At the moment we are planning DL for 4 nights. Really we don't have any time to make a longer car trip to SF. John is not thrilled with the idea of DL, but we have never been, and if we get to California again, and we hope to in 2009, then we can do everything else and miss DL! Only problem of course is that it is Memorial Day!
That sounds like a good plan....don't worry about John, after the cruise, he won't care where he is. Don't worry about Memorial Day since you're staying 4 nights, it will only be crowded on Sun/Mon, it should be better Tues/Wed. Maybe we could meet up and do something together in DL and that should make it more fun for John.
We wouldn't take a hire car so that would save some dollars.
This is always good, saving some money.
Our other problem is getting home from there, but we are favouring flying back to Orlando, staying at the Hyatt Airport for a night and then taking our return flight home from there. A waste of a day I know, but it saves us using a shuttle up from London (and a long wait at Heathrow Airport) which we would have to do if we fly back from LA.
I would probably do the same exact thing. Much better to fly back to Orlando, take a night over in the hotel, then travel home fresh and easy. Remember you'll be carrying bags at that point, don't want to drag them around the Heathrow Airport and shuttle.
Complicated!