Florida Holiday Transplanted to West Coast Very Mini trippie

[Guest]

Mini trippie,

Been a while since I have been on this board, but didn’t know if anyone is interested in some insights and trips I learnt in my trip to California and Nevada this year. I am a Florida veteran and here is some information that I hope helps other who wish to translate some of their Florida activities to another part of the states. I have had plenty of help off this site in the past...

San Francisco
I loved SF, we staying at the Holiday Inn fisherman wharf and had a great time. Not as many attractions here as some of the other places I visited, but it stood out as the place I would have most like to live in.
Alcatraz – Twas a rainy day, cold and windy and off season. But I still would not have been able get us on the boat if I had not booked in advance. Be warned.

Drive from SF to LA
Easily doable in a day if you don’t plan any sightseeing on the way. The Satnav came up with 300 miles to next turn at one point.

LA (Anaheim)
Stayed at Staybridge Suites in Anaheim, LA is big, really big. It can be a very long drive to get between attractions and the traffic is pretty heavy all the time. We liked the attractions more than we actually liked LA as a city.
Disneyland and California Adventure - These parks are similar to the Florida Parks, but much smaller. We spent far too much time comparing the parks to the Florida ones. The castle in particular is tiny. Fantasmic takes place on Tom Sawyer Island, with the crowds gathered round the lake illuminations style. If you get close to the front you will be required to sit on the ground, a better tactic can be to get just behind the sitting area stood up. Ignore the old Disney employee who says he can take you to a good place. The parks always appear full of people, partly because they are always busy, and partly because there is much less room for the “floating” population of the park (i.e. guests who are not waiting in a queue, going on a ride, shopping eating, etc). California adventure closed 2 hours before Disneyland everyday whilst we were there, and EVERYONE leaves this park and goes straight into the other.. Queue lengths jump through the roof and it can be difficult to even navigate around the park. Get there early and get done before this time. I’m not going into the different rides in the parks, there is some stuff Florida veterans will be familiar with (sometimes with a difference) and some that are new. DO NOT GO AT A WEEKEND, unless you like crowds.
Hollywood – We drove up to Hollywood and parked at the “Hollywood and Highland” shopping centre. This is next to the Kodak Theatre. It was not a difficult journey. From here you can see the Hollywood sign (in the distance), the walk of fame, the Chinese Theatre and of course the Kodak Theatre. If you are not interested in an organised tour or seeing where the stars live then I can recommend this as a way to see the sights and save some money.
Universal – Not much I can say, it’s more of an active studio then the Florida version, and as such the studio tour is more interesting. Our front of the line passes were not necessary, wait times were low (20/10/07, a Friday). We also did Halloween Horror, not as good as the Florida version; chainsaws are not as scary if absolutely everyone has one. Only 4 haunted houses and really really busy.
Six Flags Magic Mountain – Before I start, I would like to say this park has the best rollercoaster’s and thrill rides I have ever been on. BUT., if you are used to the organisation and presentation of Disney and Universal parks, you will despair here. Park is only open at weekends outside school holidays so we had to go on a Saturday. We got there early, and went to trade in the vouchers we had purchased online for “flash passes” which allow limited front of the line access. We queued for about an hour to get these passes. Standby wait times on rides was up to 2 hours, 45 minutes with flash passes. There is just not enough to do for party members who do not like thrill rides. Park was dirty, poorly layed out and had big queues for filthy clogged up toilets. The annual pass is only a little more expensive than a day pass and it became clear the Magic Mountain is used as a hang out by all the local kids, and is packed 100% of the time. We left at 2pm after going on 3 rides.

LA to Vegas
A nicer drive than SF to LA with more to see. Stop at Baker and see the largest thermometer in the world.

Vegas
Stayed at the Luxor, in hindsight would have preferred a hotel in the centre of the strip, felt a little “out of it” at the south end. We spent most of out time pottering around between the hotels and just looking around, so not a lot so say.
Get Married – We chose The Little Chapel of the Flowers, I can recommend it. Was a good ceremony, and not too cheesy. Budget for an additional $250 for photos.
Helicopter to Grand Canyon – Availability of these trips was high, but we did book online in advance. One of my favourite days of the holiday. We did the Grand Celebration Tour with Papillion. Not cheap but well worth it.

Hope this helps someone, and as a recent returnee I am quite willing to answer any questions...

[purple myra]

sounds like a fantastic trip. we also stayed in Luxor and while we loved the hotel, it could do with being moved up the strip about half a mile! we are toying with the idea of LA for our next trip but since we absolutely won't drive over there i'm a bit put off by the distances between sights.
glad you enjoyed it tho... are you planning on posting any piccy's?
p.s congratulations on your wedding

[jheaton]

interesting read,Ian-thanks for the tips

Am off to Vegas next year for silver wedding anniversary on a 2week flydrive (canyons,monument valley etc)and am staying in Excalibur at the beginning then the Luxor at the end-have booked my helicopter Grand canyon trip.

Also am a fan of San Francisco-great atmosphere in the city and Alcatraz is an experience.Got DH to drive over the GG bridge on the way back from Yosemite-fantastic.

Have been planning a trip to LA/San diego too so your comments on Disneyland etc will be a big help

congratulations to you and your new missus!

[Guest]

Originally Posted by purple myra

we are toying with the idea of LA for our next trip but since we absolutely won't drive over there i'm a bit put off by the distances between sights.

See more...

Not sure how you could do what we did without a car, we had one, didn't mind driving at all and still ended up wishing we had split our LA trip between digs in central LA and Anahiem. And I didn't even mention the day we spent driving over to the Queen Mary and down the coast past the various 'beach' towns (Laguna, Newport etc...)

I'm sure you have good reason to not to drive, but to get the most from LA you need a car.

I may try and get some photo's up at some point when I finally manage work my way through the rubbish and find the good stuff. Taking a laptop was a great idea, but it completly removed any need to delete photo's whilst out there. Here is a quick piccy of main street USA early afternoon on Saturday mid October.



Ian.

[KarenG]

That's a lovely photo Ian.

I really enjoyed reading your report. I would would to visit the West Coast one day! Some great tips there

[shirley]

very good report loads of info congrats on the wedding would love to see piccies shirley

[JudyC]

Thanks for doing the mini trip report. I hope to get the the West Coast in 2009.
My brother lives in San Diego, and we want to visit San Franciso and maybe Vegas as well