[KarenG]

But an area I would suggest if you’re locked into doing it is Sunset Beach. It’s a five minute drive to Huntington Beach (Hollister and Surfing fame!), half an hour easy drive to Disneyland (surface streets avoiding the freeways).

It’s a residential area on a beach, it didn’t have the feel of a tourist area but there were restaurants here and there (no chains) but it was significantly cheaper than everywhere else I found.