I feel I am betraying an old friend? :(

[daytonababe]

Originally Posted by Tweety1

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

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Well my holidays are different than most as I work mine around the NASCAR schedule and I'm not interested in national parks

But we do Vegas 8-12 days (depending where eslenwe go )
3 nights Phoenix
3 Anaheim for Disney
4 Fontana ,
Whist in Fontana / Anaheim we've done local beaches like Santa Monica , long beach , Huntingdon , Manhattan beach and then Hollywood . Sunset blvd rodeo drive , Beverly Hills etc , California science Center ( for the space shuttle )

I've been to Hollywood twice mostly for my eldest but it's unlikely we will go again .

[Tweety1]

Originally Posted by 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.

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Thank you

[Tweety1]

Originally Posted by daytonababe

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

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Really... that's disappointing as you think it will be all glam!

[Tweety1]

Originally Posted by daytonababe

Well my holidays are different than most as I work mine around the NASCAR schedule and I'm not interested in national parks

But we do Vegas 8-12 days (depending where eslenwe go )
3 nights Phoenix
3 Anaheim for Disney
4 Fontana ,
Whist in Fontana / Anaheim we've done local beaches like Santa Monica , long beach , Huntingdon , Manhattan beach and then Hollywood . Sunset blvd rodeo drive , Beverly Hills etc , California science Center ( for the space shuttle )

I've been to Hollywood twice mostly for my eldest but it's unlikely we will go again .

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What do you do in Vegas for so long? Sorry if that sounds intrusive!Im just imagining a strip full of the same thing.
Sound stupid now when ppl say LA do they mean all of the above (exc Vegas).
Do you drive into Hollywood?
I read from another thread that there is an airport nearer to Disney and they have a shuttle (thought night save some driving to drop car off and finish off with Disney?
How does driving compare to Florida? Bit worried about getting out of LAX...

[daytonababe]

Originally Posted by Tweety1

Really... that's disappointing as you think it will be all glam!

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Very .. it's not at all glam, grubby and full of very strange characters..

[daytonababe]

Originally Posted by Tweety1

What do you do in Vegas for so long? Sorry if that sounds intrusive!Im just imagining a strip full of the same thing.
Sound stupid now when ppl say LA do they mean all of the above (exc Vegas).
Do you drive into Hollywood?
I read from another thread that there is an airport nearer to Disney and they have a shuttle (thought night save some driving to drop car off and finish off with Disney?
How does driving compare to Florida? Bit worried about getting out of LAX...

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Yes there is a airport near to Disney Santa Ana but you can't get a direct flight to there .

We drive everywhere , we flew into LAX, landed at 3pm and drive straight to Vegas, if your lucky it takes 4.5 hrs but it took us over 7, we got to Vegas just before midnight .
Driving is different to Florida , you do a lot more of it , but I wouldn't say it's any more difficult



LA traffic is a nightmare in that it's always busy and can be very slow, some places are 7 lanes wide but it's because it's so slow it's not scary , just make sure your in the correct lanes,

LA I suppose is Hollywood, Santa Monica etc .

There is all kinds of things to do in Vegas, if you do a search of my name I did a huge list of things to do in and around Vegas , we always have a car in Vegas and wouldn't not do. Yes most hotels charge for parking but ( & less than Disney charge though ) it makes life easier and if you want to eat off strip where it's far cheaper and visit places likes the hoover dam, red rock canyon etc .

[tocpe321]

Originally Posted by daytonababe

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

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Thanks

[daytonababe]

I liked Santa Monica but there are bits thats a bit shady. We saw a drugs deal at the edge of the park near the pier.. and a few dodgy characters around .

But overall I thought it was ok,.

[sweetemotion]

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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As a first timer, I'd say go to Hollywood. I far too excited my first time. But it didn't live up to expectations. Just like everyone else says. The main reason for this is from watching things like E! entertainment and watching all these "glamorous" shows on MTC etc. Of course, the Hollywood hills, Beverly Hills and Bel Air/Rodeo Drive etc are amazing. They are lovely places, but not far out and you have your homeless/run down areas. Although, that's all over California from what I've experienced.

The Walk of Fame was cool to see. The Chinese theatre was nice to see, and of course so many stars that I needed to see and have photos with. The Disney soda fountain was nice. I loved seeing the Viper room and Rainbow bar on Sunset Blvd. But I'm really into rock music and was lucky enough to meet a bunch of people there. Universal studios is awesome, if you're going to hollywood definitely stop in here. Hollywood is one of those places that you see once and really feel the need to go back to imo.

If Disney is your main thing when visiting the west coast, then maybe spend more of your time down in Dan Diego/ Anaheim and less time in Los Angeles.

It really depends on how much driving you want/would like to do. From La to San Fran is approx 8 hours. I did the drive in one and it hurt, and I was the passenger But as mentioned before there are cool things to see on the way, you could always stop midpoint and just do some of the little stop offs. I loved San Francisco so I'd recommend that over Vegas. But I've been to vegas 5 times and San Fran once so maybe that's why.

Alternatively, what about doing San Diego, Disneyland, Hollywood and end in Vegas? The flights from LAX to Vegas are usually really cheap, and take 45 minutes. I prefer Vegas to Hollywood but even there you'll find homeless people and tackiness.

[daytonababe]

The Disney soda fountain isn't that any more , when we went 2 years ago it had been turned into a Ghiradelli shop / normal Disney store .

There are a lot of homeless in Vegas as many as Hollywood more if you go past downtown but I think the strip is far cleaner than Hollywood and far far safer.
I walked into a restroom last month in the sweet shop in the Hollywood and highland Center to find drugs paraphernalia and blood everywhere, according to the shop assistant it's a regular , never seen that in Vegas thankfully ..