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1st Visit to USA with kids in Jul-Aug, SFO,LA,SD & LAS - 21 days. Need Help

1st Visit to USA with kids in Jul-Aug, SFO,LA,SD & LAS - 21 days. Need Help

Old May 20th, 2016, 04:52 AM
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1st Visit to USA with kids in Jul-Aug, SFO,LA,SD & LAS - 21 days. Need Help

Hi All,

Good day.

We, 3 adults and 3 kids (6,7, and 12 years) would be in USA for a little over 3 weeks (26 days) in July-August 2016. Since it is our very first visit to US,we are bit overwhelmed with breadth and size of the country and we would need your help big time with our itinerary.

This post is going to be long, kindly bear with me since I have so many queries and I am completely lost at the planning.We are very much open to make changes to our plans.

We will be flying into SFO on 14th July arriving at 14:00 and flying out from SFO at 16:45. We will be basing our self in the Fremont Area. We have 24 days, excluding arrival, departure and also keeping a day for Jet lag recovery,

If possible, we generally prefer apartment style accommodations with kitchen facilities.Our budget is not luxury type but above average/decent and safe ones.

Our basic plan is
>>Los Angels - 8 days

16th July - Fly Oakland --> Long Beach or should we fly to LAX ( there is a 9AM and & 7PM departures)
Where to base ourselves, is Santa Monica is a good base.
Should we rent a car from the airport

-- Downtown LA
-- Disneyland - 2 days
-- Universal Studio
-- Drive through Beverly hills, walk of fame, Santa Monica beach through Malibu
-- Pepperdine university campus and Santa Monica pier in the evening
-- Griffith observatory
-- La Brea tarpits, Getty center
-- California science center

>>San Diego - 3 days
-- Drive from LA to SD
-- Seaworld
-- Wild animal park
-- Balboa Park
-- Legoland, carlsbad
-- Aircraft carrier USS midway in Sandiego

Where to base ourselves,
Drive back from SD to LA


>>Las Vegas - 3 Days
27th July Fly LAX--> LAS
-- Las vegas
-- Hoover dam
-- Grand canyon (Over night stay)


>>San Francisco - 10 Days which we will do at the last
29th July Fly LAS--> SFO
Following Stu's recommendations
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...mendations.cfm

-- Rent a Car and drive from Fremont to Yosemite Valley- stay 2 nights
-- Drive to Columbia & spend some time there & at some of the other Ghost towns.
-- Then to San Simeon & stay the night. - 1 day
-- Visit Hearst Castle, then up the Big Sur coast, stop for lunch at Nepenth
-- On to Pt Lobos and Carmel. Spend 2 nights in Carmel.
-- Drive to Fremont,San Francisco, return the car
-- from Fremont explore SFO city - 5 days (Should we base some where in the city)

9th August Fly out from SFO

Really thankful and appreciate all wonderful fodorites, who have helped me with my earlier trips, numerous queries and for the excellent suggestions and advise .

Thanks
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Old May 20th, 2016, 07:44 AM
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Are you staying with friends or family in Fremont? Just curious why you're basing yourselves there. It's a BART ride into the city, which can get expensive, but if accommodations are free, that's a different story.

Also, where are you coming from? Is one day enough time to recover from jet lag before you fly off to Southern California?
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Old May 20th, 2016, 09:11 AM
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Thanks sf7307.

We will be staying with a relative.However we are open to base our self somewhere else if that helps us better. We will be renting a car for places outside SFO city. Appreciate any suggestions on the base

Kids and DW will arrive few days earlier and I will be there on 14th July flying in from Dubai.(Approx 16 hours of flying).
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Old May 20th, 2016, 10:21 AM
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It's not clear to me how firm your internal flights/car hire/accommodation plans are; it sounds a bit like they're still largely in the planning phase.

So at risk of misreading the whole deal, let me propose a rather radical re-ordering of things, just for your consideration.

First, I would put Las Vegas right at the top after your nights in Fremont, and I'd fly there from San Jose airport (SJC) which is more convenient from Fremont than Oakland or SFO.

My reason for this is simple. Even after two days your family is still going to be suffering from jetlag given a 16-hour flight from DXB. After just a couple of days you do NOT want to hop into a car and start navigating LA freeways. Las Vegas, on the other hand, is a 24-hour city, so if you're wide awake at 1 AM while your body says it's noon, head downstairs and watch the all-night gamblers, or stroll along the Strip, or have a meal... no car needed, things will still be hopping. And, of course, you'll have Dubai weather (maybe without the humidity) i.e. hot.

The Grand Canyon is a long drive from Las Vegas, and you might find accommodation there is in short supply. It's well over 4 hours each way. I might suggest you look at Zion National Park as a possible alternative; it's very beautiful and only a couple of hours from Las Vegas, actually doable as a (long but rewarding) day trip.

Schematically, I'd then head to San Diego and work your way north along the coast. In fact, I wouldn't bother with any intra-California flights at all, I'd just get a car in San Diego and drive all the way to San Francisco, rather than hopping around the state.

The drive from San Diego to Disneyland is easy, while doing Disney as a day trip from someplace like Santa Monica is a traffic nightmare. So do your things in San Diego County, then drive an hour up I-5 to Disneyland. Spend a night somewhere nearby, then head into LA proper for the rest of your LA-area activities.

Then instead of flying to SF, just drive. You can make San Simeon in a day's drive from LA via beautiful Santa Barbara, then continue up Hwy 1 through Big Sur to Carmel and the Monterey Bay area, then on to SF.

If you haven't already booked accommodations in Yosemite, you're probably too late, and in fact I'm not a big fan of Yosemite in August. The crowds are huge, and the waterfalls - one of the big draws - are typically trickles if not dry altogether. Personally, I'd exchange the Yosemite days for an extra day or two in the Monterey Bay area, including the Big Basin or Cowell redwoods and a day at the very cool retro amusement park on the beach at Santa Cruz.

So anyway, some thoughts that you're obviously free to disregard, but maybe worth considering.
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Old May 20th, 2016, 11:08 AM
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I like Gardyloo's suggestions of visiting Las Vegas first.
In San Diego, the Safari Park is actually in Escondido which is about a 45 minute drive from San Diego. It gets hot there in summer, think 90F or more sometimes.
Disneyland is in Anaheim, not LA (a common mistake) so stay in a motel there for the days you visit Disneyland. There are two parks there so you will probably want a couple of days.
After Disneyland, drive to LA.
Regarding Santa Monica, short term rentals of less than 30 days are illegal unless the owner is residing on the premises. Look into Marina del Rey maybe but you will need the car.
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Old May 20th, 2016, 11:30 AM
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Both Gardyloo and jamie have given you really useful advice. If you can rearrange things I sure would. With 6 of you, the jetlag/body clock issues will most likely affect at least some of you. Las Vegas lets you basically ignore the time of day. Plus it will be MUCH cooler/more comfortable in the evenings.
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Old May 20th, 2016, 01:55 PM
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Thanks Gardyloo. Awesome suggestions.

Other than SFO-DXB return tickets nothing else is confirmed. As mentioned I am quite open for suggestions and at this stage we can re arrange/plan the whole thing again.


As you have suggested, we will fly SJC-LAS on southwest Airlines on 17th morning-now 2 days for the Jet lag recovery. Should we rent a car from the Airport itself. Where could we find the accommodations.Suggestions please

Will Update the plans shortly.

Mean while suggestions for San Diego and LA base would be great


Thanks jamie99

So I would assume that the Short terms rentals are illegal across US. (Liked the the way Europe has).

Noted the Disneyland Location(Shows my Naivety).Do you have any particular suggestions on motels.


Thanks janisj
Very reassuring when you all agree with the suggestions.
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Old May 20th, 2016, 02:19 PM
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>>So I would assume that the Short terms rentals are illegal across US.
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Old May 20th, 2016, 02:35 PM
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Car rentals are somewhat cheaper in Las Vegas than anywhere in California. All of the rentals (except Fox) are at the car rental center. https://www.mccarran.com/Go/RentalCars.aspx
You do not want to rent from Fox!
Good advice about jet lag and the 24 hour city of Las Vegas. If you are staying for more than 3 days anyplace, check out Extended Stay America which has a kitchen with a full size refrigerator, stove, dishes and kitchen equipment.
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Old May 20th, 2016, 03:01 PM
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There are many chains that provide kitchens/kitchenettes -- Extended Stay is at the bottom of the price range. Residence Inns are pricier/nicer, Embassy Suites . . . are more so.

There are several others . . .
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Old May 21st, 2016, 11:50 AM
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For Disneyland, I would look into the Residence Inn Maingate (full kitchen, free hot breakfast and some weeknights there is a reception with snacks beer and wine). There is also a fairly new Springhill Suites Convention Center. I have stayed at a Springhill Suites and they are very nice and also have a free hot breakfast. Can't remember if they have a kitchen though.
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Old May 22nd, 2016, 12:26 AM
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Flights are booked and Confirmed Between SFO-LAS and LAS-San Diego

Thanks jamie99 , janisj, tomfuller

For Disneyland - will stay 4 days and do 3 day ticket to Disneyland

I found this apartment https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/9729921?s=Lssi_aEQ

Looks reasonable and cheap! what do you think?

Sort of a stupid question, since we are 6(3 adults and 3 kids) we should be looking at 7 seater(Minivan type) for renting or 5 seater(Jeep compass) would be ok? Is this type OK for Las vegas trips to - Zion NP, VoF,Hoover Dam etc.

Where to base ourselves in Las Vegas - near the City center?

Assuming we will pick up the car from car rental center, do you suggest to keep the car till we return to the airport(3 days). Parking and Driving would be manageable inside the city. (Excuse my ignorance)


Also on San Diego and LA (other than Disney Land), where to base ourselves



Thanks
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Old May 22nd, 2016, 06:48 AM
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just a couple of quick comments right now:

5 seater(Jeep compass) would be ok?

There is no way 6 people will fit in a 5 passenger car. And even a 7 passenger will be a tight fit with luggage. If it is only for days trips -- then a 7 passenger would be fine.

The flat is fine but it only has double beds and one of those is a futon in the small living room so it will be pretty cramped for 6 sharing. The 2 baths helps.
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Old May 22nd, 2016, 06:51 AM
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Yes, you'll want the minivan. Anything less will likely be too cramped and/or won't have enough room for your luggage. You don't need anything with 4/all wheel drive or an especially high clearance; even in national parks the roads are smooth and well graded.

The rental unit looks okay; maybe a bit small for your group. With six and a long time together (and pretty crammed into one vehicle) you might consider looking for accommodations with plenty of elbow room. "Sleeps six" usually means two to a bed, sometimes including a convertible sofa.

"Downtown" Las Vegas isn't especially family-friendly, and staying on the "Strip" (where the most famous casinos are located) might be a bit pricey. There are quite a few family friendly condo/apartment communities in LV, some attached to one of the big casino/hotels (e.g. MGM, Hilton) and I would look for accommodations in those. You will need a car in LV; parking typically isn't an issue.

I'm not all that familiar with San Diego; all things being equal, with kids my preference would be somewhere on Mission Bay, a very nice shallow salt water lagoon close to many of the tourist destinations such as Sea World. For LA, I probably would look for accommodations north of LAX airport: West LA, Santa Monica, Marina del Rey, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, etc.
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Old May 22nd, 2016, 07:04 AM
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You will need something that actually seats 6 as we have seatbelt laws in the US and everyone must be buckled in. I'd definitely go with the minivan.

We have always liked Marriott properties when traveling with our kids. Many of them have kitchenettes and we have have found them to be clean and friendly for the most part. Try residence inns or maybe even courtyards.

I would try to stay on or near the strip in Las Vegas just for convenience sake
The apartment you found in Anaheim looks pretty good to me.

Grand Pacific palisades in Carlsbad has two bedrooms, loads of amenities for the kids as I recall, is practically on top of Legoland and about 40 minutes from the wild animal park and Sea World.
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Old May 22nd, 2016, 07:23 AM
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With the small children, I would try to stay at a motel across the street from Disneyland.
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Old May 22nd, 2016, 07:30 AM
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Funny you say that; daughter and family just stayed at a Travelodge so close to Disneyland that they walked through the Disney parking garage to the shuttle. Her reasoning was why spend more money when you are going to be at the park all day and through the parade at night. It worked nicely for them.
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Old May 22nd, 2016, 08:12 AM
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My car question was indeed at the height of stupidity.

I have booked 7 Passenger Minivan(Dodge Grand Caravan) from ALAMO(543.93$). Collision Damage Waiver and Extended Protection is included with the rental. I am assuming that I would have 0 liability.

First time booking in US.. Any red herrings I should be aware such as any additional auto Insurance, Liability etc.
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Old May 22nd, 2016, 12:18 PM
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Most apartments near Disneyland are not within an easy walk, although the ones on Magic Way are not too bad. Parking at Disneyland is now $17 per day.
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Old May 22nd, 2016, 12:53 PM
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Hello vjose,
Just a couple inputs:
Of all the things in all the world IMHO, Yosemite is one of the most awesome. That said, July and Aug. will be packed which does not detract from the beauty, just makes it packed with people. Drive from Fremont is about 4 hours assuming you don't leave Fremont during rush hour traffic. It will also likely take you an hour or more to get in the gates. Try try to avoid weekends if at all possible. Most of all you'll need your reservations for accommodations ASAP if you don't have them yet. (I see Gardyloo has advised against Yosemite, but for me, it's too beautiful to miss.)

BART Fremont to SF: Your kids should all qualify for a Red ticket, but can only buy them at select locations:
https://www.bart.gov/tickets/sales/retailsales

San Diego Wild Animal Park: Has been renamed to San Diego Zoo Safari Park. IMO go see the San Diego Zoo Safari Park not the zoo or what I think is now called the wild animal park. It is in Escondido, outside San Diego about 45 mins. to an hour.

Grand Canyon / Hoover Dam: Will probably be beastly if not unbearably hot.
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