5 visits to Florida and thinking of a switch to the west costs

[washy777]

As a family of 4 and children that will be 21 and 18 have visited Florida on 5 occasions and have absolutely loved the experience and we are now thinking of a return in 2021 for big birthday celebrations and would like to know peoples thought on Disney California when compared to Florida.

Many thanks in advance.

[KarenG]

Originally Posted by washy777

As a family of 4 and children that will be 21 and 18 have visited Florida on 5 occasions and have absolutely loved the experience and we are now thinking of a return in 2021 for big birthday celebrations and would like to know peoples thought on Disney California when compared to Florida.

Many thanks in advance.

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Disneyland vs Disney World or Florida vs California would give me quite different answers.

I’m going to asssume when you go to Orlando you mostly go to theme parks. Although you can do a lot of these in California they are spread out (mostly) and to focus on that would be to miss what I consider are the best parts of California ie the National Parks, stunning scenery and things you don’t see in Florida.

DL vs WDW I love because it’s small, two parks next door to each other, loads of places to stay and eat close by (many walking distance).

How long would your trip be and what are your interests?

To give you a few ideas we’ve been a few times now and have visited (not all on the same holiday) San Francisco, Anaheim, Las Vegas, LA, San Diego, Yosemite, Death Valley etc. All amazing.

It’s a very different holiday to Florida, much more variety, but if you want to be somewhere with ten or more theme parks within a half hour drive I’d go to Orlando personally.

That said since going to California we honestly much prefer to holiday there rather than Florida any more.

Happy to help with anything more specific, but if you have some ideas already or can share what you enjoy doing it would help us help

[400ixl]

Completely different experience, much better one though. Disney California is the original and is much smaller, think Eurodisney size and layout.

It can be done in 2-3 days, 4 at a very leisurely pace. But the great thing is that you do it as part of a much wider experience taking in what the west coast has to offer.

Weather is much nicer with none of that feeling like you have just got out of a shower all day.

It really depends on what sort of things your family likes in order to tailor a west coast trip to fit.

Theme park wise in the LA area there is Disney and Knotts Berry Park in the south and Universal and Six Flags Magic Mountain in the north. Be aware LA is massive and it takes a couple of hours to cross. Loads of other things to do in LA such as Hollywood, Warner Bros Studio Tours etc.

You then have other cities such as San Diego with Sea World which is worth 4-5 days on its own, Las Vegas which is worth up to another week and spending time in the Grand Canyon is very much worthwhile.

California is a big state and the drive from LA up to San Francisco up the pacific coast highway can take 4 days or more if you stop in places like Santa Barbara and Monterrey and do things like whale watching. You then get up into San Fran and that's another 3-4 days at least to do things like Alcatraz. Staying in North California you then have Yosemite national park which is worth another 2-3 days.

As you can see, you can't really fit it all in to a single holiday and need to think about what you want to do and what you can achieve without feeling like you are living out of a suitcase.

[swiper]

Just come back from Disney California...absolutely loved it.
In fact the rides in universal and Disney we Found were far better than the ones in Florida ... except Florida has much more choice.
8 days and you have done it all!
We have done Florida 25 plus times and just fancied a little trip to California just to see what the difference was... we will be back in the next few years!
Must add max pass is a god send!

[jdouds]

Hi for us west coast fantastic but needs some planning. With Florida you can almost rock up and go although we would plan. First of how long a trip will you be having and then list what you would like to see.PCH , Monterey,San Fran ,whale watching,yosemite,vegas,San Diego ,Palm Springs,Grand Canyon ,or a bit further Lake Tahoe and yellowstone. Hope this gives you some food for thought.
Oh and of course if you must a few days at Disney , with so much to see and do it's a big decision

[washy777]

Many thanks. I do like the look of Disneyland, Sea World, Las vegas, Grand Canyon and a national Park.

Does anyone have thoughts on this mix and any recommendations for booking a private villa or apartment for the main disney stay.

[jdouds]

Hi again how longs the trip. For the west coast accomodation is much more expensive , we have used airbnb and home away and have stayed in some very good places with of street parking which is also good.

[washy777]

looking at 21 nights?

[landandword17]

It's a completely personal choice but for me Disney would not be the main attraction of a West Coast holiday. I did 2 days and it was plenty. I wouldn't want to be there for too long with all the other attractions the area offers. We didn't even make it to Disney on our first WC trip and next time we go it will be 1 day. I believe Anaheim has restricted private vacation rentals. They are illegal in some areas of California and villa accommodation the same size/standard as Florida is very hard to come by and very, very expensive.

[Buzz242]

We visited Florida 9 or 10 times before we went to California, we then alternated between the two for the next five years. We absolutely love both places but for different reasons. weve visited San Francisco, Monterey, Carmel, LA, Anaheim, San Diego, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon but fnot all in one trip. 21 days would be perfect for visiting multiple places, we always drive between locations but you could take internal flights. There's lots of trip reports on here which may help you decide where you would like to visit.