Anaheim- universal Studios or Disney

[homebythesea]

Title says it all really - DC's 14 & 11 have been to Disney Florida, not into white knuckle rides and DH not into any kind of rides! So which one would we get more out of?

Have a look on the websites to see what each had to offer...that way you'll get a feel.

Universal has Harry Potter - which is excellent. But a lot of the rides are fairy big in the parks. But equally some great show type rides/simulators. Aimed a little older than Disney in many aspects.

Disney is the magical places. There's 4 parks to chose from, each offering different things. None of these have particularly big rides.

Given we have done Disney in Florida won't it be a bit déjà vu? And not into HP at all but isn't HP World only in Florida? Have looked at websites but so difficult to get a proper feel for them!

Sorry - yes, realised the title said Anaheim, rather than Florida.

If you've already done Disney why not try Universal. The Disney parks are often very similar in rides and layouts.

I went to Disney and Universal Studios in L.A and would recommend both. Disney is good as next door is California land which is excellent.

I've been to both also, and you can do each one in a day if you stay in LA anaheim isn't a hard drive away I think it was an hour of straight road at the most

We are there in 4 weeks. 5th time! We prefer Disneyland and California Adventure to Florida (the weather plays a big part in that having had one while week in Florida with rain/storms etc).

We are staying in Anaheim. Having stayed in Beverly Hills and Santa Monica, we found Anaheim the best, easiest location to access Disney, Universal, water parks and Sea World in San Diego.

California Adventure is great - loads of fast rides including the Mickey Mouse roller coaster. Universal is the original and you have the tram guided your which takes you on the film sets (they were filming Desperate Housewives when we were there last).

Sorry, re-read your post. Universal definitely. But you can still do loads in California Adv without white knuckle rides.

can I bump this to talk prices?

have 2 early teens and would love to go

flying from glasgow

any advice welcome

Just having this very conversation with dh! He's not keen on Disney - thinks the kids will be past it (16 and 14) and he certainly is. It's only me then, who's secretly hankering after it!
We'll be there in 3 weeks. Have done all parks in Florida a while back and only have time to do one in LA. Universal is currently offering 2 days for the price of one, although not much use to us as no time for two.

ssd $80 pp for 2 days at Universal in LA (kids prob qualify as adults)

thanks clam, but I was more wondering the total holiday cost to LA?

Ah! Sorry.
The biggest shock to the system are the flights. Depends when you'd be thinking of going and exactly how old your teens are and which airline you pick. So, we looked on Skyscanner and found slightly cheaper flights to San Francisco (with one-stop) but when we went to the actual US Airways website, they allowed a reduction for dd (who'll be 14 while we're away). Not sure all airlines do that. Even so, we're shelling out £3100 just for flights, but this is for August, which I think is peak season. Would have been even more had we flown into SF and out of LA. Fortunately we had some airmiles to use so have free flights back from LA to SF (although they're stinging us for baggage fees!)

Beyond flights, it depends how you want to organise it. DIY is cheapest, and you get to pick and choose exactly what you want to do. Car hire for us will be around £300, then there are hotels (although we have friends over there which will keep some costs down. Then there's fuel (although cheaper than over here), food and entry costs.
I reckon the 2 and a bit weeks will come in at between 6 and 7 grand!

Nah, less than that. Must go and add up...

I had added up orlando and got to about 7k, which is way too much

got 4k holiday..2k spends..1k park tickets = 7k

would rather go to LA if we could get the same for that amount

There must be cheaper ways of doing it. Whilst I'm trying to keep costs reasonable, I haven't gone too low-budget. Don't fancy staying in motels where you half expect Norman Bates to step out of the shower.
We're going to Yosemite, where it's expensive to stay (even if you camp) but if you're just in LA there are more options. But then I wouldn't want to spend a fortnight there - there's so much else to see in California.

I booked my flights with Virgin 11 months before I flew for 2k. Then stayed in Anaheim for 3 nights in Hyatt Regency for £80 a night and took the children to Disney that was just down the road. Then went on a cruise to the Pacific coast of Mexico for a week. After that we did some sightseeing in L.A and then flew home. Had an amazing holiday, the children are happy to have gone to Disney in America and we got to see some great stuff to.

ssd, how many people and when do you want to go? I think it is possible to do it for the same or less than your Florida budget but it depends how many and when!

2 adults 2 kids 12,15
going late june 13 for 2 wks
flying fr glasgow, any airport

You can do that for the same price or less as your Florida budget. Basic price flights £2.4k (could book those with BA at the minute for that price), motel on Disneyland Drive for £800 for 14 nights. So £3.2k base price. You would be mad to spend 14 nights in the same place, but you could find the same sort of deal all over California/Nevada etc. You could get the supershuttle from LAX and do without a car, but again you wouldn't really want to.

Motels are fine, loads of families stay in them and you get decent facilities at virtually all of them (pool etc.).

thanks mainly

where else would you recommend we visit there?

It depends how much you want to drive and how much you want to fit in. You can do all the LA stuff (Beverley Hills, Hollywood sign, Venice Beach etc.) from Anaheim. You can also do stuff like whale watching at Balboa and some nice beaches from there. South Coast Plaza is brilliant for shopping.

You could go to San Diego for a few days - seaworld, the zoo, the science museum. It's a nice city and just a couple of hours drive. You can do a day in Mexico from San Diego.

If you're prepared for longer drives, you could do Las Vegas, San Francisco, the Grand Canyon, some amazing national parks like Yosemite or Joshua Tree. There's absolutely loads to do. What are your children into? How much would you want to drive?

Ought to qualify my jibe about motels and Norman Bates. Didn't mean all motels were like that, but the sort where ....
I have, in fact, just booked a nice-looking one in LA for a couple of nights.
Hope I didn't offend...

Haha, no I'm not offended, just didn't want ssd to think all motels were like that! Especially as they're the only option in lots of places. I've only stayed in one Norman Bates one, in Barstow. Won't be going back to Barstow...

think maybe driving a bit further up the coast would be nice, anywhere you'd recommend mainly? maybe near santa barbra? think anywhere inland would be too hot, dont fancy las vegas