Putting together our first california trip! Need advice...

[Itinkso]

That sounds perfect, and the right price too! Is this area near the water?

Bayfront Hilton is near the Harbor - where the Midway battleship is located, Gaslamp Quarter for great restaurants, and easy access from the airport. I can let you know more next month... we're staying at the Hilton for the Paul McCartney concert.

Doubletree is close to Del Mar beach which is beautiful... about 10 minutes at most.

 

[SMD]

Bayfront Hilton is near the Harbor - where the Midway battleship is located, Gaslamp Quarter for great restaurants, and easy access from the airport. I can let you know more next month... we're staying at the Hilton for the Paul McCartney concert.

Doubletree is close to Del Mar beach which is beautiful... about 10 minutes at most.

Bayfront is not near the Midway, it's on the far side of the convention center, across Harbor from the stadium. If you're looking to do Gaslamp, look at the Omni, Hard Rock or Hilton or Marriott Gaslamp. You really don't want to be across Harbor and the trolley tracks if you're going to be walking back and forth.

 

[Itinkso]

Bayfront is not near the Midway, it's on the far side of the convention center, across Harbor from the stadium. If you're looking to do Gaslamp, look at the Omni, Hard Rock or Hilton or Marriott Gaslamp. You really don't want to be across Harbor and the trolley tracks if you're going to be walking back and forth.

Was just letting them know the Midway is at the Harbor. OP just wants to go to the Zoo, I think.

 

[poison ivy]

We're from NJ but both our daughters live in San Diego and we travel there at least 2x/yr.

Our oldest lived in LA; La Jolla and now San Diego. She's been out west for over 10 yrs.

We've driven between San Diego and Anaheim many times.
Been to Universal's lot and theme park / Disney / San Deigo Zoo / Sea World / other spots around San Diego / Hollywood walk of fame / La brea tarpits / toured of stars homes.

But our favorite place to stay above and beyond everything else is the Hotel Del Coronado in Coronado, CA. If you can manage a visit or stay there it's unforgettable.

Too bad your family is trying to work in San Fran because personally, we prefer to start out in LA and work our way south. San Diego is beautiful. LA is grey and urban.

would be happy to help any way we can. Good luck with your planning.

 

[bangzoom6877]

We're from NJ but both our daughters live in San Diego and we travel there at least 2x/yr. Our oldest lived in LA; La Jolla and now San Diego. She's been out west for over 10 yrs. We've driven between San Diego and Anaheim many times. Been to Universal's lot and theme park / Disney / San Deigo Zoo / Sea World / other spots around San Diego / Hollywood walk of fame / La brea tarpits / toured of stars homes. But our favorite place to stay above and beyond everything else is the Hotel Del Coronado in Coronado, CA. If you can manage a visit or stay there it's unforgettable. Too bad your family is trying to work in San Fran because personally, we prefer to start out in LA and work our way south. San Diego is beautiful. LA is grey and urban. would be happy to help any way we can. Good luck with your planning.

Thank you for that information! The flight to San Diego is about 6 hours, right? I'm asking because we will be flying out of JFK so our flight time will be the same as yours is.

I've heard LA isn't so nice, so we only figured we would check it out one day. Mainly to see a few sights, like the Hollywood sign, Rodeo Drive in nearby Beverly Hills, and to visit and have dinner with my cousin who lives in the LA area.

How early do you think we would have to leave to drive to Universal from Anaheim? I know traffic is going to be a killer (I've heard it's much worse there than in NYC). We're not really looking to do a ton of rides at Universal, but the main things we want to do are the Studio Tour, the NBC Universal Experience, and the kids really want to do the Simpsons ride and the Minion ride. I did explain to them that a lot of the same rides are at Universal Orlando, which we will go to the following year, so the goal is to see the things that are only in Hollywood before doing anything that is duplicated in Orlando.

 

[bangzoom6877]

A few days ago, I booked the hotel in Anaheim! We are staying at the Desert Palms Hotel & Suites, in a kids' suite. It has two separate rooms, plenty of space. It includes hot breakfast daily, free parking and wifi too. And it's very close to Disneyland...definitely walking distance! I'm so happy it's so close! So, here is our itinerary so far:

July 24, 2015: fly from NYC to San Diego and check in (not sure which hotel yet, nothing is booked there yet)
July 25: San Diego zoo
July 26: check out of hotel in San Diego, go to Legoland; afterwards, drive to Anaheim and check into Desert Palms Hotel & Suites
July 27-29: go to the Disneyland parks with the family; visit my cousin and see LA; Universal Hollywood
July 30: the rest of the family checks out and heads to San Francisco (probably a DTD and pool day for us)
July 31: park hop between the two Disneyland parks
August 1st: fly home (not sure which airport yet)

 

[poison ivy]

Thank you for that information! The flight to San Diego is about 6 hours, right? I'm asking because we will be flying out of JFK so our flight time will be the same as yours is.

I've heard LA isn't so nice, so we only figured we would check it out one day. Mainly to see a few sights, like the Hollywood sign, Rodeo Drive in nearby Beverly Hills, and to visit and have dinner with my cousin who lives in the LA area.

How early do you think we would have to leave to drive to Universal from Anaheim? I know traffic is going to be a killer (I've heard it's much worse there than in NYC). We're not really looking to do a ton of rides at Universal, but the main things we want to do are the Studio Tour, the NBC Universal Experience, and the kids really want to do the Simpsons ride and the Minion ride. I did explain to them that a lot of the same rides are at Universal Orlando, which we will go to the following year, so the goal is to see the things that are only in Hollywood before doing anything that is duplicated in Orlando.

yes! if it's non-stop should be a 6hr flt plus you gain 3 hrs with the time difference getting there.

on a good day it's 90 mins from around the San Deigo Airport to Anaheim. But I wouldn't say it's much worse than NYC.

the best way to equate it on a weekday relative to the East Coast would be the commute from NJ Turnpike - GW Bridge - Bronx expy - CT.

Except substitute a 10 lane superhwy in place of all that. But honestly it's not a bad drive. Certain points are really beautiful. It's only a problem in certain areas.

If it's during the week, we leave early around 5-5:30 am. and get in and around Anaheim before the rush to avoid the congestion around the parks.
Takes 90 mins at that hour.

Also, don't automatically skip some of the duplicate attractions at USH vs USO as they may have differences. Jurassic park and the mummy come to mind.
the park is really cool being built on 3 levels. You will have a great time.

 

[poison ivy]

Sorry, I didn't see that intinerary before I posted. You're travelling on Sun from San deigo to LEGOLAND to Anaheim. You will have no real problems I can forsee that day, esp if you travel to Anaheim after dinner.

 

[bangzoom6877]

Sorry, I didn't see that intinerary before I posted. You're travelling on Sun from San deigo to LEGOLAND to Anaheim. You will have no real problems I can forsee that day, esp if you travel to Anaheim after dinner.

We were thinking Legoland from opening (10am) for about 4-5 hours tops, then driving to Anaheim. So we would start heading to Anaheim 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon, and have dinner in Anaheim.

Traffic doesn't sound as bad as I'm anticipating. I live in Brooklyn, NY and I teach at a high school that's only 10 minutes from my house and I don't have to get on a highway. I'm very spoiled in that respect. So I'm unfamiliar with NJ-NYC traffic patterns, except for what I hear on the news in the morning (GW Bridge seems to have frequent traffic issues). What I do experience is traffic on the Staten Island expressway no matter what time I drive on it, and it is both coming and going. I have no choice but to take it when visiting friends and relatives that live in NJ. It drives me crazy.

Universal is a 3-level park? Could you elaborate on that please?

 

[poison ivy]

We were thinking Legoland from opening (10am) for about 4-5 hours tops, then driving to Anaheim. So we would start heading to Anaheim 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon, and have dinner in Anaheim.

Traffic doesn't sound as bad as I'm anticipating. I live in Brooklyn, NY and I teach at a high school that's only 10 minutes from my house and I don't have to get on a highway. I'm very spoiled in that respect. So I'm unfamiliar with NJ-NYC traffic patterns, except for what I hear on the news in the morning (GW Bridge seems to have frequent traffic issues). What I do experience is traffic on the Staten Island expressway no matter what time I drive on it, and it is both coming and going. I have no choice but to take it when visiting friends and relatives that live in NJ. It drives me crazy.

Universal is a 3-level park? Could you elaborate on that please?

You can read about it here: http://www.wdwinfo.com/disneyland/sc-destinations/Universal-studios.html

The park is set up on 2 levels with a large escalator to get to each level.

universal Hollywood is built on a hillside. It's more like 2 1/2 levels with lg escalators connecting between them.
The main entrance level is adjacent to City Walk; mid-level incl the studio tour and the lower level has several headliner attractions.

the San Deigo Zoo is also on a hillside. You should consider springing for the kangaroo hop on/off bus that runs throughout the park. It's well worth the price esp if you aren't familiar with the layout. You could accidentally wind up walking several very steep inclines in a counter direction.

Your worst traffic will be commuting anywhere between Anaheim and LA incl. Universal City. This will be like the Staten Island Exp on steroids. I'd plan to leave super early on the days you're heading North.

 

[SMD]

The traffic between Carlsbad and Anaheim is going to be pretty bad on a weekday, especially if the border checkpoint is open. If you leave at 3pm, I wouldn't be 100% set on having dinner at say, 5:30 in Anaheim. Maybe have a snack before you leave if you weren't planning to eat later.

 

[bangzoom6877]

The traffic between Carlsbad and Anaheim is going to be pretty bad on a weekday, especially if the border checkpoint is open. If you leave at 3pm, I wouldn't be 100% set on having dinner at say, 5:30 in Anaheim. Maybe have a snack before you leave if you weren't planning to eat later.

It will be a Sunday, so not a weekday. How is it on the weekend?

 

[bangzoom6877]

You can read about it here: http://www.wdwinfo.com/disneyland/sc-destinations/Universal-studios.html universal Hollywood is built on a hillside. It's more like 2 1/2 levels with lg escalators connecting between them. The main entrance level is adjacent to City Walk; mid-level incl the studio tour and the lower level has several headliner attractions. the San Deigo Zoo is also on a hillside. You should consider springing for the kangaroo hop on/off bus that runs throughout the park. It's well worth the price esp if you aren't familiar with the layout. You could accidentally wind up walking several very steep inclines in a counter direction. Your worst traffic will be commuting anywhere between Anaheim and LA incl. Universal City. This will be like the Staten Island Exp on steroids. I'd plan to leave super early on the days you're heading North.

Thank you, I will check out that link!

We will make sure to leave as early as possible when heading to LA. Thanks!

 

[SMD]

It will be a Sunday, so not a weekday. How is it on the weekend?

I don't really know because I usually split off at the 405 to go to LA. But, the really bad traffic is usually between Encinitas and just past Oceanside. Depending on what's happening as you pass Pendleton, it can also be slow. Without traffic I'd expect it to take 60-75 minutes from Carlsbad. Maybe add a half hour for SD traffic. I'd probably check traffic before leaving Legoland and then leave later if it looks bad around 2pm. I say later because if I were paying for Legoland I'd rather stay there than leave early to have dinner in Anaheim.

 

[bangzoom6877]

I don't really know because I usually split off at the 405 to go to LA. But, the really bad traffic is usually between Encinitas and just past Oceanside. Depending on what's happening as you pass Pendleton, it can also be slow. Without traffic I'd expect it to take 60-75 minutes from Carlsbad. Maybe add a half hour for SD traffic. I'd probably check traffic before leaving Legoland and then leave later if it looks bad around 2pm. I say later because if I were paying for Legoland I'd rather stay there than leave early to have dinner in Anaheim.

Ok that sounds fine. Even if it takes 2 hours, that is manageable for us at that time. But I like your idea of checking traffic first and staying longer if it is bad. Leaving an hour later might make a big difference.

 

[disnyrtl]

I live in Sacramento with two years prior in San Francisco, before that Florida. Since we used to goto WDW at least twice a year I still need my Disney fix and end up going to DLR a good deal. If you are not staying on DLR property (which I would HIGHLY suggest you do, a place my family likes to stay a lot in is the HOJOs on Harbor blvd which is right across the street from DL. They have a nice pool, good rates (my mom just got a $69/night rate but it varies) and good people there. Me, myself, since I am a DVC member, have always stayed on site and mostly at GCH which is an EXCELLENT place to stay....but pricy. You "Could" rent points from other DVC member and get a grand villa which is three bedrooms and a dining room, with full kitchen, etc but it can get pricy. I took the kids to LegoLand once, and it took about 90 mins to get there from the DLR with mild traffic. I have not had any good expiernece with any of the beaches but maybe it is because I am used to the Atlantic Ocean and how easy beach access is on the east coast. With mountains and people owning their property, the beaches are not as fully accessible out here. San Fran is a lace you could spend at least four days at depending on what you want to see. Use the same approach you would for WDW where you dress for it to be warm, but have extra layers available depending on where you are at. Even in the summer the Bay Area in SF can get cold REAL quick and most of the main attractions people want to see are down at fishermans warf and it gets really cold there even during the day. I always suggest to people on a budget coming to SF to stay at a hotel out of the city. A nice ace to stay is in south San Fransico and is embassy suites. You can always catch a tour bus from one of these hotels that will take you around and then drop you off at fishermans wharf for a few hours so you can go see Alcatraz and other sites. Napa is nice, but can be boring we kids. HIV you need more info, please ask.

 

[bangzoom6877]

Hi everyone! Thank you all for the wonderful advice! We have changed our vacation plans for next summer and we will not be traveling to California. My mother is extremely nervous about flying with everything going on with ISIS these days, and all of us are doing a vacation as a family. So we are all going on a cruise to Bermuda together, right out of NYC so we don't have to fly but we still have a wonderful and fun vacation together. California will always be there, and we will go at a later date. Thanks again for everything!