Using Huntington Beach to do L.A.,Disney areas?
 

I will be in the area for 8 days with my wife and 10 yr old son should we use Hunt Beach as a base to do L.A., Universal,Disney and beaches or do we stay near Universal and then shift to Beach area. Also is Hunt. Beach a good place or try another beach town? <BR>Would App. any help.

Ken: <BR> <BR>For the price, Huntington Beach is probably your best bet for staying in a beach town. Huntingtom Beach itself gets quite crowded; if that doesn't bother you, no problem. If it does there's a beautiful, less-crowded state beach (Bolsa Chica State Beach) a few miles north on PCH. Huntington Beach is a good central location (for Orange County stuff, icluding Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm). During the evenings, you might want to drive down to Newport/Balboa Island, or even as far as Laguna Beach, for the atmosphere and restaurants, or north to Long Beach. Either way the drive along PCH during the evening will be beautiful. <BR> <BR>BUT, to get to Universal, keep in mind that you have to first get to L.A., then cross downtown. On a weekday, that might take two hours if you go when the park opens. (If you wait until ten or so, it might not be so bad). If it were me, I would spend the first couple of nights staying north of L.A. in the San Fernando Valley (Universal City/Glendale/Burbank area) or even Santa Monica (there was a thread here yesterday asking about motels convenient to the Getty and Universal). The morning traffic from Orange County to L.A. County can b, and normally is, brutal, especially on the 405 between the airport and the San Fernando Valley (the 101/405 intersection). Study your maps carefully. <BR> <BR>I really think that's your best bet; you'll save a few freeway hours per day. <BR> <BR>Have fun.

Hi Ken. <BR> <BR>We always stay at Huntington Beach. It's a nice location and not a far drive up the coast from San Diego. I agree that traffic in LA can cause a delay - just always assume there will be some and leave earlier. Have fun.

My point in recommending that Ken stay around L.A. for the L.A. portion of his visit is that he will easily waste three hours (1.5 hours each way; the afternoon trek back to Orange County will cause an equal delay) of vaction time plodding along (or sitting still) on a freeway. The weekday commute begins before 6 am, thus "leaving earlier" only gets you there sooner, not more quickly. To arrive at Universal Studios at 9 am, one would have to leave Huntington Beach around 7 am. On the other hand, if one were staying in, say, Burbank, the travel time would be ten minutes, max. <BR>

While I would agree to staying in the valley for one or two nights when visiting Universal, it can be done from Huntington Beach as well. To cross the entire city of LA on the 405 and then 101 is crazy, however. From Huntington Beach you can easily get to the 110 which is the Harbor Freeway and from there it will run into 101, the Hollywood freeway to Universal. It's not a walk in the park, but better than the 405. There's an even easier way to do it, but that involves surface streets and would be for someone familiar with LA. That said, I would recommend the Sportsman's Lodge on Ventura Blvd in Studio City for a night before Universal. They have a wonderful old style pool and lots of families with kids stay there. It's about 15 min. max to Universal and your son will like it. There are several kid style chain restaurants along Ventura Blvd.--probably the best of which is Chevy's, a nice chain "healthy" Mexican that is kid friendly. Then I would base in Newport Beach for the rest of the time because it's nicer than Huntington and will be closer to Anaheim. Enjoy.

Ken, <BR>KAM's freeway advice is excellent. Always avoid the 405. <BR> <BR>Personally, I'd try to stay in the LA area for the LA part of your trip.I just really hate extra driving and if you can eliminate it, why not? <BR> <BR>Anyway, you have a lot of good advice and choices. Have fun. <BR> <BR>

I agree with all the info except that Newport Beach is closer to Anaheim. Huntington Beach is closer to Anaheim. Both Huntington Beach and Newport Beach are congested. I would also stay in L.A. Area for L.A. portion of trip and then in Orange County for the Orange County portion. Have fun!!

When we travel to that area, as we are doing in July this year, we usually stay in the LAX area. My parents live in Santa Monica. & we go to Disneyland & Knott's Berry Farm. This is kindof a mid-way point for us to go to Santa Monica for visiting & the beaches, & to the amusement parks on 2 or more days. We have also gone to Universal Studioes from there, & it isn't too bad on the freeways, as far as LA traffic is concerned. But this is also convenient to getting in & leaving from the airport.

I guess Cally is correct that geographically Huntington Beach is closer to Anaheim than Newport, but as I think always in terms of freeways, I would imagine that taking 55 up to the 5 and into Anaheim might be faster. Whichever way you do it, don't plan to stay in Anaheim just to go to Disneyland! And, remember because there will be 3 of you, you have access to the HOV lanes which can be a lifesaver in LA.