LOS ANGELES DISNEY AND UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

[KangaMummy]

Planning trip to Los Angeles next Easter 2005 with DS age 9.

DS does NOT like rides etc neither do I, DH does.

Where would you stay?

What/where do you recommend?

Different hotels for DISNEY and UNIVERSAL?

How long would you spend at DISNEY and UNIVERSAL?

We do not want to rush round but have a 2 week time off from school.

We are thinking of going with VIRGIN HOLIDAYS.

What about a short trip elsewhere afterwards?
Have already been to Las Vagas.

TIA

Hi,
I went over to stay with family who live over there so can't help with hotels. Went to universal not disney and it was as nice as the florida one with the backstage tour very good. Apparently they also do tours of some of the other studios which are better (warners?) I can check if you like. beaches are nice and if you are prepared to travel, there is an empty cowboy / western town on the road towards vegas. we also did wine tours at santa ynez (not so good with baby though) and a drive to the large california redwoods which was great. There are better theme parks with less scary rides also, something called three berries farm (or similar - my memory not so good on names). HTH

thanks dillydally

brill info good news about studios

Do you know how to see filming of shows?

We are all interested in TV and films.

DS is 9 years old btw.

From memory (again will check with bro) there was a bloke in a booth outside Manns chinese theatre offering free tickets to TV filmings when I was last there. i shall check and post back

Just checked on the web, warners studio do a VIP backstage tour, details are on
click here

That is absolutely brill thanks

As much info from your brother would be excellent. Have looked at the link and DS is very excited by it.

Warners Bros tour is well worth doing and your son at 9 is old enough to do the tour. You have to make your own way to the studios though as no transport of any sort is provided. You would probably have to drive there and from Anaheim it will take you at least an hour.

Disney and Universal in Los Angeles are a fair distance away from each other (Disneyland is in Anaheim and Universal is in North Hollywood); travel time from Anaheim to Universal is going to take at least 1 hour each way. LA is vast. If you stayed in Anaheim there are some companies like Gray Line who will take you up to Universal for the day.

Having stayed in both N Hollywood and Anaheim I would choose Anaheim. Hyatt Regency on Harbor Blvd is nice and they also do kids suites (child has own room separated from parents room by double doors in same room). There's not much if anything for children to do in the area around Hollywood Blvd and its got more seedy around there now.

Your DH would probably like the Mummy rollercoaster ride and separate walkthtough at Universal - not for the faint hearted though (especially the separate walk through attraction!!!).

Dillydally was referring to Knotts Berry Farm in Buena Park near Anaheim. Nice place but if you don't like rides then that particular place may not be for you. There is an adjoining water park though which is great fun.

HTH

thanks 808 I had heard that around north Hollywood was a bit seedy so I wanted a really good hotel 4 or 5 that we would hopefully feel happier in even if it was expensive.

We have stayed in Hyatt Regency on Oahu a couple of times so something of that class is what we are after.

I don't really fancy driving accross the top of los Angeles each time.

The water park at Anaheim sounds good.

Does anyone know the weather for march/april?

March/April in LA

In some years, winter rains extend into these months. In others it's reasonably dry.
Spring-blooming trees and flowers are at their best.
What to pack - Mid-weight jacket, long-sleeved shirts and sweaters.

Average temperatures for March and April range between 51 and 69 degrees.

Not certain though if the waterpark at Knotts will be open then. Would suggest you check out Knotts Berry Farm's website. (BTW all their jam for sale is fabulous and you certainly should not miss the restaurant at the park that serves Mrs Knotts World Famous Chicken Dinner!!!).

HTH

It rains 10 days a year or so in los angeles...it's not really something you have to worry about. It's desert, so it does get colder at night...at that time of year you will need a light jacket at night, but just a sweater (or even just a tshirt) during the day. I would recommend staying in Santa Monica or Beverly Hills. It's generally much cheaper to buy your flights and hotel separately rather than buying a Holiday. Definitely plan on renting a car.

thanks guys will deffo rent a car

How many days for disney without the rides?

thanks

will look into comparing prices of hotel & flights compared to package deals

Just got some more info back,,if you rent a car and have more than two people in the car, use the car pool lanes on the freeway, as they are generally as fast if not faster than the rest of the lanes. You get penalised if you only have one person in the car and use that lane.
You can climb up to near the top of the Hollywood sign and do tours of film star houses but some of them do concentrate on dubious places like george michaels fave public toilets, so perhaps a note of caution.
If you are being arty and cultural there is the Getty museum and go to Chinatown for shopping and food - they also have a Japan town and a Korean town if you are more adventurous foodwise.
Another out of town suggestion would be San diego, but that is a bit of a drive.
Have fun

thanks to dillydally and your db great tips about highway, yes there will be me DH and DS hope it doesn't matter idf DH sits in back seat with DS as he always does.

we had been wondering about doing a tour thing of stars homes will do research beforehand.

san diego we had wondered about as well.

How safe does he think LA is?

Have been there for overnight 13 years ago. And a couple of stop over airport stays since, but not for any length of time. Is it any more dangerous than london I know it has good and bad parts but in general.

Does anyone know how many days for DISNEY without rides?

Dh and I stayed in Pasadena about 12 years ago and took buses everywhere so can't help with hotels/cars etc. But I remember a lovely chill out afternoon wandering around the botanical gardens at Huntington Library.

The friends we were staying with took us to Palm Springs for a weekend which was pretty amazing. We left the scorching hot desert below and went up the mountain in a cable car where people were skiing and we even saw a wild raccoon. It's definately a place I would revisit if I ever have the money. (And the nerve- hate flying but funnily enough didn't mind cable car!)

Pasadena is where my brother is..he and I walked to restaurants at night round that area with no problems. I think as long as you keep away from certain areas - where you are unlikely to go anyway, you should be as fine as on London streets. My ma and pa (both pensioners) travelled on the buses there fine. They said people were nicer than bus users in South London and always stood up for them.

A few years ago when young and single, we did Disney for 1 day including rides! (although it was Jan and the big coasters were shut.....repair...) I'd say you'll get round it in two days with kids in tow, unless they're drastically altered it! I agree with avoid North Hollywood, we stayed there and it wasn't very nice, although Universal is VERY GOOD! (car park also heavily policed at night to keep trouble out!
Recommend San Diego (zoo very good!) Tiajuana (spelling?) a good day trip from there also, and San Francisco as places to go (and you've already done Vegas, so sorted!)

Bumping this in case any new mumsnetters have any more ideas

we are in Hyatt orange county in anaheim and Loews hotel Beverley Hills

We have a car booked

We are going with Virgin

Does anybody else have any tips of what to do or where to go or avoid?

We were in Camarillo over the new year, with family, we went to Disney for the day. Very quiet as it rained, we did it fine in a day, although DD1 is only 3 so did not want to do too much. We went on all the princess stuff and Minnie etc, also steam boat and a few other rides.
Although it is usually dry and pleasantly warm, it rained almost the whole time we were there, apparently the wettest it had been for 50 yrs!!

We went to San Diego last time we wre there, not that far to drive at all, and DD1 was 1 then, she was fine. We also went over the boprder to Mexico, we then had to queue 3 hrs to get back - go on the tram/bus if you do this, as you get priority to come back!!!

Depending on how far you want to go, Santa Barbara is lovely, also Solvange (sp?!) in the mountains, and Ojai. LA itself has loads, Chinatown, tours, getty museum etc, not sure about transport, by car it is all easy to do, and parking was excellent. The Kings Head in Santa Monica does good food, and you can celebrity spot too! Jerrys Famous Deli, hollywood is also excellent food, again it is known for celebrities eating there. It was very child friendly we found.

Can probably list more if you like, as DH has stayed there loads of times. HTH xx

socci here is my thread