Need Advice---never been to CA!!!

[vossjemi]

Hi guys! Midwesterner here. We've decided to do a 2008 Disney Magic Cruise from the West Coast and would like to tack on a few days to do Disneyland and maybe some other sights. DH was out there once as a kid, but isn't too excited about driving in the big city (we're from a mid-size town with no big swooping interchanges). I've never been to the West Coast either, so we are total newbies. I'm hoping for a little advice on several aspects of our trip.

1)We'll probably use DU to book the cruise. Is it better or cheaper to book the hotel/park passes as part of the cruise package? Or separately later on? I know I want to get the cruise booked asap when it opens up Jan 31 and am not sure I'll have enough time to research all the other stuff to figure out what we want to do by then to even know. I think we'll be going for about 3-4 days prior.

2)Transportation? Since my DH isn't too excited about driving in the big city, what are our best options here? What is cheaper? Disney transport or taxi? Are there shuttles from the hotels to take us to other locations like Knotts Berry Farm or Universal Studios if we decide to do one of those things?

3)Speaking of other attractions...what do you suggest for kids who will be 6 and 8 at that time?

4)Hotels? Stay at a Disney Resort or not? If so, which one is best value for $ and location? If not, where do you recommend?

5)Also, any travel books/guides you can recommend would be great!

Any CA tips would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[HydroGuy]

Even if you are not a WDW vet, a first timer to DLR can get lots of useful info from this topic:

"A DLR Guide for WDW Vets" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599

Regarding your specific questions, I do not know about the cruise/park packages or transportation around SoCal. Specifically at DLR, I do think it best to stay within walking distance of DLR and not have to depend on transportation to the parks. As discussed thoroughly in the above link, there are many options for this, both Disney and non-Disney.

Rides for 6 to 8 year olds? That would be a very long list. I would say anything they are tall enough to do, which will be most everything.

Travel guidebooks are discussed in the above link, but there are no obvious choices that you must have at DLR.

Have a great trip.

 

[poconoboatniks]

Hi Vossjemi,

We were newbies to CA on our cruise out San Pedro in '05. We used Super Shuttle to get us from LAX to the Sheraton in San Pedro. After the cruise, we rented a car (car rental shuttles were available from the port). We traveled to San Diego from San Pedro and stayed for 3 days. We went to the zoo, Sea World and Old Town. Try the Corvette Diner for dinner. My kids loved it. We drove to Anaheim and stayed at the HOJO (had the park view room). Driving wasn't too bad. We stayed off the freeways during rush hour and had mapquest instructions for each leg of the trip. We also had a car with navigation. We purchased the Southern California passes because it included all the places we wanted to see and was cheaper than buying individual tickets. The HoJo was fine. We stayed at the Candy Cane Inn this past trip and loved it. There are a number of threads on this board which addresses the advantages of staying at some of the hotels near DL. I got some travel books from Borders. There was one that covered Southern California and Disneyland.

We're hoping to be on the eastbound repo this time. You will love the cruise. Cabo was our favorite port.

Poconoboatniks

 

[quiltymom]

I'm just over taking a bread from the DIS WDW boards. Gotta check out what's going on at DL!

Glad that you are visiting CA! It's a wonderful place! And driving around isn't as bad as it's made out to be.

One thing that you might want to think about doing if the timing is right, and that is not well known, is visit Walt Disney's Barn. If you are a railroad or train buff of any kind, it is well worth the visit. Here's the website: http://carolwood.com/, Click on the link for Walt's Barn. The Carolwood Pacific Historical Society' basis is to preserve the personal legacy of Walt Disney, and how his love for trains started Disneyland.

It is open the third Sunday of every month, and it is located in Griffith Park at the LA Live Steamers site. http://www.lals.org/ The rides on the steamers are free, but they do accept donations to help keep it running.

There are plenty of hotels that are just across the street from DL. We've stayed at the Ramada Maingate many times. It's priced right, convenient, but you do get a lot of noise from the upstairs rooms if you are not on a top floor. Check out the other hotels on the boards here for more info on other places to stay. It all just depends upon your budget!

Just a thought - but enjoy Disneyland!

 

[XTinabell]

2)Transportation? Since my DH isn't too excited about driving in the big city, what are our best options here? What is cheaper? Disney transport or taxi? Are there shuttles from the hotels to take us to other locations like Knotts Berry Farm or Universal Studios if we decide to do one of those things?

QUOTE]

There are a ton of shuttles and busses, and whatnots that you can take right from your hotel to wherever you're going. I recommend staying at Howard Johnson hotel, it's offsite but a quick walk and all the shuttles that take you to the zoo, seaworld or whereever pick you up right outside the hotel.
The hotel is fabulous as many ppl on this site would agree. It's clean, it's much cheaper than staying onsite and it's a quick walk away from DLR.
I wouldn't recommend taxiing because it would cost a fortune. When we were there last we rented a car and it was my DH's first time to CA and he drove to Universal Studios on the freeway in rush hour and it was a peice of cake (we're from canada, we don't have freeways like you guys do). I did get a little car sick though from all the stopping and going but if you're feeling brave I'd really recommend renting a car, it's your cheapest bet and it's convenient.