Southern California Help with itinerary - don't know where to start!

[elphaba91]

I'm starting to plan our trip from Australia for November/December 2014...I know, it's early, but I'm really excited! It'll be my Mum, my sister (who will be 20) and me (23).

The plan thus far is to arrive at some stage on Saturday 22 November (I figure that after such a long flight it's probably not worth arriving until around/after check-in time but could possibly do something relaxed that evening) and fly out on Sunday 7 December in the evening. We will be getting 10 day DLR park hoppers and I think definitely doing the parks Sunday 30 November to Sunday 7 December (not necessarily for full days). We will also be there over Thanksgiving, so I was thinking we may go to Disneyland that day too, as I know we can get a turkey dinner there!

So that leaves about a week open. What would everyone suggest we do?
Our must-dos at the moment are:
- San Diego Zoo
- LA/Hollywood tour
- Studio tour (leaning towards WB)
- Ellen taping (this is my sister's...I know it's a long shot!)

Our maybe-dos are:
- Universal Studios (not sure about another theme park)
- Legoland (ditto)
- Sea World (ditto, plus our family had APs to the Gold Coast version when we were really young, but neither my sister nor I can remember it, although my Mum definitely can)
- Venice Beach and/or Santa Monica Pier (one or both?)
- Vegas plus Grand Canyon (worth it for the time plus expense?)

So what would you include or exclude from those lists (or stuff that's not on the lists!)? Would you suggest we stay in San Diego and/or LA for a couple of nights, or would day trips suffice? Any advice would be appreciated at this stage!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Good for you for starting your planning early! It will help you do lots of research to fine tune your trip to what will work best for the 3 of you. First off, do you have any travel books? If not, start reading a few (we like the Lonely Planet guidebooks and Fodors, to give 2 examples) to get a big picture view of what interests you (make a list for each person to see what overlaps) and what the top priorities are for each person. That will give you some kind a framework for planning your itinerary.
As for your list:
The San Diego Zoo is a very good one -- it is large, so give yourself time to enjoy the exhibits. Also, most animals are most active in the early morning and at night, so you might not want to choose to tour mid-day when many animals will be snoozing. Check the zoo's website to see if there are any special packages available -- like a special tour that allows you to feed some animals, etc. The SD Zoo's sister property is The San Diego Wild Animal Park in Escondido. They offer photo safaris which allow you closer access to certain exhibits and animals (we got to hand feed giraffes, rhinos, and ostriches). We haven't been to the Wild Animal Park in a while, so maybe someone who has been there recently will chime in with feedback.
The Warner Bros. Studio tour is supposed to be a good one. You should enjoy that.
Tickets to the Ellen Show are hard to come by. Have some back up choices for tapings.
Universal Studios Hollywood is not your standard theme park, since it is a real working studio. The backlot tour is fun and interesting, but if you will be doing the WB studio tour, perhaps you won't need to do USH, too. Just a thought here, have you looked at the Adventures by Disney tour "Disney Backstage, Hollywood and Disneyland"? http://www.adventuresbydisney.com/north-america/southern-california-vacations/
Legoland is really best suited for small kids. It is expensive for the limited offerings.
Sea World San Diego is interesting, but I've heard responses from friends who are used to other Sea World locations that they think the San Diego park is "small" and doesn't have enough rides. What they don't understand is that the San Diego park is very restricted by the California Coastal Commission on what they can and can't do that might affect the coastline and the wildlife there. So don't expect lots of thrill rides, etc.
Venice Beach and the Santa Monica pier are close to each other and could easily be done in one day/afternoon.
Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon are really up to you -- again, get some good guidebooks to do some research to see if these are good fits for you.
Be sure to make your reservations for Thanksgiving dinner early! We like dinner at the Napa Rose (special menu, not the regular menu), but many people really like the character buffet at the Disneyland Hotel.
Hope this helps!

 

[SMD]

I have some advice for the Ellen taping. Make sure you request your tickets for November, as they do the 12 Days giveaways starting in December and those tickets are by lottery or reserved for people who won them at previous tapings. For the non-12 Days shows they have same day standby tickets which you might be able to get by calling the number on their site early in the morning. One thing you can try, is when you're on the WB tour is to ask if they can help you get same day standby tickets. Of course, the best chance to get in is to request tickets through the regular process. You could also try posting the show's social media sites when they go back into production later this summer. Normally it probably wouldn't work, but you are coming all the way from Australia, so maybe.

 

[elphaba91]

Thanks for the advice! Keep the suggestions coming - especially suggestions for extra things to include in our agenda.

First off, do you have any travel books? If not, start reading a few (we like the Lonely Planet guidebooks and Fodors, to give 2 examples) to get a big picture view of what interests you (make a list for each person to see what overlaps) and what the top priorities are for each person.

Excellent idea...unfortunately we will probably have to wait for Christmas for any guide books (Mum won't know we're going until then), but I will definitely buy her at least one!

Tickets to the Ellen Show are hard to come by. Have some back up choices for tapings.

Any suggestions for what might be easier to see? I suggested Conan and The Late Late Show to my sister. Her reply? 'I'm not sure who they are. As long as we DON'T see the red-haired guy or the guy with the robot skeleton and rabbit puppet, then that's fine.' I will definitely try SMD's tips too though!

Universal Studios Hollywood is not your standard theme park, since it is a real working studio. The backlot tour is fun and interesting, but if you will be doing the WB studio tour, perhaps you won't need to do USH, too.

For those who've done both WB and USH, which would you suggest? If they had the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, there would be no question about it! Considering that we will have plenty of theme park time at Disney and due to the costs, I'm leaning more towards WB at the moment. Plus, the website seems to place quite a bit of emphasis on the King Kong 3D thing, and as we currently have the brilliant King Kong the musical in Melbourne at the moment (complete with an extraordinary 6 foot, 1.1. tonne gorilla puppet) I don't know that any of us would really appreciate a 3D movie version instead!

 

[zanzibar138]

I'm starting to plan our trip from Australia for November/December 2014...I know, it's early, but I'm really excited! It'll be my Mum, my sister (who will be 20) and me (23).

Congrats on your upcoming trip! Don't worry, I have been planning my September 2014 trip for over a year already

The plan thus far is to arrive at some stage on Saturday 22 November (I figure that after such a long flight it's probably not worth arriving until around/after check-in time but could possibly do something relaxed that evening) and fly out on Sunday 7 December in the evening.

As far as I know, most direct flights Melbourne - LA land at LAX first thing in the morning, so you may not have much choice about when you arrive. If you're concerned though, you can probably contact your hotel to ask about an early check in

We will be getting 10 day DLR park hoppers and I think definitely doing the parks Sunday 30 November to Sunday 7 December (not necessarily for full days). We will also be there over Thanksgiving, so I was thinking we may go to Disneyland that day too, as I know we can get a turkey dinner there!

How exciting!

So that leaves about a week open. What would everyone suggest we do?
Our must-dos at the moment are:
- San Diego Zoo
- LA/Hollywood tour
- Studio tour (leaning towards WB)
- Ellen taping (this is my sister's...I know it's a long shot!)

Our maybe-dos are:
- Universal Studios (not sure about another theme park)
- Legoland (ditto)
- Sea World (ditto, plus our family had APs to the Gold Coast version when we were really young, but neither my sister nor I can remember it, although my Mum definitely can)
- Venice Beach and/or Santa Monica Pier (one or both?)
- Vegas plus Grand Canyon (worth it for the time plus expense?)

So what would you include or exclude from those lists (or stuff that's not on the lists!)? Would you suggest we stay in San Diego and/or LA for a couple of nights, or would day trips suffice? Any advice would be appreciated at this stage!

From what I've heard about Legoland it's really more of a kid thing, so probably not worth visiting for 3 adults. Universal Studios was fun, but we got bored there by mid-afternoon, and were wanting to get back to Disneyland (but we couldn't because we were on a tour)! It's not dissimilar in theming and atmosphere to our Movieworld (in fact, even has the same Shrek movie). If you're doing the WB Tour (which I've only read good things about), then it might not be worth it. Oh, and the King Kong thing is really not a big deal - it's just a very small part of the studio tour. It's pretty cool effects though - really feels like you're right there in the movie, unlike the stage show.

With the Ellen Show, is it just that show that your sister is interested in, or attending a taping in general? If it's specifically an Ellen show she's interested, going to another random taping might not do anything for her. TBH though I really don't know how these things work.

If you've got a few days worth of stuff to do in San Diego, it's probably worth staying down there for a few nights - I believe it's quite a hike from Anaheim. If you're interested in Seaworld, don't let the fact that you've been to the one at the Gold Coast stop you. As far as I know, there is no affiliation between the two, and you'll have a heaps different experience as an adult. In San Diego they have the whale too!

I personally wouldn't bother with the Grand Canyon unless you've got time to actually do something there. It really is amazing, but if you're just looking at it from a viewpoint, the novelty wears off after about 5 minutes. And it's a LONG drive for 5 minutes worth of looking Get down the bottom if you can - it's a whole new perspective.

I found Vegas quite weird. At the time I didn't like it (it was crowded and loud and very out of my comfort zone!), but now I want to go back We only spent a night though and I don't think it was enough time to get past the deer in the headlights stage (for me anyway). Also I would suggest going before Disney - going afterwards just made it look tackier.

I think I'll finish my essay there Feel free to ask about anything you want an Aussie perspective on

 

[ncc1701]

I would stay a night or 2 in San Diego if you want to do the Zoo and/or Sea World. It is a 90 min. or so drive each way from DL to San Diego.(based on our vacations where stayed in SD and then went to Huntington Beach which is 30 mins. or so west of DL).
Since you are going around a US holiday check out the Ellen tapings as soon as they become available on the website. It is possible they may not be shooting for part of the time you are there.
The Grand Canyon is beautiful but a good distance from where you are going so I argee with a previous poster to drop it.
We enjoy going to Vegas every couple of years to relax and see some shows but for the same time it would take to do Vegas you could go to San Francisco.