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Disneyland ::. Thoughts?

JES11583
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slidergirl

slidergirl

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If it's on your bucket list, do it.

 

It's nice to go to the Park and experience the original Disney the way that Mr. Disney imagined back in the 50s and see it juxtaposed against the modern updates of the various areas and California Adventure. Visit and ride the originals - the 1st Castle, Dumbo, Matterhorn (although it has been updated), Mr. Toad, the original Carousel, the subs,... It's pretty compact compared to DW. I grew up in Orange County, so DL was something we always did - my high school grad night was at DL (waaaaay back in the dark ages ;) ), was temporary "cast member" for some of their parades and musical presentations (we were paid with free pass the rest of that day PLUS another free pass to use another day).

Always a fun time at the Original Disneyland!

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JES11583

JES11583

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Thank you, all. I've not even been, so I'm curious. Is it as busy and packed as WDW?? We plan to do a day in Hollywood and do all the tour stuff and then I also want some time at the Santa Monica pier with my kids. They are 3 & 8... So aside front the cruise, I want this to be a trip to remember. We just did WDW for a whole week last November, but like I said earlier, I wanted to do DL if it was worth it and different.

 

Thank you :)

 

 

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Philob

Philob

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What is California adventure ?

 

Another Disney theme park across the entry from Disneyland.

 

Once past the gates is Buena Vista Street which represents LA in the 1920's when Mr. D first arrived. Paradise Pier represents the West Coast version of Coney Island. Cars Land is based on the movie Cars.

 

https://disneyland.disney.go.com/destinations/disney-california-adventure/

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney_California_Adventure

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Philob

Philob

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One long day would do it, especially with a 3 & 8 :)

 

As with WDW you'll need to prioritize which ride to go on first and strategize on using the Fast Pass.

 

Unless you have an early bird ticket (1 hr before the official opening) any rides related to Star Wars is at least 30 minutes. By mid-morning Hyperspace (Space) Mountain was over 60 and never below that until the Fireworks.

 

The "Finding Nemo" submarine ride was 30 minutes at opening and 70+ later. It used to be a walk up ride until "Finding Dory" came out.

 

Trivia: Mr. D had an apartment on the second floor of the Disneyland Fire Station and from there he would watch people from all over come in. There's a "forever" candle in the window.

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slidergirl

slidergirl

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Disneyland is much more compact than Disney World. One day is more than enough. It's a world-renown park, so yes, it is always crowded. As to how to get between DL and CA: they are adjacent. CA isn't all that big. But, ticket-wise, I can't help as I have a friend who works for ABC so we get employee all-access passes...

 

I wanted to talk about you spending a day in Hollywood. Not worth blowing a day there, honestly. You can easily combine Hollywood with Santa Monica. What do you want to see in Hollywood? Maybe I'm over LA, but Hollywood never had any interest other than going to Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles for dinner...Hollywood isn't the glamorous movie and TV area. It's tried to update itself several times, but I don't see the attraction. How one website describes the Hollywood Walk of Fame: "If you can stomach the suspect superheroes, claustrophobia-inducing crowds and never-ending line of gift shops, tattoo parlors and lingerie stores, there’s actually a lot of old Hollywood history and glamour to discover along the Walk of Fame." Sure, you can see some the stars in the pavement, but with the crowds, I don't think you can linger without being run over/bumped into. Not sure I'd want to take young kids there :eek:

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JoyMouse

JoyMouse

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We go in October

 

 

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October's a good month for DL. I also found the park food better at DL then WDW. It seemed to me that WDW put their good food in the hotels, whereas DL and CA have more variety in the parks.

 

Slidergirl has some good advice. I'm thinking at least you could do Santa Monica pier and the Hollywood Walk of fame in one day, but Hollywood can be a bit sketchy. Santa Monica is fine.

 

For the Southern California residents, what about visiting the La Brea Tar Pits instead of Hollywood? Three and eight year olds may enjoy that more (especially after watching the Ice Age movies). I haven't been there yet, but it's on my list.

 

 

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JES11583

JES11583

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Thank you all so very much!! And for the input on Hollywood/ SM.

If we don't spend more than a day doing that and potentially DL, is there a decent beach for my family to enjoy? We will have a rental car and staying at the Westin near the airport. Id like to have a nice beach day and don't care to drive a little bit

 

 

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slidergirl

slidergirl

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Thank you all so very much!! And for the input on Hollywood/ SM.

If we don't spend more than a day doing that and potentially DL, is there a decent beach for my family to enjoy? We will have a rental car and staying at the Westin near the airport. Id like to have a nice beach day and don't care to drive a little bit

 

 

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Just down Lincoln Blvd from LAX is the Marina del Rey/Venice Beach area. Hang on the beach, walk the beachwalk and see the side shows (lookup "chainsaw juggler") and sidewalk vendors. Head up a little to the basketball courts and see guys play just like in White Men Can't Jump (filmed there). Or, the beach just a little north of Santa Monica Pier - home to the best beach volleyball players around, or up a tad more to Will Rodgers State Beach.

Just a heads up about that Westin: I had 2 colleagues go there for a month to help out back in May. They both said it was a nasty area. One said she encountered a "gentlemen" urinating in the parking lot. I vaguely remember it - just down Century Blvd was a place that advertised "NUDE BOWLING" - I think it was actually a bowling alley that had a nude club inside... Century has always been sketchy.

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poolreader

poolreader

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I live in Southern California and will be going to Disneyland and California Adventures in a few weeks with my almost two year old grandson. We will be staying at the Disneyland Hotel for two nights. I feel that with all of the shows and attractions at California Adventures aimed at the little ones that with only one day it would be a better choice. They have a production of Frozen, a interactive Mickey Junior Club House show, Car's land (it looks like you are in one of the movies), Monsters Inc ride, talk with Crush the turtle (you interact with an animated character), as well as costumed character meets. Well just too many to name. If they were older, or if you had more time I would budget another day at the parks so you could hop back and forth to cover all of the shows and rides.

 

It sounds like you will be spending a lot of time driving. I looked at the map and tried to come up with a plan, but you are going to be spending several hours each day to meet your itinerary. I do not think Hollywood would be worth more than a drive through with young children, and as a previous poster suggested it could be combined with Santa Monica and Marina Del Rey. But I might suggest going to Universal Studios City walk (a dinning and shopping area).

 

Are you really stuck with staying by LAX? There are some nice beaches near Long Beach and that seems like a better staging area.

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notentirelynormal

notentirelynormal

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I wanted to talk about you spending a day in Hollywood. Not worth blowing a day there, honestly. You can easily combine Hollywood with Santa Monica. What do you want to see in Hollywood? Maybe I'm over LA, but Hollywood never had any interest other than going to Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles for dinner...Hollywood isn't the glamorous movie and TV area. It's tried to update itself several times, but I don't see the attraction. How one website describes the Hollywood Walk of Fame: "If you can stomach the suspect superheroes, claustrophobia-inducing crowds and never-ending line of gift shops, tattoo parlors and lingerie stores, there’s actually a lot of old Hollywood history and glamour to discover along the Walk of Fame." Sure, you can see some the stars in the pavement, but with the crowds, I don't think you can linger without being run over/bumped into. Not sure I'd want to take young kids there :eek:

 

This is so true. The glammer of Hollywood is its history. It is streets, old neighborhood, fast food restaurants. Just like any neighbor hood. The name is what is famous. The stars in the road are fun but other then that - nothing, nada, none. Go to Universal which has more Hollywood then the actual town.

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KeepCalmBearOn

KeepCalmBearOn

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Please tell me you are not spending 3 nights at the LAX Westin.

 

I like the Westin and several LAX hotels, but ONLY for one night coming or going. You do not want to stay near LAX, it is a miserable spot.

 

With three nights I'd be looking at Santa Monica or Manhattan Beach, especially at the Sea View Inn in Manhattan Beach.

 

As to Disneyland, get the park hopper even if you only spend one day there. The two theme parks are more like one park than two, think of EPCOT with World Showcase and Future World as separate admission parks. We hop back and forth all the time.

 

Hollywood is MAX 2 hours. You do not want to do a bus tour, the kids would be bored stiff. See the Chinese Theater, the Egyptian, El Capitan (see what is playing at the El Cap) and move on to Farmers Market and then Santa Monica.

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JES11583

JES11583

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Thank you all so much! I just got caught up with these messages. Yeah we are stuck at the Westin, as we did Priceline. [emoji53][emoji53]. We are doing a cruise so I didn't want to spend a ton on a room and after looking at half decent beach hotels, the prices just weren't worth it.

How about the hop on/hop off buses ? Any thoughts?

 

 

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notentirelynormal

notentirelynormal

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How about the hop on/hop off buses ? Any thoughts?

 

 

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Where would you find these hop on/hop off buses in LA? There is no sarcasm to this question. I've lived in greater LA for over 25 years and except for local little town ones, I can't think where I've every seen one.

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notentirelynormal

notentirelynormal

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Thank you all so much! I just got caught up with these messages. Yeah we are stuck at the Westin, as we did Priceline. [emoji53][emoji53]. We are doing a cruise so I didn't want to spend a ton on a room and after looking at half decent beach hotels, the prices just weren't worth it.

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I forgot to mention, you do know that Disneyland has buses that take you from LAX to Disneyland, right? I'm sure they go to opposite way. I can't give you any more advice on them then that since I live local.

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JES11583

JES11583

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I was looking at different tours for Hollywood and I saw one that was like the double decker bus that you can hop on and off. Most major touristy cities have them. I saw them on groupon and some other site.

 

 

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JES11583

JES11583

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I don't know much about the Disneyland commute. Haven't looked much into yet-- at least not until I made the decision to actually go. So I wonder if it would be wiser to take the bus there versus our rental car.

And thank you for that detail!

 

 

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