I wasn't sure which airport is closest - is it LAX? Also, if I were to spend 9 days in California and it's my first time and (1) I wanted to spend two days at disney; and (2) I rented a car, what would you recommend I do the other 7 days in February?

John Wayne Airport in Orange County (Irvine) would be closer to Disneyland. Long Beach would be another option (Jet Blue flies in and out of LB). LAX is about 1 hr north, but might give you more flight options.

Since you're spending 7 more days after Disney, you probably will do a lot of driving, so it might not matter which airport you fly in and out of.

As to your question #2, you'll have to give us more ideas about your interests before anyone can answer. Shopping? Hollywood/Movie Industry? Golf? Nature? Ocean? Art? Music? History?

Universal Studios and, Magic Mountain in Valencia, CA are the standards of people touring the amusement parks.

Sitting in the audience of a TV show?
People watching and shopping in Westwood?
Chinese Theater, Walk of Stars, etc?

Are there other people with you on your trip?

lvk is right, we need more input to provide output(s).

John Wayne Airport (Orange County) is the closest. But, Long Beach airport is less then 20 miles away, as well. The latter airport is serviced by JetBlue, which has reasonably decent airfares.

In terms of needing a car, it's California. You will definately need a car.

In terms of what to do, really depends on budget and interest. A drive up the coast to San Francisco is very scenic. But, February might not be the best time and this raises cost issues.

San Diego is very nice and LA has numerous things to see.

If distance is your only deciding factor, Orange County/John Wayne (SNA) is indeed the closest. From SNA it's a quick hop up CA-55 to I-5 north and Disneyland.

Long Beach (LGB) is my hometown airport, and it's serviced by four national carriers: JetBlue, American, America West and Alaska. Your flight options will be quite limited; however, it's a small facility whose baggage claim area is a very short walk away from your plane. They have car rental desks on-site. The drive to the Rathole-- er, Anaheim-- is easy: I-405 to CA-22 to I-5. Maybe five minutes longer than from SNA. Flying out of LGB is very, very easy (I've never spent more than 10 minutes in the queue to get through Security).

The problem with LAX is its size and complexity. But if it's the cheapest, and you can deal with longer check-in lines, what the hey. Car rentals are mostly off-site.

The others are right about suggesting an itinerary. Too little info to make recommendations. The LA metro area is huge, with thousands and thousands of possible things to do and see. What are your interests? And bear in mind that we're coastal desert; February is generally a cool month (daytime highs in the 60s are the rule).

I guess I don't know what I want to do and that was why I wasn't as specific. I do know I don't want to go to any other amusement parks - I just want to go to disney b/c it's the 50th anniversary. I'll be going with just my hubby. I love all things from entertainment to shopping to beaches to wine and history. I guess I feel a little overwhelmed b/c I've never been to California before.

Well, given the time of year, the weather probably won't be ideal, but the air will be clean and clear and there's fun to be had around here all year. I suppose you could split your time between Orange County sites and LA county sites and plan accordingly. In Orange County you can do Disney, check out the nicer beach communities, do power-shopping at South Coast Plaza and Fashion Island. Then you go up to LA county and hit well-known things like the Getty Center, the sights of Hollywood and Beverly Hills (plan on doing some real power-shopping there), Venice Beach (not as wild as during the summer, but the beach bums are there year-round), the drive up to Malibu, etc., etc., etc. If you want to hit the vineyards, Temecula and the Santa Ynez Valley are a day trip away. I recommend taking a good long visit to the Southern California sections of fodors.com to get a better idea of what your possibilities are. And they are practically endless. And available year-round. We slow down for a little rain, sure, but at least in the LA area we never have to contend with snow. Maybe an earthquake here and there....

Here's a clip from the previous poster:

MUSEUMS: LA County Museum of Art, MOCA, Huntington Library, Getty Center, Armand Hammer Collection, Norton Simon, Museum of Latin American Art, Laguna Beach Museum of Art, etc., etc., etc.

GALLERIES: Bergamot Station (Santa Monica), dozens of galleries in West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Laguna Beach, etc.

SHOPPING: Rodeo Drive, Beverly Center, Century City, Third Street Promenade (Santa Monica), Melrose Avenue, Fashion Island (Newport Beach), South Coast Plaza (Costa Mesa-- think Rodeo Drive, but indoors), etc., etc., etc.

ARCHITECTURE: Disney Hall, new Cathedral (I hate it-- call it "Our Lady of the Hideous Warehouse"), Downtown movie houses, Beverly Hills mansions (some beautiful, some monstrosities), etc., etc., etc.

BEACHES: Venice Beach (the freak show), Huntington Beach (the surfers), Laguna Beach (the sheer beauty), Santa Monica (the tacky pier), Hermosa Beach (the laid-back SoCal attitude), etc., etc., etc.

OTHER SIGHTS: Hollywood/Highland complex, Westwood Village (best when a movie is premièring), Graumann's Chinese (ditto), Queen Mary (ONLY if you feel like the Long Beach detour-- believe me, it's fine to skip if you're not into big historic ships), the views from Mulholland Drive.