1 week roadtrip help (Los Angeles, San Marino, Mariposa: store, castle, parking)

[saibot]

I live in OC so my advice is all about that area. Mid-August is still full summer crowds and it is likely to be very hot.

What is "Disney Adventure Park"? There is Disneyland, and there is California Adventure. If you only have one day, go to Disneyland. If you have two days, you might want to park hop, but my opinion is you would be better off sticking to Disneyland, which has superior attractions with the exception of one or two rides. You'll want to see the things you missed the day before and/or redo the attractions you liked best. You can spend a lot of time in Galaxy's Edge (the Star Wars land) alone, if that interests your family. Be sure to get Genie+ so you can use Lightning Lanes, even though you have to pay extra for it. It's worth it to shorten the lines, which will be very long in August (and as I said, it will be hot).

It's also very worth it to get to Disneyland well before opening time, wait for the rope drop, and head directly for the attraction everyone wants to see the most. If you have a plan, you can do more in the first two hours than in all the rest of the day put together.

Why would you stay in Huntington Beach if you are going to Disneyland and/or Newport & Laguna? You won't have time to go to the beach at Huntington and it's not a beautiful beach anyway. Stay in Anaheim, as close to Disneyland as you can. You will want to get there before the park opens, and you'll be very tired and will appreciate having your hotel close by at the end of the day.

If you go to Newport and Laguna, plan to get down to the beach before 11 am, as traffic both on the south 55 into Newport/Balboa and on Laguna Canyon Road (the 133) can be brutal later in the day. My personal preference is for Laguna; it's much more scenic. Plus, you can park in one of the paid lots on the canyon road and ride free trams for the rest of the day, which really reduces stress. Get a gelato at Gelato Paradiso and check out some of the smaller coves like Shaw's Cove/South Crescent Bay, and Thousand Steps Beach.

[ovi8]

^ Thx that's helpful too. Disney is a big question mark. We've been to DisneyWorld and just didn't want to repeat similar rides at DisneyLand, but I guess it will be the only real ride-activity in the whole trip so we may do it, or at least the Park Hopper.

Someone somewhere said nothing else besides Disney is in Anaheim so I thought a Huntington Beach area hotel would let us check out Newport/Laguna easier should we only do 1 Disney or none at all. Is the Six Flags about the same as all the other Six Flags across the country?

[saibot]

Originally Posted by ovi8

^ Thx that's helpful too. Disney is a big question mark. We've been to DisneyWorld and just didn't want to repeat similar rides at DisneyLand, but I guess it will be the only real ride-activity in the whole trip so we may do it, or at least the Park Hopper.

Someone somewhere said nothing else besides Disney is in Anaheim so I thought a Huntington Beach area hotel would let us check out Newport/Laguna easier should we only do 1 Disney or none at all. Is the Six Flags about the same as all the other Six Flags across the country?

To get to either Newport or Laguna, there is no real advantage to staying in Huntington. From Anaheim, the freeway will take you directly to either of those beaches in a short time. But there is a definite advantage to staying in Anaheim if you plan to do Disney.

I've only been to Six Flags Magic Mtn. here in California, so can't answer the question about whether it's too similar to other Six Flags...but I can tell you that if OC is hot in August, then Valencia, where Magic Mountain is located, is brutally hot, probably an average of 10F hotter. Personally, I wouldn't even be tempted to go there in late summer. But if you are interested in a second theme park, check out Knotts Berry Farm in Buena Park, a very short distance from Disneyland. It's smaller than Six Flags but has enjoyable coasters and a fun Gold Rush theme. My kids always liked it right up through their teens.

[JBtwinz]

Originally Posted by ovi8

Thanks this is helpful. Also have twins and just hoping to show them CA in general. Only the outbound flight is non-refundable at this point. A couple hotels cancellable but SF hotel by pier 39 is basically $200 plus fees up the wazoo. Same with the Yosemite hotel just outside the south entrance.

Hopefully crowds die down by mid August as some kids are back at school. Yosemite we plan to be there way before 9a, maybe 730a if the kids play along. Did you need 2 days and how was the shuttle with traffic while inside?

This is our current working itinerary.
Day 1 - SF sights; stay at SF hotel
Day 2 - SF daytime; drive 4hrs to Yosemite hotel
Day 3 - Yosemite early and all day; Yosemite hotel ?
Day 4 - Santa Barbara / north LA (Santa Monica, Griffith Observatory, Beverly Hills, Hollywood); stay in LAX area?
Day 5 - north LA (Universal Studios Hollywood or Warner Bros Studio tour, misc?); stay in LAX area?
Day 6 - south LA (Disney Adventure Park); stay in Huntington Beach area?
Day 7 - south LA (Disney) or OC coast (Newport / Laguna); stay in Huntington Beach area?
Day 8 - flight home or add another day for the above

So you stayed in an LAX hotel only and were able to drive to do all you wanted in LA, in how many days?

We stayed about two hours out from Yosemite (Clovis but that was coming from LA and Sequoia) and were up at five and got to the park at opening. We left Yosemite and headed to SF staying in Brentwood which was two hours west of Yosemite. Mistakenly we went to Bridal Veil first as that was my primary thing to show the twins. Unfortunately doing that we almost missed the ability to find parking. Right now traffic is out of control as well as parking. I would go directly to find find parking to grab the shuttles. Although maybe in August it might be a bit quieter. The shuttles were packed. If you are not big hikers one day will do but try to check the brochure for the park to determine what hikes you want to do to before you get there.

I am probably going to get flamed for this but I would do sequoia over Yosemite.

SF we concentrated on the Muir Beach Lookout, western Bay Bridge Lookout, walking the bridge and the twins loved the fort and museum below the south end of the bridge. There is a driving tour and road signs to follow in SF also. We did Lombard street and a few other sights and the twins found the Full House TV house. The rental car wanted too much for the toll transit pass and we ran through two tolls. At the Golden Gate Bridge they had a sign that tells you can go on their website and pay your tolls so you can beat the admin fees the rental cars put on.

We stayed in one hotel near LAX that I mentioned for our time in LA (3 days). I don’t mind the traffic and my wife is an excellent navigator so that worked out well.

We did not do Knottsberry farm which is old school and nostalgic to me but I would do that over Disney. We loved it years ago. Disney is a much smaller footprint in California. California Adventures would be a tough do for one day.

Staying in one hotel in LA has its advantages as you can hit the ground running each day. No one complained but switching hotels each day chewed up time and energy. We did stay in Simi Valley when we did the Reagan Library but that was only an hour out from our final hotel in LA which we spent three days. The twins loved the Queen Mary tour and they cut you loose to explore after which we went to the engine room and and a few other spots. Good luck, as a frequent California visitor you really have to do your homework and pick the things that are important for you to see as there are way too many neat things. At Santa Barbara you can drive out on the pier for lunch. There are some pretty nice wineries and the old courthouse downtown has a small elevator that takes you to the top for a pretty neat view.

[rokuremote]

Originally Posted by ovi8

^ Thx that's helpful too. Disney is a big question mark. We've been to DisneyWorld and just didn't want to repeat similar rides at DisneyLand, but I guess it will be the only real ride-activity in the whole trip so we may do it, or at least the Park Hopper.

Someone somewhere said nothing else besides Disney is in Anaheim so I thought a Huntington Beach area hotel would let us check out Newport/Laguna easier should we only do 1 Disney or none at all. Is the Six Flags about the same as all the other Six Flags across the country?

Disney in Anaheim is notably smaller than the one in Florida, FWIW.

Six Flags Magic Mountain is all about rollercoasters. If you don't like them, or are indifferent to them, no need to go at all. If you're a fan of coasters, it's pretty awesome. But it will be hot as balls.

[rokuremote]

Originally Posted by JBtwinz

I am probably going to get flamed for this but I would do sequoia over Yosemite.

I would too. Suggested that upthread. It also has the benefit of being somewhat on the way/closer to SoCal.

[ovi8]

Still working out whether we should do 1 or 2 days in Yosemite. I think we've made that choice over Sequoia at this point since we're not likely to return as a family. We're not going to do hours of hiking but do want to see everything we can in that time rather than 4 hours of hiking 1 day and another few hours the next day. Don't want to tire out on vacation on day 2/3.

Is it feasible to enter Yosemite from the south entrance (where our hotel is) and visit Mariposa Grove first, then shuttle toward Yosemite Valley? Or should we hit the Valley first (using the west entrance / different hotel) due to the crowds? The Valley is 30 miles from the south entrance (15 miles from the west entrance), so depending on the answer, I may have to rethink our hotel choice/nights. I see there's a Valley shuttle and a Mariposa shuttle - do they interchange at some point so we can hop over?

One other thing to consider is Tioga Rd will re-open tomorrow, so I'm hoping that will alleviate a lot of congestion. Time will tell.

[rokuremote]

Originally Posted by ovi8

Still working out whether we should do 1 or 2 days in Yosemite. I think we've made that choice over Sequoia at this point since we're not likely to return as a family.

Is it feasible to enter Yosemite from the south entrance (where our hotel is) and visit Mariposa Grove first, then shuttle toward Yosemite Valley? Or should we hit the Valley first due to the crowds? The Valley is 30 miles from the south entrance, so depending on the answer, I may have to rethink our hotel choice/nights.

30 miles will be an eternity.

[ovi8]

Originally Posted by rokuremote

30 miles will be an eternity.

Let me ask this then - does congestion in the park get a lot better toward the late afternoon/evening so we can actually drive from the Valley on through southward to hit Mariposa & our south exit hotel?

[rokuremote]

Originally Posted by ovi8

Let me ask this then - does congestion in the park get a lot better toward the late afternoon/evening so we can actually drive from the Valley on through southward to hit Mariposa & our south exit hotel?

I wouldn't be able to say recently, but I can't imagine traffic has gotten better since the last time we visited overall.