West Coast Trip 2016

[tinks_1989]

Tink, One thing to watch for in Vegas Hotels, some charge an extra resort fee ontop of your room rate, some charge an outrageous ammount for a room safe, be sure to check the details and small print before you hit the book it now button. Torsie, I will say it, the Emperor Has No Clothes On! Disneyland single park advance ticket, one day $92, one day park hopper $137. Knotts Berry Farm, single day advance ticket $39.

There is probably a reason knotts berry farm is $98 cheaper.

 

[Mr Stoat]

The detailing is not as good as Disney, but my DD (11) said she had a far better time than the previous year at WDW. IMO the rides are waaaay beter, even though they do charge $10 for a beer. We went midweek in October and walked onto every ride, max wait time 2 mins.

Other fun things to do, go see the Queen Mary, or the USS Idaho, where else are you going to get to look round a for real battleship?

 

[gemmybear83]

We did the west coast last year and loved it!

For vegas I would only stay 3 nights, I wasn't the biggest fan I found it seedy and didn't like the smoky/seedy atmosphere in the older hotels (treasure island, harras, the quad, flamingo, Luxor, mirage). BUT I am really glad I went exploring the hotels is fab, as are the shows and dining.

Like others have said I would totally recommend staying mid strip, we also stayed at the elara connected to planet hollywood and it was a fantastic location to get around. The elara was lovely with no resort fees.

We saw david copperfield which was amazing and I would totally recommend the wicked spoon for an awesome buffet!

Disneyland is amazing! Lots of reasonably priced hotels across the road from the parks, we stayed at the disneyland hotel (treat for my 30th) but honestly no need too, as the offsite hotels are just as close.

In LA do the warner bros tour, that was awesome. We also saw a show at the El Captain theatre in hollywood that was really special.

My favourite place was San Francisco, loved it! Could spend a week there easily. If your doing alcatraz get your tickets early as they sell out months in advance.

Let me know if you have any questions

 

[Tinkerbell1989]

Eeek, how exciting!

We are planning our honeymoon for next year and are doing a similar trip. We are going to fly in to Vegas, and spend 4 nights there, then pop over to San Fran for 3 nights! We are then going to spend three days driving down the coast, and then have a day in LA. Hearst Castle does look amazing! From the few pictures I have seen it reminds me of the great Gatsby.

Our original plan then included a weeks stay in Hawaii, but it didn't look how I imagined it to look in the pictures. We then thought about flying to Cancun from LA, it's about a 4.5hr flight, but we were planning on flying straight home from Mexico, so that kind of compensated for the longer travelling distance.

Now the plan has changed again lol! We are now going to fly to Florida, spend a day in Magic Kingdom, and Islands of adventure, and then pick up the Disney Caribbean cruise!

I think you and I will have wonderful trips lol! Enjoy planning it!

I've heard a few things about Hearst Castle... must look into it!

Your plans sound so good! I can't convince DFi on any cruise, let alone a Disney one!

:O

Did you really just suggest that on a Disney board??

Please don't skip DL Steffi!!! (Not that you would!)

DL is not to be missed or California adventure park. Cars land alone would be worth it. X

Let's be honest, this is my way of sneaking in a little Disney fix, seeing as we cany marry or honeymoon in Florida! Cars Land should convince Tom alone!

Steffi x

 

[Tinkerbell1989]

We did the west coast last year and loved it!

For vegas I would only stay 3 nights, I wasn't the biggest fan I found it seedy and didn't like the smoky/seedy atmosphere in the older hotels (treasure island, harras, the quad, flamingo, Luxor, mirage). BUT I am really glad I went exploring the hotels is fab, as are the shows and dining.

Like others have said I would totally recommend staying mid strip, we also stayed at the elara connected to planet hollywood and it was a fantastic location to get around. The elara was lovely with no resort fees.

We saw david copperfield which was amazing and I would totally recommend the wicked spoon for an awesome buffet!

Disneyland is amazing! Lots of reasonably priced hotels across the road from the parks, we stayed at the disneyland hotel (treat for my 30th) but honestly no need too, as the offsite hotels are just as close.

In LA do the warner bros tour, that was awesome. We also saw a show at the El Captain theatre in hollywood that was really special.

My favourite place was San Francisco, loved it! Could spend a week there easily. If your doing alcatraz get your tickets early as they sell out months in advance.

Let me know if you have any questions

Thankyou for all your help and advice! Definately doing some more research tonight! Xx

 

[mollies_mum]

This all sounds really exciting, we are considering this for 2016 x

 

[dabootie]

We are planning on the West coast next year, I went to University in the city of Riverside which is half way between Los Angeles and Palm Springs so have set aside a night to stay in the Mission Inn there. I love San Fran and would suggest if you have time taking the time to spend a couple of days there. If budget is an issue then its possible to stay in Berkeley and use the Bart to travel around.

Anaheim has some great budget hotels which are within walking distance of Disney, I particularly like eating at Cocos which is very similar to Perkins. I've always found it easy enough to do Disney in 1 long day with a hopper or if you want to take your time you wouldn't need any more than 2 days. Our plan is only to stay in Anaheim for 2 days then transfer up to a budget hotel in LA where we will buy a 2 day pass for the hop on/ hop off tour busses and then spend a full day at Universal.

I'm sure if you have any questions I'd be able to answer them so just ask if you need to know anything.

 

[WiganTony]

We also visited the West Coast last summer (after a few days in New York), and stayed in San Diego and Anaheim. We loved the area - in hindsight we wished we had flown straight to San Francisco and spent our full holiday in California.

We flew into LAX and drove down to San Diego, which was absolutely fantastic. If you could get there, highly recommended.

Definitely worth visiting Disneyland. We had a three day ticket, which gave us enough time to do the rides in both parks, and return to do our favourites again. We stayed in Anaheim - there are loads of hotels and restaurants within a 10 minute walk of the parks, so easy to save money over dining in Disney.

The coast is also stunning. From Anaheim, we visited Newport Beach and Ventura County Fair, the latter costing us $12 each with concerts by Air Supply and Hall and Oates included in the price.

 

[catherine]

Tink,
We did what you are planning last October. The essential guide book is California Road Trip from Moon Handbooks.

We flew into and out of LAX, you pay a premium to fly into Vegas, for us it would have been around GBP 100 extra for Vegas over LAX or SF.
Vegas we can take of leave, we stayed in a junior suite in the Elara which is next door to Paris, Paris and opposite the Bellagio. Very nice, modern, swish , comfortable but a bit soulless. Vegas as Mrs Stoat described it is a bit like Blackpool with extra alcohol and gambling, seriousley, people walking down the street at 10 am with extra large beers or jiant cocktails. If you do not like the smell of tobacco smoke Vegas is not for you, the smell is all pervasive in the Casino Hotels.
Having said that, go see a show, we did Cirque, and the buffet at the Bellagio is stunning, the TI buffet less so. We renewed our vows in a helicopter over the Strip at Night and also did the bus trip to see the Grand Canyon which was a good day out, saves a lot of driving.

LA traffic is the nightmare you would expect. You need satnav, the roads are not as well signed as they are in Florida. If you are out in Annaheim, it is around half an hour by car from the airport. Nose to tail 60mph traffic. My advice is book a taxi transfer in advance, then pick up your car later if you are doing that option. Disney is expensive for a one day ticket for both parks. You might want to consider Knotts Berry Farm as an alternative.

The california coastline north to SF is just stunning I would take two or more days and break your journey as there is so much to see and do. Do not miss Hearst Castle, views and the place itself are stunning. Monterey is a nice place and the aquarium is the best I have visited.

SF was more to our taste than LA. Look into the SF city pass, that includes Metro and bus transport, the DeJong museum, exploratorium, Monterey or SF Aquarium, and you can upgrade it to give an Alcatraz trip (well worth it).

From there you can drive over to Yosemite which is just stunning. We spent two full days there before heading over the Tioga pass (also stunning) before spending a night in Mammoth Lakes and visiting Bodie ghost town and Mono Lake. That puts you near Death Valley, stay out of here if it is summer, it is baking hot. In the cooler months it is amazing, bleak but compelling. We stayed at the Furnace Creek Ranch. You can get deals online for around $125 a room avoiding weekends as opposed to the $325 walkup rate if you search online in advance. It is really a little oasis, with its own spring fed swimming pool. Must visit is Scottys Castle in the North end of the valley.

That should give you some ideas, let me know if you want any more details.

Completely agree with this post. I lived in San Jose for 10 years and took the drive down the coastal highway many times, it's absolutely stunning! . If you go to Monterey there's a drive that you can take, it's actually called the 17 mile drive takes you near Pebble Beach. Carmel is in the same vicinity and another lovely place to visit. If you visit Hearst Castle and need an overnight stay we used to stay at the Bluebird Inn in Cambria, not stayed there for a few years, but FIL still stays there and says it's still as good as ever. Yosemite another of my favourite places to go to. Worth an overnight stay if possible! Have to go out now, but if you've any questions I would be happy to answer them!

 

[Magic Megadegs]

We did our honeymoon (now 11 years ago) with 5 days in Orlando then flew to San Francisco, drove up to Napa Valley (gorgeous, stayed in Calistoga) drove down to Yosemite National park (my absolute FAVOURITE) and then through Death Valley into Las Vegas staying at the Bellagio. It was brilliant x We both said we would love to do the whole of California from
North to South one year. There is so much to see isn't there. A trip to Hawaii would be the icing in the cake though, wow!!!