Is it worth a trip to San Fran?

[Meemoo]

We thought everything was all organised - keep it simple and just do Disney this trip. Now, the topic of San Francisco has come up and whether we should go spend a night there to see it. This would be taking a couple of days out of our DL trip. I have seen the prices of the hotels they are around $1000 per night, so tell me is it worth it, does anyone have any hotels they recommend and what would be ideal for a family with 2 kids to do there (7 & 9 year old kids)

 

[PrincessInOz]

San Francisco is always worth a trip! But that's me.

I tend to stay out in Silicon Valley when I visit; but I have stayed at the Hyatt Regency at the Embarcadero. My in-laws like either the Marriott or the Sheraton at the Wharf. There are 'cheaper' motels along Lombard Street/101 at the Marina area. It'll come down to what you're prepared to accept if you stay at one of those Lombard Street motels. Even further back, I've stayed at the Hotel California. I believe it's still reasonably priced and pretty decent from Trip Advisor accounts.


One alternative is to check if there is a vacation rental available via VRBO or AirBNB. If you go down this route, I'd recommend looking in Hayes Valley, Russian Hill, North Beach, Marina, Nob Hill as possible starting points. Another alternative might be to look at hotels outside of San Francisco that are along the BART route, close to the airport? Millbrae might be a good option as it has both the BART and Caltrain running through, so you have those options of getting into the downtown area. Just check that the hotel is close to the Millbrae station.

Good luck with the decision.

 

[zanzibar138]

I was going to agree with PIO and say that it's always worth a trip to San Francisco. However, I probably wouldn't bother just for one night. We spent 2 nights there on our trip and it was a frustratingly short taster. Personally I would stick with Plan A on this occasion, and plan a trip to San Francisco when you can spend more time there.

 

[Agent 86]

For one night? Probably not. Especially if you're travelling with children as it means more travelling time, additional packing/un-packing, etc.

BUT, if you did go for one day, you would probably have time to visit the Disney museum, walk across the Golden Gate bridge and ride a tram. I'm not sure how much else you would fit in with children, although it may depend how frequently you travel by taxi as opposed to walking or using the trams.

 

[bswift]

You can definitely find accommodation for less than $1000 a night! I stayed at the Marina Motel in 2010, they have quite a few different room set-ups including 2 bedroom suites with kitchens etc. Sorry I can't remember your dates but I do know you're travelling in October around the same time as me. I put in a random Wednesday and Thursday night stay for 2 adults and 2 children and a suite with 2 queens is $309 a night. For a Friday and Saturday night it just showed a room with 2 double beds for $219 a night. From there you could easily see the Golden Gate bridge, Lombard Street, Fisherman's Wharf and the Disney Museum. You'd probably be better off staying for two nights if you can, but not if it cuts into precious Disney time!

 

[DLgal]

San Francisco is a big city. Way too much to see in just one day.Save it for another time.

FWIW, $1000/night??? What kind of hotel was this? I have never paid more than $250/night in many overnight stays in SF. Unless you are talking about a different currency...or a penthouse suite in downtown.

 

[craigkerstiens]

We thought everything was all organised - keep it simple and just do Disney this trip. Now, the topic of San Francisco has come up and whether we should go spend a night there to see it. This would be taking a couple of days out of our DL trip. I have seen the prices of the hotels they are around $1000 per night, so tell me is it worth it, does anyone have any hotels they recommend and what would be ideal for a family with 2 kids to do there (7 & 9 year old kids)

When were you looking at going that hotels were that price? There's a couple of key conferences throughout the year that cause those kind of prices, otherwise while expensive still you can often find great rooms for $250 a night.

 

[Meemoo]

Thanks for all the info, I saw it on Trip Advisor, those prices. I do like nice hotels. My main problem being I don't know which area to target for my searches. As I mentioned, it may only be 1 or 2 nights tops, so I'd like to be somewhere convenient that I can enjoy and feel like I am in San Fransisco. I like the sound of The Walt Disney Museum, but thinking my DH will think I'm nuts already having my 10 day pass then going all the way to San Fran to visit the museum I'd be looking at around the 25th of Oct...

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

We are visiting San Francisco at the beginning of our trip in November. We will be staying for 3 nights and we are staying at one of the motels on Lombard street. We have been to San Francisco before but did not get to the Walt Disney Family Museum. That is the reason for our stop over for a few days. We will also be visiting Union Square and Pier 39 etc and I would like to get some better shots of the bridge this year. I would recommend staying near Fishermans Wharf for your first visit. Its a great place to come and go from
It really is a wonderful place but I don't think just one night does it justice. I agree with others and that it's probably best to save it for another time.
I had to laugh when I read that your DH think you are nuts having a 10 day pass...............we have annual passes and will be visiting the park every day for 18 days running!!!!

 

[Meemoo]

We are visiting San Francisco at the beginning of our trip in November. We will be staying for 3 nights and we are staying at one of the motels on Lombard street. We have been to San Francisco before but did not get to the Walt Disney Family Museum. That is the reason for our stop over for a few days. We will also be visiting Union Square and Pier 39 etc and I would like to get some better shots of the bridge this year. I would recommend staying near Fishermans Wharf for your first visit. Its a great place to come and go from
It really is a wonderful place but I don't think just one night does it justice. I agree with others and that it's probably best to save it for another time.
I had to laugh when I read that your DH think you are nuts having a 10 day pass...............we have annual passes and will be visiting the park every day for 18 days running!!!!

Well you know if I could have gotten away with that I would have! I think he forgets just how much fun it is there!

 

[McNs]

We have included San Francisco on our trip this year, flying in to SFO from NZ, staying 3 nights at Hilton Union Square (USD$260+tax per night), then collecting a rental car for our road trip to LA & Anahaim. We have two girls a similar age (9 & 6).

I decided to stay at Union quare as it has great transport links everywhere. Shopping is also excellent there, great for Mrs McN. We will end up with 2.5 days there, doing the WD museum, Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Fishermans Wharf, Ghirahdelli (sp?), plus a few other things I can't recall right now...

I don't think a one night trip would be worth it, even two would be rushed given it will take time to get there and back. Any more than that and you are taking too much time away from DL

 

[Aust]

In 2011 we spent 1 day in San Francisco in the middle of a DL trip - flew from SNA to San FRancicso in the evening, stayed overnight, spent all day there and flew back to SNA that evening. It was a short time but we saw quite a lot, spent the morning at Alcatraz and then hired a private tour guy with a van to show us the major sites for the afternoon (and then he took us back to the airport). I'd love to spend a few days there again but that was all the time we had on that trip.

We stayed in the Radisson in the Fisherman's Wharf area - I think it was about $200-$300 for the night. But that was in mid-January so not a peak time. It's a good area to stay in as it's walking distance to the Alcatraz ferry and also there's lots to see in the Wharf area itself.

 

[WendyTJ]

San Francisco is a lovely place to visit. We stayed quite close to macys (husband may have thought too close) prices eye not anywhere near that price . We went mid Nov 2013.
oh they have great markets at fisherman's wharf on the weekend

 

[Meemoo]

Thanks for all your feedback, its still all up in the year. The last minute ideas you get into your head when everything is meant to be planned! The prices that I got were around Fisherman's Wharf, I have found some much cheaper prices since but not around that spot. Still not sure, I do love my Disneyland. SF for me would simply be to grab some photos and say, I've been!! Although I am sure it is beautiful and would be fun also, if DL wasn't part of the equation I'd be all for it WendyTJ - Hotel near Macy's seems extremely ideal!!

 

[macturkey101]

Just an FYI - the Oracle OpenWorld Conference is on 25-29 October at the Moscone Centre and is huge. This will definitely affect city hotel prices and availability.