skuttle
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2000
I searched this board often for tips on planning our days before we checked in at Disneyland, so thought I'd give a quick trip report in case it helps someone else. Trip included me, DH, and our three sons (14yo, 7yo and 5yo). We are WDW vets, so heading West was new for us.
We flew into LAX, arriving at 10:30am on a Friday morning. We didn't find LAX experience bad at all. I read so many horror stories, that I think I was expecting something way worse. We flew into LAX because it was direct and saved me $1000. We got our luggage and then went find the Avis shuttle for our rental car. Waited maybe 10 minutes for the shuttle to arrive.
Arrived at Avis and waited maybe 15-20 minutes to get our minivan, then we were off! We rented our car with Avis through Costco. We rented the car from the airport but we returned it in Anaheim off of Katella. I picked Avis because it had a later (4pm) return time or Sunday (some were 1pm, some weren't even open on Sunday). I booked it a few months in advance because I knew minivans may be hard to get.
We were starving at this point because, although 10:30am in LA, to us it was 12:30pm. We started making our way to Santa Monica and just stopped at the first place we saw on the way, which ended up being a McDonalds (which thrilled my 5yo because we never go to McDonalds and he loves it!). At least the toy was Incredible themed. It even had a playground, so we let the younger two kids run around a bit since our flight was 4 hours. Traffic wasn't bad at all.
SANTA MONICA
We made our way to Santa Monica. We spent the night at the Shore Hotel. When we arrived, our room wasn't quite ready yet (which I expected since we arrived around 1pm). We let them take our luggage, then we headed across the street to the Pier. Before checking out the pier, I had to at least touch the ocean, which I did.
We spent a few hours at the pier. We bought the wrist bands for the kids to ride as much as they wanted. Lines were minimal. Kids also played a few games. Around 3pm I received a text that our room was ready. We spent another hour or so at the pier, then returned to the Shore to check in.
The location of the Shore Hotel cannot be beat. And they gave us champagne at check in. The room we found a little cramped. There were five of us, and I expected our room to have a sofa bed based on what I booked, but it did not. They were able to bring in a rollaway, which was fine since we were only there for one night. We had a small balcony with a view of the pier/ocean, which was neat to see at night. For dinner we walked over to the 3rd Street promenade, which was fun. Lots of entertainment on the street. We ended up eating at a chicken and waffles place, which was pretty good. The hotel was comfortable and quiet for the one night we were there.
The next morning we were up early due to the two hour time difference and an early bedtime the night before. We found a Chic-fil-A for breakfast in Santa Monica before heading towards Hollywood.
BEVERLY HILLS/HOLLYWOOD
Saturday. We had tickets for the Dodgers game at 5:15pm, so we explored Beverly Hills/Hollywood area before the game. We left Santa Monica and drove through a couple of Beverly Hills neighborhoods, drove down Rodeo Drive, passed by the Museum of Art to see Urban Light, then made our way to Hollywood and Highland. We parked in the parking garage and made our way to the top for a view of the Hollywood sign. Walked down the Walk of Fame a bit, checked out the Chinese Theatre and the El Capitan. By this time our younger two were bored and hungry. We were going to grab a quick bite at California Pizza Kitchen in the shopping center, but it was closed for a special event, so we went to Hard Rock Cafe, which was fine. My oldest didn't like his burger and they took it off our bill when they saw he didn't eat it, so that was nice.
After lunch, DH wanted to drive through the Hollywood Hills, so we drove to Mulholland Drive. All five of us loved this. We made our way to a small observation deck with great views of the Hollywood sign and downtown LA. Not too crowded either. Every now and then a tour group would stop.
After Mulholland Drive, I called our downtown LA hotel to see if we could check in early and they said yes, so we headed downtown.
DOWNTOWN LA
We spend the night in LA at the Residence Inn at LA Live. Again, I read some horror stories about traffic, valet service, etc. DH stayed off the interstate and traffic to downtown wasn't bad at all. We checked into the Residence Inn around 3pm. Valet was quick, and we let them know we'd need the car in about an hour, so they left it nearby instead of going into the garage with it. Our room was huge and clean, and included a sofa bed and small kitchen (which we didn't need). We also had a view of the Hollywood sign.
We freshened up a bit, then left around 4pm to head to Dodger stadium. But first, our oldest wanted to drive by the Staples Center, which was just around the corner. So we did that, took a few pics, then headed to Dodger Stadium.
This was the most traffic we had all trip. I pre-purchased a parking pass so we wouldn't have to park too far. Tickets I got off of Stub Hub. We sat in the Loge section, right behind home plate. Loved our seat. All three kids enjoyed the game (I was worried about the younger two). After the game it didn't take us too long to get back to the hotel. We had a quiet, comfortable night's sleep. Free breakfast in the morning was great. Good variety and tons of seating.
After checking out, we drove a few blocks to see the Disney concert hall (DH is a music teacher).
CALIFORNIA SCIENCE CENTER
Sunday. On our way to Anaheim, we stopped at the California Science Center to see Endeavor. The museum itself is free, but you pay $5/person for an assigned time to see Endeavor. Our tickets were for 10:30am. Took us no time to get to the museum from our hotel.
Seeing Endeavor was really cool, but the rest of the museum well worth the visit. Tons of different exhibits, all with hands-on activities (and not too kiddie). We ate lunch here as well. We could have spent more time here, but rental car had to be returned by 4pm, so we left the museum at 2:00 or 2:30pm. On the way out we drove by the Coliseum and the soccer stadium. Neat to see such totally different stadiums next to each other.
Again, traffic was in our favor. Maybe because it was mid-afternoon on a Sunday. We made it to Disneyland with plenty of time to spare. We made a quick stop at a Neighborhood Walmart to get some bottled water and snacks. Then we checked into the Disneyland Hotel and our room was ready early, Yay! While I checked us in, DH drove down to Katella to return the rental and used Lyft to get back to the DLH.
Any questions, please ask. I stressed about our non-Disney days, especially where to stay and if we should do one central hotel or two, but we think it all worked out perfectly.
We flew into LAX, arriving at 10:30am on a Friday morning. We didn't find LAX experience bad at all. I read so many horror stories, that I think I was expecting something way worse. We flew into LAX because it was direct and saved me $1000. We got our luggage and then went find the Avis shuttle for our rental car. Waited maybe 10 minutes for the shuttle to arrive.
Arrived at Avis and waited maybe 15-20 minutes to get our minivan, then we were off! We rented our car with Avis through Costco. We rented the car from the airport but we returned it in Anaheim off of Katella. I picked Avis because it had a later (4pm) return time or Sunday (some were 1pm, some weren't even open on Sunday). I booked it a few months in advance because I knew minivans may be hard to get.
We were starving at this point because, although 10:30am in LA, to us it was 12:30pm. We started making our way to Santa Monica and just stopped at the first place we saw on the way, which ended up being a McDonalds (which thrilled my 5yo because we never go to McDonalds and he loves it!). At least the toy was Incredible themed. It even had a playground, so we let the younger two kids run around a bit since our flight was 4 hours. Traffic wasn't bad at all.
SANTA MONICA
We made our way to Santa Monica. We spent the night at the Shore Hotel. When we arrived, our room wasn't quite ready yet (which I expected since we arrived around 1pm). We let them take our luggage, then we headed across the street to the Pier. Before checking out the pier, I had to at least touch the ocean, which I did.
We spent a few hours at the pier. We bought the wrist bands for the kids to ride as much as they wanted. Lines were minimal. Kids also played a few games. Around 3pm I received a text that our room was ready. We spent another hour or so at the pier, then returned to the Shore to check in.The location of the Shore Hotel cannot be beat. And they gave us champagne at check in. The room we found a little cramped. There were five of us, and I expected our room to have a sofa bed based on what I booked, but it did not. They were able to bring in a rollaway, which was fine since we were only there for one night. We had a small balcony with a view of the pier/ocean, which was neat to see at night. For dinner we walked over to the 3rd Street promenade, which was fun. Lots of entertainment on the street. We ended up eating at a chicken and waffles place, which was pretty good. The hotel was comfortable and quiet for the one night we were there.
The next morning we were up early due to the two hour time difference and an early bedtime the night before. We found a Chic-fil-A for breakfast in Santa Monica before heading towards Hollywood.
BEVERLY HILLS/HOLLYWOOD
Saturday. We had tickets for the Dodgers game at 5:15pm, so we explored Beverly Hills/Hollywood area before the game. We left Santa Monica and drove through a couple of Beverly Hills neighborhoods, drove down Rodeo Drive, passed by the Museum of Art to see Urban Light, then made our way to Hollywood and Highland. We parked in the parking garage and made our way to the top for a view of the Hollywood sign. Walked down the Walk of Fame a bit, checked out the Chinese Theatre and the El Capitan. By this time our younger two were bored and hungry. We were going to grab a quick bite at California Pizza Kitchen in the shopping center, but it was closed for a special event, so we went to Hard Rock Cafe, which was fine. My oldest didn't like his burger and they took it off our bill when they saw he didn't eat it, so that was nice.
After lunch, DH wanted to drive through the Hollywood Hills, so we drove to Mulholland Drive. All five of us loved this. We made our way to a small observation deck with great views of the Hollywood sign and downtown LA. Not too crowded either. Every now and then a tour group would stop.
After Mulholland Drive, I called our downtown LA hotel to see if we could check in early and they said yes, so we headed downtown.
DOWNTOWN LA
We spend the night in LA at the Residence Inn at LA Live. Again, I read some horror stories about traffic, valet service, etc. DH stayed off the interstate and traffic to downtown wasn't bad at all. We checked into the Residence Inn around 3pm. Valet was quick, and we let them know we'd need the car in about an hour, so they left it nearby instead of going into the garage with it. Our room was huge and clean, and included a sofa bed and small kitchen (which we didn't need). We also had a view of the Hollywood sign.
We freshened up a bit, then left around 4pm to head to Dodger stadium. But first, our oldest wanted to drive by the Staples Center, which was just around the corner. So we did that, took a few pics, then headed to Dodger Stadium.
This was the most traffic we had all trip. I pre-purchased a parking pass so we wouldn't have to park too far. Tickets I got off of Stub Hub. We sat in the Loge section, right behind home plate. Loved our seat. All three kids enjoyed the game (I was worried about the younger two). After the game it didn't take us too long to get back to the hotel. We had a quiet, comfortable night's sleep. Free breakfast in the morning was great. Good variety and tons of seating.
After checking out, we drove a few blocks to see the Disney concert hall (DH is a music teacher).
CALIFORNIA SCIENCE CENTER
Sunday. On our way to Anaheim, we stopped at the California Science Center to see Endeavor. The museum itself is free, but you pay $5/person for an assigned time to see Endeavor. Our tickets were for 10:30am. Took us no time to get to the museum from our hotel.
Seeing Endeavor was really cool, but the rest of the museum well worth the visit. Tons of different exhibits, all with hands-on activities (and not too kiddie). We ate lunch here as well. We could have spent more time here, but rental car had to be returned by 4pm, so we left the museum at 2:00 or 2:30pm. On the way out we drove by the Coliseum and the soccer stadium. Neat to see such totally different stadiums next to each other.
Again, traffic was in our favor. Maybe because it was mid-afternoon on a Sunday. We made it to Disneyland with plenty of time to spare. We made a quick stop at a Neighborhood Walmart to get some bottled water and snacks. Then we checked into the Disneyland Hotel and our room was ready early, Yay! While I checked us in, DH drove down to Katella to return the rental and used Lyft to get back to the DLH.
Any questions, please ask. I stressed about our non-Disney days, especially where to stay and if we should do one central hotel or two, but we think it all worked out perfectly.
