Help me plan my 2017 SoCal trip!

luna99

Oh great. Now we've got a yeti. - Jamie from Mythb
Joined
Nov 14, 2006
Hello everyone! My name is Marci and I used to be on the forums all the time (mostly the podcast and WDW forums) but it's been many, many years since I've posted! I have continued to listen to the podcast though and now I need some help! I'm planning on going to the SoCal area in October of this year with my husband to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary. I want to make this a super special trip because this is our first big vacation we've been able to do since having kids (which we love)... and having some time alone just the two of us is such a rare thing for us! Our kids are 6 and 2 and autistic and we just have a lot going on.. so this trip is much needed!

Here are things we want to do:
Husband: Go to a museum, go to a beach, go to Venice beach. (he's not a big Disney fan like me)
Me: Go to Disneyland, hike to the Hollywood sign, go to Venice beach, go to lunch or just have drinks at Chateau Marmont, go to a raw/vegan restaurant, and visit Largo (the music/comedy venue - I believe it's in West Hollywood maybe?)

I also would really love to plan a dinner at Napa Rose for our anniversary as well.

We think we will have about 5 days in the LA area. Does that sound like enough? Should I push for 6? (I'd have to ok it with our babysitters. Oh, btw, we live in Upstate NY).

Where should we look at for a hotel? Is there anything central to all that? My husband really would rather just check into one hotel and not have to change. What about bed and breakfasts? We will be renting a car.

i'm super stoked about this trip! I went to DLR once in 2009 but haven't been back since. Husband says I can have ONE (ONE?!?) day at DLR but I'm going to see if I can push it to two.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I am also listening to the DL Dis Podcast to get some more info.

Thanks so much! Is there anything else in SoCAl that we just can't miss?
 
I suggest the Hollywood Celebrity Hotel in Hollywood. Easy trips from there to LACMA
and The Getty, to Largo, Marmont and Venice Beach. Very close to the Hollywood Sign.
For a B&B you can't get better than Hollywood B&B My parents stay there when they visit.
http://www.hollywoodbandb.com/

Both are about 30 miles from Disneyland.

Depending on how you travel five days may be enough or not nearly enough. If you like
to pop in, look around and then on to the next place you can get all this in. You can easily
spend a full day at the Getty and LACMA - or one day for both. You could start a day at
Venice ('though for east coasters sunset over the beach is unique) then over to Marmont
for a drink and then to Largo for the evening. One day could be a walk around Hollywood
then the Sign hike and some time at the Observatory (again sunset there is amazing!).

There are so many great vegan places in the area. Do you want upscale, casual, a place
that offers meat-free versions, Asian, Indian, Mediterranean, Italian...

Don't make yourself crazy on what you can't miss. If you spend 2 days at Disney that
leaves you with 3 days in the Los Angeles/Hollywood area. You will miss a LOT. You have
your wish-list - I say stick with that and spend a little time at each place.
 
Hello everyone! My name is Marci and I used to be on the forums all the time (mostly the podcast and WDW forums) but it's been many, many years since I've posted! I have continued to listen to the podcast though and now I need some help! I'm planning on going to the SoCal area in October of this year with my husband to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary. I want to make this a super special trip because this is our first big vacation we've been able to do since having kids (which we love)... and having some time alone just the two of us is such a rare thing for us! Our kids are 6 and 2 and autistic and we just have a lot going on.. so this trip is much needed!

Here are things we want to do:
Husband: Go to a museum, go to a beach, go to Venice beach. (he's not a big Disney fan like me)
Me: Go to Disneyland, hike to the Hollywood sign, go to Venice beach, go to lunch or just have drinks at Chateau Marmont, go to a raw/vegan restaurant, and visit Largo (the music/comedy venue - I believe it's in West Hollywood maybe?)

I also would really love to plan a dinner at Napa Rose for our anniversary as well.

We think we will have about 5 days in the LA area. Does that sound like enough? Should I push for 6? (I'd have to ok it with our babysitters. Oh, btw, we live in Upstate NY).

Where should we look at for a hotel? Is there anything central to all that? My husband really would rather just check into one hotel and not have to change. What about bed and breakfasts? We will be renting a car.

i'm super stoked about this trip! I went to DLR once in 2009 but haven't been back since. Husband says I can have ONE (ONE?!?) day at DLR but I'm going to see if I can push it to two.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I am also listening to the DL Dis Podcast to get some more info.

Thanks so much! Is there anything else in SoCAl that we just can't miss?

If you only do 1 day at DLR, I think 4 days is enough time, though of course more time is always better. You would probably eat at Napa Rose on your Disneyland day, so you would still have 4 full days for everything else.

As StageTek said, "the Getty" is probably the most famous museum in the area ("The Getty" usually means the Getty Center in LA, there is also a Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades), so that's probably the museum you want to go to.

When you say Venice Beach, and "a beach", you mean you want to go to a different beach other than Venice?

If you're really trying to maximize your time at Disneyland, ideally you would want to stay at a Disney hotel or a Good Neighbor Hotel within walking distance. It really takes a long time to park and go through security. When we stayed at Great Wolf Lodge about 2 miles away, it took about an hour to drive to the garage, park, get through security, etc.

Most of the other stuff you want to do appears to be around Hollywood

So, basically you're looking at:

Disneyland - 1 day
Venice Beach +/- another beach - 1 day
Getty - 1 day
Hollywood -2 or 3 days

I think I would try to stay around Disneyland for 1 night, then spend the rest of the time somewhere in/near Hollywood and drive to Venice and the Getty. Seems the most convenient for you. I've never actually stayed at a hotel around the Hollywood area, so I don't have any good recommendations for you unfortunately.
 
I suggest the Hollywood Celebrity Hotel in Hollywood. Easy trips from there to LACMA
and The Getty, to Largo, Marmont and Venice Beach. Very close to the Hollywood Sign.
For a B&B you can't get better than Hollywood B&B My parents stay there when they visit.
http://www.hollywoodbandb.com/

Both are about 30 miles from Disneyland.

Depending on how you travel five days may be enough or not nearly enough. If you like
to pop in, look around and then on to the next place you can get all this in. You can easily
spend a full day at the Getty and LACMA - or one day for both. You could start a day at
Venice ('though for east coasters sunset over the beach is unique) then over to Marmont
for a drink and then to Largo for the evening. One day could be a walk around Hollywood
then the Sign hike and some time at the Observatory (again sunset there is amazing!).

There are so many great vegan places in the area. Do you want upscale, casual, a place
that offers meat-free versions, Asian, Indian, Mediterranean, Italian...

Don't make yourself crazy on what you can't miss. If you spend 2 days at Disney that
leaves you with 3 days in the Los Angeles/Hollywood area. You will miss a LOT. You have
your wish-list - I say stick with that and spend a little time at each place.

thank you so much for all of your suggestions! especially the resort suggestions and the BandB! I will definitely look into them!
 


If you only do 1 day at DLR, I think 4 days is enough time, though of course more time is always better. You would probably eat at Napa Rose on your Disneyland day, so you would still have 4 full days for everything else.

As StageTek said, "the Getty" is probably the most famous museum in the area ("The Getty" usually means the Getty Center in LA, there is also a Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades), so that's probably the museum you want to go to.

When you say Venice Beach, and "a beach", you mean you want to go to a different beach other than Venice?

If you're really trying to maximize your time at Disneyland, ideally you would want to stay at a Disney hotel or a Good Neighbor Hotel within walking distance. It really takes a long time to park and go through security. When we stayed at Great Wolf Lodge about 2 miles away, it took about an hour to drive to the garage, park, get through security, etc.

Most of the other stuff you want to do appears to be around Hollywood

So, basically you're looking at:

Disneyland - 1 day
Venice Beach +/- another beach - 1 day
Getty - 1 day
Hollywood -2 or 3 days

I think I would try to stay around Disneyland for 1 night, then spend the rest of the time somewhere in/near Hollywood and drive to Venice and the Getty. Seems the most convenient for you. I've never actually stayed at a hotel around the Hollywood area, so I don't have any good recommendations for you unfortunately.

I think Venice beach would probably cover both that AND just the beach in general so that's good. I was thinking we'd probably end up at the Getty since it is the most well known and seems like a great museum. That will probably be all we do that day and then maybe dinner out somewhere that night I'm thinking. Maybe to the raw/vegan place if we can find one not too far away. I would LOVE to stay at a Disneyland resort hotel when we do our Disney day but not too sure if my husband wants to switch places during the trip. Thanks for all your help! I'm so excited!! :)
 

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