Anyone ever been to Anaheim/LA?

[sedated_xtc]

Hey guys, I'm planning to take a trip down to see Disney/Universal/WB, etc but it looks liek I might be pretty tight on time (about 4 days). Would I be able to see all these and set a day aside for some outlet hopping? Anyone been and have some recommendations on which outlets to hit up? :):)

[gilboman]

Well, Universal is not really close to Anaheim. You can do Disneyland in a day (not including california adventure) if you go early in the morning and wait for the park to open. Check out Ridemax, works really well and accurate.

You may want to breakup your hotel stay so that you are in Anaheim for a couple of days and a couple of days near universal studios (burbank or sometimes culver city has cheaper rates). Then you can check out santa monica as well, definitely worth a visit.

Fashion Island/South Coast Plaza are well worth visiting as well, but not really outlets.

Have a great trip!

[sedated_xtc]

Well, Universal is not really close to Anaheim. You can do Disneyland in a day (not including california adventure) if you go early in the morning and wait for the park to open. Check out Ridemax, works really well and accurate.

You may want to breakup your hotel stay so that you are in Anaheim for a couple of days and a couple of days near universal studios (burbank or sometimes culver city has cheaper rates). Then you can check out santa monica as well, definitely worth a visit.

Fashion Island/South Coast Plaza are well worth visiting as well, but not really outlets.

Have a great trip!

Sweet! I was thinking about jsut staying in Anaheim and then getting a car rentall. But is that not worth it? On google, it says that it's jsut about a half hour drive from Anaheim to Universal studios and LA, but I'm not really sure exactly how traffic and stuff like that is.

[kpenney]

Sweet! I was thinking about jsut staying in Anaheim and then getting a car rentall. But is that not worth it? On google, it says that it's jsut about a half hour drive from Anaheim to Universal studios and LA, but I'm not really sure exactly how traffic and stuff like that is.It's about 40 miles from Anaheim to North Hollywood (Universal). If there was no traffic (i.e. middle of the night) you could do it in about 45 minutes. I'd count on at least double that time.

[reachedlegendary1]

Hey guys, I'm planning to take a trip down to see Disney/Universal/WB, etc but it looks liek I might be pretty tight on time (about 4 days). Would I be able to see all these and set a day aside for some outlet hopping? Anyone been and have some recommendations on which outlets to hit up? :):)

I didn't do much shopping when I was there as the only things I have done down there were business, and MRs.

[firetree]

just came back from LA for 4 days. Was visiting friend so the only places i went to was Universal studio, Walk of fame and a market which i forgot the name. I went the day after President's day and you should be able to see everything at the Studio in one day. If you go on weekday,you dont need to purchase 'Front of Line pass'. The traffic wasn't bad at all,though i suggest u to get a GPS coz Highways could get complicated.
They have shuttle to Universal Studio if you don't want to drive there.Think you pay around $30 for a round trip.
You can then spend a day at Disney and maybe a day at the beach.Then you have one day for shopping.
Have fun!

[gilboman]

Sweet! I was thinking about jsut staying in Anaheim and then getting a car rentall. But is that not worth it? On google, it says that it's jsut about a half hour drive from Anaheim to Universal studios and LA, but I'm not really sure exactly how traffic and stuff like that is.

I don't see any advantages to staying in Anaheim if you're going to goto Universal Studios and that side of LA. You definitely need a car rental in LA regardless of where you stay/go (unless you only do disney and live around there).

I don't recall ever being able to get from Anaheim to Burbank in half hour unless it's middle of the night and there was no construction going on. During the day/weekend (non rush hr), you could probably make it in a hr or just a bit over. make use of the carpool lanes for sure though!

[TrevorK]

Sweet! I was thinking about jsut staying in Anaheim and then getting a car rentall. But is that not worth it? On google, it says that it's jsut about a half hour drive from Anaheim to Universal studios and LA, but I'm not really sure exactly how traffic and stuff like that is.

When we went to Anaheim we just took a tour bus to universal studios (never had a rental car in Anaheim, and only had one in LA to go to the outlets since they are almost an hour away).

I would think 4 days is enough for Disney/Universal/WB, however it would depend on how much time you take at Disney. With the two theme parks there you could easily use up a lot of time waiting for rides and that. There is also a multi-attraction pass you might want to look into to see if that encompasses everything you want to visit.


If staying in Anaheim stay at a hotel right outside the Disney gates. We stayed at the Desert Inn & Suites and it was right outside, pretty nice location. The shuttles (Knots Berry farm, Universal, etc..) all pick you up right outside.

[yogilo]

We stayed in Best Western Anaheim for 4 days last September. The drive to Universal was over an hour. Horrible traffic to and fro.

I agree on taking a shuttle bus instead. Parking isn't cheap at Universal.

[firetree]

We stayed in Best Western Anaheim for 4 days last September. The drive to Universal was over an hour. Horrible traffic to and fro.

I agree on taking a shuttle bus instead. Parking isn't cheap at Universal.

if you are staying at Best Western,you better read my other post. I just got a $100 gift card from Best Western since i found a lower price on Priceline!

[doomhammer]

Hey guys, I'm planning to take a trip down to see Disney/Universal/WB, etc but it looks liek I might be pretty tight on time (about 4 days). Would I be able to see all these and set a day aside for some outlet hopping? Anyone been and have some recommendations on which outlets to hit up? :):)

Traffic in LA is murdaaaaa! There is Ontario Mills you can check out for outlet shopping but its way far from Anaheim/OC region. At least an hour NE from where you are going.

If you are into cool gadgety things then check out Frys electronics :D.. lots of locations.. there is one off the 91 freeway near Anaheim.

You can also go to Knotts Berry Farm. Also check out CPK, BJs, CheeseCake Factory for cool eats :D.

Oh and would be good if habla espanol ;) haha

[swifferman]

The traffic in LA is kind of weird. Never really became gridlock when I went but there's just traffic all the time. Coming back from Anaheim to LA at 1:45am there was traffic somehow. I think the drive from Disney back to Hollywood was about 1h20.

When I went this summer, I liked Disneyland heaps and bounds above Universal. Universal doesn't really have that many rides and a lot of them are those 3d shows with moving seats as opposed to actual rides that move. Since Disneyland is really 2 parks that are probably each bigger than Universal, I would suggest 2 days at Disney/Anaheim, 1 for shopping and 1 for sightseeing might be a nice way to break it up. That way you won't need to be concerned with going all the way up to Burbank.

Not sure what Warner Bros is. The lot tour? That might be kind of cool too!

[dutchca]

Was in Anaheim/LA in November.

Stay on Kaleta Street/Road. Very close to everything. Disney in a day is do-able, but we were a day and a half. That day would be a long day.

You can also get cheap Ducks tickets the of or before a game on Craigslist, just use the Anaheim CL site if that interests you.

We also did a lot of outlets/shopping centres. South Coast Plaza is a must -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Coast_Plaza

Citadel Outlets was good, the Block at Orange was also good as was Ontario Mills.

In order:

1) South Coast
2) Ontario Mills
3) Block at Orange
4) Citadel

LA traffic is a nightmare on the highways around the city, in-city roads were a bit better. Anaheim was pretty easy to get around in. It is about an hour (with little traffic) from Anaheim to LA.

Get a rental car and take a GPS. We never had one problem with finding an address or with driving directions. We would NEVER have been able to get around without a GPS.

[jadephoenixx]

Listen to everyone who says LA traffic is awful…they're telling the truth! If you do Disney, it'll take you the whole day and you'll probably be exhausted so it's a good idea to get a hotel closeby so you don't have to drive after a day of fun. Almost all the hotels in the Disney area have free shuttles and you can get a good hotel (Doubletree, Hilton,etc) on Priceline for $55-75 per night, especially if you're there mid-week.