Please Help with Itinerary for First-Timers to California

[BklynGirl]

We are a couple in our early 50's from New York City & have been to Walt Disney World 6 times together since we met 8 years ago. I was a Disney World fanatic long before I met him but he has jumped right on the Disney bandwagon alongside me. However, neither of us has ever been to Disneyland (or even California).

We decided this will be the year that we make the trip out to California. Obviously we want to see Disneyland but we're also interested in some of the other attractions in the area. We rented DVC points for 4 nights/5 days at the Grand Californian (Monday, 11/28 - Fri, 12/2) & bought 5 day park-hoppers. We wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to explore Disneyland. Now we are debating what else to do in the area & we'd love some input from some of the West Coast pro's here on the board We've been listening to the DIS Disneyland Edition of the Podcast and with each episode we listen to we seem to add something else that sounds interesting. Of course time is limited though so please help us narrow it down!

So we're thinking of flying into California on Friday, 11/26 or Saturday, 11/27 (to avoid the anticipated price jump for Sunday, 11/27 as the end of Thanksgiving Weekend). We would fly home anywhere between Monday, 12/5 and Wed, 12/7 depending on airfares and what our final itinerary looks like. So that gives us a day or two before we get to Disneyland and probably 3 - 4 days afterward.

So our wish list items include: a day (or do we need 2?) at Universal Studios; another studio tour (my boyfriend is a huge fan of old Hollywood movies. He watches the Turner Classic Movie Channel constantly. So his one request is that we try to find a studio tour that will have some focus on older movies, not just current stuff. Anyone know of any tours like that?); a day of some of the "touristy" stuff in the Hollywood area - the Walk of Fame, the Farmers Market, the Hollywood sign, etc.; some time driving along the Pacific Coast Highway; some place "beachy" - Malibu, the Santa Monica Pier, Venice Beach, "wherever the sea lions hang out" have all been tossed around so a little time at any/all of those (I should say we are not "beach people" per se - won't lay around the beach for hours or even go into the water but would like to see some of the "sights" you hear/read about at the beach areas and maybe have a meal or two or some cocktails on the water); San Diego for a day or two - maybe the zoo or the safari?

We are trying to be realistic about how much we can/should fit in. We'd like to see as much as possible but we'd also like to be able to relax and enjoy our vacation so we know we're going to have to cut out some of our wish list. We're just looking for recommendations from everyone on the best way to spend our time there & if you have any hotel recommendations along the way, even better! I know it's a lot to ask so any little bit of advice you can offer is appreciated!

 

[tlovesdis]

Welcome to California! Sounds like you have a great trip planned and you will LOVE Disneyland! My family loves San Diego and the Zoo there! So that would be my vote. Maybe fly into Anaheim, do DL and the other area stuff you want, then drive down to SD for a few days. You can go to the beach, the zoo, etc...

Whatever you decide, have fun!!!

 

[Misskitty3]

I would recommend flying into LAX or Burbank and seeing the LA stuff first such has Hollywood and Santa Monica and Malibu. Then head down to Anaheim and then finish up in San Diego. You could reverse the trip too if you want to start in San Diego.

I would say you could do Venice beach, Santa Monica and Malibu all in 1 day and possibly even fit in some other things - just depends on how much time you spend at the beaches. For a restaurant, if you like seafood, I would recommend The Reel Inn right as you head into Malibu. Super fresh and yummy! Malibu Farm looks amazing and I am hoping to go there on our next trip. Yelp is a great place to get some good ideas for dining or cocktails!

As for Universal, I think most people would say just 1 day is enough.

 

[ImDMous]

Well, I'm in San Diego, come down and visit! The Hotel Del is fabulous to look around and has some old Hollywood connections. Balboa Park is great to wander for a day, the art museum, photography museum, air and space museum, etc are all great. The Zoo is also in Balboa Park and is huge, tons to see (Pandas!). The USS Midway is a great afternoon, very cool talking to the pilots and crewman who actually landed planes on her during Vietnam. The La Jolla area has great shopping, ritzy mansions and beautiful coastline (all of San Diego County does really). Julian is a gold mining town about 1 hour into the mountains from downtown that has great apple pie and rustic charm. There are over 100 craft breweries if that's your thing (we're beer snobs). You could easily spend a week here, narrowing it down is the hard part.

 

[cheshiregoofy22]

We haven't spent a lot of time in CA but we did have a chance to do a couple things whilst dropping off DD at USC - The Getty Museum is wicked cool and we drove out to Palm Springs one day and it was totally Grapes of Wrath all over the place. (IMHO) Very interesting drive. We're from the east coast too - Maine. And though we've never flown in anywhere else to compare, we've never had a problem flying in/out of LAX and renting a car there too. Have a wonderful trip and great fun planning!

 

[BayouQueen]

A really fun day in San Diego is the zoo and then pop over to Old Town to look around a bit and have a very delicious Mexican dinner. The Mexican food in San Diego is second only to that in....Mexico!

 

[texasgingerbread]

Any interest in the Big Sur drive? You could fly into John Wayne and out of San Jose or vice versa if you did Big Sur first. I just did this trip and we LOVED it.

 

[gottalovepluto]

1 day is fine for Universal, it's much smaller than Orlando's even with Harry Potter. And I love the idea of doing the zoo or wild animal park in San Diego! Note the Safari Park is actually in Escondido, about 45 mins north of San Diego. (We didn't realize that until the day we went- that was a shocker when we saw "Escondido" in the address!) They are very different experiences so look online to see if one is more interesting to you than the other. There are also some neat extra experiences you can do at both parks where you get up close with the animals that you might want to check out. We did a tour INTO the enclosures at the Safari Park last summer and fed a giraffe and a rhino at twilight, it was amazing! Have a blast planning your CA trip, there is so much to see and do! OH- and 5 days is PERFECT for Disneyland in my book.

 

[BklynGirl]

Thank you all so much for all of the advice and encouragement!

So we've tentatively decided the following:

Saturday, November 26th morning - Fly in and check into hotel in Hollywood area & do some of the touristy stuff (walk of fame, etc.)

Sunday, November 27th - possibly do Universal that day (do you think the crowds will be too much as it's the last day of Thanksgiving weekend?); if not Universal, drive over to see Santa Monica/Malibu, etc. Considering checking into a hotel within a couple of blocks of Disneyland Resort that night so we get an early start next day
Monday, November 28th - Friday, December 2nd - Check into Grand Californian Villas; See everything we can for five days

Saturday, December 3rd - Go to either Universal or the Santa Monica/Malibu tour (whichever we didn't do on 11/27)

Sunday, December 4th - Go on another Studio Back Lot Tour (Warner Bros? Paramount? Any recommendations?)

Monday, December 5th - Drive down to San Diego - do a tour of some of the city, relax & enjoy a little beach time

Tuesday, December 6th - Do either San Diego Zoo or Safari Park (not sure which one yet)

Wednesday, December 7th - Fly home from San Diego

So that's where we are now. I'm sure it will change a bunch before we're done.

Thanks again for all of your advice - please feel free to keep it coming!

 

[riostoker]

On your drive down to San Diego, stop in La Jolla. It is such a gorgeous place with beautiful beaches and tons of sea lions. Our morning spent in La Jolla was my family's favorite day of our SanDiego/LA/Disneyland trip! You don't need to spend a lot of time there, but definitely make it a spot. Lots of great places for lunch there too. Also, not far from La Jolla is the Torrey Pines Gliderport where you can see hang gliders and paragliders taking off and landing from the cliffs. That is a beautiful place to visit too. You can easily hit both Torrey Pines and La Jolla on that day you are driving down to San Diego.

Also, in San Diego, we did the SEAL tour. It is about a 90 minute tour that leaves from the Embarcadero - about 45 minute land tour and 45 minute sea tour. It was a great way to see a lot of San Diego in a short time, learn a lot about the history of San Diego, and get a little tour of the harbor and see more seals and sea lions! I'd recommend that as well.

We also loved the USS Midway. Someone else recommended it for an afternoon, but I would highly recommend morning instead. The guided tour of the "island" - the elevated section with the captain's quarters, radio room, control center, etc. has no line early in the morning. In the afternoon, the line can get really long and they often have to cut off the line before the end of the day. If you get there in the morning and head straight up to the island, you can do that tour with no wait. The rest of the ship is self-guided. The island is the only guided part.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

If you are interested, DL's Candlelight Processional is traditionally scheduled the first weekend in December. You can YouTube to see what happens and whether it is up your alley. Make sure you are watching videos of the CP at Disneyland, not WDW.

 

[BklynGirl]

On your drive down to San Diego, stop in La Jolla. It is such a gorgeous place with beautiful beaches and tons of sea lions. Our morning spent in La Jolla was my family's favorite day of our SanDiego/LA/Disneyland trip! You don't need to spend a lot of time there, but definitely make it a spot. Lots of great places for lunch there too. Also, not far from La Jolla is the Torrey Pines Gliderport where you can see hang gliders and paragliders taking off and landing from the cliffs. That is a beautiful place to visit too. You can easily hit both Torrey Pines and La Jolla on that day you are driving down to San Diego.

Also, in San Diego, we did the SEAL tour. It is about a 90 minute tour that leaves from the Embarcadero - about 45 minute land tour and 45 minute sea tour. It was a great way to see a lot of San Diego in a short time, learn a lot about the history of San Diego, and get a little tour of the harbor and see more seals and sea lions! I'd recommend that as well.

We also loved the USS Midway. Someone else recommended it for an afternoon, but I would highly recommend morning instead. The guided tour of the "island" - the elevated section with the captain's quarters, radio room, control center, etc. has no line early in the morning. In the afternoon, the line can get really long and they often have to cut off the line before the end of the day. If you get there in the morning and head straight up to the island, you can do that tour with no wait. The rest of the ship is self-guided. The island is the only guided part.

I love all of these suggestions - especially the SEAL tour. We were just talking last night about where we might be able to see Seals and/or Sea Lions! And my daughter-in-law is in the Navy on a carrier ship so I think going on the USS Midway tour would be a wonderful way to relate to her!

If you are interested, DL's Candlelight Processional is traditionally scheduled the first weekend in December. You can YouTube to see what happens and whether it is up your alley. Make sure you are watching videos of the CP at Disneyland, not WDW.

This is a great idea - I'm going to go watch the You Tube videos right now

Thank you all so much - this board is really amazing with the nicest people

 

[texasgingerbread]

I forgot to mention we did a whale watch out of Newport with Davey's locker and saw 6 whale and tons of dolphins. Fun 2.5 hours!

 

[VandVsmama]

Will Universal be busy the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend? Likely yes.

Rather than staying at a hotel in the Hollywood area, you could stay at a hotel within walking distance of the beach. So Saturday evening or Sunday morning, you could have dinner or breakfast beach-side, go for a nice walk on the beach, etc., before heading out for the day.

Staying at a hotel in Anaheim is a good idea for Sunday night because then you will avoid all of the Monday morning LA traffic. You'll be able to check out of the Anaheim hotel/motel & you can check in early at the GCH, and hit the parks. Otherwise if you don't stay Sunday night in Anaheim, I'd recommend waiting until 9-9:30 am to hit the road so you avoid rush hour traffic.

From what I can tell from a quick Google search, Paramount has a studio tour. They have a regular studio tour daily that's 2 hr long, a 4.5 hr long tour that's only on week days, and an after-dark/evening tour that's on weekend evenings. Warner Brothers also has studio tours and their website is here. Sony (aka MGM) also does studio tours. I have not gone on any of those tours, so I can't make any recommendations

San Diego:
There's a lot to do in San Diego. If you're interested in military history, you can go visit the Midway museum (it's a retired aircraft carrier). Old Town San Diego & Seaport Village are fun shopping districts that have interesting boutique-y/artsy-craftsy shops that you don't see in a regular shopping mall. Old Town also has a really great Mexican restaurant, but I can't remember the name of it off the top of my head right now.

If you only have time for either the zoo OR the safari park, my vote is for the zoo.