West Coast compared to orlando

[mike4scuba]

Is the costal area of california near Los Angeles a lot more expensive than Orlando are for accommodation

Just trying to evaluate costs

[Lola]

We have generally found it more expensive but it depends on what type of accommodation, budget or more luxurious

[grant_w]

Yes, especially San Francisco. Struggle to get a motel for £150 per night there.
it varied all the way down the coast though.

[mike4scuba]

i suppose if you don't have to factor in the cost of the park tickets this could go toward accom costs then

[cornishfrogboy]

I would say that it is very much a swings and roundabouts thing and that you have to compare the two options ‘in the round’ I will do this quoting on a family of four, with all having seats ( over 2 years old). In the case of West Coast, sticking to the State of California. By its nature, I make the assumption that an Orlando vacation is very much Theme Park oriented.

1. Flights.
Next Easter or Summer, direct to Orlando will cost well north of £900 plus luggage if you are that way inclined.. seat selection also.

Next Easter or Summer, direct to any pairing of San Francisco, LA, San Diego as a multi flight will be sub £450, particularly if you select Mon, Tues, Wednesday. Summer 2022 into SFO and out of SAN should be around £405 at the moment with BA. Plus Hold Luggage and Seat selection.

Straight away, you are £1600 to the good… at least because I am being very generous on the Orlando flights, knowing some are paying a lot more than £900.

2. Accommodation, based on my cancelled August 2021 jaunt.

Orlando is seemingly inflated right now, but a 3 star U.K. equivalent family room is going to come in at around £100-£140 in LBV or I Drive. Next Easter, we have a 3 bedroom in LBV Village Resort and Spa at £1100 for 7 nights. Of course, if when in Orlando, you do a Universal Deluxe Hotel night or stay in a Disney Hotel, then the numbers and averages alter dramatically!

California will be more. (But only if we avoid the WDW and Universal Deluxes in Orlando).
San Francisco will certainly be £200 ish per night if you want to be anywhere even near Fishermans. Hotel Riu would be a good example and is around that price.

Monterey is going to be similar around the sought after Cannery Row area. The Portolo would be an example. £200

San Simeon (Hearst Castle) is around £100, but options are few and a bit scrubby.

San Luis Obispo or Pismo is going to be around £220 for the Lighthouse Suites, The eclectic Madonna Inn, maybe a little more, around £230

Solvang is cheaper. We had the Royal Copenhagen at £115.

Universal Studios, the Hilton, effectively on the equivalent of City Walk and very nice came in at £230/ night.

We don’t do Disney, so I don’t know.

San Diego is around £200 a night for Springhill or similar in the Downtown area.

In summary, the average throughout is around £200/night and thus around £70 a night over what you would pay in Orlando, albeit comparisons are difficult.

Tickets for attractions.

Well, that really is down to the buyer and what they seek. They are generally cheaper, but you may buy more of them!Disney, Universal, Warner Bros, Knotts Berry, 6 Flags etc. You may also buy into attractions as well as theme parks.

Food.

There is some very cheap food in Orlando at Cincinatti, Golden Coral, Wendy etc, but that is not for everyone. Comparing like for like, I reckon that you will pay marginally more in California, but it is… marginal! There do not seem to be quite as many cheap options in California, but the rest is broadly comparable. Of course in Orlando if you are in a theme park for 14 full days, then theme park food prices are extortionate. In California, there won’t be so much (or even any) theme park food.

Car hire.
I may seemingly get lucky, but Car hire seems to me cheaper in California than in Orlando, particularly when picking up and dropping in different locations as is likely on the West Coast.

Conclusion.

I believe that I will spend less on a California vacation than I will on an Orlando one, even allowing for the fact that I wouldn't do Disney at either location and in fact, theme parks are a long way down my ‘must do’ list , particularly on the West Coast. A lot of the very best of California is in fact of low cost or in many cases, free.

My wife and I will be visiting the West Coast next October, just the two of us. There will be no theme parks at all. It is SFO, Monterey, Madonna, Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Winslow, Tucson, Pima, Tombstone, San Diego. There will be two internal flights, 2 separate car hires of Mustangs and 15 nights accommodation . I am very confident that our price will be lower than a conventional Orlando theme park vacation staying offsite and with maybe D.C. Ultimate non swims and Universals… even more so if there were four of us, due to flight and theme park tickets.

Hoping that this helps in a wider sense.

[mike4scuba]

Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy

I would say that it is very much a swings and roundabouts thing and that you have to compare the two options ‘in the round’ I will do this quoting on a family of four, with all having seats ( over 2 years old). In the case of West Coast, sticking to the State of California.

1. Flights.
Next Easter or Summer, direct to Orlando will cost well north of £900 plus luggage if you are that way inclined.. seat selection also.

Next Easter or Summer, direct to any pairing of San Francisco, LA, San Diego as a multi flight will be sub £450, particularly if you select Mon, Tues, Wednesday. Summer 2022 into SFO and out of SAN should be around £405 at the moment with BA. Plus Hold Luggage and Seat selection.

Straight away, you are £1600 to the good… at least because I am being very generous on the Orlando flights, knowing some are paying a lot more than £900.

2. Accommodation, based on my cancelled August 2021 jaunt.

Orlando is seemingly inflated right now, but a 3 star U.K. equivalent family room is going to come in at around £100-£140 in LBV or I Drive. Next Easter, we have a 3 bedroom in LBV Village Resort and Spa at £1100 for 7 nights.

California will be more.
San Francisco will certainly be £200 ish per night if you want to be anywhere even near Fishermans. Hotel Riu would be a good example and is around that price.

Monterey is going to be similar around the sought after Cannery Row area. The Portolo would be an example.

San Simeon (Hearst Castle) is around £100, but options are few and a bit scrubby.

San Luis Obispo or Pismo is going to be around £220 for the Lighthouse Suites, The eclectic Madonna Inn, maybe a little more, around £230

Solvang is cheaper. We had the Royal Copenhagen at £115.

Universal Studios, the Hilton, effectively on the equivalent of City Walk and very nice came in at £230/ night.

We don’t do Disney.

San Diego is around £200 a night for Springhill or similar in the Downtown area.

In summary, the average throughout is around £200/night and thus around £70 a night over what you would pay in Orlando, albeit comparisons are difficult.

Tickets for attractions.

Well, that really is down to the buyer and what they seek. They are generally cheaper, but you may buy more of them!Disney, Universal, Warner Bros, Knotts Berry, 6 Flags etc. You may also buy into attractions as well as theme parks.

Food.

There is some very cheap food in Orlando at Cincinatti, Golden Coral, Wendy etc, but that is not for everyone. Comparing like for like, I reckon that you will pay marginally more in California, but it is… marginal! There do not seem to be quite as many cheap options in California, but the rest is broadly comparable.

Car hire.
I may seemingly get lucky, but Car hire seems to me cheaper in California than in Orlando, particularly when picking up and dropping in different locations as is likely on the West Coast.

Conclusion.

I believe that I will spend less on a California vacation than I will on an Orlando one, even allowing for the fact that I wouldn't do Disney at either location and in fact, theme parks are a long way down my ‘must do’ list , particularly on the West Coast.

My wife and I will be visiting the West Coast next October, just the two of us. There will be no theme parks at all. It is SFO, Monterey, Madonna, Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Winslow, Tucson, Pima, Tombstone, San Diego. There will be two internal flights, 2 separate car hires of Mustangs and 15 nights. I am very confident that our price will be lower than a conventional Orlando theme park vacation staying offsite and with maybe D.C. Ultimate non swims and Universals… even more so if there were four of us.

Hoping that this helps in a wider sense.

See more...

thanks for this i appreciate everyones time for posting. regarding flights do you fly in and out of the same airport from the uk, what are the internal flights you do.

just trying to work out an itenary

[JoS]

I think in general the answer would be yes. We got good deals in San Francisco as we went in December so off peak and that was half price at around $150 pn. If you look around you will find something suitable, but yes its more expensive. Well worth it though.

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by mike4scuba

thanks for this i appreciate your time. regarding flights do you fly in and out of the same airport from the uk, what are the internal flights you do.

just trying to work out an itenary

See more...

We live… in Cornwall.

AIRPORTS.

I always want LHR out and back. This very much historically suits West Coast (or even East Coast other than Florida), although I appreciate that Covid has moved some things around.

LHR is an hour and a half nearer than LGW, allowing for arriving early evening. The Prem Inn is generally cheaper at LHR and in addition the generally cheaper parking at Purple, right next door..

INTERNAL FLIGHTS.

Surprisingly, these are cheap and whichever routes you may take. As a general rule, if I want to get to somewhere which is more than a 5-6 hour drive (other than on the wonderful Pacific Coast Highway), then I will be looking to fly.
A flight consists of getting there, dumping your transport, checking in, bag drop, security, to gate, boarding, flight, taxiing to gate, disembark, baggage reclaim, pick up new transport to destination. With all of the above, no flight takes less than 4-5 hours all in… hence my 5-6 hour decision.

Airports.. Vancouver, Seattle Tacoma, Portland, San Francisco, Oakland (across the Bay Bridge from SFO), San Luis Obispo, Bob Hope (Universal and Warner’s), John Wayne ( Anaheim), Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, Tucson, Phoenix and San Diego have all featured (other than Portland) in either vacations, cancelled (Covid )vacations, or forthcoming vacation.
Clearly not all airports fly to each other, but it is a simple Google Search. ‘direct flights from San Luis Obispo’ or similar will give you the answers.
Google flights is then my god as I start comparing options. It is worth knowing that Southwest are not coming up on Google flights and therefore it is worth looking on their own site.

Are you going to have hold luggage? We generally do not, but if you do, then it may greatly influence what flights you eventually book. For instance, whilst Frontier may come out cheapest, like Ryanair, they rip you for everything, even hand luggage. You may find a United, AA or Delta flight ends up costing just a little more, but with planes flying the route like buses in frequency. Any regional and with hold baggage, I would expect around £100 give or take. It is because we like these flights, that we look to hand baggage when we can, with maybe hold baggage (1 or 2 of on the very last flight home (Levi jeans, vans, timberland etc). We don’t even take our own towels!

We also like AMTRAC, but it does not seem to work for us as well as on the Eastern seaboard. Others may disagree.

May I make a general suggestions give you some quick ideas?

I have a California N to S trip 2018 in my signature. That is a bog standard SFO- San Diego then back up to Los Angeles to fly home. It has Disney, 6 Flags, a night on the Queen Mary etc. That would make a start and it is a single thread.

I have a cancelled California, Arizona Nevada pre trip in my signature. That may give you some more ideas. It excluded Disney. It was fly into SFO, Monterey, PCH to SL Obispo, Pismo, Solvang, Universal, Warner Bros, fly Bob Hope to Tucson, Pima, Tombstone, Winslow, Grand Canyon, Hoover, Vegas, fly home.

If you go into California trip reports and then look high left, there is a box to click for pre trip reports. If you go into that, you will find all three of my cancellations. They are second, third and fourth in the list, all starting with ‘Cancelled’. They are all short, all different in detail, travel, attractions and hotels. They should hopefully give you yet more.

One thing I cannot help you with is Yosemite as I have never researched it or been. It is high on many other Dibbers lists and doubtless others can help you.

Happy reading!.. and any questions, do not hesitate to ask.

[mike4scuba]

Thanks I will have a look on your signature for ideas

[Willeve]

We are doing West Coast for the first time next August. With BA I’ve booked flights(for 4 adults) into SAN Francisco and out of SAN Diego, 2 nights Rui Plaza SF, 2 nights Intercontinental Monterey, 4 nights Manchester Hotel San Diego and 8 nights car hire for slightly over £5000. I’ve also independently booked 3x1 night in Pismo, Santa Barbara and Santa Monica, and 3 nights in Anaheim totalling around £800. So less than £6000 for 4 of us, as we normally stay onsite at WDW this is coming in considerably cheaper than Orlando would be for us this year. Obviously I’ll be paying for Disneyland tickets and other attraction stuff, but it’s still a reasonable price for us.