trilopbaz

Hi,
I have enjoyed reading all the wise and helpful posters (and the unwise!) on this site and now have my own question.
We are heading to California on 29 Dec for two weeks. We are a family of five from Oz with kids aged 9,11, and 13.
Our plan is to spend the first day or two at Disneyland to keep the kids active and then head to San Diego for a few days.
We are then going to fly up to San Francisco and drive back down to LA for our flight home on 13Jan.

So my main question is .... what do you think would be our best option for a memorable New Years Eve in California? Our itinerary can be adjusted if need be, so we don't have to be in Anaheim. As we are going to fly up to San Fran anyway I am happy to change our itinerary for the right location.
We were considering either spending NYE at Disneyland or Legoland, which we assume will both be very crowded.
But does anyone have any alternative suggestions that we should consider?
Our holiday will consist of theme parks, zoos, museums, shopping and sightseeing. I'm not opposed to any ideas if they are memorable - I love it when my kids get to experience new things!
We would love to experience middle America if there is a fair on or some other similar event for NYE close by. My wife and I fell in love with San Luis Obispo on a previous trip so we are keen to get out of the crowded city and see similar sized places.
Thanks for your time!

Tabernash2

Have you already bought airfare? You could fly into LA and fly home from San Francisco.

starrs

Maybe Malibu?

Tabernash2

Here's a link to last year's NYE family celebrations in L.A. Looks like Santa Monica would be a good place to stay.

http://redtri.com/los-angeles/new-ye...es-and-events/

starrs

Duh. I meant Santa Monica

Tabernash2

Malibu is cool, too.

jamie99

Disneyland would be nice but very crowded, if you did that do not leave the park as it will surely reach capacity and you would not be readmitted (although you might get into DCA if you had parkhoppers).
Your kids are a bit on the old side for Legoland, it is really more geared to thee 8 and under crowd unless they are REALLY into Legos.

janisj

So we know what flexibility you have and what dates we can 'play' with, have you already booked your RT flights and the flight to SF?

Re LegoLand - I agree your kids are not the target demographic . . . Plus LL closes at 7PM on New Years Eve.

sf7307

Hopefully you'll get some great suggestions for NYE in SoCal. Don't change your plans to come to SF early for NYE - NYE is pretty much a non-event here.

Jean

Any interest in the Rose Parade In Pasadena on New Year's Day?

trilopbaz

Thanks for the replies.
Our flights were booked with points so unfortunately we need to fly in and out of LA.
At this stage I am leaning towards Santa Monica or Monterey for NYE.
Thanks for your help.

Jean

There will be a big NYE party in the Grand Park in downtown L.A. It's free but capacity-controlled, so arrive early (probably no later than 9/9:30p).

http://grandparkla.org/ai1ec_event/new-years-eve-la/

Here's a YouTube video from the countdown light show at last year's event.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPeeToGymxw

elizzie4000

If you plan on making any of the drive on the scenic coast I prefer the drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Then fly from SF to LA. It's less harrowing in certain spots.