I feel I am betraying an old friend? :(

[Tweety1]

Originally Posted by sweetemotion

How long are you looking at going for? There are a lot more things to do in California. In Florida I found we'd always stick to Orlando and the theme parks and then do 1 or 2 days outside of that area. With California, people tend to do the whole state. So a bit of a difference. As a first timer, my picks would be San Diego, they have great beaches, a sea world (if thats your thing) and the San Diego zoo, which I have yet to visit. I stayed on San Diego harbour and the hotels here were reasonable with great views.

Anaheim for Disney, 2 days minimum I'd say. Disneyland is always really busy, every time I've been. It attracts more locals than tourists (like WDW) as the annual passes for California residents are so cheap. Disneyland doesn't have FP+ yet, so if it's busy the FP for things like radiator springs racers will all be gone. This is one of the most popular rides, I've ridden it twice now but by going through the single rider line, there's not guarantee you'll be in the same car but both times I was with my bf/family (just sat in different rows). I stayed at the Hilton Anaheim when I did a few days here and it was a really nice hotel, with a shuttle to the parks. About a 10 minute drive.

There loads of places to stay in Hollywood, I like the Santa Monica area, lots of shops and restaurants, the pier is really nice to wander along and the beaches are really nice too. Universal studios is awesome, they have the new WWOHP now too.

Malibu doesn't have a whole lot to offer imo, it's mostly just the beaches but if you're doing a road trip up/down the coast it's a nice place to stop off. I did a road trip along the highway 1/central coast last year and places like Santa Barbara, Pismo Beach, San Simeon, Big Sur, Carmel and Monterey are cool places to stop off and see sights along the way. I did Hearst Castle, McWay falls, Monterey Aquarium and there's an Elephant seal beach you pass in San Simeon which is really cool to stop at and see the wild Elephant seals.

San Francisco is just amazing, and Yosemite was fantastic too. Two of my favourite places in all of California.

Depending on how long you're planning to go for you might not get time to visit Vegas, I'd say there's more than enough in California to keep you busy for two weeks. If you're driving from LA, Vegas is a 4 hour drive (sometimes more in traffic) I had a 9 hour drive back toLA once due to weekend traffic and the Yermo checkpoint.

I hope I've given you some new ideas about what to do in Cali, there's so many cool things to see and do, you'll never get bored.

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Thank you so much for this.
I'm going to ask you and op wot would you do for first trip. I would like to do Death Valley,Grand Canyon,Vegas,Yellowstone too but maybe on another trip? I prob could go for about 16 days Disney,Universal a must wot sort of itinerary would you do?DH doesn't mind driving but don't want to be stuck in car for hrs and hrs.
When you say Hollywood what do you actually do there? I know it's good to say you have been or is it?

[Myakka17]

For us the biggest expense has been the flights...that is because we are going in August and will not travel in economy because of a number of reasons 1 we are all tall ( 6ft plus) so we require the extra legroom and 2 I have a condition which means I need lots of space so I can move about without annoying anyone else. We always book our long haul flights as soon as they become available so we can get our preferred seat choice. We are going for 23 nights a round tour from LA SF LV PS and back to LA our hotels have averaged $150 per night some more ( SF, Monterrey and Yosemite) some much less PS. Like Orlando it'll be dependent on when you intend to go.

[Tweety1]

[QUOTE=Myakka Lodge;12484956]For us the biggest expense has been the flights...that is because we are going in August and will not travel in economy because of a number of reasons 1 we are all tall ( 6ft plus) so we require the extra legroom and 2 I have a condition which means I need lots of space so I can move about without annoying anyone else. We always book our long haul flights as soon as they become available so we can get our preferred seat choice. We are going for 23 nights a round tour from LA SF LV PS and back to LA our hotels have averaged $150 per night some more ( SF, Monterrey and Yosemite) some much less PS. Like Orlando it'll be dependent on when you intend to go

[daytonababe]

Originally Posted by Tweety1

Ahh I didn't think time difference! My children would be 20,13 and 6(yes I know big gaps ha). I know we wouldn't be bored I feel it's a little overwhelming not knowing where everything is.
I'm going to ask you and op wot would you do for first trip. I would like to do Death Valley,Grand Canyon,Vegas,Yellowstone too but maybe on another trip? I prob could go for about 16 days Disney,Universal a must wot sort of itinerary would you do?

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What works for us is no road trip ( can't help traffic issues though ) longer than 5/6 hrs and we don't stay anywhere less than 3 nights if we can help it .

What kind of things do you all like to do ?

We love Vegas but would a 20 yr old feel a bit restricted there ? Even at 20 he/ she can't walk through a casino alone and or drink . Until your 21 and it's heavily enforced you can only walk through the casino but not stop when accompanied by a adult . My eldest is 18 and the restrictions don't bother her because she's never known any different there .

National parks don't interest us , we've done the Grand Canyon but that was a helicopter trip from Vegas .

[daytonababe]

Originally Posted by Tweety1

Thank you so much for this.
I'm going to ask you and op wot would you do for first trip. I would like to do Death Valley,Grand Canyon,Vegas,Yellowstone too but maybe on another trip? I prob could go for about 16 days Disney,Universal a must wot sort of itinerary would you do?DH doesn't mind driving but don't want to be stuck in car for hrs and hrs.
When you say Hollywood what do you actually do there? I know it's good to say you have been or is it?

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Hollywood has things like the walk of fame , Chinese theatre , sign , but it's not at all glamourous like you might expect it to be .

[tonymc]

We visited the West Coast back in 2013 and really enjoyed it. TBH, I think that we had been "over-Disneyed" (if there is such a thing! ) and the break meant that when we went back in 2014 we enjoyed Florida far more.

As others have mentioned, there is so much more to do in California than just the parks. In all honesty, I suspect that we had fallen into the trap of thinking we had paid for 14 days theme park admission so we had to use nearly every day to get value for money.

At Disneyland, the opposite was the case - with the two parks being literally a minute's walk apart, it only needed three days to do them justice leaving plenty of time for other attractions.

In fact, in 2013 we first had a few days in New York, then flew over to LA and drove down to San Diego, which was a fantastic city/area. We then drove back up to Anaheim where we had the aforementioned 3 days in Disneyland, a day at Newport Beach and a visit to the Ventura County Fair.

We are returning this September, staying in Marina del Rey (and visiting LA/Hollywood), then driving to Las Vegas with a planned visit to the Grand Canyon, followed by a flight up to San Francisco before returning home.

Price wise, it is generally more expensive than Florida. I nearly passed out at some of the prices in San Francisco - $580/night at the Hilton That said, having had a look round, it is probably cheaper to rent a condo through the likes of Airbnb - I'm considering changing our hotel at Marina del Ray (twin queen room for self, DW and DD) to a one bed condo which would give us much more room for a similar price.

Flight-wise, I had booked a combination of BA out MAN-LHR-LAX and Virgin return SFO-MAN direct. However, depending where you live, Thomas Cook Airlines fly from Manchester into Las Vegas and San Francisco, or from Gatwick Norwegian fly into LA and Oakland (San Francisco). The latter currently have flights out in late August for around £500 return in economy.

[Tweety1]

Originally Posted by Myakka Lodge

For us the biggest expense has been the flights...that is because we are going in August and will not travel in economy because of a number of reasons 1 we are all tall ( 6ft plus) so we require the extra legroom and 2 I have a condition which means I need lots of space so I can move about without annoying anyone else. We always book our long haul flights as soon as they become available so we can get our preferred seat choice. We are going for 23 nights a round tour from LA SF LV PS and back to LA our hotels have averaged $150 per night some more ( SF, Monterrey and Yosemite) some much less PS. Like Orlando it'll be dependent on when you intend to go.

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Stuck to Aug school hols

[Tweety1]

Originally Posted by daytonababe

What works for us is no road trip ( can't help traffic issues though ) longer than 5/6 hrs and we don't stay anywhere less than 3 nights if we can help it .

What kind of things do you all like to do ?

We love Vegas but would a 20 yr old feel a bit restricted there ? Even at 20 he/ she can't walk through a casino alone and or drink . Until your 21 and it's heavily enforced you can only walk through the casino but not stop when accompanied by a adult . My eldest is 18 and the restrictions don't bother her because she's never known any different there .

National parks don't interest us , we've done the Grand Canyon but that was a helicopter trip from Vegas .

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No she wouldn't feel restricted and we would love to go but I don't want to be 1 night here 1 night there as it feels like you haven't even looked at 1 place and you are moving on. I also don't want to feel I've missed lots of things but need to remember we won't see it in 1 trip!
We like to do anything really but would like to do the must do's and see's incase we never get the opportunity to go back. I'm not really that interested in Hollywood but should we go in to say we have done it?
What would your itinerary be if it was your first time and perhaps we're only going to go once? I know this us a hard question but as you have been loads it great to ask the 'experts'
Thank you

[tocpe321]

Originally Posted by daytonababe

Hollywood has things like the walk of fame , Chinese theatre , sign , but it's not at all glamourous like you might expect it to be .

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Wasn't that bothered re Hollywood anyway, but will definitely steer clear now.

[daytonababe]

Originally Posted by tocpe321

Wasn't that bothered re Hollywood anyway, but will definitely steer clear now.

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You won't miss anything i promise think rundown Blackpool 😂