We are going to be in Anaheim 4 days. First and probably last time. We are there with a few students for a HOSA convention which is going to take up most of our time. Will you help me with my plan? Wednesday will be busy all day with only non-scheduled free time from 9:30p-12:30. Thursday in order for all of us to do something together, we will have from approx 6p-12:30. This evening I thought about going to DTD. I want to try to see the fireworks. Friday we will have free time together from 3:00p-7:30p. I thought we would go to the beach this afternoon and walk around (Huntington vs. Newport?) Saturday we are free all day until 8:00p which we will be going to DL that day. My dh and I are chaperoning 3 high school students. I am a HUGE disney fan and have only been to WDW. We may never see California again. Is this a good plan? I would love to do disney the whole time but don't want to miss out on what else has CA has to offer. (never seen the Pacific coast). It is very expensive for us to go out there so like I said probably once in a lifetime thing. What are your opinions?
Yay for California and
Disneyland!

You keep saying this is your first and only trip, but once you come to California, people have a strange way of coming back!
First, let me ask if it is in your budget to get a 2 or 3 day Park Hopper? I think Wednesday and Thursday nights could be used to see some shows. One night you could do World of Color and the other night maybe Fantasmic! and fireworks. Then you could sneak on some rides at night? Alternatively, could you fit in an extra day either before or after your obligations begin? Since this is such a special trip, it will be totally worth it!
I would make the effort to see some kind of California coastline! Maybe rent a car one day? I like Huntington myself, but they are both excellent beaches. Having a car would make it much easier on you, if you are okay with driving. Then you could roam around and have dinner, etc. Just be careful about rush hour traffic. It can be pretty brutal. If you leave right at 3pm and don't try to come back until 7pm, you will probably miss the worst of it. But you could experience some SoCal traffic!
You have a pretty tight schedule, so I think will get the most out of staying at DLR mostly, with maybe one side trip. If you can extend the trip at all, then you would get a chance to see more of California.
If you've been to Florida, forget the CA beaches (IMHO). They're not nearly as nice as Florida beaches and they are a LOT colder. The SoCal beaches aren't as bad as the NoCal beaches temperature-wise but they are much colder than SoFlo (just made that up. Sounds good) beaches.
SoCal has Universal Studios, so does Florida. SoCal has SeaWorld. So does Florida. Were it I (I'm a Disney freak however) I'd spend as much time at DLR as possible. You're really going to enjoy the closeness of everything at DLR. Most of what you'll find in Cali you can find in Florida aside from mountains, wine, movie studios and Sequoias. But then, CA doesn't have gators. Freaked me out once. The wife and I went to Kennedy Space Center and there's a 10-12 foot gator sunning itself in a culvert. <Shudder!>
LOL, having grown up in CA and visited Fl, I thought Fl beaches were totally underwhelming. I think the OP needs to see at least one West Coast beach to see how gorgeous the scenery is. The water can be really cold, but that is part of the experience. CA is completely different from Fl. Fl is miserably humid with no topography to speak of. CA has much better scenery and geographic diversity.
I stayed at a hotel on the beach in Miami Beach. I ran out the back to get my first look of a FL beach and it looked like a giant lake. There was no movement at all! Hardly any waves. Everything was flat. I never quite got over the shock of it all. I had a fun time and also went to Key West. I loved how clear the water was, great for snorkeling, etc. But it was brutally humid even in December. Blech. In CA, our beaches have gorgeous waves and interesting coastline and there is always a breeze. I think it is worth seeing!
