Need trip planning advice

[lucyg]

Hi All -

We're going to be in Southern Cal July 1 - 14. July 1-4 we are visiting Sea World and the S.D Zoo, then I will be attending a convention from July 5 - July 7. We plan on visiting Legoland on July 8 and then departing on July 9th.

In our remaining days, we'd like to visit Disneyland, Knottsberry Farm and La Brea Tar Pits. I also wouldn't mind spending time at a beach. Is it convenient to stay in Anaheim and still do things in LA instead of switching hotels?

And what non Disney hotel is the best to stay at? We like suite hotels, but are willing to try other hotels if the experience is worth it. Price is somewhat of a consideration because I figure we will not spend that much time in our room.

How many days do you all recommend for visiting Disneyland? I was thinking 2 or 3. We've been to WDW several times, so this is not the main focus of our vacation.

I bought the Unofficial Guide to Disneyland, but have found it not to be as helpful as the WDW version, btw.

Decisions, decisions... it's really hard to make choices with all the options available! I'm hoping people with more experience will help me narrow down the choices!

Thank you in advance!

 

[mclopezzz]

Well if you haven't been to Disneyland and CA before I would recommend a minimum of 2 days but probably 3 to really see it al including Downtown Disney. That way you can pace yourself and still enjoy everything.

 

[Syn&Bri'sDaddy]

You should have done this trip last year, as Knott's was included in the CityPass package (which also includes a 3Day DL/CA Hopper, SeaWorld, and either SD Zoo or Wild Animal Park). lol Knott's is replaced by Universal Studios this year. Unless you're dead-set on Knott's, you might want to consider this package (www.citypass.com; 30% off regular gate admission via this site, take off another 10% via Costco).

Seems like I've seen packages which include Legoland (and SeaWorld? Zoo?). Something to check on.

As I own timeshare, I'm partial to the resorts and would suggest checking out resortime.com. They include kitchens, so you can at least have breakfast at some place other than Denny's or IHOP and save a few bucks. Schedule in a day or two away from the parks and throw a steak on the grill as well. I don't believe it includes any of the DL resorts, so daily travel would be likely. Just last week, we did the CityPass and had a timeshare exchange which put us about 30miles south of DL at Capistrano Beach (resort was separated from the beach by the coast highway). This turned out to be centrally-located, as USH and SD were each an hour away. Be sure to make friends with the carpool lane.

As we had a 3Day Hopper, we spent three days at DL/CA. :duhsmiley: We used the first day as a get-your-feet-wet day at both parks, taking in the shows, characters, parade, Fantasmic, and fireworks (Saturday). If you're taking young children who would be into collecting character autographs/pics, you should do it this way or you'll never get on the rides. We spent day 2 at DL, and day 3 at CA (and hopped back to DL for a couple of hours after CA closed). We also used RideMax to develop a plan to hit the rides. We felt it did its job, tho we adlibbed some due to riding a couple of rides on day 1. Also, one more caveat, our wait times dropped to near-zero as we had my mother-in-law along with and she required a wheelchair/scooter to help with her bad knees. This turned out to be a Faster-Than-FastPass. You might wish to consider turning your ankle before you go. lol At the very least, RideMax provides a plan for hitting the rides, instead of wandering the park aimlessly.