Out of the comfort zone... planning my first trip to Cal!

[bazzanoid]

Hey all!

*looks around nervously*

I've had a few trips to Disney in my time, all of which have been to Florida!!!!

I'm now 'expanding my horizons' and I'm looking squarely at California - we're very much theme park peeps, so a high number of parks is the order of the day, and a split-centre holiday in Cal seems to be the best way to go - a few days in San Francisco to do the whole tourist/shopper thing and Six Flags, PGA, etc, then the rest down in LA for the tourist/shopper thing (we like shopping) and of course Disney! (plus the other theme parks)

I will read the FAQ's and other stickies on here, just wondering if anyone would be kind enough to offer some words of encouragement for my first non-florida disney trip planning and also point me in the direction of the best restaurants off-site?

Thanks all! :

 

[luckcooky]

Hi!

You're in for a real treat. There's so much to discover in California! How long is your vacation? Wow, packing Northern and Southern California into one single trip will make for one VERY PACKED schedule. Keep in mind that driving from SF to Disneyland will take you 7-8 hours. Flying will take 1-2 hours + time wasted at the airpot. You will need to plan wisely.

San Francisco is an amazing place to visit. I've been to many cities throughout the world and San Francisco remains one of my favorites. San Francisco on a clear sunny day is absolutely breathtaking. I suggest you allot at least 2 full days to really savor what SF has to offer...even then it's a bit rushed.

I'd be happy to offer restaurant suggestions if you provide some info about your needs. What's more important to you: budget vs. quality, proximity to park (how far are you willing to drive), kid friendly or adults, do you like to experiement with new food or do you prefer to stick with all-american burger and fries?

 

[Judy from Boise]

Are you coming from Overseas? How long wil you spend in CA ? We also have a few boards devoted to Just CA planning if that will help......

 

[bazzanoid]

We're coming for two weeks - planning on one day shopping time in san francisco, maybe two depending on how our schedule works out. We're thinking of the first five or six days in SF, then the remainder in LA - we're undecided whether to fly or drive from one to the other - is it a nice drive with lots of nice scenery and stuff or a very dull road?

We've not got as far as sorting out accommodation in LA, but in SF we intend on staying at the Cow Hollow Motor Inn & Suites, so dining near there would be good - some idea of pricing, we're happy to eat at Denny's every day becuase of the balance of good menu selection and budget, so if there's anything else like it, that would be great!

We're coming from the UK, but I'm accustomed to driving, getting around etc in the US as it's a frequent destination for us for both business and pleasure! Long flight..... urgh. We're going to deliberately take an indirect flight - it's cheaper, and it breaks the journey up a little for us.

We want to do all the major theme parks in Cal (hence the split stay north/south) and a little time for shopping and sightseeing - we've decided vegas is too far out to worry about this time, but definitely want to see the Golden Gate bridge, and i would love to see sunset over it - any suggestions where to be sitting / drinking a coffee to get the best views in the evenings?

LA - as i said, not yet decided on accommodation, i'm open to suggestions but don't want to be more than 30 mins drive from the disney parks in the direction of knott's or universal, so we're a little bit in the middle of them all, minimising our overall travel time. I know it'll take a couple of hours to get from Anaheim area to San Diego for seaworld and the zoo, but it'll be worth it

 

[MateasMom]

Oh! What a FUN trip! So you're flying to/from UK from SanFran? I TOTALLY would do the drive down to SoCal if it's an option. It will take a while, but honestly the drive itself is not that much longer then the flight plus all the extra wasted time associated with flying. I would plan a whole day for the drive down though. You'll want to stop and explore everything.

If you're planning to do Magic Mountain, you can stop there on your way down into L.A.. Plan to stay in Valencia (where MM is) the night you drive down to SoCal, and do MM the following day (check their site though, they're typically only open Friday-Sun except summer, Christmas, and spring break). The next day you could either continue your drive down to Disneyland (about an hour in good traffic) or just down to L.A. (25-30 minutes) to do your L.A. touristy thing and then travel down to DL after that.

 

[wendypooh22]

Okay, so when you are in Valencia doing MM, you MUST go to In-N-Out for the best cheeseburgers ever!!! They have some nice places to stay in town and are close to MM.

 

[Albort]

It really depends on what you like to eat. Burgers, Steaks, Italian food, etc etc...

 

[goaliewife]

If you decide to drive from S.F. to L.A do the coast route. It is by far the best scenery ever. Hwy 5 and Hwy 99 are not great for scenery AT ALL. It is a long trip but would be wonderful if you have never seen the Pacific Coast. You will love it.

MM is a must once you get over the grapevine. Knotts Berry Farm is a good theme park to visit as well as Universal Studios once you are in the L.A. area.

You should have no problems finding a place to stay in Anaheim. There are many places in the DL area.

Have fun and enjoy our beautiful state.

 

[tinkermell]

I would most definately do the coastal route from SF to LA. Some hightlights along the way would be Carmel and 17 Mile Drive; Big Sur Senic Drive; south of San Simeon is a huge walrus harem; down to quaint Pismo Beach, (also there at the State Park you can drive your car on the beach and watch all forms of Off Road Vehicles climb over the huge sand dunes); on to Santa Barbara, (my favorite), and then switch inland a little ways to MM. Have fun is Frisco. My friends and I have a tradition of going to SF every year to Christmas shop. It is truly a shoppers paradise, beautiful and very fun. Be sure to check out all of the boards for California. Have a wonderful trip!
PS When are you coming???

 

[Albort]

SF--> LA... there is a really good steak house called Harris Ranch... Prime Roast... soooo yummy!

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Just a couple of things from your first post - You mentioned wanting to go to Six Flags and PGA (Paramount's Great America) while you're in the SF area. Six Flags/Marine World is in Vallejo which is about an hour from SF. You can do it easily in a day trip from SF, but be aware that it's a bit of a drive.

Paramount's Great America is located in Santa Clara, about an hour south of SF. Again, you can do it easily in day trip but traffic can be pretty bad on that route. PGA is a good place to go if you're into roller coasters and they added a water park area that you can enter on the same ticket. I used to work right across the street from PGA and we could hear the screams from our parking lot!

Also, the above poster is right about Harris Ranch! It's a great place to stop if you like steak and prime rib. You'll know when you're getting close by the miles and miles of cows in the fields along the roads. Be aware, though, that Harris Ranch is on Interstate 5 (the shorter but boring route). If you take the advice of several other posters and take the coastal route (Highway 101), you won't be passing by Harris Ranch.

Hope you have a wonderful trip to Calif! I've lived here all my life and love it!

 

[bazzanoid]

If you decide to drive from S.F. to L.A do the coast route. It is by far the best scenery ever. It is a long trip but would be wonderful if you have never seen the Pacific Coast. You will love it.

Good plan

As much as I love flying, a scenic drive would be very appealing, especially (as mentioned above) taking into account actual airport time, etc.

We'll be hiring an SUV or possibly a Pacifica (rented one before, loved it), so maybe we'll jump on the dunes too - do you reckon the rental insurance covers sand in the engine?

I know it's going to be a fair bit of driving around once we're in the respective cities, but we don't mind - we're accustomed to driving an hour to Thorpe Park or three hours to Alton Towers over here in the UK.

Looking into the flight to/from the UK, we'll be leaving from Gatwick, and catching a connecting flight in Minneapolis.

As our trusty satnav won't automatically take the coastal route for shortest or fastest, i'll have to plug the waypoints in manually - anyone know offhand the major junctions i need to take to use the coastal path, and more importantly, the best places to stop off en-route (besides those already mentioned above)?

 

[goaliewife]

Once in S.F. you can take Hwy 280 south and it can branch you off to either Hwy 1 or 101 south. Hwy 1 takes you along the beachlines south of S.F. through Pacifica, Half Moon Bay, Santa Cruz, Monterey, Carmel, etc. 101 is a bit more inland right out of S.F., along the bay inlet but will get you to the coast also.

If you go to Marine World in Vallejo you would take 101 north.

If you go to Great America in Santa Clara you would want to take 101 South.

San Simeon also houses Hearst Castle which has tours. Solvang is another place of interest, a quaint Scandonavian town with lots of shops and cute restaurants, very touristy.

All of the costal towns are very cute to visit also.

Enjoy it. Lots of beauty to be seen.