alderbrook

We fly into Lax from Australia and arrive on 21st October. We are planning to see Disneyland, san diego (legoland, seaworld etc) las vegas, yosmite and san francisco with suggested stops in between. We are travelling with another couple and there child for 2 of the three weeks and they want to do disneyland, san diego and vegas. If we could have suggestions of an itinery and any tips that we should take on board that would be really helpful. BRING IT ON!!!!

Parrothead

Assuming the 3 week trip is all by car and other couple is with you for the first 2 weeks, how about:

3 days San Diego
2 days Disneyland
1 day Universal Studios
1 day drive to Vegas
2-3 nights in Vegas
1 day drive to Yosemite
2 nights Yosemite
1 day drive to San Francisco
**Other couple flies back to LAX or whatever
2 nights San Francisco
1 night Napa/Sonoma area
4 nights driving south along coastal route Highway 1
Stops in Monterey/Carmel, Big Sur, Santa Barbara
Ending in LA

MichelleY

Here is a link to a recent trip report:

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...lden-state.cfm

It sounds like a similar trip and this report may be helpful.

tbbeach

Fly in to LAX
4 days in LA area...Venice Beach, Santa Monica,Malibu,
Beverly Hills, Hollywood...Universal Studios
so much to do in LA and when my children were young staying in 1 hotel for a few days rather than moving too fast always worked out well. Leave time for down time for the kids..grumpy kids make for grumpy adults!
The drive to Disneyland from the LA area is only 1 hour if you plan on Disneyland stay an extra day in LA..
Leave time for jet lag..we went to Paris last year and our family was so tired the first couple of days we missed out on things we wanted to do.

Day 5 drive south to Orange County stop in Laguna, Newport Beach, Balboa Island. Go for a walk at Crystal Cove state beach and have lunch at the beachcomber on the beach. Either stay in Laguna or continue on to San Diego

Day 6-9 San Diego 3 days..Sea World, Mission Bay, Coronodo.

Day 9-12 Drive or fly to Las Vegas

Day 13-17 San Francisco

Day 17-20 Yosemite

Day 20 drive back to LA for your flight home.

This probably is not the greatest due to the fact that I left out the drive on Highway 1 from LA to San Francisco. Maybe a reverse with San Diego at the end of the trip. ??
Enjoy

alderbrook

Thankyou all for your replies, its amazing how another "set of eyes" can make things clearer. Definately agree with the jet lag part with kids and will definately be having some days off!

Another question, what sort of clothes should we bring? Will we be able to swim in vegas? Should we go the beach scene even though it will be colder?

tbbeach

October is one of the most beautiful times of the year. Summer fog is over, early Oct can be the very hot, by the end it will be cool in the morning, then hot during the day, and cool at night. Layers is best. You shouldn't need any sweaters. Venice Beach is happening all year, bicycle riding, roller blading lots of street entertainers. Definately do the beach scene. You may not be swimming in the ocean but it is beautiful! I continuously am marveled by the beauty in Southern California and I was born and raised here (lucky me) I have traveled extensively and still feel Yosemite is one of the most beautiful places on earth! When you get it narrowed down, I will give you some tips. Love to help since I consult people for my travels all the time!

EAE

The weather will most likely be a lot cooler. So far it been a cool Summer in Southern CA, I hope that will continue. You should get California Pass so with all the themes parks you are going will save you some $$$. Also you might want to consider having a break between Disneyland & Universal Studio. Also you should stop by Monterey bay aquarium, the kids will love it.

november_moon

Yosemite will probably be the coolest spot on your intinerary that time of year. Yosemite Valley is at about 4000 ft elevation and most of the rest of the park is higher. We were there one year in late October and the days were warm (jeans and t-shirt weather) and the nights were downright cold (jackets, gloves, hats).

joesorce

Packing Disney, San Diego and Las Vegas all into the first part of the trip is a lot of stimulation for a 4 year old and might leave you with a pouting 6 year old on the last week in San Fran and Yosemite.

I don't think Universal is great for that age group and I'd skip, instead do the La Brea Tar Pits, The Science Center and maybe the planetarium show at Griffith Observatory.

Disney will have special events around Halloween so go on weekdays when it will be less crowded. Knotts Berry Farm nearby has a great section for 4 year olds with kiddie rides, petting zoo, train ride etc.

Disney area (Anaheim) will have much better rates on accomodations and many more choices for "family sized" rooms. You might want to head right there from LAX, settle in for a week, and make day trips to LA and Legoland from there. Maybe 1 day Disney, 1 day beach/relax, 1 day Legoland, 1 day Los Angeles touring, a 2nd day at Disneyland , then head for San Diego. 4 nights San Diego and 4 nights Las Vegas. Las Vegas surrounds has some great attractions and weather should be picture-perfect in late October. So take excursions out around Valley of Fire and Lake Mead.

Check rates on one-way car hires so that you do less backtracking. Your friends could fly back to LAX from Las Vegas while you fly to San Francisco and then work your way south from there. Southwest.com , JetBlue.com and United.com have good internal flights and prices are always better when booked ahead. Nationalcar.com and Hertz.com have been showing the best car hire prices for Aussies so be sure to check the "I am an Aussie" button. Also make sure the quote includes liability coverage and collision waiver.

Parrothead

I disagree with the comment about not needing any sweaters. There may be some freaky late October/November hot streak, but a better guess is you'll need sweaters and even jackets that late in the year; especially in Yosemite and Northern Cal.

Also, I wouldn't invest time or money in Knott's Berry Farm, especially since you're traveling so far to get here. It's just not a destination type of place, like all the other places you mention in your post. And true, Universal may be lost on young children, it's probably better for kids that are 10 plus.

alderbrook

Thank you for some great advice! Bit of a hitch with the old planning, the couple that we are meeting don't arrive till the 26 october and they leave 6th november so in the middle of everything!! They can fly into where ever we are. We want to do disneyland (only 1 day) san diego and vegas with them (thye have a 6 year old who my daughter went to school with in london) so if you have any suggestions on how we can do what we want but get some time with our friends.We thought

Arrive LAX 21 Oct fly to San Fran
Leave San Fran 24th
4 nights to stop off at places hading to San Diego
San diego for the night 27th (friends are already there)
4 nights San Diego (leave on morn 1st november)
Drive back to LA for 2 days LA (disneyland on the 2nd nov)
Drive to Las vegas on 3rd Nov
6th Nov friends fly back to uk
We drive back to LA to hand out and do last day disneyland (my sons 4th birthday!)

Can you let me know what you think please? Also, we went to Disney Hong Kong a few days after Halloween and some on the best rides (space mountain) were closed (decorations etc). We would be gutted if that happened again!
Thanks !

PeaceOut

Can you fly into LA and home from San Francisco or Vegas? To avoid backtracking

tbbeach

Are you going to drive from San Fran to LA? If you can take HWY 1 you will really see some of the most beautiful parts of California. I would suggest it, especially since you are taking Yosemite out of your itinerary. Maybe drive from SF and stop off in Cambria (about 3 hours from SF) then drive to LA (4hrs) stay in LA, (2 days) then drive to San Diego. You will really enjoy your trip a lot more if you stay somewhere 2 days as opposed to moving all the time. Also why not drive to Vegas from San Diego, then on to LA. You can get very inexpensive flights to Vegas on www.southwest.com, as low as $49.00 one way. Regardless, try not to drive back to LA from Vegas on a Sunday..the traffic is horrendous.
November is a great time for Disneyland, it is empty. We always try and go in November, nice weather and no crowds. The park closes at 6 though so get there early.

ElendilPickle

What do you plan to do for three days in Vegas with young children? You can't take them in the casinos except to walk through, and there really isn't much geared to kids there.

Be sure to check if Tioga Pass in Yosemite is still open as you get closer to driving there. If it's closed for the season, you'll need to drive from Vegas up through the San Joaquin Valley to Yosemite.

Lee Ann