We decided to try out a CA trip rather than WDW this year for spring break. So far I have plane tickets & that’s it!! We (Myself, DH, DD16 & DS13) are flying into Long Beach & then I was thinking of 3 days at Disney. We would also like to check out the Hollywood area (TCL,Walk of Fame, Hollywood sign), Bev. Hills, Santa Monica and then drive down to San Diego. We will be there from 3/30-4/9. I was thinking of not getting a car until we are done at Disney since I hope to stay at a hotel within walking distance of the parks, assuming there is somewhere near there to rent from. Is anyone able to give me any suggestions on how to make this trip work, where to stay after the Disney part, etc?
Also with 3 Disney days, prior to the days of park reservations, I would have started a day at each park & then let my kids decide where to start the 3rd day after we did the first two. Now I have to pick that before we are even there. I’m going to plan like we can rope drop 3 days in a row so which would be the better choice for the 3rd day to start?
Congrats on a DLR trip, hope you love it. You definitely do not need a car at DLR, everything is very walkable. There are several places to rent a car near the parks. We have used Alamo/Enterprise at Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel many times. This is the most convenient if you are staying at one of the Disney hotels or plan to be in DTD before renting the car. If you are planning to stay over on Harbor near the crosswalk to the parks, then I prefer Alamo close to the corner of Harbor and Katella. It is easy to walk there from the parks, or any of the hotels on Harbor.
It has been a few years since we did the Hollywood thing, but we usually stay at one of the Marriotts near the Burbank area. It is a fast drive to Hollywood (we park at the Hollywood and Highland parking garage to see those sites). Then you can drive through Beverly Hills and out to Santa Monica. From there down to San Diego is at least 2 hours with no traffic, likely longer depending on what time of day.
With 3 days, I would start the first day at DL, second at DCA, and third at DL. Will you get park hoppers? They really are nice to have at DLR as the parks are right across from each other. If you plan to use Genie Plus, you can maximize the most rides each day by hopping.
Have fun planning!
Thank you! I am going to get hoppers, but haven’t decided if I’m giving into Genie + yet. Do you think we would need to stay in the Burbank area or could we get our car, drive there, see the things we want to see there, Beverly Hills & to Santa Monica & spend the night there? Then we can take some time to get to San Diego & see some things along the way. I’m having trouble figuring out how long this will all take & I am also needing to work some relaxation in there too.
Yes, you can see those things in 1 day and stay in Santa Monica if you prefer. Watch out for rush hour in the morning from Anaheim to LA, unless it is a weekend. On a weekday I probably wouldn’t leave Anaheim until after 9am, most of the heavy traffic should have lightened up. A weekend would offer much less traffic, if that is possible. When leaving Santa Monica and heading to San Diego, you don’t want to get caught in San Diego rush hour in the later afternoon (it starts a long way before you actually get to San Diego).
I agree with everything @Wahoohokie said. One day in the Hollywood / LA area should be plenty and you should just stay wherever you want while you’re there.
One thought is that you could also Uber everywhere during your Hollywood day and then just rent a car for your drive to San Diego. It might end up being just as expensive, but you wouldn’t have to worry about finding a place to park. I’ve stayed at the Loews Hollywood Hotel a few times when in town for work and it is a decent option within walking distance of the Hollywood stuff. You could Uber here, tour TCL and Walk of Fame, then Uber to Burbank / Santa Monica and back for the night. That said, I’d probably prefer to spend the night in Santa Monica.
We did a Hollywood day on a day we were blocked. A group of us took the Amtrak from the Anaheim ARTIC station to LA Union Station and then the Metro redline to Hollywood Blvd. I want to say it was a total of $36 each for the RT Amtrak and the redline fare. The Funko store was our first stop. And if a Funko Pop fan a must stop and see!'
There is the Disney store and the Ghirardelli store next to the El Capitan theater. Such a beautiful theater. We had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and shopped at the Hollywood Highland. There you have a perfect view of the Hollywood sign. There is a thread on here about that trip 