WDW lover first trip to Disneyland and California needs help please

[kdkbrebel]

Hello all. I am an obsessive planner and am in desperate of help with planning my first ever trip west. We have been to WDW 5 times. Here is what we are thinking we would like to do, so I need some thoughts, ideas, help etc with planning this out.

The cast will be myself DH and DD who is 16. DS who is 21 will not be joining us as he has an internship for the summer. We will be traveling from 7/4 through 7/11. I know it is a super busy time but unfortunately due to work and scheduling it is the only time we can. Also note that we are commando type vacationers. We like to see and do as much as humanly possible while on vacation. Here is a list of what we have looked at that we would like to do, I have already pared it way down.

Huntington Beach for the 4th
Beach day or 1/2 day
Disneyland
California Adventure
Universal
LA tour- Hollywood sign etc...
Shopping time for DD
Seqouia National Park (some type of horseback riding or hiking)
? Seaworld
? San Diego


The only thing I have down for sure is that we will be arriving at LAX around 10am on the 4th and I have reserved a room in Huntington Beach for that night. We will be renting a car but would also prefer to not to have to drive in crazy city traffic whenever possible.

So I need help planning out where to go on which days that make the most sense geographically and also where to stay with out having to change hotels nightly.

Any help tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

I am no CA expert, but since nobody else has chimed in, I will give you my $.02. We did almost everything on your list (no Universal & no shopping) on our one and only trip to CA in 2011. We had 13 nights and our travel party included Me, DH and our 7 & 9 year old DD's - so obviously a different travel dynamic & you may need to keep that in mind.

We flew into/out of San Diego. Day 1 was pretty much a blur of exhaustion from the time change & travel. We drove up to Huntington Beach, checked into our hotel and marched on over to dip our toes into the Pacific Ocean for the first time. After that, we ate dinner, tested the hotel pool and fell into a deep sleep!

Day 2 was a Sunday ... we toured LA that day (which was good traffic wise) and checked into our DLR hotel with dinner @ DTD.

We toured DL/DCA for full days on days 3-6.

Day 7, we left DLR around 1:00pm and drove up to SNP. It was a bad plan to leave LA at lunchtime on Friday ... we ran into horrible traffic and our trip to SNP took about 3 hours longer than planned. We didn't reach our hotel (Wuksachi Lodge inside the park) until about 10:30pm.

Day 8, we toured SNP. I was surprised by how crowded it was! Stunning, but ver crowded.

Day 9, we packed up and headed out of the park around 9:00am. We had to stop at the visitor center at park entrance b/c we were all so nauseated from the twisty drive down the mountain. After a 1/2 hr or so break, we started the drive to San Diego. We had no traffic - stopped in Bakersfield for lunch and were in San Diego around dinner time.

Spent rest of time in San Diego - beach, Sea World, Zoo, Wild Animal Park, Seals in La Jolla.

We had a great trip ... but I left wanting to go back! CA is so big and there are so many things I want to see and do!

Given your limited time, I think I might consider staying in the So Cal area & skipping sequoia all together ... it is really not a day trip from LA. If the travel stars align perfectly, it is around 5.5 hrs to get into the heart of the park.

I am not one to ask about exact travel times, but I will say that when planning, I relied on mapquest a lot to gauge travel time. Unfortunately, MQ gives travel times assuming no traffic as far as I can tell - so several of our drives were longer than planned due to traffic. The two times we traveled on Sunday mornings, the travel time on mapquest did seem to be very accurate.

Also, a GPS is a must! I don't know how we would have navigated LA without it ...

Huntington Beach was really busy - we arrived on a Saturday in July. Traffic was very congested and the beach itself was very busy. It looks like locals haul their stuff in early for a day at the beach - tent canopies, grills, coolers,etc. I am sure it will be super packed on the 4th of July. When the sun came down, the bonfires started (smelled like lighter fluid ... LOL ... not what I envisioned), the sweatshirts came out and I saw tons of people playing catch, etc. it really looked like something from a Gidget movie. It was a neat sight for me, a lifelong Midwesterner, to experience on my first ever trip to a SoCal beach ... but just a lot busier than I expected.

That's all I have ... I hope somebody else can chime in and help.

 

[SMD]

I don't know how you can avoid driving in city traffic with commando style vacationing, you don't really have 2 things that are near each other.

Sequoia National Park is 200 miles from Universal, and closer to 250 from DLR. You might want to look for hiking and horseback riding a little closer to LA/SD if everything else on the list take priority.

 

[tiffjoy]

Yay for first time to Cali! My DH and I are born and bred East coasters, and after moving out here 8 years ago, we have never looked back! I realized our DDs are true California girls when my DD4 grumpily said yesterday, "WHY is it raining in the summer?! It is NOT supposed to rain in the summer." Mind you, all my family and friends back home in NY are posting pics of snow on fb!

Anyway, I'm not sure how to do what you have planned without driving. I agree for the unfamiliar, LA traffic can be a stressful situation. However, you can plan to do your drives outside of peak rush hours, although you will need to realize even non rush hour traffic is heavy. Friday rush hour starts around 12ish.

Huntington is not my favorite LA beach, personally. Really busy. We actually prefer Manhattan, and have spent several vacations there (post DLR trip). It's quieter, too. But that's just me. I know Huntington is the more famous one that people want to say they visited.

SNP is such a long drive from LA. It's definitely doable, but keep in mind dealing with LA traffic to get there. You can't leave early, as rush hour starts early on weekdays, unless you head out around 5am- you could potentially beat traffic then. Or leave after, around 10am, which kills your entire day with just travel. If you are ok with that, the park is pretty and a nice visit.

With your short time and aversion to driving, I would focus on the LA area. There are so many things to see!! You could go to Catalina Island, and you would just have to drive to Newport Beach in Orange County to take a boat there. I do love San Diego, but I don't personally think SeaWorld is worth the drive. If I was to go and only have a short time there, there are so many other unique sites I would visit. The zoo is great, but it's their Wild Animal Park that is truly unique and memorable.

Your plan will work, but just be aware that traffic can really put a crimp in commando style touring in LA.

 

[southlakejr]

How much time are you planning for each component? I would say that really seeing DL and DCA will take you 2-3 days, especially during that time of year.

For DD, there is some shopping within walking distance to DLR, either in downtown Disney or an area called Anaheim Gardenwalk. (which also has a movie theater and bowling alley, as well as quite a few restaurants)

SNP is quite a bit out of the way. Unless that park is important to you specifically, there are plenty of other hiking options that are closer to your mainline.

I think I would aim to do your first day and a half in your beach area of choice, followed by 2-3 days at Disney, drive up north to the Hollywood/ LA area to do more sight seeing, Universal Studios, and some hiking. That gives you roughly 3 home base hotel areas, so you don't have to switch as often.