First Trip Help Please

[Figment571]

Hey, I'm coming out to Cali this summer and I need some help please. Does anyone know what hotels to stay at near Disneyland, Carlsbad (Legoland),San Diego, and Hollywood. Also does anyone know when POTC is reopening? Anyhelp, including advice about what to do in the parks would be great. Thanks!:wave:

 

[TP2000]

Hey, I'm coming out to Cali this summer and I need some help please. Does anyone know what hotels to stay at near Disneyland, Carlsbad (Legoland),San Diego, and Hollywood. Also does anyone know when POTC is reopening? Anyhelp, including advice about what to do in the parks would be great. Thanks!:wave:

First, check out the several other threads in this forum from the last 45 days. There's a ton of great info for first-timers that has been offered here very recently, some it from myself.

For hotels, since I'm assuming you mean non-Disney hotels, I'd recommend either the Howard Johnson's or the Fairfield Inn on Harbor Bvld. Nice places with reasonable rates. You can also find more expensive, fancier non-Disney hotels nearby at the Hilton or Marriott. But you can't beat the convenience of the HoJo's or Fairfield; they're closer than even the Disneyland Hotel or Paradise Pier Hotel.

In Carlsbad, there's not a whole lot there aside from the usual freeway motor inn type places. Carlsbad is nice though. 30 minutes farther down the freeway gets you to Mission Valley and Hotel Circle. I recomend the Holiday Inn San Diego Zoo or the Red Lion Hanalei Hotel, both in Mission Valley. You can stay in downtown San Diego near the Gaslamp District/Petco Park/Balboa Park area. But those hotels are all more expensive skyscraper type places and along the lines of the W Hotel, Omni Hotel or the big Hilton and Marriott 40 story hotels near the Convention Center.

Hollywood? Like downtown San Diego, you are talking about some very expensive, trendy places that run at least 400 a night. If you go 15 minutes up the Hollywood Freeway or San Diego Freeway to Studio City or Burbank, you can find places more in the 200 a night range. But in summer, it will be very hard to find a bargain.

 

[Disneysue]

Advice from a past DL cast member

Your best bet about hotels is to stay at one in the Disneyland area and rent a car with a GPS for LegoLand and Hollywood. The hotels in Hollywood are PRICEY and the areas are pretty iffy. The good hotels in Hollywood like the previous poster are a good $400 a night.

At the parks, go to La Brea Bakery for breakfast first thing in the morning. They have pastries, some simple breakfast foods, juice coffee, hot chocolate, espresso's etc; and the pastries are fresh and best first thing in the morning.

DO NOT miss Soarin over California in DCA, or ITs Tough to be a Bug. DCA is a fantastic snap shot of California if you've never been here. The Palace of Fine arts is an excellent replica of the original and so are the snap shots of San Fran's warf area.

At Disneyland, take the Walk in Walts Footsteps tour. Its a long tour and a lot of walking and standing, but gives you great info and even for the most avid Disney fan, you will learn something. They provide you with lunch at the end.

Disneyland is the only park you can go in and know that Walt Disney himself, walked on that pavement, rode that ride. In Fantasyland, make sure to ride the cheesy classic rides that have been there for 50 years! Mr. Toads Wild Ride, Peter Pans Flight, Pinoccios daring Journey, Snow Whites Scarry Adventure, etc. They all have distinguished Plaques telling you they are an original attraction. Dont miss the Matterhorn!

Howard Johnsons Hotel is a good one, The Candy Cane Inn has been there the longest and is cute. Not too many have a shuttle anymore, so you'll want to check that. A hotel saying it is "Just across the street" is not as close as it sounds, espically after a day of park hoppin and walking 8 miles!

ENJOY!

 

[darthjohnny]

The PotC reopening will happen I think on June 26th, give or take a day. It is about a week before the WDW one opens. They are going to have a massive overhaul, much bigger than the one in WDW along with props from the actual movie in the ride.

 

[Figment571]

Hey, thanks everyone. Also is LAX around the general Hollywood area and are there any nice decently priced hotels around there. You know not in the hood or what not. Thanks again!

 

[TP2000]

Hey, thanks everyone. Also is LAX around the general Hollywood area and are there any nice decently priced hotels around there. You know not in the hood or what not. Thanks again!

LAX is 30 minutes to Hollywood without traffic. An hour with traffic. There is nowhere near LAX that is "nice".

The immediate area around the massive LAX airport facility is comprised of 1960's giant hotels fronting a very busy 10 lane boulevard. It's charmless, ugly, dirty and a bit scary at night. In between the big old hotels are greasy spoon Denny's, a few strip clubs, some gas stations, and lots of rent-a-car offices. LAX is one of the ugliest, grimiest, least attractive airports in any American big city, with perhaps the exception of Boston's Logan Airport. The one exception is the fabulous Theme Building in the middle of LAX, with the amazing Encounter Restaurant at the top that was designed by WDI about 10 years ago.

The farther away from LAX proper you drive, you get into some seriously gang-infested neighborhoods of South Central LA. You know where the riots were on TV back in the early 90's? That's near LAX.

If you can, see about flying into any other SoCal airport besides LAX. First choice would be John Wayne International, the main Orange County airport about 20 minutes south of Disneyland. It's lovely, efficient, clean, safe, friendly, and wonderfully designed. John Wayne Airport is the Anti-LAX. Second choice would be Long Beach Airport, which is a restored old 1950's airport like out of a movie and offers nonstop service on JetBlue from back East. And third would be Ontario Intl. Airport, about 45 minutes from Disneyland, shiny and new and vastly superior to LAX. Alaska Airlines also serves all three airports with lots of nonstop service up and down the West Coast/Denver/Salt Lake/Chicago.

Whatever you do, avoid LAX like the plague. Take a Greyline tour from OC up to Hollywood if you want to see Grauman's Chinese Theater or something.

 

[Figment571]

Hey everyone, thanks again. Does anyone know how the area around the Hollywood Rosevelt hotel is like and the hotel itself? We are looking at it to stay at. Thanks!:wave: