Belle213

Hi Fodorites,
We are in the very beginning stages of planning a California adventure. We just booked 2 nights in a king cabin with roll away bed at the Ahwahnee Hotel (now Majestic) for our Yosemite portion.
We are 2 adults and 1 young girl who will be 9 for our trip next June.

We are flying in from the east coast and renting a car. My husband insists on driving SF, even though I have concerns. He wants to go to this restaurant that is out of the way.

I need help with itinerary planning so that I could reserve hotel rooms. In SF, we will probably get a cable car pass to explore the city and go to Alcatraz. We would then drive PCH through to Monterey and spend some time at the Monterey Aquarium. We definitely want to drive PCH North to South.

We would like to see the sights in Big Sur. We would like to go to Hearst Castle. My husband and I would love to take 2 tours of the place, but I worry about my 9 year old girls.
We would like to spend one night in the Madonna Inn in either the Caveman Suite or the Safari Suite.
I am thinking of driving to Anaheim for 1-2 nights in Disneyland. We have been to Disney World 2 times with our daughter, so I wonder if it is worth going down there to see it.

We then could drive northeast to Sequoia National Park for a night and then to Yosemite for 2 nights. We are not avid hikers, but are able to do some hikes. Last year at Yellowstone, we hiked the Upper Geyser Basin to Morning Glory and we hiked to the Brink of the Lower Falls. Daughter would want to get Junior Ranger badges at Sequoia and Yosemite. We could fly out of SF, which makes flight and car rental cheaper.

This is a lot. But, my daughter has about two weeks from the end of school until we get to Yosemite, and we have the time off.

Thank you in advance for your help.
Belle

janisj

>>We just booked 2 nights in a king cabin with roll away bed at the Ahwahnee Hotel (now Majestic) for our Yosemite portion.>He wants to go to this restaurant that is out of the way. > a cable car pass to explore the city>We then could drive northeast to Sequoia National Park for a night and then to Yosemite for 2 nights.

DebbieDoesDulles

No, Disneyland is not worth that detour, especially if it is only for one night. There is a small window of the day that allows you fairly efficient drive-times through Los Angeles, which you may or may not be able to work around ...but on the reverse you'd have nightmare traffic heading out of Anaheim in the morning, the jams start around 6am.

In San Francisco, the Columbus Motor Inn has a great location and includes parking in the rates.

If you want to do two tours of Hearst, you probably won't want to do them at the end of a long day when you've driven and explored Big Sur. You might be able to do one late that day and another in the morning....but Madonna Inn would not be a very convenient place to stay if that ends up being the plan.

janisj

If you drop your 2 nights in Anaheim I'd add a night in Cambria (for San Simeon and one night in Sequoia. I understand the attraction of the Madonna -- I sort of out grew that when I was 12 But at your daughter's age that might end up a highlight.

newtome

I echo - what SF restaurant is so out of the way you need a car? There ARE taxis and Uber/Lyft as well. Not worth the aggravation and expense of a car IMHO.

jamie99

I wouldn't drop Disneyland, it is unique and has a number of rides that Disneyworld does not, plus California Aventure with the Carsland ride. I think a 9 year old would be bored silly at Hearst Castle so I would only do one tour.

janisj

>>I wouldn't drop Disneyland, Anaheim > Sequoia > Yosemite > SFO is one loooooooong haul. We are talking 24 to 26 hours butts-in-seats not counting any stops. So the equivalent of nearly 5 full days in the car when factoring in meals and rest stops. The loop from San Luis Obispo down to Anaheim, and up to Sequoia would add and extra 400+ miles over just heading straight to Sequoia.

Some don't understand the vast distances involved.

jamie99

I would drop SEKI and keep Disneyland. Plenty of trees in Yosemite.

janisj

Anaheim to Yosemite is one helacious drive - more than seven hours up the hot central Valley - w/o a single stop.

I am NOT saying DL isn't worth visiting -- I go pretty frequently and love it . . . it is just the Anaheim is hundreds of miles from every other place they are visiting.

It is not that DL isn't worth it -- but as DebbieDoesDulles says, it is not worth that detour.


(Just an FYI: >>Plenty of trees in Yosemite.

mlgb

I would try to estimate the taxi cost for the one out of the way restaurant, and compare it to the auto rental plus parking (expensive!) plus gas costs...you may be able to change his mind re the SF car rental.

I assume you plan to see the Aquarium the day you drive down from SF and then spend that one night in Monterey?

The next day I would not plan on being able to do the drive AND Hearst. You can see Point Lobos that morning on the way out, and end either in San Simeon (closer to Hearst), Cambria or the Madonna Inn. If that's really a priority, you have an extra hour of driving each day. But that doesn't make it impossible.

From San Simeon to Anaheim is always a slog, 6 hours at least and there is almost always terrible traffic somewhere, no matter which way you go. I sure wouldn't do it just for one day. Maybe for two days.

From Anaheim to Sequoia NP is 5 or 6 hours with traffic.
Did you know there is also a place to see the giant sequoias a bit closer, called Trail of 100 Giants?

Even with all these drive times, you say you have two weeks, so you can do all of these things. It's just a matter of how you want to allocate the days, and how much time per day you want to spend driving. For me, 5 or 6 hours isn't a problem, although I wouldn't do it for consecutive days.

janisj

>>you say you have two weeks

mlgb

"my daughter has about two weeks from the end of school until we get to Yosemite, and we have the time off."

janisj

I saw that bit but just took it to mean they have a two week window to fit the trip in, not that they were leaving the day school lets out.

You could be right.