nzers

Next year we are planning on taking our 2 kids (10 & 8) to do the "Disney" thing. We're from New Zealand, so it seems pointless to go all that way and not see some more of what your country has to offer. I doubt whether we'll be ever repeating the excercise, so we need to see the "best of" over our 4 week stay.

Our very initial thoughts are; 5 days Anaheim (flight recovery, Disney & CA etc), pick up a rental car and drive to San Diego for 4 days (Sea World, Zoo, Tijuana?), Drive to the Grand Canyon via Sedona (still looking into the where's & hows of this section, 3 days Las Vagas. Now, should we dump the car and fly to San Francisco where we'll stay for 3 or 4 days before heading to Yosemite for 2 days and driving down the coastal Coastal Road back to LA (taking 3 days) or should we drive the LV - SF bit?? It seems a very long way on the map lol. Then I thought we could stay somewhere like Hollywood or similar & do the Universal Tours trip from there before heading home via Tahiti. Or should we just do Universal from Anaheim at the beginning of our trip (adding a day)& end our holiday at a beach area of LA?

So much to plan... I love it! We've left a few days spare to add where necessary, so any ideas would be appreciated.

Also, Does anyone have a link to a website which has a good general map of the area we intend travelling? So far the only maps I have come across are way too detailed for my early stage of planning or too big ie: a map of the entire US.

Thanks for any replies

Cheers

nzers

rjw_lgb_ca

Good websites for US road maps (including pretty good point-to-point driving directions) include mapquest.com and maps.yahoo.com. I personally would think about NOT staying in Anaheim-- since you already have a car, you don't have to be stuck staying in a stucco-laden suburban hellhole (as you can tell, I'm not a fan of Anaheim). A nice beach community (Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach) would be so much more pleasant.

Instead of staying in Hollywood (the novelty wears off within minutes of arriving), try Beverly Hills-- the hotels are reasonable and the neighborhood so much nicer. And it's easier to get to LAX (your idea of starting and ending in the LA area is best, I think).

I'm not one for big driving trips, so I won't comment on the rest of your itinerary. But there's my two cents on the LA-area portion. Anyone else...?

J_Correa

Overall, this sounds like a very good plan.

If you are travelling in the summer or early fall - mid June through the begining of October - you can rearrange your itinerary a bit so that you go to Yosemite right after Las Vegas, then SF, and then down the coast to LA.

From LV, you can go up the eastern side of the Sierras and over Tioga pass into Yosemite Valley. This can only be done in the summer though because with the first snowfall, Tioga pass is closed and doesn't reopen until the snow melts in the Spring or early summer.

This route will eliminate the monsterous drive between LV and SF (otherwise I would definitely fly) as well as elimiate the need to drive across California's central valley more than once.

mpf

For a general map that is somewhat close to your plans, try www.usatourist.com

They list a host of places, including California. At the bottom of the CA list, click on "driving tour". It's pretty general - but may help in the early planning. The previous posters have given you good info, as well.

sfamylou

I live in Orange County and totally agree that I would not stay in Anaheim unless it was for the Disney hotels. Friends who have stayed in places like Surf and Sand in Laguna, or Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach, preferred them to the Disney hotels, for what that's worth. Also, I recently used aaa.com and its internet triptix feature to plot out a road trip. I'm a triple A member though, and I think I had to register. It was a fun feature though and let me try lots of different routing and iterations of the trip before we figured it out. We leave tomorrow!

FainaAgain

see how the right topic helps

nzers

Thanks everyone for your help. Will try the suggested links for maps.

Would like to stay in the Disney zone for the kids sake and so that we can pop back to our hotel for a break if needed. Don't intend getting a car until it is time to leave for San Diego. Will look into Beverley Hills for our last couple of days - great idea!

Can you tell me how long the drive would be from LV to Yosemite via Tioga Pass and if it will be OK in ,mid September? Will it take more than a day? If so, where do we stop midway?

Thanks again (esp FainaAgain - you were so right!).

Cheers

nzers

ltt

anaheim hotels are very dull but the advantage, as you mentioned, you can go back in the afternoon for a break and a swim and then easily get back to the park for the evening. this benefit to me overrides staying in a nicer area - at least for three nights.

ssm

You are VERY wise to stay at the Disney resorts for the breaks and swim time. I too am from Orange Co and even I have taken the family out for a long weekend to stay at The Disney Paradise Pier Hotel, even though we live all of 20 minutes away. It really felt like we were on vacation.

Speaking of the hotel, I would strongly recommend it. You have access to the amenities at the Disney Hotel (nice pool with slide) and costs you a lot less than the Grand Adventure Hotel. Plus you all the people that stay at the hotel have their own entrance and exit to Disney's Calif. Grand Adventure Park.

I would be happy to give you any info on the Anaheim/San Diego area (dining, lodging, etc). A very good friend (and neighbor) of the family is from New Zealand so I am sure she would want me to help out a her fellow countryman!

ssm

Sorry, I forgot to mention, I would not recommend the driving up the coast or to Vegas.

You might want to consider starting the trip in San Diego, then driving up to Anaheim.

Then visit Universal Studios for the day, stay in Anaheim and consider flying from Orange Co. or Long Beach to San Fran/Oakland as the airfares can be very, very inexpensive through a carrier like Southwest or Jet Blue. Some promotional fares could be had for as little as $49 each way!

Otherwise, you can check out of Anaheim, book an overnight hotel near Universal Studios and fly out of LAX. Personally, I would not do this as LAX can be a nightmare to get in and out of.

From SF you can easier fly to Las Vegas and then fly into Ariz, also relatively inexpensive. The time and peace of mind you save will be well worth the flight costs. The drive from Anaheim to Universal Studios will show you what I mean!

Sounds like a great trip

montyw

It is a very pretty and amazing drive to go from Las Vegas to Yosemite - there some amazing stops along the way if you are interested including Death Valley (with a slight detour), Mammoth Lakes-June Lake Loop, Mono Lake, and then up over Tioga Pass. The top of Tioga pass is the entrance to Yosemite Park and has an amazing amount of scenery - this is not a bad one day drive at all from LV with some stops it should be no more than 8 hours - The drive and scenenery from Toulomee Meadows down to the actual Yosemite Valley is great.

From Yosemite to San Francisco on another day would be only a 3+ hour drive depending on Traffic.