Family Trip to California

[yesac519]

Hey guys.

My family wants to go to Calfornia this summer. Yeah im excited...But because i'm a theme park fanatic they are making me plan out what theme parks we want to go to...All I know is that its going to be in the area around Disneyland...is there any other parks and/or attractions near the O.C. area?

 

Thanks

 

Casey

[socalMAN123]

Disneyland Resort (I suggest staying there for three days to get on everything)

Knott's (at least one day is all you need)

Universal (I've never been there, so your on your own)

Magic Mountain (One day at least, two or three days if planning on riding all coasters)

Steal somebody's yellow pages and see what looks good

---Brent 8)

[X]

Knotts is 15 min away from Disneyland. One day is enough.

Universal Studios-Can get crowded, only credit is Revenge of the Mummy.

SFMM-1-2 days depending on crowds and how many coasters you want to do.

SFMW-Spend some time on the side of the park that doesn't look Six Flags.

PGA-You're on your own. Never been there.

Kevin"Hows Poltergeist"Bujold

[ShoubraStreet74]

If I were in your situation, I would definitely make going to Knott's Berry Farm and Magic Mountain a priority. Neither should require more than a day if you carefully plan which day you go, as to avoid crowds. In the summer, NEVER go on weekends, (The last time I went to SFMM was on a monday in the summer, and there were hardly any crowds)and call the park beforehand to make sure that all the rides will be open the next day. Disneyland and California Adventure are also fun too. Have Fun!

[tinkerbell]

Well the only parks I've been to in that area are Disneyland/California Adventure. You definately need at least 3 days there (2 at Disneyland, 1 at DCA, probably). We leave the park sometimes in the parts of the afternoon when it gets the most crowded and hot and go do something else, so we usually get the 4 or 5 day passes, but if you don't do that, I'm sure 3 days is enough. Try to avoid weekends there.

 

I've always wanted to go to Universal, but I don't know if it's actually worth going to. Same with Knott's and SFMM. I can't really help plan what to do at any of those places, but I would call ahead of time to Knott's and SFMM to see what will be closed, so you can better plan when to go there.

 

As far as other things to do, go to the beach! I remember the beaches in Socal being pretty nice, except for the fact that the water is cold (they can't be as cold as the beaches here in Norcal though). Also if you can, I would go to San Diego-yeah not very many theme parks, but it's still worth making a trip there in my opinion. Sorry I couldn't come up with very specific places to go to in Socal.

Edited October 10, 2005 by tinkerbell

[ParkTrips]

I was going to suggest a tour of the Van Nuys porn sets, but you are going with your family so........

 

(kidding, of course )

 

Do you think you could take the drive to San Diego and visit Sea World or the Zoo? They were both pretty good even if they don't have coasters.

 

Also try to visit the various beaches up and down the shoreline, there's a lot of cool places and even some wacky stuff! :shock:

[SonOfBeastSucks]

Adding on to that, I can help with the beaches! Santa Barbara... 100 miles north of LA but I loved it and had such a great time. Santa Monica is also very fun, the Third Street Promenade is a cool area to hang out at night and will probably be withen walking distance of the hotel you stay at, if it is in Santa Monica I mean. Malibu... didn't spend so much time there, just went for a surfing contest, but it was really fun and of course, a nice area. Lots of bugs on the beach though. As far as parks, SFMM blah blah KBF blah blah, the same as the other posts.

[WalrusMan]

Well, if you're going to be down south, then there's not much hope of coming up north. It's a 6 hour drive at least to PGA, so I'd allow at least 7 with kids, 8 to SFMW, 10 if you hit any kind of traffic. If it's an extended vacation I think it's worth it to ride Medusa, see the Marine World part of SFMW, ride Top Gun, and Hit the Boardwalk for some family fun.

 

If you do have the time and want to do les coastery stuff, hit Yosemite, 3 hours from PGA (overnight camp or lodge), or drive back down CA-1 instead of doing US-101 or I-5. Very scenic drive, one of the best coastal highways anywhere.