My husband and I planning a 3 day weekend in LA next month, specifically to visit Disneyland. We are in the Bay Area and plan to drive down on a Wednesday night, go to Disneyland on Thursday and drive home on Saturday. This leaves Friday free. We were considering California Adventure or Universal Studios. Any input? Would California Adventure even be interesting to a couple of Californians? Any other suggestions? We are late 20s/early 30s, no kids. Thanks.

If you are at Disneyland on thursday, you might consider California Adventure since it is next door to Disneyland. It is a more adult theme park with rides. Universal is an experience all in it's own and that's where I would head. I was there a few years ago and had a blast. They have citywalk and lots to do there. It really depends on whether or not you want to do 2 days at Disney parks or head into LA for Universal.

California Adventure might be okay for you. The rides are more adult than what you will find at D-land, and you would qualify for the park hopper ticket. However, I'm just not that big of a fan of CA. Even with crowds, it's easily doable in a just a few hours and I get tired of more than one day of Disney.

Universal Studios is a good suggestion, but I would consider the traffic and where you will be staying. Friday night getting out of LA and into Orange County can be a bit of a nightmare. Unless you decide to stay late at Universal, or leave early.

Just another suggestion, especially if you are staying in Orange County, is to take a look at Knott's Berry Farm. A lot of great rides and plenty of shopping. There is also a water park, Soak City, right next door. And Knott's is not that far from D-land.

I had a 3-day trip: Solvang, Disneyland, Universal. California Adventures maybe similar to Disneyland, Universal studios are different. I vote for Universal, especially if you never been there, and don't miss that tram tour downstairs! I highly recommend Universal.

I think we are leaning more towards Universal Studios too. I think 2 days of Disney may be pushing it - LOL. Thanks for the warning about the traffic getting back into Orange County. Our original plan was to stay all 3 nights near Disneyland, but it might be worth it to spend the 3rd night near Universal Studios.

Staying the third night near Universal is a much better idea if you are going there on the third day. If you commute from Orange County, you'll drive from OC to Universal, drive back at the end of the day, then retrace that entire trip (maybe with a slightly different route) on the way back to the Bay
area.

I would definitely do California Adventure park as well as Disneyland if you like theme parks. In fact, you might like it better than Disneyland, which is more kid oriented. The two parks are so close together that with our park hopper pass we regularly went back and forth between them during our three day stay. Indeed the best route to Disneyland from our hotel (the Grand Californian) was to walk through California Adventures. The fact that you live in CA won't interfere with your enjoyment of the California Adventures park at all. Most people love its Soarin Over California ride by the way. With the park hopper ticket, the two parks really seem more like one park than two.