sf7307

Note that in October the Santa Cruz boardwalk rides are open only on weekends.

tenthumbs

Thanks,sf, I had forgotten that small detail.........

rjw_lgb_ca

I need to point out something pretty obvious:

Sea World is in SAN DIEGO.

That's NINETY-ONE MILES (nearly 150 km) from Anaheim.

That's a long day trip-- one I've done (from Long Beach), but not one I love to do.

Personally, I'd plan on staying in Newport or Laguna or even Huntington Beach (the Hyatt is pretty nice) to do Disneyland, then do at least a day and night in lovely San Diego. Barring that, I'd plan on that gnarly San Diego day trip and spend more time doing non-Disney things in LA Metro/Orange County.

Stu, locals generally get over the whole Santa Monica/Venice/MDR/Manhattan Beach scene pretty quickly (frankly, I've become sick of driving through Santa Monica and Venice-- because of the glut of lookie-loo and/or lost tourists in their rental Dodges and Fords), but visitors to this downtrodden southern part of the state want to get a taste of that LA tinselly glamour. It's like Pier 39 up where you live-- when you're in the City as a visitor, you have to go there. Natives will scoff-- but visitors have to go.

Other random thoughts:

-- PLEASE spread the coast drive out over at least three days. Especially if you plan on taking CA-1 most of the way.

-- Once you're in the Santa Monica portion of that drive, there's no point in trying to continue on CA-1, since it becomes a rather ugly commercial thoroughfare from that point until you're past Long Beach and into Orange County.

-- If you're still planning to stay in Anaheim, that's a moot point; trying to take CA-1 there is impossible since Anaheim is some 15 miles from the coast (and that highway). Once in Santa Monica you'll get on I-10 and then I-5 south to Disneyland.

-- Decompressing a bit here in SM (my office has a panoramic view of Santa Monica Bay) at the end of the vacation isn't a bad idea. LAX is a short hop away, and you'll need some peace before trying to negotiate that nightmarish airport.

Shar

man oh man I drive SF to Anaheim in 1 day but then I am used to the beauty of our coast line. If you want to enjoy it take it at a leisure pace. Pismo Beach, Moro Bay, Cambria are good stopping point. going to Sea World from Anaheim is a drive in itself. Question do you then fly home from LA? or do you have to drive back to SF?

kiwi4

Thank you all for the advice. We agree we need to add another night to our trip down the coast and will reduce Anaheim accordingly to allow for this and also a night in San Diego. I think we have underestimated traffic holdups. We regularly travel 200km (each way) for a day trip to visit family but do not have major traffic issues to deal with. Looking forward to our trip very much, cheers.

janisj

>> . . . but do not have major traffic issues to deal with.

MichelleY

I-5 isn't ugly!

jamie99

Sorry Michelle, it may not be ugly but it is incredibly boring. Last time I took it four years ago, I was actually hoping to see more billboards to break up the monotony.

janisj

it was an inside joke . . .

tenthumbs

It's not bad north of Redding, but in the central valley......ugh.

michele_d

We live in Southern California and whenever we go on vacation north I always dread the 'ugly corridor' drive. Not much to see, but a necessary 'evil' in order to get to the pretty scenery.