Wow! Can’t believe the prices! Is it out of reach for us!

[Buzz n' Piglet]

Location is maybe not convenient for you but we got the Hilton by the airport in SF for £80 a night. We are only staying in it for one night though so wont be going back and forward to it.

Plenty hotels in between SF and LA for around £60 a night. San Diego we got a nice hotel for £200 for two nights and at Anaheim we got the Fairfield in for £440 for 5 nights.

Downtown SF is extortionate, as are Disney hotels.

[trampslikeus]

We had a 14 night trip in June which started as a BA "bargain" fly drive at £2,300 for family of 4 (DDs 18 and 20) (EDI-LHR-LAX with Group F SUV).
Trip involved Anaheim - SF - via PCH, SF - Anaheim via Yosemite, - Anaheim - West LA, staying in moderate hotels and moderate dining options.
Having totalled up all expenditure, which included four day DL hopper, 1 day US, hotels, food, Alcatraz, baseball, fuel, shopping and make up shopping, transport, parking, flights and car hire it came to £9,100.
This probably equates to a similar cost to our two week onsite stay at WDW
Found everything to be a lot more expensive than Florida, gas $4 per gallon, sales tax 10%.
However, had a great time and have decided to book a return in February, albeit only for two of us and only a week. This time to visit Palm Springs, LAs Vegas and Grand Canyon

[Mrs Toolman]

Originally Posted by pinkandfluffy

Erm, no not really, ignorance is bliss I guess! Apart from the SF and Yosemite accommodation, we booked everything on a free cancellation through Agoda and Booking.com. I cancelled and re-booked the same accommodation on 3 separate occasions over 6 months as the prices came down. Yosemite log cabin was £1300 for 3 nights and the 2 hotel rooms in SF came to just under £1000 for 3 nights. The rest of the accommodation came to around £3000 as I had factored that in on my Monzo card before I added spends. Occasionally there was a resort fee added which I hadn’t factored in. Car hire through Alamo was cheap and fuel costs low.

We didn’t do Disney or Universal but did do Six Flags and Knotts Berry Farm and I purchased the tickets before we went via ATD. I also paid for Monterey Whale Watching and Dylans tour in SF before we went to soften the blow.

All in all I don’t regret a single penny spent, it was an amazing trip that kept us all on our toes and excited for what was to come. A different experience every 2 or 3 days and no time for the kids to get bored or too comfortable.

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Thank you. I will certainly be looking for hotel deals. Just waiting to see how much the flights are when they get released.

[Mrs Toolman]

Originally Posted by trampslikeus

We had a 14 night trip in June which started as a BA "bargain" fly drive at £2,300 for family of 4 (DDs 18 and 20) (EDI-LHR-LAX with Group F SUV).
Trip involved Anaheim - SF - via PCH, SF - Anaheim via Yosemite, - Anaheim - West LA, staying in moderate hotels and moderate dining options.
Having totalled up all expenditure, which included four day DL hopper, 1 day US, hotels, food, Alcatraz, baseball, fuel, shopping and make up shopping, transport, parking, flights and car hire it came to £9,100.
This probably equates to a similar cost to our two week onsite stay at WDW
Found everything to be a lot more expensive than Florida, gas $4 per gallon, sales tax 10%.
However, had a great time and have decided to book a return in February, albeit only for two of us and only a week. This time to visit Palm Springs, LAs Vegas and Grand Canyon

See more...

Thank you so much for thus. At least it gives me a bit of a clue. Just panicking slightly at the falling dollar rate. But will just have to adjust spending accordingly. More Panda Express meals.

[landandword17]

If Florida usually costs you £5500 then the WC won’t bankrupt you! I would say 6K would get you a great holiday. Return flights from the same airport will be cheaper than flying into one and out of the other. A return to LAX is usually around £400-450 but can be less if you get a good deal on a BA fly drive and others here have reported fares under £400 with Thomas Cook and Air New Zealand.

[grant_w]

When we went to SF, Monterey, LA, Vegas and San Diego we booked all of our hotels on booking.com, and they ranged from £80 a night to about £150 a night.
We made sure the hotels all came with free parking so we didn't have extra fees on top.

[daytonababe]

I go to the west coast every year , twice this year and it doesn’t have to be expensive

Food wise the chains don’t differ much in price to Florida , and you can eat in In N Out burger for a family of 4 for $24 ..

Hotels shop around , in somewhere like Anaheim you can find decent hotels not to expensive

Flights I find cheaper than going to Florida

[Mrs Toolman]

Originally Posted by daytonababe

I go to the west coast every year , twice this year and it doesn’t have to be expensive

Food wise the chains don’t differ much in price to Florida , and you can eat in In N Out burger for a family of 4 for $24 ..

Hotels shop around , in somewhere like Anaheim you can find decent hotels not to expensive

Flights I find cheaper than going to Florida

See more...

I always keep an eye out for your posts as you are always so helpful. DH and I have been to Vegas 5 or 6 times now but this is our first road trip and first time taking the "kids". Looking to go the 2 middle weeks of July so just waiting on flights to be released.

[cornishfrogboy]

Mrs Toolman.
I have tried to send you a personal message. Unfortunately your mailboxes are full and you cannot receive it... It may be of assistance to you.

As regards W Coast, it really is a swings and roundabouts thing and it must be born in mind that Orlando has some of the best value accommodation in the USA, due possibly to oversupply. I have visited NY, Washington, Boston, Dayton, Several Gulf Coast, Keys, Pensacola, Destin, San Francisco, Monterey, La San Diego etc etc. All were markedly more expensive than Orlando.

Plusses of W Coast budgeting.
1. I find flights in School Hols much cheaper, even multi cities such as in to SFO and out of LAX etc.. by hundreds PP. As an example, I am flying into SFO and out of Vancouver next Easter hols, direct with BA at £395pp.
2. You will not be investing so heavily on Theme Park and other Attraction tickets.
3. You do not need a car for the SFO part of a W Coast vacation and it is generally first or last destination. You either dump on arrival if flying home from there or pick up as you leave if it is your first destination. I have also found cars cheaper per day.
4. You wont be paying extortionate amounts to park your car in theme parks every day (10 or more x $27 hurts). You will pay much more than that if unwise enough to have a car in SFO. Our 3 star in Union Sq SFO would have wanted $75 per day.

Minusses of W Coast budgeting.
1. Accommodation is generally hotels or BNB on short stays and can be expensive.
2. Food in Restaurants costs more, although many of the chains with which you are familiar are in evidence. I always search for Hotels with complimentary breakfast.
3. You will buy much more petrol and it costs a little more.

Overall, I do not think I paid more for my California Road trip last Easter than I would have paid to be in Orlando. You just have to research everything thoroughly, take the advice of other DIBBERS and enjoy!

You can see how we got on if you read my single thread trip report, 'California N to South at Easter'.

[Kinggie]

Thanks for all the advices. I think k I’m gooimvbtk look at flights first when they come out and take it from there. Reading some trippievreport it was like $200 a night accommodation hence why I panicked slightly 🙄🙄. All the posts above put my mind at rest. We spend about £1000 + on park tickets alone in Florida so that’s money that can be attributed to something else instead. Probably also not going to get a car for SF and only pick up when we leave,