Advice for a West Coast newbie please - 2W SF -> LA inc Disney

[Kerenza]

Hi!

Having had 3 fab trips to Florida since 2012 we've decided to try the West Coast this year.
We always go around October half term - this year probably the week before and week of the kids hols, so approx 16th-29th, though will be sad to miss Christmas arriving overnight after Halloween!

Life is pretty hectic right now, and I've made a couple of attempts at starting my research, but it all feels so new compared to our last WDW trip, when I knew already where I'd want to stay, roughly what parks/attractions/restaraunts we'd want to visit etc, so I'm feeling a bit baffled!

Our children are aged 8 and 5 now, and we were thinking about flying into San Francisco and doing some West-coast sights, ending in LA for few days at Disney.

On the times we've done a fortnight in Florida, with the number of parks and fab villas, we've mostly just done Disney, Universal, water park etc and some rest days in between rather than sightseeing, but the kids are getting older, hence the thought of at least checking out SF while we're over there.

I have had barely any chance to do my homework so far, so have little idea of what will be worth seeing en route, or whether we're better off spending more time in LA relaxing and having longer to spend in the parks.

- Any thoughts on family friendly places to visit between SF and LA?

- Are there pool villas near the parks like WDW or are hotels preferred? I see that there is a lot of choice of hotels within walking distance to the parks, but we have loved staying self-catered and having our own pool!

- What is a sensible amount of days to get around the parks? I can see there are 2 disney parks, and Universal. Are the parks similar in scale to WDW just less of them?

- Anything else you wish you'd known before your first trip to Disneyland/ West Coast?

Thanks,
Becki

[daytonababe]

There are 2 Disney parks , we had one day in each this year and pretty much did everything but parks were so quiet . We did 1 day universal and did everything inc Harry Potter which had a soft opening , but again it was very quiet and no queues I suspect it's much busier now potter is officially open .

No villas really , it's mostly hotels . If you did find a villa in LA it will be very expensive .LA by the way is 35 miles from Anaheim / Disney but that can easily take 90 mins due to traffic .
Better imo to base yourself in Anaheim for Disney and elsewhere for LA. But I can't imagine you'd need much time on LA just a few days to cover universal and the sights .

Knots Berry is the only water park I know of in the area but im sure it'll be shut in October . None out on the west coast are year round like Orlando .

Are your kids good travellers because the distances involved on the west coast can be quite vast , it's about 400 miles between San Francisco and LA.

[tonymc]

We visited the west coast a few years ago, and TBH the theme parks played only a small part in our visit - we had three days at Disneyland and that was it! The two Disney parks are literally opposite each other, a minute's stroll apart, and with a two-park pass it is possible to keep crossing between the two. At the time we visited, you could also obtain paper based Fastpasses for both parks on the same day, so maximising our time there.

We stayed at the Howrad Johnson, in a room that overlooked Disney and allowed us to watch the fireworks from our balcony. There are loads of hotels within an easy walk of the park (the HoJo about 10 mins) and ditto for restaurants.

We did consider visiting Universal as well, but as noted above, although not far apart, traffic could have meant either an extremely early start in the morning or getting caught in the morning rush-hour traffic. Would definitely suggest splitting an LA stay between Anaheim and Universal/Downtown LA area to make the most of your time.

As we had fitted in five nights in NY, we didn't get the chance to visit San Francisco, which in hindsight we should really have done. However, when I was looking at West Coast trip reports, the drive along the Pacific Coast is very much worthwhile, and would suggest stopping over for a night en-route - Pismo Beach certainly crops up several times in other dibbers reports.

We also visited Dan Diego, and this was fantastic - a mixture of laid back pool time at our hotel on Shelter Island coupled with visits to the Safari Park, Old Town, La Jolla and Coroonado Beaches, and Downtown San Diego itself. There is also a Seaworld there if you need a park fix, and Balboa Park that has a zoo and a number of other attractions located within it. Our daughter (who was 15 at the time) loved San Diego and would like to go back there.

A suggestion for an itinerary would be:

Fly to San Francisco, 4 nights
Fly down to San Diego (couple of hours max flight), 4 nights
Drive up to LA/Universal for 3 nights (probably around 2-1/2 hours drive)
Drive up to Anaheim for 3 nights (go early on the first day to fit in a park visit)
Return home from Los Angeles (saves a day driving back up to San Francisco).

All the flights could be booked on one multi-city booking, or you could book an "open-jaw" UK-San Francisco, Los Angeles-UK flight and make your own booking for the internal SF-San Diego leg when you have firmed up your plans.

Have to say that we also found the non-park days as much fun and as enjoyable as our time at Disneyland, so well worth exploring further out.

[daytonababe]

Universal is very different to Orlando , I did see a few small kids there but imo it is a park better suited to older kids .

[Cantcook]

Originally Posted by daytonababe

Universal is very different to Orlando , I did see a few small kids there but imo it is a park better suited to older kids .

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And IMHO not just Universal but most of the west coast is geared for older children and adults.

From reading the original post it sounds like you love the Orlando experience and trying to recreate at least part of that on the west coast. It’s very difficult unless you have an endless pot of money.

I also think there are better things to be doing on the west coast than visiting theme parks. Don’t get me wrong, they have their own charm but they’re nowhere near the scale of Orlando’s offering. Plus, let's be honest who would visit Orlando if they didn't have theme parks? Hardly any of us. That's the complete reverse on the west coast.

For what you want – dare I say it – just go back to Orlando. I appreciate this is potentially terrible advice when I don’t know your children or your circumstances but if the youngest was closer to 10, I think it would just open up so much more for you to do.

[Kerenza]

Thank you everyone.
That's the sort of itinerary I had in mind tonic, though hadn't thought of flying down to San Diego rather than driving.

Cantcook - Good point about the age of the kids. I was just chatting with friend about that last night - we went on our own to New York, and spent the whole time thankful that we didn't have them with us - No moaning about walking, things being boring, chance to eat and drink whenever and wherever we like...
So I suspect there will be an element of wishing the kids were older (or at home!), but if we love it and see enough to tempt us we can go back again another year, and presumably there are some highlights for families too.

Luckily our 2 are good travellers. Last year we went to Australia for 5 weeks, with a few nights in Hong Kong on the way home, and there was a real mix of stuff just for the kids, mostly for us, and stuff that everyone enjoyed, and we all had a fab time - we were often surprised at how much the kids enjoyed things that we thought they would find boring, but we fancied doing anyway.

As much as I love Florida, I'm quite keen on the idea that we can completely 'do' Disney, relax a bit, and still have time to see some new sights.

[Harry]

It's funny as I can take or leave the Orlando Universal Parks but absolutely love Universal Hollywood... totally different in my eyes

[daytonababe]

Originally Posted by Harry

It's funny as I can take or leave the Orlando Universal Parks but absolutely love Universal Hollywood... totally different in my eyes

See more...

I agree they are very different and we loved Universal Hollywood this year and are off back next year but my kids are teenagers and can do everything.

I don't personally think there's a whole lot there for a 5 yr old.. There was a little girl of maybe 7 on the tram tour in front of us and she was terrified by the Kong and Fast & Furious rides parts.

[DIBBadmin]

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