different disney

[electo]

hi all

looking for a change of venue

had a look at disneyland and the prices are not to bad
not far of florida prices

i have never been to California so what would i need to look for

got my eye on the ayres hotel orange
would i need 2 weeks or just one
would like to do
disneyland
universal
knott berry farm (or is that just for kids)
pos a drive vegas
and anything else

hope you can point me in the right direction

[swiper]

it’s our first time in California
Our plan is..
4 nights Hollywood area in an air bnb
Doing Universal studios, Warner brothers and a bus tour doing LA, Hollywood sign, homes of the stars plus other areas of LA.
Then 3 nights Disney at the Hyatt house.
Then 4 nights air bnb in Santa Monica
Just having a break. Going to drive and have a look around Malibu. Spend some time around Santa Monica and Venice beach area. Also planning a whale watching trip from Marina del Ray.
Then our last few nights staying in The Cosmopolitan and checking out all Vegas has to offer!
For a first time I think this will be enough for us!

[sky13]

Not familiar with the Ayres Hotel Orange. Though will say that the nice thing about Disneyland is the sheer number of off-site hotels and motels within walking distance of Disneyland, which makes it so easy to get to compared to anything in WDW!

Disneyland only sells up to 5 day tickets so that's the longest amount of time you might want to spend in Disneyland. Personally I'd go for 4 days but I am a huge huge Disney parks fan and always want to spend as long as I can in Disney (visit last year was 5 days).

Knott's Berry Farm is close by to Disneyland (about 15 minute drive) so easily commutable from a Disneyland-area hotel. Definitely NOT just for kids, it has a lot of thrill rides and roller coasters (felt a bit like Alton Towers to me at times). But it does have a substantial number of kid-type things. The Ghost/Western Town part is pretty cool to wander through.

Universal is much further away from Disneyland and so will be a much further commute from a Disneyland-area hotel. Same goes for Hollywood/LA proper. I think the general advice here seems to be to move to an LA area hotel if planning to spend multiple days in Universal/Hollywood/LA to cut down on the commute, which can be pretty bad in the LA area.

[jdouds]

Hi guys just some basics, the parks are small and a couple of days is all you need and in fact if you have spent a lot of time in orlando we would suggest there is better places to spend your time. LA is sprawling mass about 100 miles accross so not an easy drive to get about with lots of traffic jams. For most people 5 days max LA. So what else to do PCH ,San Fran,Monterey ,Yosemite,San Diego ,vegas.
Have a look at some of these places and of course you will get lots of ideas on these places.
It's a long way to go so we would suggest try and get a feel of some other places and like a lot of others it won't be your last visit. We have now done a couple of trips and ventured even further , last year yellowstone ( amazing ) and Lake Tahoe followed by San Fran and Monterey again and especially for the whale watching. Hope this gives you food for thought.

[red cuillen]

Can you imagine trying to advise an American doing the UK for the first time, cos trying to fit all of California in one visit is just about a big an ask! So much variety, but your list is good for starters! 2 weeks would allow you to widen your search area, one week and I'd just stay around LA. As others have said, it's along way in very slow traffic from Anaheim to Universal so split you hotel stays.
If you plan on driving to Vegas then you need to look at google maps to get a feel for the distance involved, and all the places you'd be missing en route! (translation - save vegas for your next visit! )
Disney can be done in 2 days, but we also like going on rides over and over again - especially Radiator Springs Racers which is my favourite across all the parks, so do 4 days or even 5 if you want.
KnottsBerry isn't just for children, but does cater very well for the younger teens, (unlike say 6 flags, which is much more a thrill ride park). I would give it a miss is you haven't got kids younger than say 13yo?
So much more you could do, drive into the Palm Springs and the tramway, or head south to San Diego. Check out the trip report index and look at some reports.
On our first visit, some 30 years ago, we did LA to Vegas to Death Valley Yosemite to San F and back, we were young though, stayed in cheap motel 6s, did it all in about a week so consequently don't remember much about it!

[400ixl]

We did Knotts Berry when our DD was not quite a teen and she came away thinking it was a kids park.

As mentioned, you can do Disney in a couple of days, others find 3-4 a nicer pace.

I wouldn't do the West coast for a week. I'd want to get about for a minimum of a couple of weeks and really explore some areas. We have done multiple 3 week breaks and not seen half of what we want to.