Few questions about la area

[zippy294]

This will be my family and i's first trip to LA and i have a dew questions;

 

Is Marina del Ray a nice place to stay?

 

HOw far is Hollywood from MArina del ray?

 

How far is Universal Studios or Disneyland from there?

 

Finally, how far is the long beach cruise port from there?

 

Thanks

[zephyr17]

This will be my family and i's first trip to LA and i have a dew questions;

 

Is Marina del Ray a nice place to stay?

 

HOw far is Hollywood from MArina del ray?

 

How far is Universal Studios or Disneyland from there?

 

Finally, how far is the long beach cruise port from there?

 

Thanks

Yes, Marina Del Ray is a very nice place to stay. It is quite close to LAX, too.

 

Hollywood is about 10/12 miles away.

 

Universal is about 20 miles

 

Disneyland is about 40 miles (in a different direction than Universal)

 

Long Beach is about 20 miles

[Cruisin' Chick]

This will be my family and i's first trip to LA and i have a dew questions;

 

Is Marina del Ray a nice place to stay?

 

HOw far is Hollywood from MArina del ray?

 

How far is Universal Studios or Disneyland from there?

 

Finally, how far is the long beach cruise port from there?

 

Thanks

 

More important than the number of miles things are from each other, is the traffic time. And what time you're going to be travelling from one place to another.

 

Los Angeles is a very widespread city and county, with many vehicles travelling the freeways and streets at most times of day.

 

Marina Del Rey is on the west side of LA. The hotels there tend to be pricey. It is a nice place to hang during the day at the marina to just relax.

 

Hollywood is miles to the east, past Beverly Hills. You can probably take the 10 to get there, but if you go at the wrong time of day,you'll encounter lots of traffic.

 

Disneyland is in Orange County. It's basically an all day activity. It'll take about 30-60 minutes to get there, but again, if you go at the wrong time of day, you'll hit rush hour traffic.

 

Universal Studios is north of Hollywood, in the San Fernando Valley. You would need to head north on the 101 freeway or go up a canyon. There's also the Universal City Walk up there too. Shops and restaurants.

 

You'll be close to the port of Long Beach if you're staying in Marina Del Rey. You can also stay in Long Beach and be close to some attractions (the excellent Aquarium of the Pacific, Shoreline Village, Queen Mary are a quick, free shuttle around the marina...the Queen Mary is docked next to the Carnival berth).

[zephyr17]

Agree that travel times are more important than absolute mileage and agree with most of the travel times posted, although Disneyland is closer to 40 minutes in good traffic from the Marina.

 

However, Long Beach is not particularly close to Marina Del Ray. It is about 20 miles to the southeast. It would be about 25 minutes in times of light traffic, and up to an hour in bad traffic.

 

Santa Monica, however, is close to the Marina, and has very nice shopping, dining, and a great pedestrian mall (3rd St Mall?).

 

BTW - I used to work in Marina Del Ray (near Jefferson and PCH).

[Bruin Steve]

The real key is that Long Beach, Universal and Disney, in and of themselves, are all pretty spread out...

 

Find a map of the LA area...Long Beach will be down at the bottom...Disney is in Anaheim--over to the right of your map...Universal is in "Universal City"--between Hollywood and Burbank, up near the top...And Marina del Rey will ne on the west-facing coast over on the left of the map...and, considering everything, you really DON'T want a "central" location...So, you are just going to have to resign yourself to driving a lot...

 

Personally, I think that Marina Del Rey is a great location...it puts you mere minutes from LAX and reasonably close to most of the touristy spots on the West Side...Venice Beach is literally "next door"...Santa Monica is just to the north of that...it's upscale, close to a lot of good restaurants...the climate is great...

 

About the one hotel I know there is the Ritz Carlton--which is very nice...pricey, but nice...

 

There is a sort of a freeway "spur"--the "90", the "Marina Freeway"...(It was originally supposed to be a longer freeway crossing LA from West to East...but it never got finished...All that exists is the part that goes from the Marina just accross the 405 and ends at the Fox Hills Mallat Slauson Boulevard...It was originally colloquially called the "Slauson Cut-off"...Johnny Carson regualrly joked about it...If you're old enough, remember him doing the "Art Fern" TV pitchman character giving driving instructions on how to get to his business: "Take the Slauson Cut-off, get out of your car and cut off your Slauson..."...At one time, they decided to name it the "Richard M. Nixon Freeway"...Of course, they soon "un-named" it that...)...

 

But, what the 90 does is to make it easy for you to cut over to the 405and head south to Long Beach or North to Beverly Hills, Hollywood et al...

 

Going from the MArina to LAX doesn't even require a Freeway...Lincoln Boulevard is a quick easy and short route directly from there to LAX...and Pacific/Neilson/Ocean (it changes names twice in a very short distance) is a direct short route into the heart of Santa Monica...

 

Great place to stay to see LA...

 

Have fun...

[Magicone333]

Bruin Steve makes some excellent points about LA. If you stay in MdR, you'd need a car generally to go to all those places you mention. TIP for Disneyland--> wake up really, really ealy on the day you plan to go and arrive at Disneyland about 20 minutes before opening. It will take you about 20 minutes to get from the parking area to the front gate. Usually opens at 8:00am and the park is generally uncrowded until mid-morning. If this si your first trip to Disneyland, skip the "park hopper" ticket extra charge for California Adventure and spend the day at Disneyland and strolling around Downtown Disney. Have fun.

[Curt Jerome Wild]

This will be my family and i's first trip to LA and i have a dew questions;

 

Is Marina del Ray a nice place to stay?

 

HOw far is Hollywood from MArina del ray?

 

How far is Universal Studios or Disneyland from there?

 

Finally, how far is the long beach cruise port from there?

 

Thanks

 

Absolutely absolutely!

It is one of my highest recommendations for pre and post cruise location areas...

Depending on your budget and what you are looking for...

Here's some previous recommendations...

#2 Marina Del Ray/Venice

This is a great and less expensive area to stay. Closer to LAX…

It’s basically at the "south end" of Venice Beach, where the Santa Monica hotels are at the "north end".

Easy to walk from these along the Boardwalk and end up at the Santa Monica Pier, to get to the same area…

Also close inexpensive taxi ride (or walk, depending on where you want to go) to restaurants and shop in Marina Del Ray…

 

Jamaica Bay Inn

http://www.bestwestern-jamaicabay.com/

This is my personal favorite for the area…

You have the nice quiet "Mother’s Beach" in front of the balcony rooms (I’d recommend a second floor and beach view)…

Then several restaurants in easy walking or taxi distance…

Venice Beach is a few blocks west…

I just think this is a great view/large rooms/balcony/location for the money…

 

The Inn at Venice Beach

http://www.innatvenicebeach.com/

Directly closer to Venice Beach (but still about a half a block or so away from the water)…

This is more of a European Style hotel.

Closer walk to the boardwalk, but you don’t get the marina beach views that you get at the Jamaica Bay. It all depends on what you personally prefer…

 

Marina Del Ray Hotel

http://www.marinadelreyhotel.com/index.htm

This is great if you want a more "relaxing" experience.

You have great views of the boats and marina.

You have quick access to Chace Park to walk around…

http://beaches.co.la.ca.us/BandH/Marina/chacepark.htm

Then around the "bend" of the marina, you have Fisherman’s Village

http://www.visitthemarina.com/

Great restaurants and views, strolling, and a bit of shopping…

Closest to LAX…

I keep trying to have some time and post pics of several hotels around here (been swamped with work though)...

Also check this thread in general...

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=517205