Hi
We are visiting LA/Anaheim for the first time. Have 14 year olds and staying at Anaheim for 4 nights. Plan is to go Disney one day, Universal 2nd day. Undecided for 3rd day. Is it worth taking day tour to San Diego (Zoo or Sea world) with one of the tour operators. Fourth day will either visit Disney again or visit one of the beaches (how to get there dont have a car and dont intend to get one) . Any other suggestions?

The only place you mentioned close in Anaheim is Disneyland. How about Knotts Berry Farm?
Anaheim is a very "iffy " neighborhood to hang out in!(Not safe) San Diego is 1 hour south, Universal Studios is an hour north in "good" traffic time! LA-San Diego can be up to 3 hours by car in weekend traffic. Please do more homework before planning a vacation in So Cal as the distances and travel time are really HUGE!

Deloris (hey there, Deloris!) is absolutely right. This trip will be doable with a car, but essentially impossible without. Universal Studios is some 35 miles north of Anaheim. San Diego is some 95 miles south. The nearest "nice" beach would be Huntington Beach-- some 19 miles southwest. Wanna get to Santa Monica? Try 40 miles northwest.

IF you had a car, and IF you accept that Anaheim is truly a hole outside of the theme park areas and you'll be driving everywhere to get somewhere nice, this would be possible. Otherwise, I'd say spend all the time at Disneyland/CA Adventure and nearby Knott's Berry Farm (in similarly awful Buena Park, but that's doable by cab or bus) and make the best of it. You can't get out of Anaheim without a car.

If you can possibly go down to San Diego to see the zoo, do so--it is a wonderful experience.

Harbor Bvld. has a mile of nice hotels , restaurants and tourist services. Many of these facilities have opened in the last few years and are quite nice.
You cannot do So Cal without a car, but you can use the Metrolink and Amtrak from Anaheim Stadium to hit San Diego and Universal Studios.

Susa,
You don't say when you will be going. This will make a big difference in the crowds at all of your possible destinations. In the summer, you will probably want to go to Disneyland/CA Adventure for more than one day. The really 'good' rides are very crowded and even with the 'Fast Pass' system you may not be able to ride everything the kids want in one day. Also, check the Disneyland website to see what may be closed for refurbishment. This is more of a problem in the off season. Always nice to know before you get there.
Universal Studios was not as interesting as we had hoped. We were done easily in a few hours. I don't know that it would be worth the trip if you had to take a tour.
I think a tour to San Diego would be more worthwhile.
My advice would be to have a car if at all possible.

There are bus tours available from Anaheim to Universal, to Magic Mountain, SD Zoo, Sea World, even to TJ. Many people visit Disneyland, and SoCal in general, without renting a car and these companies cater specifically to them. Many will even pick you at your hotel. With this in mind, yes, the trip that Susa has proposed is more than feasible and perhaps more enjoayable than one spent driving on unknown freeways. To paraphrase Greyhound, leave the driving to them!

To get to the beach you could take an OCTA bus. In previous years there have been summer promotions for the beach busses. They also run a beach train on the weekends to San Juan Capistrano. Contrary to what you may hear about Southern California, many people who live there do not drive and still manage to get around perfectly well. Besides busses and the Metrolink, there are many shuttles that run in various cities too. I am sure your hotel will be able to help you find the best way to get to where you want to go. Most hotels will have bus schedules at the font desk.

Just read today(LA Times) that Anaheim ranks as the 40th safest large city (100,000 pop.) out of 230 cities in the US.
Neighboring Santa Ana and Garden Grove rank even higher.

I am so sorry, I should have given more info. We are visiting second week of July. The idea was to spend upto two days in Disney. Take a day trip with one of the tour operators to Universal and was wondering whether should do the same for San Diego. We did not want to drive as we are used to driving on left side and just find the whole idea of negotiating the freeways etc and driving on right a bit stressful.
Also on our final day, our international flight is at 10:30 pm. How much time should we plan to reach LAX from Anaheim . Would it be better to take a day room at one of the airport hotels and go in the morning and spend day at say Getty. Would it be accessible by cab?
Thank you all for the tips.