California - what to book in advance?!

[hidethexylophone]

We're going to California in the summer, itinerary is San Fransisco, Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Big Sur, Monteray, Pismo Beach and then LA (staying in Long Beach).

I'm trying to get a bit more organised now and get some things booked in for while we're there. I really need some advice on what absolutely must be booked in advance or we won't be able to do it as am scared of getting there and missing out (made that mistake when we went to Cape Town and couldn't get to robben island!) On my list so far are Alcatraz and then the parks in Anaheim (just need to decide which to do). What else am I missing?!

Also just general recommendations for things to do would be great - it's the first big road trip type holiday we've done with the kids (4 boys ranging from 13 to 4) so want it to be really special.

Any ideas gratefully received!

How long is your holiday?. If you have two weeks then I would try and limit as much time spent in the vehicle as possible. You really do not want to spend hours on end behind the wheel driving from place to place.

Do you have to stay in Long Beach?. It’s a nice place to visit and the aquarium there is lovely but was wondering why there if you want to visit Anaheim. I would be looking to stay in Anaheim, there is a vast range of hotels near the Disney Parks to chooses from. Near Anaheim also in Buena Park are Knotts Berry farm and their other water based park. Both are worth a day trip.

As you mentioned - booking to Alcatraz needs to be done in advance. They do keep some tickets back but they go quickly too.

Most important on that list is to book accommodation in Yosemite. That gets sold out months and months in advance.

We're there for 3 weeks so spending 3-4 nights in most places. Our travel consultant recommended long beach as a base to do some of the LA sights, plus Anaheim. We're there for 5 days and I only want to spend 2 days max in the parks (well, actually I'd rather not bother but got to do it for the kids!)

Yes, we really dropped the ball on the Yosemite accommodation. We booked an RV months ago, but couldn't book the parks at that stage so meant to come back to it and then completely forgot until after Easter when everything was booked. Had a real panic over the weekend but we're sorted now, have cancelled the RV and are now staying in hotel just outside that actually looks really nice - just $$$$$$

Factor in the distances. Yosemite alone is the size of Derbyshire.

Hey OP,

I agree the main thing is to get your accommodation booked asap. Not just for Yosemite, but Big Sur & Monterey too. There is limited places to stay in these areas, so book quickly.

The only attraction I would book in advance is Alcatraz in SF. Other than that I think you can book closer to the time.

Have you already booked car hire? I found the prices are increased the closer it got to our dates.

Long Beach also seems like an odd choice to stay. If you want to see the sights in LA, somewhere like Santa Monica would make more sense. Or the nicer parts of Hollywood maybe & you’d be closer to Universal & Warner Bros if they are on your list.

For Disney parks, you want to be based in Anaheim. So maybe 2/3 nights a n LA & 2/3 nights in Anaheim?

Finally, there is a really great recent thread called ‘LA plus where?’ that is almost identical to this trip. Lots of good suggestions on there.

All of the accommodation and car hire is booked for the whole trip, that was all sorted months ago, but the comments about Long beach have thrown me! We went on the recommendation of the travel consultant we use, who has done california herself a few times and booked for lots of families there so trusted that she knew what worked and didn't look too closely at it. Now thinking that might have been a mistake and we might need to revisit that part of the trip and see if we need to move things around!

Having said that I don't really want to stay in Anaheim itself, I'm thinking we'll only spend a day in the Disney parks and maybe universal and was trying to avoid another move and all the hassle that entails with 4 kids and all their stuff.

Whale watching in Monterey.
I don't know if you need to book in advance but we did. It was amazing!

Don’t underestimate LA traffic and distances between things! If you don’t stay in Anaheim it could easily take 90 mins plus to get to the parks from Long Beach. It really does make sense to do a couple of nights there for Disney & Knotts Berry Farm. I’d do a split stay in LA - Santa Monica or West Hollywood for Universal / Hollywood / beaches and Anaheim for the parks. Otherwise you’ll be doing a lot of sitting in traffic.

Although nice enough, Long Beach is not close to anything you say you want to do so it seems a bit of an odd choice. Probably only whale watching or the Queen Mary that are nearby.

Disneyland Park is now by reservation only and can be booked up to 120 days out. Currently reservations are available as far as 16/8/23.

As soon as you know your Disney date for sure it's best to buy tickets and make your reservations, or at least start checking the reservation calendar frequently. You cannot purchase a ticket without reserving a date. Reservations can be changed, but there is no refund on tickets if you decide not to go or there are no reservations available for your new date. The onsite hotels have the biggest 'bucket' of reservations and staying in one virtually guarantees you'll be able to get a reservation.

Summer can be busy and reservations can go fast. You don't want to make the mistake of thinking 'Oh, we'll decide when we get there' because you may end up SoL.

I’d also say long beach is an odd place to stay - cheaper than LA for sure so maybe that’s why it was suggested. I’m a Brit living in LA for reference. Long Beach to Universal is a massive trek at the wrong time of day. So maybe just don’t do that park. Universal in LA is tiny and not great as it’s on a small plot so all the rides very small and unless you want to pay $200 pp for fast passes on top of your entrance fee you can be queuing for a long time for a very short ride and I wouldn’t bother. Concentrate on Disney and Knotts Berry (although I haven’t been).

It may seem odd but I’d chose Manhattan Beach to stay in. Close enough to LAX, Venice beach/ Santa Monica and not far from long beach. Buzzy and if you didn’t fancy moving it’s got a small time vibe with everything you need for the kids. Not sure how pricey though.

We did this trip last summer with 17,14 and 4 yrs old. Loved Yosemite and Tahoe. As long as accommodation booked and park entrance ticket to Yosemite is bought you can relax. So if your hotel isn’t in the park (or part of the National Park accommodation) you need a separate entrance ticket. These sell out so this is a must. Met a couple last summer who came from France, drove all the way to Yosemite and then couldn’t get in.

Do the Mariposa walk amongst the sequoia trees and go a horse trek where you can (including Tahoe). If you go on the Yosemite National Park website you can see activities on offer.

Tahoe is breathtaking. If you want to do a boat ride on the lake go as early as you can in the morning and book it before it gets really busy on the water. Actually get up and out if you’re stopping along various points on the lake for walks. It gets busy for parking etc.

Visit Carmel by Sea for sure. Monterey Aquarium and any chance you get amongst the Redwoods and stop at various points along the Big Sur.

Pismo Beach is lovely but stop in San Luis Obispo for great food and a good vibe.

Santa Barbara is worth the stop on the way to break up the journey. Pismo Beach to Long Beach is quite far.

As others have said, I would split your stay in LA. Stay in Anaheim for the days you’ll be at Disney; if you get a hotel on the main road, you can then walk there. Then opt to stay somewhere like Santa Monica. Santa Monica is also a relatively easy, quick drive back to LAX for the flight home.

Last time we were there, we stayed in Burbank (for Universal) and Santa Monica.

We loved Manhattan Beach! A friend suggested we head there straight after our flight into LAX, just to chill after the flight and have lunch. It’s super close to LAX but was really nice.

NPS says that won’t need a reservation for Yosemite in 2023.

https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/reservations.htm

We bought an America The Beautiful annual pass for $80 that covers all the parks. We bought it at the first NP we visited.

Hearst Castle is lovely, but you definitely need to book in advance.

The trip up to the top is (was?) in coaches so you can't just rock up*

*haven't been recently so you might get better advice from those who have!

Hearst castle was on our list of places to visit so this is good to know, thanks!

Thanks all for the suggestions, am taking on board what everyone is saying about long beach, going to have a chat to our travel consultant about that one, although as everything is already booked, not sure whether we'll be able to change it now. But annoyed really as we took advice that looks like it was misguided.

Also found the other California thread and have got some ideas from there.

Also - Santa Cruz (just outside SF but doesn't get the fog) is lovely. It's where they filmed The Lost Boys

We flew home last week after a few weeks in and around SF. The only things we booked in advance were Alcatraz and aquarium tickets for Monteray.
We had a great day in Santa Cruz too!

Was just about to say a thread I had about L.A. in October might be useful, but I see someone has beaten me to it. 😀 I'll be keeping an eye on this thread too, as despite how my thread started we're now doing SF/Yosemite/PCH/L.A. (and maybe San Diego) next summer instead.

One piece of advice I got was to have a back up plan in case of fires around Yosemite, I don't have one yet, but perhaps the knowledgeable posters on here could help!