Instead of Disneyland and other....

[mommytotwo]

amusement parks, where would you suggest we go in the Anaheim/ L.A. area? Our daughter will be 20 months old and we are already planning on going to the L.A. zoo. I posted before that I wanted to go to an orchard to pick fruits, but still haven't found anything-so if you have info. on that, it would be greatly appreciated. If you could also put the distance from L.A.-(Beverly Hills) to the location you are talking about that would really help us since we don't know California at all.

 

[exDS vet]

Sightseeing can be a lot of fun in SoCal. Just touring through Beverly Hills and seeing the star's homes is great. You might also want to check out Hollywood Blvd. I recommend Universal Studios, because it's not like an amusement park. There's lots of things to do there. CityWalk is free, but it's full of restaurants and shops. The park itself has some great shows and the tour is worth the admission price alone. It's very close to the Bev. Hills area.

If you want to travel about 90 minutes south, the town of Carlsbad usually has their annual "Flower Fields" event during the spring. It's a pretty big event that you might want to see.

Hope this helps you a bit.

 

[mommytotwo]

Thanks exDSvet. The flower fields does sound like something I would be interested in seeing.
Have you been to China town or Japan Town there?

 

[almostGoofy]

Your daughter might like the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. They have four different climates so that allows them to have fish from different parts of the world. Not as big as the Monterey aquarium but it's still a very nice aquarium.

A visit to Jones Mini-Farm would be perfect for a 20 month old. That's in San Juan Capistrano, about a 30 - 35 mins. drive southwest of Anaheim. Pony rides, feeding farm animals. My kids like the corral/pen where the bunnies and guiena (sp?) pigs run around. You can enter the pen and pick them up. They also have a little train ride too. It's in a fairly small, compact area. In walking distance of that is the mission:something probably more of interest to you than a toddler if you like historical stuff. The mini farm is worth 1/2 - 1 hour of your time so if you're not interested in the mission, it may not be worth it to you to drive there.

An alternative is Irvine Regional Park. There are also pony rides and longer train ride there. It also houses a very small zoo, and I do mean SMALL! If you're coming before April 17th, you could also visit Green Meadows Children's Farm. It's a touring, educational farm that will be at Irivine Regional Park from now until April 17th. Very hands on experience feeding and petting a variety of farm animals. Also includes a pony ride, hay ride, and a chance to milk a cow!

As for Chinatown and Japan town; it's been a long time since I've been there (I grew up in L.A.). Chinatown isn't what it use to be because the hub of the Chinese community has moved to the Alhambra/Monterey Park area. Lots of shops and restaurants closed in Chinatown but I understand it's becoming a growing area for art galleries filling the abandoned shops. A lot of Chinese still shop there and it's still pretty congested so it's not so far removed from the busy Chinatown of old so it's still worth a visit. Olvera Street is close by, right next to Union Station, and is also worth a visit if you're in the area. It's one of the oldest streets in L.A. and is preserved like a street in a sleeply Mexican village might be. Very touristy but still interesting. Japan town is much smaller than Chinatown. Unless you're in search of good Japanese food or Japanese items, not really worth a visit.

For orchard picking, you'll probably have to drive to one of the surrounding counties like Riverside or San Bernadino. Developement has eaten up most of the farm land in Orange County. If you're still interested in driving out to an orchard, let me know what time of year you're planning your visit and I'll look up info for you in my book "Fun and Educational Places to go with Kids in Southern California".

 

[iceskatejen]

Another place to pick fruit is Oak Glen. It's in San Bernardino county, about 2-2 1/2 hours from LA. They have a lot of apple orchards there. It's a very pretty place.

 

[exDS vet]

Originally posted by mommytotwo
Have you been to China town or Japan Town there?

I've only been to Chinatown and Japantown in San Francisco. That's where I'm originally from. Not familiar with those areas in SoCal.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

I second the vote for the Aquarium of the Pacific. As a toddler, my boy loved aquariums.

 

[mommytotwo]

I had checked the website for the Aquarium of the Pacific, and have that written down as a place to visit. My daughter loves fishes and other animals, so we will probably visit one of the other petting zoos or farms.

Almostgoofy, I'll send you a pm on when we will be in California. I would still want to do the apple picking or what other fruits are in season, but not sure about the drive...my daughter wouldn't be too happy with it .

Thank you all for the helpful information.

If anyone else has some info. keep them coming. It's great to get information from people who know this area and the activities there are to do

 

[mobetsy]

Take a look in the permanent thread on this board, near the top, about other places to go; I posted there about the La Habra Children's Museum. It is a fabulous place to go with a toddler (right down to the small and free merry-go-round inside the museum!) and is less than 30 minutes from D'land.

You aren't likely to find apples in season in So. Cal in May, though I could be wrong about that; Sept-Nov. is really the time for that. In addition to the places that have been mentioned, you could check out Julian, in eastern San Diego Co.; it is a big apple area (though with the fires last fall, many of the orchards may have been destroyed). What you might find would be some place to pick strawberries; not too likely to be right near D'land, but I'm not sure.

Another place to go would be Centennial Farm, at the Orange Co. Fairgrounds (not far...10-15 min). Here's a link: http://www.ocfair.com/ocfec/centennialfarm/home_farm.asp

It is a great place to take kids!

 

[mommytotwo]

Thank you Mobetsy. I will try to contact Cenntennial Farms.

 

[mommytotwo]

If I had gone to Disneyland and wanted to go out of the park, would I be able to go back inside if I still had the ticket stub? If so, are there places around that we could go to for lunch or just to get a break-walking distance?

 

[iceskatejen]

So long as you still have your ticket and get your hand stamped on the way out (no hand stamp necessary for AP holders), you can come and go as you please. The closest places to eat would obviously be in DD and the hotels, but there are some places across Harbor Blvd. There's a Mimi's Cafe, a very expensive IHOP (which I don't recommened--too expensive and the service and food aren't as good as other IHOPs), a McDonalds, and maybe some other places. I generally just eat in the parks, though. Not much more expensive and in many cases the food's just as good (fries are much better at DCA).

 

[mommytotwo]

Thanks IceskateJen. Just thinking about my husband and the types of foods that are offered.