Southern California People who know LA well.

[jacs1234]

We have been to Anaheim a few times now but we have never seen much of LA. We don't want to waste our disney time though.

If we hired a limo (there's 10 of us) and drove from disneyland to the Grove in west hollywood?, stayed there for 2 hours to shop, then drive to or past the hollywood sign, to the chinese theatre to get out and have a look, along rodeo drive (we don't need to shop lol) then on to santa monica pier to get out and have a walk and then to venice beach to have a little walk and then back to disneyland.

How long do you think we would need to do all that?

I'm hoping we could maybe do that on a Friday morning, grab and in and out burger somewhere for lunch and be back to spend after lunch till midnight at Disneyland.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

First of all, try reposting this in the Southern California thread. You may get better answers there.

Next, I don't think you're taking L.A. traffic into account. If you leave during morning rush hour on a Friday, it could easily take you over an hour to get to Hollywood. 2 hours at the Grove sounds fine for shopping and grabbing something to eat the the Farmer's Market next door (by the way, have you thought about where your limo would park? And about parking fees?). You cannot drive up to the Hollywood sign -- it's on private property and there is no access to it from surrounding streets. Local residents in those neighborhoods don't welcome lookyloos trying to see the sign. Your best bet would be to stop at the Hollywood & Highland shopping center (on Hollywood Blvd. at Highland). There is a photo site with the sign in the background on the upper level (level 3?), the Chinese Theater is next door, the Walk of Fame is right outside, the Dolby Theater (site of the Oscar ceremony) is there, etc. Do you want a touristy Southern California beach experience or a nicer one? Venice for the former, maybe Huntington for the latter. If you include time to eat and take photos and walk around, this could easily turn into a day trip -- which you might want to do so that you can avoid rush hour traffic (horrible on a Friday -- starts early and goes later) on the way back to Anaheim. Another option for you might be to do a bus tour that covers all the Hollywood sites. Since there are 10 of you, you might qualify for a group discount. Ask your hotel for more info -- it is possible they can get you a discount, too.
Just some thoughts. Others may chime in with more feedback.

 

[MAJPLO]

I'd say six hours, maybe more to include getting back to Disneyland.

 

[dina444444]

You are looking at an all day trip that would probably get you back to Disneyland in the early evening. And rush hour traffic from OC to Hollywood can be brutal in both directions since you would be going in the direction of the traffic. Friday morning traffic may not be horrendous to Hollywood but the return trip will be bad because rush hour traffic on Friday's starts in the early afternoon.

 

[SMD]

The Grove doesn't open until 10am, so there's no point in getting there sooner if you want to spend 2 hours shopping. You could do Hollywood first, there's less backtracking that way anyway, but it's not that exciting first thing in the morning. Santa Monica will probably be under a marine layer in the morning, so definitely do that before heading back to Anaheim.

A better plan might be to spend your first or last night at a hotel in LA, and rent the limo to either drop you up or pick you up in Anaheim. You could use one of the hop on, hop off buses in LA, with 10 people it may or may not be cheaper to rent a limo (or sprinter van), but with the bus option you could split up of you decide to.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Moving to So Cal board.

This will take you more than a morning. I sometimes take people around LA to the places you've named, and it takes us the better part of a day to do all that. Traffic is a factor, but also, it takes time to actually see the places you want to see.

 

[sarahb86]

This is definitely an all-day trip if you do everything listed.

Count on an hour to get from Anaheim to The Grove. Then do the Chinese Theater. The drive from The Grove to Hollywood Blvd will probably run a good 20 minutes.

If you want to cut time, look at the sign from the mall at Hollywood and Highland. There's an arch with walkways through it in the open-air area of the mall where you can get a decent view, though it's not close. If you want to see the Hollywood sign semi-close without bothering residents, try visiting Griffith Observatory. It will take at least 20 minutes to get from Hollywood Blvd to the Observatory. It's a nice view of the whole city!

If you are set on visiting Disneyland that afternoon, this is where you should probably eat and head back. Remember it will take 45 min+ to get back.

Santa Monica Pier is 30-40 minutes at best from the Hollywood area. Venice is 15 minutes from there. And don't forget to account for the time needed to walk to/from wherever you get dropped off.

Personally, I would skip the Grove and Santa Monica in favor of Venice if you're looking to cut time.

 

[jacs1234]

Thanks everyone. We think we'll give it a miss as the kids wouldn't really appreciate it as much as us. Maybe when we get to go without kids. I really appreciate you guys helping me out and letting me know about what was reasonable.