they are an easy 90 minute scenic drive from DL) and Universal Hollywood (different from its Florida cousin as it is a real studio first, theme park second).

Don't feel you have to stay at a DL hotel (GC is great, DLH is nice and PP is OK). There are clean motels actually closer to DL's gates than the Disney ones. If money allows, the GC is worth the price, but if not, I'd recommend the Del Sol or the Candy Cane (both on Harbor).

Also, check what's playing at the El Capitan -Disney's own theatre in Hollywood, right next to the Chinese Theatre and the massive Hollywood & Highland complex (where the Oscars are held).

The hottest day in Anaheim is nothing compared to the heat and humidity of Orlando. Note even on hot days, the temperature can drop rapidly once the sun sets (causing locals to don jackets, but causing little effect on midwesterners like my family!)

Definitely do DL if you can. It is really neat and actually has a ton of rides (about as many if not more than in all the Florida Parks together). It does have bottlenecks and space issues, making the crowds seems worse than at WDW or DCA, but if you just hang back and watch while the crowds are at their worst, you'll have a great time. It especially looks wonderful right now after the major rehabs for the 50th. The fireworks are amazing (but beware, they are cancelled if the winds are high) and Fantasmic! blows the WDW version away.

If you are going after 6/24, you'll get to see the updated Pirates. Pirates there is literally twice as long as WDW, and features 2 drops - one of them much steeper than the WDW version.

 

[harleyquinn]

Thanks Mr. Shiny! That is a very helpful post!

I do want to try to get to the zoo. We'll see how much time we have.

We're used to WDW in June and August, so I think I'll be pleasently surprised by the temperatures.

Are a lot of the rides/attractions indoors with A/C like WDW? That always helps.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

Also, keep Sacramento in mind as an option to fly in/out of as it isn't that far from SF and usually has some really reasonable fares to S. California.

 

[Brutie]

I say go for it if you end up staying in SF. We drive down there quite often cause we have AP's and it never takes us more than the normal 4-5 hours depending of course on how many times I have to go pottie...

I think its well worth the time to drive down there or start looking at airlines, southwest has cheap flights from the bay area down to that area all the time, its worth the time to check it out.

 

[woody73]

. . . Also, check what's playing at the El Capitan -Disney's own theatre in Hollywood, right next to the Chinese Theatre and the massive Hollywood & Highland complex (where the Oscars are held). . .

If you go to the El Capitan, be sure to visit the Disney Soda Fountian and Disney Store, which is nextdoor. Also, Winnie the Pooh's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is right in front of the soda fountain.

Woody

 

[MrShiny]

Are a lot of the rides/attractions indoors with A/C like WDW? That always helps.

Yes, there are many (if not more) indoor rides at DL than WDW. One major difference though is that many of the queues are outside. So while seeing a queue snake outside of a WDW attraction might mean an unusually long wait, the same is not true at DL. The more recent rides (Indy, Soarin', etc.) tend to have more enclosed queues, but the older ones don't.

Unique things not to miss:
Disneyland Story
Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye
Pinnochio
Alice in Wonderland
Mr Toad
Storybookland
fireworks
Electrical Parade
Roger Rabbit Cartoon Spin
Much of DCA, except Tower of Terror (different) and Saorin' (exactly the same except queue)
Monsters Inc at DCA

Different things worth doing:
Pirates (much better - in rehab until 6/24)
Buzz Lightyear (better)
Haunted Mansion (slightly different)
Space Mountain (redone for the 50th)
Fantasmic (Peter Pan!)
Autopia (much cuter)
Jungle Cruise (a couple of different scenes just added for the 50th)
it's a small world (much larger - is that good?)

 

[scottygirl]

We are flying into SNA and out of SFO this July. We used three FF tickets and purchased two. The airfare wasn't anymore than flying in and out of the same airport. We are staying in Anaheim 3 days, going to visit friends in San Diego for 4 days and then driving to San Francisco with a couple of stops along the way. If you do drive from SF to DL you could plan a couple of stops to see other sights. We are going to see the Giant Sequoia's , Santa Barbara and Monterray.

 

[harleyquinn]

Thanks everyone! You've been really helpful. Now cross your fingers that everything goes through and I end up at DL sometime this summer!