California itinerary help please

[futilityutility]

Good evening after a LOT of agonising and watching air fares increase we have booked return flights for a fortnight to L A for next august. Me DH and 3 grown up kids early twenties.
Was thinking of hotels but now thinking air b&b style accommodation
Was thinking of 5 days LA then 5 days Palm Springs
Would love to do Disney
Am wondering If sandiego might be better than Palm Springs some wise words from the mumsnet tees would be much appreciated

Depends what you like doing really - do you prefer surfy laid back beaches and a bit of culture or are you into deserts and 50s cool? I wouldnt spend 5 whole days in Palm Springs but use it as a start point for a bit of Joshua Tree etc.

www.joshuatreeinn.com/

I reckon you could do all of it in two weeks btw. Fly into LA do Downtown/Santa Monica whatever without a car then pick up the car and drive to Anaheim for 2 days, drive down to San Diego for a few days and stay at Ocean Beach or Downtown then drive back to LA through Palm Springs and Joshua Tree.

Hot in August - factor that in obvs.

Horrible in August. Public transport in LA is poor so getting around isn’t easy if you are on a budget. San Diego isn’t that great in my view. Santa Barbara north of LA and Santa Monica are so much nicer!

I think that public transport in LA has a bad press. If you stay in Downtown for example now you can get the Metro to Santa Monica and the museum district etc. The only place that is a right pain is the observatory and then you can just use Uber.

Thankyou for your replies love the look of the Joshua tree inn have emailed them.
We have now booked a week in LA
So would like to end up at Disney think it's near the airport so probs have 4days/nights to play with.
Thinking of a bit of desert we are are of Irish descent and do not cope well with heat!,
Or maybe some beach town vibes?

Hi futility

re your comment:-
"So would like to end up at Disney think it's near the airport".

Unfortunately its nowhere near the airport. Disneyland is located in the city of Anaheim which is at least one hour's drive away from LAX airport (drivetime itself is very much dependent on traffic conditions).

No idea on budget but we did a14 day road trip through southern CA, Nevada, Arizona and Utah which was brilliant.

Did 3 nights in Anaheim just opposite Disney (literally) and drove into LA (concert at Hollywood bowl, went to walk of fame and museums). Night in Death Valley, 3 nights in Vegas, Grand Canyon for a night, night in Phoenix, night in Yuma and 2 nights in San Diego. Quite a lot of driving - our kids were tots though.

Thanks fir the info
Our flight back is quite late so an hour or so should be fine we are the far too early fir everything types!!!
Would you mind telling me the name of the place you stayed opposite Disney?
That would be great
Your toad trip sounds wonderful by the way xxx

Take a look at The Magic Castle Hotel in Hollywood. It's near the Walk of Fame but quiet and enclosed. Nice pool and free snacks, soft drinks and DVD rental. It's an ex apartment block so the room are huge apartments. It has a lot of charm.

Toad trip?....

i stayed in the kings inn in anaheim a motel style place but a 5 min wakl from disney

Thankyou so much I'll check that out
Was thinking we are all too old fir Disney but then again......

We stayed at the Majestic Gardens in Anaheim next to Disney. But our Dc (18 and 20) were more interested in Universal and Warners Bros and this was the wrong side of LA and took hours to get across LA.We had brilliant view of Disney fireworks though.
Our road trip was 3 weeks starting in Las Vegas for 2 nights.
Flagstaff for Grand Canyon flight, Antelope canyon and rafting on Colorado river.
Grand Canyon North Rim
Back to LV for 1 night then Death Valley and Bishop
Yosemite 3 night
San Francisco 4 nights
Monterey
Santa Barbara
Los Angeles 2 nights
San Diego 3 nights.

We stayed in Pacific Beach north of San Diego- it was lovely. We went to Palm Springs in April- it was 40 degrees one day- I should think in August it would be absolutely unbearable.
Can recommend the Marriott just opposite the entrance to Disneyland and the Hilton opposite Universal.

Thankyou for all your help we are now thinking
7 days L.A. Hollywood
1 night Pioneertown -would love to go to pappys and Harriet's
1 night Palm Springs we are keen to see some of the nation park/ desert
4 days near Anaheim so can visit Disney and some beaches
Last night airport hotel
Any glaring errors?

@futilityutility, 7 days in LA may be a lot - if so, perhaps you could head north and go to San Francisco too.

We did this a few years back. 2 days anaheim, 4 days San Diego (wouldn't miss it - fabulous place) 3 days on a ranch, 2 days grand canyon, 3 days Venice beach/santa Monica. We had a fabulous holiday. I wouldn't spend a full 7 days in la/Hollywood. There are so many better places to see. I would love to go back.

I travelled the West coast of the USA when I was young and carefree!

California wise I loved San Francisco! It was beautiful and I drove out to see the big Redwoods (the ones you can drive through).

I hated Hollywood. I felt really unsafe but I did the stars homes your which was a good experience.

The L.A. farmers market is a must and we went to Universal Studios over Disney.

I then stayed at Newport Beach which was a nice bit of relaxing time.

San Diego was great too. Sea World was a little over rated but if you're there it's a good experience. I went to the best BBQ joint in San Diego (and believe me a sampled quite a few!!)

Did this trip this summer - also stayed at the kings inn Anaheim - was fine - ideal for the Disney parks - would recommend $10 fast passes - some of the queues were 90 - 120 mins long.

Highly recommend going to Dodgers game - we really enjoyed it and got the free bus from union station

We stayed out at a hotel in LAX as I had some air miles to use and took an Uber into LA then used the metro get round - it worked fine and we did lots of walking - was surprised how much I liked LA. The observatory is great as is the old indoor food market.

Highly recommend Manhattan beach too - just gorgeous.

The youths are v interested in some American sport viewing
I'll have to keep an eye out for tickets

Yes, a Dodgers game is a must. The bus from Union Station makes it really easy - I would stay 3 in Downtown actually anyway, the Metro now runs to Santa Monica and it is easy to get there from the airport and Anaheim (yes btw I do think yours are too old for Disney!). I would add the extra time on the Palm Springs and/or San Diego.

Make sure you download the Uber app before you go as it’s the best way to get cabs.

We went to Anaheim and Disney last month. Normally we stay in the Kings Inn or Anaheim Majestic Garden Hotel but this time we went for a really cheap hotel as we never spend any time at the hotel as Disney is open until 10pm or midnight. So this time we stayed in the Super 8 by Wyndham, ridiculously cheap and an easy walk to Disney. It was very basic but really clean and friendly.

It cost us $58 in an Uber and took an hour to get back to LAX from Anaheim this time.

Thankyou all for your help.
We have booked an air B and B which looks really nice in Hollywood 7 nights can include some relaxing by the pool time.
One night in pioneer town in the desert there seems to be a really fun live music venue we can go to next door.
One night in a resort in Palm Springs
4 nights in an air b and in Orange County Disney beaches etc
Last night in an airport hotel
Thank again I must sort out the dodgers tickets did you get them from the uk or when you were there?

Prebook the Dodgers tickets from the UK. They might not be at home when you're there anyway. If not you could always try basketball at the Staples Center but a lot more expensive.

I booked dodgers tickets on stubhub.com - really cheap I think we paid $15 each and great seats behind the pitcher up high but saw everything. I just downloaded the tickets onto my iPhone so simple

Oh and I only booked about a week before I went on a whim