Our first trip to DL has been booked!

[Aussie Wendy]

PiO - it's good to be back

Aussie Wendy - I'll add LACMA to my 'check out' list

Aussie Shaz - it's always good to hear a differing opinion, I will keep an open mind on car hire

Tigerlily and LivingforDisney - wow 2 recommendations for Orchid Suites, will definitely look them up!

We also stayed at Orchid Suites - nothing flash but convenient and you could take the included continental breaky back to your room. Also had a pool and right behind Hollywood and Highland so beside the shops with lots of eateries (and very safe at night as so busy), the Oscar's theatre (was Kodak now diff sponsor), Manns Chinese Theatre just down the road and a red line train and buses at the door.

 

[LeanneDownUnder]

We stayed at Magic Castle Hotel too, I didn't mention it because it was really quite expensive, so not really budget, but it is fantastic. Not only free snacks/sodas (as much as you want), but also free DVD movie hires (with popcorn!), and my favourite - they do your washing for you. For free! Washed, dried, folded, nicely wrapped with sticks of lavender. Amazing. We had a whole garbage bag full by the time we arrived and they did it all. I did leave a decent tip!

Yes, Yes, Yes Tigerlily75 to the washing!! and little messages every day about the next days weather, they make the stay there special!
i must have got a good price because I don't do much above budget LOL!!

 

[dabecs]

I've looked at Magic Castle and the rates don't seem exorbitantly higher than anywhere else (inc Orchid Suites). I love the idea of the washing being done and all the free snacks! And i'm intrigued by the brunch at the Magic Castle - has anyone been?

At the moment my rough plans are:

28 March - 4th April: Stay somewhere central (hotel not decided yet). Visit La Brea tar pits, Manns Chinese Theater, visit Santa Monica beach etc
4th April - 13th April: Anaheim (again not sure of hotel). Visit DL, outlet shopping.

Does that sound like a good break down to everyone? What else is there to see in LA? I have seen a group that do horseback rides in the Hollywood hills which looks good. I'm not interested in Hollywood homes and I think we will do the majority of our shopping on a day trip from Anaheim (Citadel outlets). Any advice there would be great too

 

[zanzibar138]

Does that sound like a good break down to everyone? What else is there to see in LA? I have seen a group that do horseback rides in the Hollywood hills which looks good. I'm not interested in Hollywood homes and I think we will do the majority of our shopping on a day trip from Anaheim (Citadel outlets). Any advice there would be great too

We did the horse riding on our last trip We struggled to find anything in Hollywood that appealed to us, but we had a great time on the ride! It was a bit hazy the day we went, but the views were still pretty good. I would recommend it, but you may have trouble getting there if you're not planning to hire a car - I'd suggest uber.

You can read about our experience in my half marathon TR - here's the link to that post.

 

[crazy Cat Lady]

Not sure if any of this will be of help finding stuff to do, but here is a link to the LA layer in my Google Map that I'm creating for next years trip. It's a mix of mainstream and weird. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1b3KXVtKzVlDpf3boxqvEKpCS1ew&usp=sharing You shouldn't need a login to view it.

If you click the different items a bit of info about each comes up.

 

[dabecs]

Thank you Zanzibar I just read your post, it's always so great to have a 'first hand view' of an experience. I'm going to put that on the definite list Uber is a good suggestion, I need to learn more about how to book before I go (I'm guessing an app but then I'll need to work out internet if i'm not in a wifi zone).

 

[Tigerlily75]

I've looked at Magic Castle and the rates don't seem exorbitantly higher than anywhere else (inc Orchid Suites). I love the idea of the washing being done and all the free snacks! And i'm intrigued by the brunch at the Magic Castle - has anyone been?

At the moment my rough plans are:

28 March - 4th April: Stay somewhere central (hotel not decided yet). Visit La Brea tar pits, Manns Chinese Theater, visit Santa Monica beach etc
4th April - 13th April: Anaheim (again not sure of hotel). Visit DL, outlet shopping.

Does that sound like a good break down to everyone? What else is there to see in LA? I have seen a group that do horseback rides in the Hollywood hills which looks good. I'm not interested in Hollywood homes and I think we will do the majority of our shopping on a day trip from Anaheim (Citadel outlets). Any advice there would be great too

If you're happy with the price for Magic Castle, don't hesitate to book it ASAP, it really is great!

We spent 5 nights there, and another 2 nights in Venice Beach, so we did Santa Monica/Venice Beach area then. We walked from Venice Beach (including up to the sign that hangs over the road) to Santa Monica Pier, shopping at Third Street Promenade, dinner on the pier, etc. Venice Beach is a little rough and be avoided at night.

While in Hollywood, we did do the Hollywood Homes tour where we also did drive through a of Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, Sunset Blvd, Chateau Marmont, The Viper Room, Whisky-a-Go-Go, all things we wanted to see. I also myself drove to the house from Nightmare on Elm St, since it was a favourite as a kid!

Other highlights for us:

Griffith Observatory at dusk, including a Planetarium Show. Watch the lights come up over Los Angeles, amazing views.
Warner Bros Studio tour (HUGE highlight, we loved this!) (and then we had lunch afterwards at Big Boy diner in Burbank)
Photos at the lanterns at LACMA
Lunch by the pool at Beverly Hills Hotel (the classic Sunset Club sandwich!)
TV Show tapings - we saw a "mini concert" at Jimmy Kimmel Live (Elton John), and a sitcom taping (The Carmichael Show)
Walking tours with Downtown LA walking tours, a guy called Neel runs these and he is lovely. We did two, one was Haunted Tales at night, so much fun, we got to the see the super creepy Cecil Hotel, and Pico House was all set up for filming something from the early twenties, and the other was Old and New Downtown LA, during the day. Both excellent.
The Natural History Museum, and The California Science Center - Endevour Space Shuttle, loved seeing this.

I'm sure there was more, but that's what comes to mind. Clearly we love all things Hollywood and went for the full experience. And of course, we had to eat at In N Out, classic California chain.

 

[darrenf67]

Definitely do the Warner Bros studio tour - we saw a taping of Girl Meets World - the kids loved this

 

[LeanneDownUnder]

I agree we Loved the Warner Bros Tour and have done it twice.
We also went to the Hollywood Museum, it's in the old Max Factor Building just off the walk of stars and has a lot of old movie memorabilia Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball that era.
Santa Monica Pier Loved it great for dinner!
We went on a Hollywood homes stars tour thing and you pretty much only saw gates of houses, I wouldn't do that again!
Griffith Observatory was worth a drive but hard to park.
We watched a game of Ice hockey at the Staples Centre that was great fun.
But I'm not a huge fan of the LA area overall and 3-4 days was more than enough time for us.

 

[dabecs]

Accommodation booked!

For the first 7 nights we will be at the Magic Castle hotel in a 1 bedroom suite. Every review I read about this place was great, love all the extra touches (and the laundry and the snacks!). Has anyone done the Sunday brunch at the Magic Castle?

For the following 10 nights we will be at Camelot Inn in a family suite.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. In the end Camelot won over Desert Inn (even though DI has free breakfast) because of the room size/ layout. I love that my girls can have a queen bed each in their own bedroom with their own tv and hubby I can have a our bed in the main area so we can stay up later at night. I also loved that it has a 4 person dining table, great for eating and for the girls to do drawing or for us to play cards etc. I just think it is a really great room layout for our family.

On the down side I read that April is in the "insanely busy" section of the crowd calendar - that could be fun! I hope that because we have so long there we can try to do lots of early mornings before it gets too crowded.

 

[dabecs]

Quick update, we have decided we will hire a car - just seems like it will make getting around easier. Not sure if we will hire one for the whole trip yet though, but probably will.

Also I have bought some new clothes for my girls and new back packs for the trip, the shopping part is always fun, and we will give them the clothes as part of the surprise announcement when it's made.

 

[lffam]

Your plans have really come together and sound great!

I'd add my tick for the Warner Bros Studio tour, it really was fantastic. Griffith Observatory also is well worth a few hours spent and I like the suggestion of teh dusk timing , that would be something really amazing to see with the lights of LA.

 

[dabecs]

Uniqlo have had a lot of their Disney print clothes/accessories on sale - I think we are all kitted out now! I even bought my girls and I new Disney themed totes, perfect for the plane ride

 

[PrincessInOz]

Sounds like you're all set, @dabecs !

 

[dabecs]

Yes @PrincessInOz - sounds like it, the girls have clothes and we have new Disney totes. Haven't actually planned the trip yet but really it's the packing that counts

I still kno little to nothing about Universal and how to tour there, any tips for me?

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Your plans have really come together and sound great!

I'd add my tick for the Warner Bros Studio tour, it really was fantastic. Griffith Observatory also is well worth a few hours spent and I like the suggestion of teh dusk timing , that would be something really amazing to see with the lights of LA.

WHEN DH gets the old decent scanner working since with our new printer connected it has stopped, I will scan in the photos we took from there in 1984 - pretty dodgy pics but love the lights stretching in rows to the horizon. Coming from little old Brisbane it was a sight to see!

 

[lffam]

WHEN DH gets the old decent scanner working since with our new printer connected it has stopped, I will scan in the photos we took from there in 1984 - pretty dodgy pics but love the lights stretching in rows to the horizon. Coming from little old Brisbane it was a sight to see!

Oh I'd love to see them.

 

[Caroline NZ]

I haven't been on here in ages so only just saw this now. We will be in Anaheim at the same time as you ( Apr 8-15)

 

[dabecs]

Cool Caroline! Where abouts are you staying?

 

[Caroline NZ]

Cool Caroline! Where abouts are you staying?

We are going to stay at the Staybridge Suites Anaheim this time. We stayed at the new Homewood Suites last year, but they are too expensive this year. Staybridge is older but it looks like it has a nice pool.

Do you know what days you will be in the park yet. We will probably get 5 days passes and use them Sun 9th to Thur 13th.