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I am heading to LA/Disneyland - what to see?


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Hello everyone

 

I will be taking the family to Disneyland in a couple months, I am trying to put together a destination plan. some of you locals might have some safe family oriented destination ideas. let me know. thanks

 

so far I have;

 

Disney Land (3 day park hopper)

universal studios - VIP experience

san diego sea world

san diego zoo

santa monica pier

Hollywood walk of fame

 

 

 

what beaches are safe / clean to visit?

any unique dining experiences?

is rodeo drive worth walking down?

is it possible to visit the Hollywood sign?

 

let me know;

thanks

Herb

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what beaches are safe / clean to visit?

In LA: Malibu is clean, Venice is an experience

 

In SD: Del Mar and La Jolla are clean, Pacific and Ocean are an experience

 

Note: beaches in LA have parking costs

 

any unique dining experiences?

Depends where you are and what you like, LA and SD are big cities

 

is rodeo drive worth walking down?

Rodeo Dr would take you a grand total of 5 minutes to talk down, it's not a big area

 

is it possible to visit the Hollywood sign?

You can hike the trails to see it, but you can't get near it

Edited by leesfer
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Hehe well.......

 

Disneyland is ok. Be careful where you go at night in the orange county LA areas.

 

Santa monica peir is overrated. Don't go at nite. Lots of gangs in that area. One small roller coaster, a couple carney games, food and ocean. Overrated.

 

You can walk up to the hollywood sign. Again not at nite there are gangs. Hollywood walk of fame is also dirty and overrated. Lots of tourists, broken glass, homeless people, traffic, noise ect ect ect. I've driven it but I'll never walk it. Hollywood is NOT like you see on TV. Last time I was near the sunset strip I saw a bum pooping in a parking lot at mid day.

 

The saddle ranch on the sunset strip is fun. It's a western themed place. They have a mechanical bull. But be warned friday and saturday nights are more of a party crowd.

 

Rodeo drive, tiny, LOTS of traffic, not much to see. Really not worth it.

 

Beaches north of LA in ventura county where I live are usually cleaner and nicer. City of ventura beaches are nice with free parking. Stay out of oxnard which is next to ventura. Kinda like a good side bad side of the tracks deal. Malibu is nice but usually crowded.

 

Sea world is located on mission bay. It's a man made bay and tourist attraction. Nice for boating and swimming. But it gets super crowded on weekends. Especially holiday weekends. Hotels on the bay usually have private beaches and boats you can rent. I took my wife there for our second anniversary.

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Sounds like you have a pretty decent itinerary already. Just don't invite ucw Jeff, he would be like paranoid Rob Lowe, staring out of the hotel window all day...... Lol

 

Haha! lol

 

Yeah Jeff, when was the last time you and misses went out, the 90's? lol

 

Santa Monica Pier and 3rd Street Promenade are a total tourist destination at any time. Family and I were just there with visitors from Australia.

 

 

If you're gonna do an LA visit after 3 brutal days at Disney, you need to see some natural beauty.

 

From Venice Beach to Santa Monica Pier, just your usual touristy stuff. If you keep going north on Pacific Coast Hwy, you'll hit Malibu. Theres a place called Paradise Cove, great food.

 

But if you want to be movie nastalgic there is Malibu Seafood. Where Fast And the Furious scene where Brian and Toretto went to eat after racing the Supra against a Ferrari.

It's a small place right off Pacific Coast, beach side view. It's a fish and chips type joint with outside seating, bring your own bucket of Coronas, it's perfectly welcomed.

 

 

It's Southern California, there is just so darn much to do. What are you into? Outdoor stuff?

 

You can do the tourist thing and take a guided tour in Hollywood. You can't access the Hollywood sign anymore.

 

Griffith Observatory is nice at day or at night. Good for pictures. Movie nostalgia, it's where the tunnel for Back To the Future where Marty is riding the hover board. And the observatory is the building where the transformers sit during one of the movies.

 

PM me if you want more ideas. The wife and I take the family all over.

Edited by louswheel
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Universal studios is nice for the family. If you go on a week day to avoid the long lines then you will most likely see everything in one day.

 

Hollywood is not bad in my experience except for the occasional homeless guy.

 

Malibu and Santa Monica are usually crowded but that's to be expected since they're popular with tourist. I've never had any negative experiences at any beaches.

 

You can also see the space shuttle Endeavor at the science center which is neat. They also have the tours for the USS Iowa in Long Beach.

 

The beaches and Hollywood have to be seen when visiting Los Angeles, they might be overrated for locals but that doesn't mean you cant have a good time. Not to mention they are what made the city famous in the first place.

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Haha! lol

 

Yeah Jeff, when was the last time you and misses went out, the 90's? lol

 

Santa Monica Pier and 3rd Street Promenade are a total tourist destination at any time. Family and I were just there with visitors from Australia.

 

It was around 10 years ago on a saturday nite. So yeah, just after the 90s :P

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this is great information. thanks.

 

I was thinking of doing Disneyland on a Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday - Universal on the Friday - seaworld and possibly the zoo on the sunday (can both be done in one day?)

 

so I have the Tuesday I fly in, then the next Monday and Tuesday to do the other stuff. then I fly out on the Wednesday. I hope I have enough time to see/do a lot of other things. I will be renting a car for the whole time.

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Two days straight of Disney theme parks is brutal. Sea world is a solid day for sure. There are a bunch of shows to see.

 

Maximize your time by staying in one city at a time. Do SeaWorld right off the bat. Then the Disney marathon.

 

Wife and I are theme park fanatics. We've done theme park marathons, it's tough after 3 days. By day 2 you'll feel beat, specially if you have small children.

 

 

Edited by louswheel
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Family and I at Universal Studios right now. Having fun, short lines because it's off season. 10 to 15 min wait at the most so far.

 

We do the top lot first. Except for Water World. That we leave towards late in the day because it's the best time to see it.

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thanks,

 

louswheel, did you buy the vip, front of line, or just regular admission? we are thinking of going the VIP route.

 

We bought regular run of the mill tickets. We got on all the rides, saw most of the shows. We were done by 6pm.

 

This is off season right now so it made it possible. 3 months from now, it gets packed.

 

I didn't feel it necessary to shell out $300 a pop for VIP. I get VIP tour of the

Studios in the tow truck when delivering production cars.

 

But, I hear the VIP tour is nice, you actually get to walk around the sets. But if I were you, save yourself the money.

 

I know this is kind of bad advice...but, I have known people who go to theme parks with a "disabled" member in a wheel chair and yout get front of the line 100% of the time. So walk with a little gimp and maybe you get the VIP treatment anyway! lol

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