California, New York and Orlando

[KarenG]

Originally Posted by duchy

Surely it’s an open triangle ... they don’t need to return to LA to fly home ... so it’s only one crossing of the continent. So LA first then either NYC or MCO next as both are east coast .

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Yes, LA then NYC then Orlando would work

I was trying to articulate that LA in the middle would be a bad choice

[KarenG]

Originally Posted by mouskevik

Oh my word, I was not expecting so many replies with so much detail, so soon!

This is amazing! Thank you all so much, the time you've all taken to write these posts is very kind and very much appreciated!

I came to the Dibb because I knew I'd get experience and honesty. We know we're new to and naïve about this type of holiday so it's good to be made to think about the time zones and travelling! To be honest, I was thinking Cali to NY and that Orlando would just be a short hop from NY - clearly not 😂.

Ok. We do want to see the parks on the West Coast but we kind of feel we want up finish in our happy place in Orlando too. Thinking we'd be better off going to California, then Orlando and having NY as a whole separate holiday at a time of year when it's not so hot?

I would like to see beaches in California too. I apologise if I'm being ignorant about the geography. I know Anaheim and LA aren't next door but I haven't really thought about a base to be able to see both of those. I really like the idea of seeing San Diego too...

We'll definitely go for 3 weeks as we like to make the most of US trips so if we can do those 2 bases in 3 weeks then that would be great

CornishFrogBoy - I'm definitely going to check out your trip reports, many thanks again! I'm sure I'll have more questions.

Oh and we're Hard Rock fans after getting married at the Orlando cafe so if any HRC or HRH locations are good on the West Coast, we'd love to see those too 🎸

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There are some really nice beaches close to Disneyland (30 mins on surface streets to Huntington Beach for example - that’s the Hollister Beach - my then young teens loved that for the cool factor!). But San Diego is only a two hour or so drive south of Anaheim and that opens up many other options too

I was worried on our first trip to California that we’d miss Orlando - but we much preferred California

[Bianca]

It's interesting how we all adapt to different time zones and experience jet lag.

If I was doing 3 spread-out centres like NYC, Orlando and LA, I'd, generally, prefer to start on the east coast and have a few days to adjust there before going onto the west coast. Jet lag can be worse the more time zones you cross in one go.

As I said before, I'd probably go for just east coast or west, but I didn't want to say that in the very first reply to the OP and maybe dampen excitement, because I'm sure there are people who have done a trip like this and had a blast!

Plus, this might be a go-all-out trip with older teens before they decide to travel on their own.

Whatever you decide, mouskevik, have an amazing holiday! You'll get lots of advice and info on here, like cornishfrogboy has given/said.

[megaflyer]

I would defiantly just stick with West Coast. You could do San Fran to LA then to Palm Springs for a couple off days then finish off at San Diego for some “down time” - I feel this may become yours new happy place ... that way you’re will get a variety of sights, a couple of cities, the parks etc and then beaches and relaxed vibe of SD

[KarenG]

Originally Posted by Bianca

It's interesting how we all adapt to different time zones and experience jet lag.

If I was doing 3 spread-out centres like NYC, Orlando and LA, I'd, generally, prefer to start on the east coast and have a few days to adjust there before going onto the west coast. Jet lag can be worse the more time zones you cross in one go.

As I said before, I'd probably go for just east coast or west, but I didn't want to say that in the very first reply to the OP and maybe dampen excitement, because I'm sure there are people who have done a trip like this and had a blast!

Plus, this might be a go-all-out trip with older teens before they decide to travel on their own.

Whatever you decide, mouskevik, have an amazing holiday! You'll get lots of advice and info on here, like cornishfrogboy has given/said.

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I do totally know what you mean, Bianca. The eight hour time difference of the west coast is always worse for me than the east. The worst ever was Hawaii which is eleven hours and once we did that without a break en route (except immigration and plane change at LAX) - that really messed me up 😂

[Bianca]

Originally Posted by KarenG

I do totally know what you mean, Bianca. The eight hour time difference of the west coast is always worse for me than the east. The worst ever was Hawaii which is eleven hours and once we did that without a break en route (except immigration and plane change at LAX) - that really messed me up 😂

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Jet lag's no fun. Hawaii seems like a good place to recover, but you'd still rather not have the jet lag!

[mouskevik]

So sorry for the delay in replying to you all. I think we went back into lockdown and I lost my confidence about going to the US!

We've decided we are going back next year after all, but we've taken on board the advice and we're just going to do New York and Orlando.

We're taking the teenagers for their last big holiday before Uni and college and this is where they'd like to go.

I have absolutely made notes of all your excellent recommendations as me and DH would like to go to the West Coast, just the two of us in the next few years.

Thank you all so much again! ♥️