Disneyland (Anaheim): Is that all there is?
 

Our large group is doing 2 days in July at Disneyland and California Adventure. We have one more day to do something, and we figure we will have had enough of theme parks by the third day. Two people in our group do not swim and hate water, so we can't do a water park. <BR> <BR>What can we do on our third day near Anaheim that isn't an amusement park or a water park. We have adults, seniors, and kids ranging from 5-12. <BR> <BR>Thanks.

Maybe a day at the beach either in Laguna Beach or on Balboa Island. Either beach would offer ocean swimming for the swimmers in your group, while the non-swimmers could enjoy roaming around the shopping areas. <BR> <BR>Or maybe the Long Beach Aquarimine.

Cindy - <BR> <BR>If you get sick of the food at the parks there is a great mexican food place down the street on Harbor Blvd. <BR> <BR>It's called Los Sanchez and is south of Disneyland, on Harbor (right side) about 4 miles or so. The best Mexican food in So. Cal. We live about 40 miles away and sometimes drive there for lunch on the weekend. Very informal with lots of picnic-style benches for seating. Perfect for a large group. <BR> <BR>Our favorite things are the carnitas, carne asada, wet chimichanga (it's huge!), and the flautas. Yummy!! <BR> <BR>Aside from that, I would second the above poster. I think Balboa penninsula would be good because you have the ocean/beach on one side (for some of the kids and adults who like to swim) and then not too far (a couple of blocks) is the shopping/eating part of the penninsula for the folks who don't like to swim. Also, you can take the ferry to Balboa island from there. There's a ferris wheel, arcade, shops, etc. <BR> <BR>It would probably be a good way for people to do what they want for most of the day and then you could all meet back at the pier or something to go back to the hotel. <BR> <BR>Also not far from Balboa is Fashion Island. It's an upper class type of shopping thing with lots of restaurants and a nice theater. Good for walking around. <BR> <BR>One more thing. If you are interested in a nice Sunday brunch, The Hyatt Newporter (down the street) has a great one. Champagne, sushi, cavier, made to order pasta, and all the usual stuff. <BR> <BR>Good luck. <BR> <BR>Lynn <BR> <BR>:-)

Not sure how far you are willing to travel but the San Diego Zoo is a wonderful daytrip at about 1 1/2 hours away!

Anaheim is just a dump of a town, just horrible. Sorry - no disrepected intended toward inhabitants. But how do you stand it? Do find some diversions outside that area. An organization I know decided to discontinue its annual conferences there for just that reason, and this involved about 15,000-20,000 people. They switched to San Diego starting this year. Ciao.

Cindy: <BR>Believe it or not you may use the third day to do/see the things at either park that we were not able to do. My teenager and I were there in April and really enjoyed the 3 days vs. trying to fit it all into 2 days. Some attractions are closed and some lines despite fast-pass are going to take a while, like 1-2 hours. On those my son and I put them on top of our list for the last day. We spent 4 full days there. Actually we "hit" the park at 4:00pm on a couple of days when many families were leaving or taking a break and we stayed until midnight. July is a very busy month. <BR>Downtown Disney is also fun. The ESPN Zone, House of Blues etc. are worth taking a look at. <BR> <BR>Happy Travels <BR>Oaktown

I think a day in Laguna Beach would be perfect and you might also see the San Juan Capitrano Mission nearby. Laguna is full of little galleries and shops and little restaurants as well as pretty beaches.

I think children would most enjoy Balboa Island, while the older crowd might prefer Laguna Beach. In either case, I think everyone would enjoy either daytrip. For a good pizza, try BJ's in either of these beach communities.

Thanks everyone. One more question, though. Is Balboa island near San Diego, or is there one near LA too?

Cindy - Balboa Park is in San Diego, while Balboa Island is in Orange County, near Newport Beach. It's located at the end of Jamboree Road, just past Pacific Coast Highway.