High level Southern California Itinerary - Feedback?

[zeferjen]

Hi Everyone - we will be traveling to the LA area Aug 25-Sept 4 from NJ. It will be me, dh, and dd5, ds4. We will be staying with family in Longbeach. Family is my cousin, her dh, and their ds1. Primary purpose for the trip is to see family and also sight-see in the area. Dh and I have been to San Diego ages ago pre-kids, but never to LA.

Can you provide feedback on this high-level itinerary?

Sat, Aug 25 Arrive at 12:10. Probably get to Anna's by 2pm.
Sun, Aug 26 Santa Monica Pier
Mon, Aug 27 Disneyland (we have a one-night reservation at VGC)
Tues, Aug 28 California Adventure
Wed, Aug 29, 2012 Griffith Park, Labrea Tar Pits, Famers Market
Thurs, Aug 30, 2012 Universal Studios (?)
Fri, Aug 31, 2012 Hollywood
Sat, Sept 01, 2012 San Diego Zoo (?)
Sun, Sept 02, 2012 Sequoia National Park (?)
Mon, Sept 03, 2012 The Getty Center (?)

Thanks in advance!

 

[cgh]

That just sounds very exhausting. There will be large car rides with some of these activities plus of course the exhaustion of the activity itself. (ie. San Diego Zoo). I would probably say prioritizing what you really want to do and give more 'down' days or slow drive days. (maybe a beach day in the middle somewhere)

 

[zeferjen]

That just sounds very exhausting. There will be large car rides with some of these activities plus of course the exhaustion of the activity itself. (ie. San Diego Zoo). I would probably say prioritizing what you really want to do and give more 'down' days or slow drive days. (maybe a beach day in the middle somewhere)

So those with the question marks are the lower priority items. I could take or leave any of them. What are people's thoughts on those or other 'must see' areas?

 

[bakerudall]

I guess this all depends on how good of road warriors your children are. My family would do okay with this because my kids always take naps in the car and are pretty adventurous when awake.

Looking at your schedule, I would probably put Hollywood and SM Pier on the same day. This will free up one more day for DL, allowing you to buy 3-day park hoppers for not much more money and get a magic morning.

I would also eliminate Sequioa and spend one night in San Diego if you can afford it. Use the saved gas money on Sea World tickets and the extra time to visit a couple of the beautiful beaches down there.

I would plan a future trip to Yosemite when the kids are a little older. Then you could hit Sequoia while you are in the area.

Have fun on your trip!

 

[GrandBob]

Agree with the others.

1. There's no way that Sequoia belongs on this trip, unless you want to go stay there for a couple of nights, rejiggering the rest of your schedule. Long Beach to Sequoia is 5 hours each way. You'll spend the entire day on the road, and will see nothing.

2. Hollywood doesn't require a day. It can be combined with one of the other days. Combine it with either the Griffith Park/La Brea day, or with the Getty Center day.

3. If you've been to Universal Orlando, you may want to skip Universal Hollywood. If not, you may want to leave it.

4. All of the above is to make room for 4 days at DLR. Two days doesn't give you more than a little taste of it. Three days is a bare minimum, but 4 is better. Oh, and stop thinking about which days for which park. That's WDW thinking, where you have to take busses. Hop, hop, hop! The parks are right across from each other. Think of DCA as just another land at DL.

 

[zeferjen]

Thanks for the feedback! Here is a slightly revised schedule:

Sat, 25 Aug Arrive at 12:10. Probably get to Anna's by 2pm. Relax
Sun, 26 Aug Santa Monica Pier
Mon, 27 Aug Disneyland / California Adventure (one night reserved at VGC)
Tue, 28 Aug Disneyland / California Adventure
Wed, 29 Aug Griffith Park, Labrea Tar Pits, Famers Market
Thu, 30 Aug Relaxing day / beach
Fri, 31 Aug Return to Disneyland
Sat, 1 Sep San Diego Zoo (?)
Sun, 2 Sep Relaxing day / beach
Mon, 3 Sep The Getty Center/Hollywood

Any other thoughts?

 

[Boston Tea Party]

Agree with the others.

Think of DCA as just another land at DL.

Yep. Californialand.

We were there recently and it took us two hours to get from Hollywood to Anaheim. The traffic is unreal. And I live in Houston.

Hope y'all have a great trip.

 

[zeferjen]

Thanks! Really looking forward to a new adventure!

 

[cgh]

Activities are largely dependent on what your families interests are. The San Diego zoo is very nice, large, and has pandas. Last year, we made a point of going because DS was into pandas. It's further away from everything else, so I paired it with other things (train museum, lego land). For me, I wanted to be there and not be spending too much time driving all around.

I'm not from LA (just read a lot last year when we planned a southern california trip) but isn't there a farmer's market in Santa Monica? Could you see about hitting that? What about the long beach aquarium since that's where you're staying? (it's supposed to be really nice)

I think you could also have a general plan, with a few different options jotted down and go from there. That way you can either do something high activity or low-branch out or stay close.

 

[Lissame]

Due to the ages of your kids--I am not sure you'll really want to do the Hollywood/Getty Center day. Since you'll be driving to LA on Wed for the Griffith Park, etc. day, by that point you'll probably be fed up with driving and decide to forego the trek back to see those other things. You really could combine the Hollywood type sights on that first day. The La Brea Tar Pits aren't too far from the Chinese Theater and the Walk of Fame type sights and would be worth combining into one longer day rather than making that huge drive twice. Maybe your kids are really interested in museums and I'm just thinking of my kids at ages 5 and 4, but mine would not have cared much for that.

IMO going to Lego Land would be more fun for the kids, but I'd do that on a weekend day to save driving in so much traffic.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Do you have a nice zoo near you? We visited the San Diego Zoo in 2009, it was OK, we really enjoyed the koalas and pandas but other then that what we have in Salt Lake is just fine IMO - SDZ is very hilly. Legoland is fun, do you have boys? Well, my DD enjoyed it when we last visited LL - she was barely 6 then.

ETA - I see you have a boy *4* - he should really love LL.

 

[zeferjen]

Do you have a nice zoo near you? We visited the San Diego Zoo in 2009, it was OK, we really enjoyed the koalas and pandas but other then that what we have in Salt Lake is just fine IMO - SDZ is very hilly. Legoland is fun, do you have boys? Well, my DD enjoyed it when we last visited LL - she was barely 6 then.

ETA - I see you have a boy *4* - he should really love LL.

Thanks so much. It sounds like we should replace the Zoo with Legoland. We are members at the Philadelphia Zoo. although we don't have pandas, which I love, I think the kids would enjoy the legos.

 

[Mugglemama]

Not sure if this bit of opinion is helpful to you at all...but you'll be paying $27 for your family to get into the La Brea Tar Pits, + parking. It's a hassle to get down there, a hassle to park, and the museum really might not be that stimulating for a 4 and 5 year old.

I grew up going there...and I like it because I have fun memories there with my parents...but when I took my oldest daughter when she was 4, I felt strongly that it hadn't been worth the trouble (or cost, even though the cost is pretty minimal). That daughter is now 20 and we've never been back, because I'm waiting for all of my kids to be old enough to make the trip worth the trouble. They're all old enough to really get something out of it now (my youngest is 7).

If it were me, and I were in your shoes...honestly...I'd ditch the LBTP and just add the aquarium to the LL visit (there is an aquarium associated with LL). The cost to add the aquarium to your LL tix is minimal - definitely cheaper than visiting, say, the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach which is like $30 per adult and almost $20 per kid (although we have been to AOTP and we loved it).

If you're REALLY itching for a natural-history-museum excursion, consider the LA museum of natural history (not far from LBTP)...it's fantastic, they'll have quite a bit of the info and animal specimens as the Page Museum at LBTP anyway, and it probably costs a little less, too. Plus, they have the dinosaur hall now.

And, I'm not sure what your personal reason is for visiting Griffith Park (is it for Disney's barn?), but personally, I would never go through the trouble to go all the way there without going into the observatory. If interested, check the observatory's website for parking info and hours (it's free to go in - and much more worth the drive you're already doing to get to the park, IMHO).

Also, not sure how you're getting to the Getty (sounds like you're driving?), but I believe you have to make reservations for parking ahead of time, so if you weren't already aware of that and haven't already done it, be sure to do it ASAP to get your date.

Have a great time on your trip!