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Old 4 Sep 19, 08:34 AM  
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#1
gogs
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Join Date: Sep 11
LA San Diego plan next month

Hi all,
We are flying out next month for a trip to California then back via Orlando & just wanted to go over my rough plan to see if anyone had any pointers/tips.

11th Oct - Fly out MAN - LAX
Check into the Loews Hollywood hotel
Stay up as late as possible!
12 Oct - Day in LA, booking a tour maybe? (we will have a car though)
12 Oct evening - drive to San Diego, check in to the Pantai Inn in La Jolla
13 Oct - Up early & go to the beach snorkelling, see the seals, walk round La Jolla
Below days 14-16th we have the 3 day 'Go San Diego' card, so all these activities are free (except the zip line).
---
14 Oct - San Diego Safari Park, maybe do the zip line there
15 Oct - Kayak/Paddleboarding, USS Midway, top gun bar, speedboats in mission bay or sightseeing cruise round the bay
16 Oct - anything we didn't have time to do the day before, Balboa Park
---
17 Oct - lazy morning at the beach
17 Oct PM - fly out San Diego to Tampa, drive up to Orlando from there
18-21 Oct - Stay at HRH Universal
21 Oct - fly back to Manchester

What does everyone think?
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Old 15 Sep 19, 12:07 PM  
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mrblack
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Join Date: May 18
No real advice, it all looks completely doable to me. I'm going for a week at a similar time.

I'm not a massive fan of San Diego, but am very much in the minority with that, however I'd be interested to know where you'd be planning on paddleboarding. I might travel down from LA to SUP around the San Diego area.
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Old 15 Sep 19, 12:33 PM  
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Bad Pink Tink
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Join Date: Aug 19
Maybe you have your reasons but this part doesnt really make sense to me

11th Oct - Fly out MAN - LAX
Check into the Loews Hollywood hotel
Stay up as late as possible!
12 Oct - Day in LA, booking a tour maybe? (we will have a car though)
12 Oct evening - drive to San Diego

I get that you want to see and do stuff in San Diago, but why are you flying to LAX and doing an overnight Loews Hollywood hotel which is about an hours drive from LAX and then driving down to SanDiago.

To me it makes more sense to fly to San Diago and not waste time and money with an overnight at Loews Hollywood hotel.

I know that hotel, its located at Hollywood and Highland Mall, which is where The Chinese Theatre / Madame Tussauds / most busy part of Hollywood Boulevard / Walk of Fame. To be honest that area is a dive, its like staying at Times Square or Piccadilly Circus. On your arrival night you wont feel like doing much and that area is not that nice after 6pm. I certainly would not walk around there when it gets dark. Then you will have the next morning and then face that long drive down to San Diago.

What kind of tour do you want to do?

Google Maps says approx 2 hours between Loews Hollywood hotel and Pantai Inn in La Jolla But that does not factor in traffic. LA traffic is horrendous, realistically that drive will take up to 4 hours.
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Old 15 Sep 19, 12:56 PM  
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#4
gogs
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Join Date: Sep 11
Thanks for the replies,
MrBlack - We've not booked yet but I thought we could paddleboard in La Jolla itself. It seems a bit more interesting than Coronado (we can hire kayaks/paddleboards for free in both those places using the Go San Diego card).

Tink - your point is completely valid, I'd have originally like to fly straight to San Diego but we got a good deal on the LAX flight. My youngest daughter is mad on the whole LA scene/celebrity thing so that one day is a concession to that
I hear that it is a dive round that part of LA, but hopefully the times we'll be there we'll miss the worst of it.
Usually when we get to the states we chuck the kids in the pool, it seems the best way to keep them awake (we don't literally chuck them of course!). So we may do that at the Loews hotel then next day see the Walk of Fame etc really early.
I've booked a tour in the morning with Jasmine at La La tours so that should allow us to see the sights we want in a leisurely way, then we can jump in the car sometime in the afternoon & head down the coast, maybe out via Santa Monica or some other LA beach on the way.

Thanks again
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Old 15 Sep 19, 01:13 PM  
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Bad Pink Tink
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Originally Posted by gogs View Post
Thanks for the replies,
MrBlack - We've not booked yet but I thought we could paddleboard in La Jolla itself. It seems a bit more interesting than Coronado (we can hire kayaks/paddleboards for free in both those places using the Go San Diego card).

Tink - your point is completely valid, I'd have originally like to fly straight to San Diego but we got a good deal on the LAX flight. My youngest daughter is mad on the whole LA scene/celebrity thing so that one day is a concession to that
I hear that it is a dive round that part of LA, but hopefully the times we'll be there we'll miss the worst of it.
Usually when we get to the states we chuck the kids in the pool, it seems the best way to keep them awake (we don't literally chuck them of course!). So we may do that at the Loews hotel then next day see the Walk of Fame etc really early.
I've booked a tour in the morning with Jasmine at La La tours so that should allow us to see the sights we want in a leisurely way, then we can jump in the car sometime in the afternoon & head down the coast, maybe out via Santa Monica or some other LA beach on the way.

Thanks again
ah ok, well in that case. The hotel actually has an entrance direct into the Mall. Its really an outdoor shopping area, with the more popular chain shops, Hot Topic, Victorias Secret, Sketchers, Sephora etc. There are also a good few restaurants, California Pizza Kitchen, Hard Rock Cafe, Johnny Rockets.

On your arrival night I would just stay around the shops and restaurants. Dont go out onto Hollywood Boulevard. That part of Walk of Fame has a very narrow footpath and its full of hawkers/ the trashy lookalikes. They can get very pushy and aggressive. Many of them are homeless and they make their money by charging you to take a photo with them. In the evening times there can be alot of people in that small area, people will be pushing and shoving, standing and walking over the stars on the ground and its not a very nice experience for your first time in LA.

Go out onto Hollywood Boulevard / Walk of Fame in the morning. It will be far less crowded and you will be able to see the handprints infront of The Chinese Theatre and the various stars on the ground. There is usually less hawkers/ trashy lookalikes in the morning too.
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Old 16 Sep 19, 01:51 PM  
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#6
marypoppins38
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San Diego is my absolute favourtite place. If you didnt fancy staying night in LA you can fly into LA then fly straight to San Diego from there. This is what we have done before. Its a really quick 20 min or so flight.
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Old 16 Sep 19, 07:29 PM  
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cornishfrogboy
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Location: Falmouth
It looks perfectly ok to me.

‘Bad pink tink’ is on the mark with LA. It is a bit of a dive around the walk of fame area and even our own tour guide, when setting us loose on the walk of fame from the top, remarked that it got progressively seedier and more unpleasant as you progressed towards LA itself. He also advised to avoid the bottom bit at night. The area is also full of chancers trying to rip you off, so stay close together.. The idea of Mary Poppins also looks good.. but you are not protected against delays on your long haul flight as the onward to San Diego would be a separate booking.

I absolutely love San Diego and your plan looks sound. We had Gosandiego5’s and they worked brilliantly for us.

Have you considered staying on RMS Queen Mary at Long Beach for your first night? If your daughter likes the fame and celebrity thing, the history of this ship and the former guest list may blow her away. The Art Deco bar beneath the bridge is really something to see.

If you haven’t already seen it, then my trippie covers all the areas that you are looking at in some detail. ‘California N to South at Easter’.
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Edited at 07:31 PM.
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Old 19 Sep 19, 06:36 PM  
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marypoppins38
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Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy View Post
It looks perfectly ok to me.

‘Bad pink tink’ is on the mark with LA. It is a bit of a dive around the walk of fame area and even our own tour guide, when setting us loose on the walk of fame from the top, remarked that it got progressively seedier and more unpleasant as you progressed towards LA itself. He also advised to avoid the bottom bit at night. The area is also full of chancers trying to rip you off, so stay close together.. The idea of Mary Poppins also looks good.. but you are not protected against delays on your long haul flight as the onward to San Diego would be a separate booking.

I absolutely love San Diego and your plan looks sound. We had Gosandiego5’s and they worked brilliantly for us.

Have you considered staying on RMS Queen Mary at Long Beach for your first night? If your daughter likes the fame and celebrity thing, the history of this ship and the former guest list may blow her away. The Art Deco bar beneath the bridge is really something to see.

If you haven’t already seen it, then my trippie covers all the areas that you are looking at in some detail. ‘California N to South at Easter’.
You can book it all on one ticket. We did MAN-LHR, LHR-LAX and then LAX-SAN with British Airway/Delta.
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Old 19 Sep 19, 06:49 PM  
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cornishfrogboy
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Originally Posted by marypoppins38 View Post
You can book it all on one ticket. We did MAN-LHR, LHR-LAX and then LAX-SAN with British Airway/Delta.
Apologies. I was under the impression that they had already booked their long haul into LAX.
If not, then of course they can book that and an onward to San Diego on a multi city without worrying about a delay.
We have done similar on many occasions ( albeit not on this particular route).
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2005 onwards.. lots of times!

Index of all my Trip and Pretrip reports..https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho...6#post15662196
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Old 20 Sep 19, 03:40 PM  
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marypoppins38
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Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy View Post
Apologies. I was under the impression that they had already booked their long haul into LAX.
If not, then of course they can book that and an onward to San Diego on a multi city without worrying about a delay.
We have done similar on many occasions ( albeit not on this particular route).
Ahh, you are right, sorry. I just re-read the original post.
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