*Help with Planning?*

[yupikgal]

I need help planning our trip please??

The travelers:
Me, the planning queen (in my 40's)
DH, goes along with anything I book, just shows up at airport (40's)
DD, 18, loves to read, loves history, Harry Potter, Disney, animals
DS, 15, loves video games, skateboarding, snowboarding, baseball, girls

Ok, here's what I've done so far. I bought our airline tickets, we get to Orange County (John Wayne airport) May 26th and leave from that airport June 10th. So we have two weeks in the area, and for sure we are doing Disney. Last year we went a week before the time we will be there this year, so we went to Disney immediately, since it wasn't a busy time. This year, we get there on a Thursday (early a.m.) and will be there over the busy Memorial Day weekend. Do you suggest that we do something else over the weekend and then do Disney starting Tuesday after Mem. Day? We would like to do 5 days at Disney again, I'm hoping they come out with the "buy 3, get 2 free" deal again.

I have been considering booking a couple of nights in the Hearst Castle area, my family has never been and it has been years since I've been. We would either do Amtrak or drive ourselves, although we don't feel comfortable driving there. Another option is going to San Diego, or to stay near/at the beach, (Laguna, Newport, Huntington, Santa Monica?) We want to do Universal, but I prefer not to do it back to back with Disney, too much park time...wouldn't mind either Catalina or Queen Mary either, haven't done the latter, husband and I went to Catalina YEARS ago.

Any and all suggestions welcome! Thanks! Kelly

 

[Flitterific]

Hi yupikgal! I won't be able to answer your questions but I am going to pose some questions in hopes that it will help others answer yours. Do you have a preference for whether you do 5 continuous days at DLR or break them up into trips? I have heard that sometimes people get tired of doing 5 continuous days at the parks and are not as excited after the 3rd day. If you think that this may be the case for you and your family, you may want to consider breaking your trip up and traveling nearby.

Some things to consider:
~ if you want to stay in the same hotel or at least try to avoid changing hotels too often
~ if you will have a car (San Diego is a 1.5-2 hour drive away, Santa Monica/LA of course is a lot closer...)
~ what are your reasons for traveling (i.e. site-seeing, beaches, shopping)

P.S. Sherry E. has been to Catalina many times so you may want to ask her about the island (or maybe she'll stumble upon your thread if you are lucky). Good luck planning!

 

[yupikgal]

No, I don't think my family would care if we split it, we actually did that last year! Mainly because our kids LOVE Splash Mountain, and it was going to be closed until the following weekend, so we did 3 days initially, went to Vegas, then back to Disney for 2 more nights. I'll have to discuss it with them to see what they think...we have also done it for 5 days in a row, and they didn't seem to mind, but I think I remember being a little tired after the first 3 like you were saying, so good point!

As far as changing hotels, we stayed in 5 different ones the last trip, it sounds like a lot, but it really wasn't so bad! If we go to San Diego again, we would most likely take Amtrak again, actually. We enjoy it, it's very relaxing.

Reason for traveling? D, all the above! It's all vacation, no working, so beaches, sightseeing, parks, a little bit of everything! A little bit of shopping, but the taxes are so high there (we don't have a state tax, and very little city tax) that if there is the same store in Alaska, we skip it there! We also love to try new restaurants or old favorites!!

Thank you and hope to get more suggestions/replies!

 

[kailuagirl]

sounds like a fun crew! I'm not sure, but I would think going after memorial day weekend would be less crowded, but I'm sure other's will know for sure. Where are you guys staying? It is very easy to get around So. Cal, but traffic can be a nightmare sometimes so watch your travel times I've learned.

 

[yupikgal]

kailuagirl, not sure where we are staying right now! Still trying to figure that part out...so much to plan, so little time! Actually, I love the preparation/planning part...

 

[GrandBob]

Hi yupikgal,

A few comments about Hearst Castle.

First, it's beautiful. A great place to see how old American royalty used to live.

But you don't need a couple of days to visit. Most of the tours are under 2 hrs. You could easily book one, two, or possibly even 3 tours the same day, and have your fill. OTOH, if you'd like to visit nearby beaches, you could make a couple of days out of it. One suggestion would be to stay in Morro Bay or even Pismo Beach, and drive up to San Simeon for the day (about an hour), but spend the rest of your time in a beach town.

Which brings up a third point. Amtrak doesn't go to San Simeon. The closest you can get is San Luis Obispo, about an hour away by car. But I'll bet you can find some bus tours, like Gray Line or similar, to go from SLO, Morro, or Pismo. Or even from Anaheim, though that's a long ways, and would be a very long day.

HTH,
Bob

ETA - check out http://www.hearstcastle.com/
Make sure you make reservations well in advance.