Itinerary Advice Please

[linda_loo]

I am feeling quite overwhelmed in planning our vacation and want to ask for suggestions.

I'm a Pittsburgher who once took my marching band to DLR, but all my other Dis experiences have been FL... feeling overwhelmed by the number of things that my family could do in SoCal. I don't have any friends who have "done" the area to ask.

Here's what is planned so far:
- mid-June, staying a week, renting a house (walking distance to DLR)
- renting a car and I'm (stupidly) not scared to drive in LA, but I'd rather not spend my vacation behind the wheel for hours and hours every day
- 2-3 days DLR (not sure)
- 1 daytrip to San Diego Zoo

What to do with the other 2-3 days? Universal? Whale-watching? Evening at Downtown Dis?
- dd12 and I are thrill seekers
- dd10 and dh are not-so-much
- we are all kind of nerdy (loved Epcot)
- we girls like to shop at interesting places - not a boring mall adventure, though (and dh will come along and tolerate it)
- don't care about Hollywood tours or celeb stuff
- could be interested in beach, especially something with wildlife

Any suggestions are appreciated, I know a lot of you are local and probably could give better advice than I could in 48 hours of browsing websites. TIA!

 

[Girimama33]

I am feeling quite overwhelmed in planning our vacation and want to ask for suggestions.

I'm a Pittsburgher who once took my marching band to DLR, but all my other Dis experiences have been FL... feeling overwhelmed by the number of things that my family could do in SoCal. I don't have any friends who have "done" the area to ask.

Here's what is planned so far:
- mid-June, staying a week, renting a house (walking distance to DLR)
- renting a car and I'm (stupidly) not scared to drive in LA, but I'd rather not spend my vacation behind the wheel for hours and hours every day
- 2-3 days DLR (not sure)
- 1 daytrip to San Diego Zoo

What to do with the other 2-3 days? Universal? Whale-watching? Evening at Downtown Dis?
- dd12 and I are thrill seekers
- dd10 and dh are not-so-much
- we are all kind of nerdy (loved Epcot)
- we girls like to shop at interesting places - not a boring mall adventure, though (and dh will come along and tolerate it)
- don't care about Hollywood tours or celeb stuff
- could be interested in beach, especially something with wildlife

Any suggestions are appreciated, I know a lot of you are local and probably could give better advice than I could in 48 hours of browsing websites. TIA!

I would do at least 3 days at DLR. You may opt to purchase a Southern CA City Pass...It includes a 3-day DLR Park Hopper. one day to Sea World and one day to Universal.
I think they are all worth visiting.
As far as your other off days, I suggest taking a drive down Pacific Coast Hwy (PCH) in order to go to the beach. I suggest Corona del Mar, which is a beautiful beach to visit with lots of quaint shops to browse through.
You may also want to consider a whale watching trip, or a day trip to Catalina Island.

 

[CaptainEIEIO]

Im with Girimama33 on this one, give the Southern California City Pass a look. See the link I provided below for the site. You can even add the San Diego Zoo onto that if you like for a little bit more money. Its is a really good bargain and works great. You can visit any of the parks in any order you want to but we always stay at our hotel around Disneyland and just do day trips to the other destinations. We have used the Citypass 3 times now and love it.

Other places to try would be Knotts Berry Farm for you thrill seakers. It is another amusement park with lots and lots of roller coasters and is only about a 20 minute drive from Disneyland. There are other rides too for the non-thrill seakers. For the beach we always just go to Huntington Beach, also just a 20 to 30 minute drive from Disneyland. For nighttime entertainment there is a Pirates dinner theater or Medievil Times which is also a dinner theater, also about a 20 minute drive away from Disneyland. My family and I prefer Medievil Times over the Pirate one, but both are good. If you like aquariums there is the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, its a neat little thing to check out too. Whale watching is something we have not done yet, but it is on our list of things to do on one of our trips out there.

Mid June

Have fun!

Heres the link to the citypass site: http://www.citypass.com/southern-california