West Coast high & lows...

[daytonababe]

Originally Posted by gail35

Okay, thanks again, very helpful.

One more thing lol sorry.
What did you do in the evenings in LA? We have a few nights when we wont be at a park, I know we will do DTD but not sure what else we can do with a 15yr and 14yr old boys.

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In Anaheim there isn’t a lot to do really unless there’s a sporting event on , the Angels stadium isn’t far .

We usually get something to eat and go to Walmart / target .

Same in the LA area in general really , we usually just end up going out for food at night .

[SHREKS OTHER1/2]

Originally Posted by daytonababe

Landed today after 3 weeks on the West Coast.. slightly different trip this year as neither of the kids came along..

Highs

American Airlines / British Airways couldn’t fault either flight
Avis car rental..got what we booked, no hard sell..no mystery charges
South Point Las Vegas never disappoints , fab stay as always and the owner gave us a 2 free nights stay for later in the year ..

Red Rock/Green Valley Buffets ..Excellent value, very good food equal to any on the strip and half the price
Egg Works Las Vegas ,A must for us every trip fab value and a excellent breakfast
Vegas in general we love being there and just wandering around the strip doing whatever we please. We walked miles over the days we were there/

Country Inn & Suites Ontario Mills. We stopped there at the beginning and end of our trip and its a lovely hotel in a nice area

Best Western Goodyear Phoenix.. Been here several times and would recommend it

Rudy’s BBQ Goodyear, one of the best meals we’ve had .

LA... Had a lovely last day wandering around Beverly Hills/Rodeo Drive/Wiltshire/Griffiths Observatory

Hooters went there 3 times in various places over the trip and each time it was good value and good food

Red Rose Tavern Disneyland.. Had a lovely meal here.

In n out burger.. went a few times over the trip in various places it was around $13 for the 2 of us.

Spending time with friends.. We were fortunate this time to be able to spend a lot of time with good friends which we really enjoyed.

Averages.

Castle Inn & Suites Anaheim.. Room was clean, location good by my god was it noisy. The doors are all external and from 6.30am you would hear people talking and running about. Parking is free which is a plus but we wouldn’t stay there again.

Shopping .. No real bargains.. exchange rate doesn’t help but things in general aren’t cheap there. The latest Adidas shoes my kids wear are far more expensive than here.

Disneyland...My tickets were free so I wasn’t too fussed but ..

California Adventure was a 1/2 day park... if it wasn’t for Carsland we wouldn’t have bothered.. All of the Pier area is closed bar Toy Story and there are no parades at the moment. There were a lot of people complaining as we left.

Disneyland we liked much better but it was heaving , I was there for spring break last year and it was much busier last week. I’m sure its not helping with their being so many closures in the Adventure park. Again no parades or fireworks ..

Downtown Disney. World of Disney is undergoing a massive refurb so its tiny now compared to how it used to be..And a large area of shops are cordoned off again I assume for renovations.

Weather , we had a couple of colder days the rest warmer , t-shirt and shorts weather but not as hot as we are used to it March. The day we went to California Adventure it rained hard for a good few hours.

Margaritaville Las Vegas, meal was ok but portions tiny, I had Fajitias and it was a much smaller portion than the last time we ate there..

Low
IHOP Anaheim... $42 for breakfast and it wasn’t worth it.. I’m not a fan anyway but this just confirmed why i’m not.
Steak & Shake Las Vegas.. Rubbish service just like the last time and food nothing special.. tried it twice now there won’t be a 3rd.
Coming home ;-)
Fremont Street ..total dump and gets more strange people by the year..I see no appeal in a clearly mentally ill lady sat topless in a wheelchair posing for pics.
Container Park.. A waste of a walk very little there and many of what were there were closed ago 8pm
Ricks Pawn Star Plaza.. All that seems a to be open is Ricks BBQ place, most of the other units are closed / empty.
Hollywood Blvd... Still a dump, possibly more dirty than last year definitely more CD “sellers” there..

Observations.

American Casino Guide well worth the 15 I paid for it... Far too many vouchers for us to use but the one’s we did saved us a fair bit of money.
There are vouchers for on/off strip as well as Fremont Street.

Parking..Many a time it comes up on here about parking in Vegas. Well I parked on the strip every day and never paid once.. Miracle Mile is free self parking I parked there one day from 10am -11pm..

Security, far greater Police presence on the strip than I’ve seen before Both on foot and in cars

Disney Security, This too has been stepped up, bag check is much stricter now , you have to open your bag yourself and they look in every pocket. Plenty of sniffer dogs around and I noticed they sniff around pram /pushchairs. Bag check does take a bit longer mostly because people aren’t organised but if it makes the parks safer I’m all for it.

Vegas was much quieter than previous trips. 10th time we’ve been always at the same time of year and we’ve never seen it so quiet on the strip. And from talking to people that work there neither have there. I was there over NASCAR weekend and there was a UFC fight so two big events but they made little difference. General opinion of those that live / work there is the ever increasing resort and parking fees are keeping people away.
I know in previous years the NASCAR race team have left the crews in Vegas for a week before going on to phoenix but many flew them home this year as its becoming to expensive to keep them in the hotels .


We had a fab trip as always and we will be back next year ..Likely have a week in Vegas later in the year to use our 2 free nights. But first we have 9 nights in North Carolina in 7 weeks time

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Totally agree with you about Disney ..we left yesterday and are now in Palm Springs ... Like you say if it wasn’t for Cars ..my first and last time I will go ..sticking to Orlando ..didn’t like Hollywood Universal last trip ..now don’t rate Disney ... waste of money compared to Orlando in my opinion but ticked off my bucket list ..so many rides closed or broken ..I went to complain ..went in at 10 ..couldn’t get a fast pass on my app for cars until 7pm ... there is not enough in that park to do in those hours ...oh yes there was I could have waited 90/100 to go on the other rides .. like you say with so many downit just made the others worse .We were at BW Park place great location . Off back to Vegas next week for last leg of trip ... I really liked Fremont Street we were in Golden Nugget .. but my eyes are still burning from the lady in the Wheelchair and the old guy in his green thong ..but apart from that I much preferred it to the strip from my last trip .. might change next week 👍

[cornishfrogboy]

Thankyou. A very helpful and informative summary of highs and lows.

[Lell]

Sounds like you had another fab trip and a nice short countdown to your next one. Our trip last September/ October was the first long holiday without our son and daughter but I surprised myself by really enjoying it. I thougt it would be more strange without them than it actually was.

[Sandraoh40]

I really enjoy hearing about your trips...
I read a comment you made in another thread about the casino guide, so I had a look, I think I will get one for our next trip.
Did you get it online?

[lovedisney]

Glad you had a great time, thanks for all the info, your knowledge on Vegas is invaluable for all us dibbers, booked the Neon Museum yesterday on your recommendation!

[daytonababe]

Originally Posted by SHREKS OTHER1/2

Totally agree with you about Disney ..we left yesterday and are now in Palm Springs ... Like you say if it wasn’t for Cars ..my first and last time I will go ..sticking to Orlando ..didn’t like Hollywood Universal last trip ..now don’t rate Disney ... waste of money compared to Orlando in my opinion but ticked off my bucket list ..so many rides closed or broken ..I went to complain ..went in at 10 ..couldn’t get a fast pass on my app for cars until 7pm ... there is not enough in that park to do in those hours ...oh yes there was I could have waited 90/100 to go on the other rides .. like you say with so many downit just made the others worse .We were at BW Park place great location . Off back to Vegas next week for last leg of trip ... I really liked Fremont Street we were in Golden Nugget .. but my eyes are still burning from the lady in the Wheelchair and the old guy in his green thong ..but apart from that I much preferred it to the strip from my last trip .. might change next week 👍

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There were a few people complaining that i heard myself..

I don’t see how Disney can justify upping prices when so much is closed?

We did single rider for Radiator Springs, No FP as you say and I wasn’t waiting 2 hrs to ride together..
Enjoy Vegas .. its way better than Disney ;-)

Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy

Thankyou. A very helpful and informative summary of highs and lows.

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Thank you

Originally Posted by Lell

Sounds like you had another fab trip and a nice short countdown to your next one. Our trip last September/ October was the first long holiday without our son and daughter but I surprised myself by really enjoying it. I thougt it would be more strange without them than it actually was.

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We’ve been before without them for a week but this was the longest...I won’t say its cheaper without them ..I spent a fortune on presents ;-)

Originally Posted by Sandraoh40

I really enjoy hearing about your trips...
I read a comment you made in another thread about the casino guide, so I had a look, I think I will get one for our next trip.
Did you get it online?

See more...

Thank you, I ordered mine off Amazon UK..I will definitely buy it again.

[Tweety1]

Originally Posted by daytonababe

Landed today after 3 weeks on the West Coast.. slightly different trip this year as neither of the kids came along..

Highs

American Airlines / British Airways couldn’t fault either flight
Avis car rental..got what we booked, no hard sell..no mystery charges
South Point Las Vegas never disappoints , fab stay as always and the owner gave us a 2 free nights stay for later in the year ..

Red Rock/Green Valley Buffets ..Excellent value, very good food equal to any on the strip and half the price
Egg Works Las Vegas ,A must for us every trip fab value and a excellent breakfast
Vegas in general we love being there and just wandering around the strip doing whatever we please. We walked miles over the days we were there/

Country Inn & Suites Ontario Mills. We stopped there at the beginning and end of our trip and its a lovely hotel in a nice area

Best Western Goodyear Phoenix.. Been here several times and would recommend it

Rudy’s BBQ Goodyear, one of the best meals we’ve had .

LA... Had a lovely last day wandering around Beverly Hills/Rodeo Drive/Wiltshire/Griffiths Observatory

Hooters went there 3 times in various places over the trip and each time it was good value and good food

Red Rose Tavern Disneyland.. Had a lovely meal here.

In n out burger.. went a few times over the trip in various places it was around $13 for the 2 of us.

Spending time with friends.. We were fortunate this time to be able to spend a lot of time with good friends which we really enjoyed.

Averages.

Castle Inn & Suites Anaheim.. Room was clean, location good by my god was it noisy. The doors are all external and from 6.30am you would hear people talking and running about. Parking is free which is a plus but we wouldn’t stay there again.

Shopping .. No real bargains.. exchange rate doesn’t help but things in general aren’t cheap there. The latest Adidas shoes my kids wear are far more expensive than here.

Disneyland...My tickets were free so I wasn’t too fussed but ..

California Adventure was a 1/2 day park... if it wasn’t for Carsland we wouldn’t have bothered.. All of the Pier area is closed bar Toy Story and there are no parades at the moment. There were a lot of people complaining as we left.

Disneyland we liked much better but it was heaving , I was there for spring break last year and it was much busier last week. I’m sure its not helping with their being so many closures in the Adventure park. Again no parades or fireworks ..

Downtown Disney. World of Disney is undergoing a massive refurb so its tiny now compared to how it used to be..And a large area of shops are cordoned off again I assume for renovations.

Weather , we had a couple of colder days the rest warmer , t-shirt and shorts weather but not as hot as we are used to it March. The day we went to California Adventure it rained hard for a good few hours.

Margaritaville Las Vegas, meal was ok but portions tiny, I had Fajitias and it was a much smaller portion than the last time we ate there..

Low
IHOP Anaheim... $42 for breakfast and it wasn’t worth it.. I’m not a fan anyway but this just confirmed why i’m not.
Steak & Shake Las Vegas.. Rubbish service just like the last time and food nothing special.. tried it twice now there won’t be a 3rd.
Coming home ;-)
Fremont Street ..total dump and gets more strange people by the year..I see no appeal in a clearly mentally ill lady sat topless in a wheelchair posing for pics.
Container Park.. A waste of a walk very little there and many of what were there were closed ago 8pm
Ricks Pawn Star Plaza.. All that seems a to be open is Ricks BBQ place, most of the other units are closed / empty.
Hollywood Blvd... Still a dump, possibly more dirty than last year definitely more CD “sellers” there..

Observations.

American Casino Guide well worth the 15 I paid for it... Far too many vouchers for us to use but the one’s we did saved us a fair bit of money.
There are vouchers for on/off strip as well as Fremont Street.

Parking..Many a time it comes up on here about parking in Vegas. Well I parked on the strip every day and never paid once.. Miracle Mile is free self parking I parked there one day from 10am -11pm..

Security, far greater Police presence on the strip than I’ve seen before Both on foot and in cars

Disney Security, This too has been stepped up, bag check is much stricter now , you have to open your bag yourself and they look in every pocket. Plenty of sniffer dogs around and I noticed they sniff around pram /pushchairs. Bag check does take a bit longer mostly because people aren’t organised but if it makes the parks safer I’m all for it.

Vegas was much quieter than previous trips. 10th time we’ve been always at the same time of year and we’ve never seen it so quiet on the strip. And from talking to people that work there neither have there. I was there over NASCAR weekend and there was a UFC fight so two big events but they made little difference. General opinion of those that live / work there is the ever increasing resort and parking fees are keeping people away.
I know in previous years the NASCAR race team have left the crews in Vegas for a week before going on to phoenix but many flew them home this year as its becoming to expensive to keep them in the hotels .


We had a fab trip as always and we will be back next year ..Likely have a week in Vegas later in the year to use our 2 free nights. But first we have 9 nights in North Carolina in 7 weeks time

See more...

Glad you had a fab trip!
Do you know how long these renovations are going on for? We go in July and I won’t b happy if things are only half open!

[daytonababe]

Originally Posted by Tweety1

Glad you had a fab trip!
Do you know how long these renovations are going on for? We go in July and I won’t b happy if things are only half open!

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All they say for the Paradise/Pixar Pier stuff is summer 2018.. so who knows ..
I’ve not seen a definite opening date anyway.

Splash mountain was also closed but opens soon I think.

I do know Pirates of the Caribbean closes mid -April for a refurb and there’s no date yet for its re-opening.

[Tweety1]

Originally Posted by daytonababe

All they say for the Paradise/Pixar Pier stuff is summer 2018.. so who knows ..
I’ve not seen a definite opening date anyway.

Splash mountain was also closed but opens soon I think.

I do know Pirates of the Caribbean closes mid -April for a refurb and there’s no date yet for its re-opening.

See more...

Oh noooo
The tickets are so exp in comparison to what you get in WDW. I found it hard to justify but wanted to go as it’s the original and thought it may b r only trip(wrong... already planning 2019 ha ha there is just so much to do!). Don’t know whether to skip it til 2019 (sw land might b open too but then it prob will b unbearably busy) but at least things will b open
Where will I get upto date info on closures ect. If it was ur first time would you have been disappointed