How Necessary is a Car?

[ejko]

Planning a June 2016 trip from Sunday to Saturday with 5 adults and four kids (10 - 13). I know I can hire transportation from/to the airport and our Anaheim Hotel. One day I think we'll take an LA tour using one of the tour companies. On another day, I'd like to take the group to San Diego. I'm thinking we'd visit the Midway, Coronado Island, Seaport Village and perhaps Old Town. Maybe also the cove at La Jolla to let the kids see the sea lions. So a few questions:

• Is it possible to do this via a tour, or am I better off renting a vehicle? Keep in mind I have 9 people, so I would need to rent a van.
• Is this even achievable in one day?
• Any other options I should consider?

Thanks!

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

The San Diego part seems overly ambitious to me. Count on a 90 minute drive each direction with no traffic, and in my experience, no traffic down that way is rare. I would highly recommend the Midway tour. We spent at least 3 hours on that experience alone when we visited. Seaport Village is certainly close enough to work in. I haven't been to Coronado. Old Town is in a whole different area and is very interesting as well but also deserves to have a good amount of time devoted to it. La Jolla is a whole different town, 20 minutes away if I'm remembering correctly. You really need a car and more time to explore all of those things.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

The L.A. Tour should be fairly easy to book. There are a few companies that will pick you up at your hotel and take you to a central facility. From there, you get on the tour bus to your destination.

The San Diego portion might be a little more difficult, since you have specific destinations in mind. Depending on how much time you plan to spend in each place, it would make for a long day (keeping in mind that San Diego is about a 90 mile drive from Anaheim and you may hit some heavy traffic along the way). There are car rental facilities around Disneyland. I would recommend renting two cars for your day in San Diego. Pick them up the night before and leave from your hotel early in the morning. I would think that a large van would be harder to come by, be more difficult to park, etc. Two cars to hold four and five would be much easier to find. Then you'll want to map out your route, look at distances between attractions and work out a schedule for the day.

 

[bumbershoot]

Is this even achievable in one day?

I say no.

Looking at a map, you will see how far apart LA and Anaheim are from each other, and then how much further San Diego is. Doing both on the same day sounds like torture to me.

Parking in La Jolla is hard, by the way. My brother goes there semi-often and still can't always find easy parking there.

 

[VandVsmama]

Planning a June 2016 trip from Sunday to Saturday with 5 adults and four kids (10 - 13). I know I can hire transportation from/to the airport and our Anaheim Hotel. One day I think we'll take an LA tour using one of the tour companies. On another day, I'd like to take the group to San Diego. I'm thinking we'd visit the Midway, Coronado Island, Seaport Village and perhaps Old Town. Maybe also the cove at La Jolla to let the kids see the sea lions. So a few questions:

• Is it possible to do this via a tour, or am I better off renting a vehicle? Keep in mind I have 9 people, so I would need to rent a van.
• Is this even achievable in one day?
• Any other options I should consider?

Thanks!

You can do some of these, but not all of them. For 9 people, you'd need a good sized passenger van or rent 2 cars. So consider some of these configurations...keep in mind that you should also consider travel times if you're going to be on the road at rush hour.

• visit the Midway and Seaport Village. See sea lions at the cove in La Jolla on the way back to Anaheim.
• Midway in the morning. Old Town for lunch & shopping after lunch. Sea lions on La Jolla on way back to Anaheim
• Midway in the morning. Coronado Island afterwards. See the Hotel del Coronado. Maybe pack a lunch or stop to get some sandwiches and eat them on the beach at Silver Strand State Beach. Skip La Jolla, Seaport Village, and Old Town.

 

[ejko]

Wow! Thanks for these great insights. So perhaps a more feasible San Diego itinerary would be to visit the San Diego waterfront/Midway tour and then take the ferry to Coronado Island for lunch. If we took the ferry, are the Coronado sights (hotel, shops for my wife and daughters, beach) all within walking distance from the ferry dock? Also, I was reminded that you can see sea lions on the San Diego waterfront, so maybe the cove visit isn't necessary? Maybe it's best not to head back to Anaheim until after the rush hour? Leave San Diego at 6:00, or later?

 

[wanderlust7]

Wow! Thanks for these great insights. So perhaps a more feasible San Diego itinerary would be to visit the San Diego waterfront/Midway tour and then take the ferry to Coronado Island for lunch. If we took the ferry, are the Coronado sights (hotel, shops for my wife and daughters, beach) all within walking distance from the ferry dock? Also, I was reminded that you can see sea lions on the San Diego waterfront, so maybe the cove visit isn't necessary? Maybe it's best not to head back to Anaheim until after the rush hour? Leave San Diego at 6:00, or later?

You can drive to Coronado Island - there's a bridge. Seems more time efficient than taking the ferry. There are restaurants and shops near the ferry landing, but the Hotel del Coronado is on the other side, Google map says it would take 30 minutes to walk over.

 

[Micahisgood54]

yeah you are brave to want to get this done you will spend more time in the car then having fun! which is no fun especially for kids!

 

[ejko]

OK, this idea is starting to lose its appeal; I don't want a fun day to end up a bad experience with everyone overtired and cranky from trying to do much in one day. If I want to try to give the grandkids the chance to see the beach and my wife and daughters the chance to shop in a quaint setting, are there any options closer to Anaheim? Never been to this part of California, so I'm in the dark. Would Santa Monica be an option? Others?

 

[SMD]

To me the most interesting part of Coronado is the Del and the shops on Orange immediately north of the Del, which would be about a mile and a half walk each way to/from the ferry. It would be farther to walk to the beach, which would be part of the reason to go to Coronado. There is a bus that runs down Orange, but the schedule is pretty limited, so make sure it would work for you. The only thing near the ferry I ever go to since the carousel closed is Peohe's, and I drive there because it's much faster. If you really want to do SD I'd recommend spending a night there. Maybe look into flying into or out of SD. Also, I think the 3 hours at the Midway would be pretty boring for kids. Especially with so many other things in SD that are more kid oriented.

 

[Mama Mia]

If you want to do everything you could but it will be a long day. Maybe you need to just stay for one night in San Diego so that you will not be so rushed.

 

[VandVsmama]

You need a car. Don't rely on public transportation. Rent 2 cars and the people who want to shop...go shopping in Seaport Village or Old Town. Meanwhile, 2 of the adults take the kids to the beach using the other car.

The Midway museum is something that everybody should experience once. It's important from a historical perspective, so I vote for taking everybody, kids included, to that in the morning. Then everybody has lunch together. Then the ladies go shopping while the gentlemen take the kids to the beach. Meet up for dinner at Seaport Village or Old Town and then drive back to Anaheim.

 

[ejko]

Thanks all for the great advice!!! Really helps.