Help with trip to Disneyland and LA or SD

[rnorwo1]

Hi,
We are planning on a trip to DL next March. It's a long and expensive flight for us, so I was hoping to make the most of it by adding another part of CA to it. My initial plan was to fly into SD, then either drive or take an amtrak to anaheim and fly out of Santa Ana. However, flights are so much more expensive to SD that I decided we would fly in and out of LA and just spend a day and a half there before heading to Anaheim... this is definitely more economical b/c of flights and reduced hotel nights, but I just can't get as excited about LA. So now I'm thinking we will fly in and out of LAX but just go on and drive to SD for a few days then drive back to Anaheim, but I don't want the trip to become stressful with lots of travel. We only have 7 days. It also seems that as I look at the cheaper flights/airports, costs add up elsewhere (rental cars, additional hotel nights, etc...) although that's hard to gauge right now b/c hopefully I'll get a great deal on hotels and rental car closer to the date.

I was hoping that others who have added either city (or even a different one, I'm totally open.... have even considered as far as Las Vegas) to your DL trip could share your itinerary? Where you flew in and out of, etc? Our kids are 12,7, and 4 if that helps.
Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[DawnM]

I usually fly in and out of LAX, but I also have flown in and out of Burbank and Ontario (we lived in LA for a long time.)

However, I have friends who are originally from OC and they always try to fly in and out of John Wayne.

If you want to be more relaxed, I would stick to just the LA area. The truth is, LA driving/SoCal driving can be stressful, particularly if you aren't used to it or you aren't familiar with the area.

What will you be doing in SD?

Dawn

 

[rnorwo1]

In SD we'd like to see Midway, Cabrillo, the zoo, La Jolla and Torrey Pines. In LA I thought we'd go to the observatory, walK of fame, the tar pits and the science center. I think we will enjoy all of this in LA but none of it is really exciting to me now. LA is definitely the more responsible option
Though

 

[tzeitel]

You should post in the Disneyland boards - lots of great advice on traveling on the West coast.

We did DLR a couple of years ago and did a 1 day trip to SD to go to Sea World. Flew into SNA (Santa Ana/John Wayne Airport) and rented a car (super cheap through Costco).

This past April we did San Diego for 4 days. Went to SW and the Zoo plus tons of cool places to eat There is tons of stuff to do in SD - we will definitely go back since we did not do half of what we wanted. You can see some of our trip on my mini-trip report (see the link below ).

 

[DawnM]

Do you plan to do all of that and DL in just 7 days?

In SD we'd like to see Midway, Cabrillo, the zoo, La Jolla and Torrey Pines. In LA I thought we'd go to the observatory, walK of fame, the tar pits and the science center. I think we will enjoy all of this in LA but none of it is really exciting to me now. LA is definitely the more responsible option
Though

 

[stacy~**]

Last month we did 3 days in LA and 5 (park) days at DL. I just started a trip report and the LA stuff will be up first if you want to read along the link is in my signature.

We did Griffith Observatory, Santa Monica/Venice Beach, Tar Pits, Beverly Hills, Warner Brother Tour, and Walk of Fame area. We had a great time and were really able to cover alot of things in 3 days without being rushed. The only thing we didn't do that I had hoped was the Getty Musuem.

We flew in and out of Burbank. Not super convient but the "deal" we got ended up being worth it and thankfully we got pretty lucky with traffic.

I adore Disneyland...have fun planning!!

 

[nunzia]

You could fly into LA, take the Fly Away to AMTRAK, and take the train to SD. There are great hotels in very close walking distance to the SD AMTRAK that are right on the bay, and the Midway is very very close to the SD AMTRAK station. There are city tours for SD that I'm sure could work out. Then you could take the train to Anaheim and a cab to the park/your hotel. There are city tour buses in LA but don't know much about them. I don't know if I'd want to do that much driving as one of your options would require, but things are workable if you use AMTRAK. To depart you can easily take a shuttle to airport or work around AMTRAK schedules, but shuttles to the airport from Anaheim are pretty easy.

 

[cheap traveler]

I am only in the beginning stages of my California planning for next February, but the trip started with my kid's desire to see the Grand Canyon.

Original plan was fly to Phoenix, drive to Grand Canyon, drive to Cali.

New plan, due to cheaper flights, hotels, and rental cars, is fly to Las Vegas, drive to Grand Canyon, drive to Cali.

This will allow us to see the sights of Vegas (I don't gamble so just the lights will be enough), see the Grand Canyon, and spend a few days in Cali.

We plan to go to Disneyland for 2 days, and we are going to skip all the other theme parks (so far). I want to visit an area beach, and my girls want to see the Hollywood sign.

I have 6 months to go, and I feel like I need an extra year!!

 

[taaren]

If you really want to see San Diego, I second the vote for using Amtrak. Its a lovely 2 hour train ride, really painless. We like to stay in Old Town when we're there, so many great Mexican restaurants and most of the hotels there have free shuttles to the zoo/Sea World/etc. For us its usually been about $20/person each way from Anaheim to SD. Cheaper than a shuttle van or renting a car if you've only got a few people.

Its only a 5 hour drive for us but I detest driving in SoCal because the drivers there are crazy (DH loves it, so he drives if we're travelling together).

Btw, if you have more questions under the Disneyland board there's a SoCal Community board ...

 

[rnorwo1]

Thanks for all of your responses!

Dawn, we were planning on 3 days in DL and 4 days in SD. I think the crowds should be lower in DL b/c it's several weeks before the spring break crowds should start... if we need to we can extend it to a 4th day. If we just stick with LA, then we will do only 2 days there. It will definitely be SD OR LA, not both.

I have posted quite a bit in the So Cal forums, I was just hoping to get a budget tip regarding where to fly or adjusting the itinerary to save on the airfare/rental car/travelling. tzeitel and Stacy I've read/am in the process of reading both of your reports, very helpful!!!

I am obsessively checking the flights and the points vary daily, although the cash price doesn't vary ... SNA is now very close in points price to LAX, so that may tip the scale in favor of SD. I only have enough RR for a few of the tickets, so the lower they go perhaps I can get another one with points. The Amtrak info is great, thanks! I'm also going to look into the LV/Grand Canyon option since Grand Canyon is definitely a bucket list trip, but I suspect that may be way too much time travelling for this week.

I would also like another year to plan, this has been a difficult trip to plan! If we had unlimited funds it wouldn't be, but alas...
Thanks again!!

 

[goingtowdwwithkiddos]

when are you coming our kids are on spring break march 17-28. I live about 45 min from DL

I personally prefer the la zoo over SD there is alos the aquarium of the pacific if you decide not to go to SD

 

[rnorwo1]

when are you coming our kids are on spring break march 17-28. I live about 45 min from DL

I personally prefer the la zoo over SD there is alos the aquarium of the pacific if you decide not to go to SD

March 1st... Our kids are out for the week for Mardi Gras.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Traffic is LA is horrendous all hours of the day. I was at DL last month and had forgotten how bad the traffic is; I also drove to SD. Forget about the Grand Canyon side trip; it's much too far away. Las Vegas is also not worth the trip. While I prefer SD to LA (I'm an SD native!), for a 7 day trip I'd stick to the LA area, especially assuming that 2 of these days will be taken up by your flight to and from CA. There's plenty to do in the LA area. I suggest you get a good guidebook and start planning.

I personally prefer the la zoo over SD

NO

There is no comparison. The SD Zoo is far superior to LA.

 

[rnorwo1]

Traffic is LA is horrendous all hours of the day. I was at DL last month and had forgotten how bad the traffic is; I also drove to SD. Forget about the Grand Canyon side trip; it's much too far away. Las Vegas is also not worth the trip. While I prefer SD to LA (I'm an SD native!), for a 7 day trip I'd stick to the LA area, especially assuming that 2 of these days will be taken up by your flight to and from CA. There's plenty to do in the LA area. I suggest you get a good guidebook and start planning.

I personally prefer the la zoo over SD

NO

There is no comparison. The SD Zoo is far superior to LA.

Unless the SD airport rates drop considerably, this is what we will do. I'm sure we will enjoy these things in LA, it just isn't what I had planned I have some time to get used to it though, I'm sure ill get more excited. Thanks again for all the tips!

 

[goingtowdwwithkiddos]

I personally prefer the la zoo over SD

NO

There is no comparison. The SD Zoo is far superior to LA.[/QUOTE]

I agree no comparison, but my kiddos prefer to walk (sd you pretty much have to ride the bus IMO). We do prefer la zoo but 1st choice would be the sd wild animal park.