We are traveling to CA flying into San Diego 5/19 to 5/26. OUr kids are 12, 10 and 9.
So far we plan on staying one night in San Diego and going to the Zoo on Sunday, 5/20.
Then we move up to Marriott Newport Coast Villas for a week. I would like to do two or three days at DisneyLand, and the rest exploring So Ca. My kids have been to Disneyworld, Sea World Orlando and Universal Orlando many times. I would like to get the more unique things in the area in CA (besides theme parks)..
DH and I lived in LA briefly in the early 90s when he was in the military stationed at Long Beach - so we know the area to some extent and will have a rental car.
Ideas needed:
1) Can we do the La brea tar pits, Hollywood and the Griffith Observatory in one day? Is the parking safe for the observatory in Hollywood if we linger into the evening hours (it is so funny worrying about this now - we went everywhere living in LA in our early 20s w/o kids!). What day is best for this effort - has to be a weekday ...
2) Is Venice beach kid friendly nowadays? I have to say, we live in a very small country town - but the kids aren't raced narrow-minded - just don't see alot of different people where we live.
3) Beaches - I was thinking of Huntington Beach and Newport beach? Any other suggestions? Is there anything close enough to Anaheim to spend the a.m. and the park and evening at the beach?
4) Queen Mary and Getty villa - are either of these worth a trip? We enjoyed the Queen Mary and Spruce Goose in our single days.
5) Warner Brothers studio tour - the 2.5 tour - is this worth it? My kids are big Harry Potter fans, do they still have the large exhibit there?
5) Sea Lions - can we see these in the area in May? Near LaJolla perhaps? I would love to see them!
6) Traffic - how bad is it now traveling from Newport to Hollywood? I remember my DH trip to work varied from 45 minutes to 2.5 hours! and we had a motorcycle then too....
Thanks so much for the help! We loved living in CA and are excited to bring our kids too!
So far we plan on staying one night in San Diego and going to the Zoo on Sunday, 5/20.
Then we move up to Marriott Newport Coast Villas for a week. I would like to do two or three days at DisneyLand, and the rest exploring So Ca. My kids have been to Disneyworld, Sea World Orlando and Universal Orlando many times. I would like to get the more unique things in the area in CA (besides theme parks)..
DH and I lived in LA briefly in the early 90s when he was in the military stationed at Long Beach - so we know the area to some extent and will have a rental car.
Ideas needed:
1) Can we do the La brea tar pits, Hollywood and the Griffith Observatory in one day? Is the parking safe for the observatory in Hollywood if we linger into the evening hours (it is so funny worrying about this now - we went everywhere living in LA in our early 20s w/o kids!). What day is best for this effort - has to be a weekday ...
2) Is Venice beach kid friendly nowadays? I have to say, we live in a very small country town - but the kids aren't raced narrow-minded - just don't see alot of different people where we live.
3) Beaches - I was thinking of Huntington Beach and Newport beach? Any other suggestions? Is there anything close enough to Anaheim to spend the a.m. and the park and evening at the beach?
4) Queen Mary and Getty villa - are either of these worth a trip? We enjoyed the Queen Mary and Spruce Goose in our single days.
5) Warner Brothers studio tour - the 2.5 tour - is this worth it? My kids are big Harry Potter fans, do they still have the large exhibit there?
5) Sea Lions - can we see these in the area in May? Near LaJolla perhaps? I would love to see them!
6) Traffic - how bad is it now traveling from Newport to Hollywood? I remember my DH trip to work varied from 45 minutes to 2.5 hours! and we had a motorcycle then too....
Thanks so much for the help! We loved living in CA and are excited to bring our kids too!