4-5 Days in Los Angeles from Dec 19-23 ish
 

We are planing to spend 4 or 5 days in LA with my Family (5 adults + 1 1-year).

This is what I have on my list currently-

1. Disney World + Adventure Park (2-3 days)
2. Getty Center (1/2 day)
3. Rodeo Drive (1/2 day)
4. Universal Studios (1/2 day)
5. Venic Beach (1/2 day)
6. Hollywood Walk of fame (1/2 day)
7. Hollywood Sign (may be time permitting)

I am thinking of dividing this in two halves by staying in two different locations in LA for easy commute to different attractions. I am also looking for staying at studio type hotels (mainly to cut food cost). Also we will be driving in from San Francisco.

So, my questions are-
1. Is it too much to be done in 4-5 days? Should I add/remove/replace anything?
2.What would be two good locations for hotels? (Anaheim, Beverly Hills may be?)
3.Any suggestions for good studio type hotels in those areas?
4. How difficult would it be to use local transportation? or shall we drive everywhere?

Thanks in advance

When reading your list my first thought was that you would be spending too much time in the car. If you change your base of operations, that will help a lot.

Stay in Anaheim for your Disney days. All the suite hotels have locations in Anaheim.

Beverly Hills is a good central location to your other activities, but I can't recommend a hotel. You can also consider the Universal Studio area around 101. There are many hotels and that location is convenient to your non-Anaheim destinations.

Useful public transportation does not exist in LA.

You can knock off a lot of your list with a full day grayline bus tour... they picked us up at the hotel and made several stops... have a look at their website for the tours and use AAA for huge discount.... then you can use the rest of the days to revisit favorites... only disney and universal require full days or maybe two days each... have fun!

Plan the Disney days on the weekdays/end of your trip when crowds will be very low. Also, traffic around Los Angeles will be a bit lighter on Sat and Sun (especially before 11am) so you'll want to do your car/sightseeing on Sat and Sun.
You don't have "too much" planned to do, but cut Disney to 2 days with only 5 days in SoCal. Walk of Fame won't take half a day (more like an hour or two)...so definitely fit in some time up at Griffith Observatory for some photo ops. (Griffith and Getty are closed on Mondays).

Thanks stumpworks73, garryt22 and joesorce.

Based on your suggestions- This is what I plan to do-

From Beverly Hills/Hollywood area hotel-
============================
1. Griffith Observatory (1/2 day?)
2. Getty Center (1/2 day)
3. Rodeo Drive (1/2 day)
4. Universal Studios (1/2 day)
5. Venice Beach (1/2 day)
6. Hollywood Walk of Fame (2 hrs)
7. Hollywood Sign (1/2 day?)

From Anaheim area hotel-
==================
8. Disney World + Adventure Park (2 days)

So you guys do not think that public transportation will be useful for any of the legs above? I hate to pay for expensive parking, to struggle to find one and of course pollution factor.

Thanks in advance.

I'm not sure why you would need a 1/2 day to view the Hollywood sign. You can get a good view of it from the Griffith Observatory and from the Hollywood and Highland Mall along the walk of fame. I would instead use that 1/2 day at the L.A. Farmer's Market/Grove, or maybe downtown touring the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

As for hotels, check out the Residence Inn on Beverly, it is centrally located between your Hollywood and Westside attractions. I agree that a hotel in Universal/Studio City might work, also for your the Hollywood and Getty part of your itinerary.

The only place it would make sense to take public transport is the Metro red line between Hollywood and Universal Studios.

Public Transportation does exist in LA! If you stay at a hotel on Highland blvd (Highland and Hollywood Blvd) you can jump on the red line to Universal City, or go downtown to the garment district, head over to the Science Center downtown or Oliveras Street. If you are not from a big city, city life can be very exciting for a child especially public transportation. The Hollywood sign is really not that exciting you have a great view of it from Hollywood and Highland around the kodak theater. Also on Hollywood Blvd is the El Capitan Theater which has the most current movies and usually some kind of show before the movie (Disney characters,or interactive show) When my kids were 10/11 we went to the Ripleys Believe It or Not Museum on Hollywood Blvd, they loved it!!

Are you planning to go to the Universal Studios amusement park or just City Walk? It's expensive just to get into the amusement park, so you'll probably want more than half a day.

Let's talk briefly about driving vs. public transportation and your group. I absolutely agree with tbbeach, and I am a great advocate of using public transportation in Los Angeles. In fact, even though we own 3 cars (including the efficient Prius), my husband takes the commuter express from the Westside to downtown L.A. weekdays, and it's great. With the economy and gas prices, ridership is building every day (to the point where LADOT really needs to add to the service).

Having said that, with 5 adults and a baby, it is simply NOT cost effective, unless you get a day pass and plan for a lot of getting on and off. Let me give you an example of the price pitfalls traveling in a large group. A few years back, I drove 4 kids downtown to the Disney Concert Hall for a young people's concert. From there, I thought it would be fun to take the kids to Olvera Street to walk around and have lunch. Thought, let's take the Metro! Cool idea, 2 block walk to the Metro station. All kids over 5 years has to pay the adult fare of $1.25 each way. That was $2.50 for each kid and the same for me, totaling $12.50 (not to mention the wait for the Metro on a weekend). Parking lot directly across the street from Olvera Street (at that time) was $6.00 on the weekend.

Although Metro offers a $5.00 day pass (entitling the bearer to use all Metro lines and buses). Problem now is you have to use a TAP card (Transit Access Pass) to load the day pass, but buying the TAP card can be time-consuming, unless you plan ahead.

As with public transportation everywhere, it can be a time killer, especially if you are on a strict schedule. Buses break down, don't come when they are supposed to, or all come at one time, bus stop signs in L.A. often do not have the route and fare posted, and on and on. Commuter buses are generally very timely, but not so for mid day and late afternoon rush hour. The Santa Monica Big Blue Bus does have the biggest bang for the buck -- single ride without transfer is 75 cents, and service covers the Westside. www.bigbluebus.com and if you have a student i.d., you only pay 50 cents.

But again, for your large group, the car is the way to go, even with valet parking costs. Street parking is still plentiful and most of the meters have been changed up to pay stations, where you can just swipe your credit card. Many areas (like Santa Monica and Beverly Hills) have public parking, free (without validation) for the first 2 hours. Those lots will be clearly posted (don't go to the ones that just say "public parking" and are not associated with the City -- these are private parking lots that allow the "public" to park there for a fee!).

Maybe I missed something because I'm not sure that you are looking for more kid-friendly activities as your group is all adults and the 1 yo is too young I think to enjoy them?

I might try to fit in the Malibu Getty, which gives you a chance to enjoy a beautiful drive up PCH and a very cool museum.

I agree that a rented car is the way to go, but no one has mentioned that you'll be driving around L.A. in the last days before Christmas when everyone and their mother will be out shopping (and driving to do it). The weekend traffic on Dec. 19-20 is not going to be lighter. It's going to be worse. And during the Christmas shopping season, I wouldn't go within a mile of the Grove. Even if you paid me. Public parking lots in Beverly Hills (where I work) will be full by 10:00 a.m. every day. I can't comment on Santa Monica's public parking lots, but I believe they will also fill up early.