Need your thoughts on a trip to So. Cal.

[TW1]

OK It's difficult to book a trip to II's Newport Beach location and we want to stay somehwere near LA. So, now we're thinking maybe we just go to Disneyland. My questions are:

1) Paradise Pier looks alot like the old Disneyland Hotel. Has anyone stayed there? Are the rooms like DVC Studios with kitchenettes?

2) Is it reasonable thinking we could stay there and do day trips into LA or to the beach, or other locations? (Though I know what will happen, we'll be looking out the hotel window at the parks and not want to go anywhere else )

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated...

 

[winjos]

We live about 18 miles from Disneyland (up to 1+ hours away because of traffic ), and visit DL quite often (Annual Passes).

We have stayed at Paradise Pier and the Grand Californian. Both are hotels, therefore, they have standard hotel rooms (sans kitchenette, etc.). Paradise Pier is nice and the cast members are friendly. We had a view of California Adventure and it was spectacular, especially at night. Our room at the Grand Californian was very nice. Great decorum! We also had a spectacular view of California Adventure (the Bear). The cast members were extra special because we went concierge. The ambience is wonderful!! I think the ratings for the hotels are as follows: Grand Californian is the best, then the Disneyland Hotel, then Paradise Pier. I have heard that the Disneyland Hotel can get a bit noisy. From our experience, the other two hotels were quiet.

DL is a good location if you want to visit LA or the beaches. Just a reminder, traffic is horrendous. Buffer in twice the amount of time to commute (i.e. 10 miles = 20+ minutes). If we have diverse weather like we did last week (rain, rain, rain & more rain ), there are no words to describe the traffic!

Newport Beach (+Balboa Island) and Laguna Beach have wonderful beachfront areas to walk along. You can window shop and then head over to the beach. Huntington Beach has a nice downtown area near the beach too.

Have a great visit!

 

[JeffPort]

I'm also a California native ... now transplanted to Dallas. A few years back, we did the opposite of your idea -- we rented a beach house right on the sand in Newport Beach for a week. From there, we drove to Disneyland on 2 of the days to enjoy the parks (about a 20 minute trip if you avoid the peak traffic hours). It was truly one of the best ("most relaxing") family trips we have ever taken. The kids really enjoyed the freedom to enjoy the sand and the beach at any time in the day. We were able to relax on our porch, hose off sand at any time, cook our own meals, and we had plenty of space for the 6 of us.

You don't mention when you are traveling, but obtaining a beach house on the sand can be quite reasonable if you do it in the fall (after labor day). A hidden secret about LA is that its best weather is typically found from mid-August to mid-October. After Labor Day, the crowds on the beach (and at Disneyland) are very low, but the weather is still warm and pleasant.

Beware of "beach days" in Southern California from May to early July -- it's called "June Gloom" and the marine cloud layer that causes it results in cool and cloudy days at the beach. It's quite common in that part of the year for the beach to see little or no sunshine all day long ... all while (at the same time) it is a beautiful sunny 80 degree day only 5 miles inland.

Here is a link to the beach house agent we used (there are others that you can find through an internet search):

http://www.burrwhite.com/

Best wishes for an enjoyable trip to Sunny Southern California.