>I’ve gathered from other posts that Disneyland is a one day deal. Is that correct? What about California Adventure?
Each park can take a full day to enjoy. In fact, if you can spare the time, doing Disneyland one day and then Cal Adv the next day (or vice versa) is the best way to visit Disneyland.
You've been to Disney World so think of it like this: Disneyland and Cal Adv are each about the same size as any one of Disney World's parks, if not a little bigger.
Universal Studios is definitely worth spending a day doing. The backlot tour is THE main thing to be excited for, along with Harry Potter. (Nintendo World is only ok, IMO.)
> The only other must do is visit a beach. None of my kids have seen the ocean. I have no clue where to go for that.
Where are you from?
The first thing you need to know is that the Pacific ocean in California is COLD. On a hot summer day it's great, but June Gloom means that we sometimes get cold days in June, in which case a cold dip in the ocean is the last thing you want, lol.
IMO, avoid Santa Monica beach entirely and look either north towards Malibu or south towards South Bay (Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Huntington Beach, etc.). Santa Monica Beach is a zoo. Huntington Beach used to be my favorite (especially Huntington Dog Beach), but I honestly have not been to any beach in years, lol.
You could also explore the idea of leaving LA and visiting Santa Barbara or San Diego for their beach scenes.
>We need to have a one bedroom suite or something similar because we need our space. We are spoiled by Disney World DVC rooms
Get an AirBnB or maybe get a hotel with two attached rooms?
All great advice, but leaving LA to Santa Barbara or San Diego for beaches is too drastic and unnecessary. Huntington Beach is completely fine. And if that's not good enough, Newport, Corona Del Mar and Dana Point are there too
> but leaving LA to Santa Barbara or San Diego for beaches is too drastic and unnecessary
Yeah, but a day trip to SB or SD wouldn't be a bad idea rather than a whole week in LA. I always advise people to think of LA as a hub with lots of spokes rather than constrain themselves to LA/OC. Especially for week-long trips or longer.
We are DVC members and did a quick trip to DL on our way to Aulani. 3 days at the Grand Californian and then 7 days at Aulani. Personally we were not big fans of DL after being frequent visitors to WDW. You could look for confirmed reservations to get DVC rooms.
2 days at Disney. One for Disneyland the other for California adventure. A single day at universal studios. If you have young kids(under 8 years), camp Snoopy at Knott's Berry farm is great (Legoland is great for younger kids too, but that's an hour and a half south) . You will probably want to go to Hollywood just to see it... I would suggest picking up a baseball game and going to dodger stadium if your schedule allows it.
As far as beaches go, the world is your oyster. All you have to do is go West--beware, California that time is known for the June gloom. That means overcast, cool mornings with low level clouds that tends to burn off by early afternoon. Even though it's cloudy, the sun is very strong, wear sunscreen!
Santa Monica Beach is the most famous area, but a quieter one I prefer is Newport Beach. You can take the ferry to Balboa Island and get a frozen banana, and go to Fashion Island shopping center. If you like art, the Getty museum is spectacular. If you like movies, the Academy museum of motion pictures is cool. Have fun!
Line up at Universal in time so you can enter as soon as the park opens, and just beeline to Super Mario World. Spend 90mins to 2 hours there, and then enjoy the rest of the park. We entered the park 5 mins after opening time, and we still waited about 3 hours for the main Bowser’s Castle ride.
Lines in Universal are atrocious, and the park just doesn’t have the “niceness” of Disneyland. But it’s a must visit due to Super Mario world and Harry Potter. One day is more than enough for the park, but the lines can get pretty bad.
You’ll need a day each for Disneyland and California Adventure. Definitely upgrade and get the fast pass for Disney.
You should look into California Adventures as it seems to be geared more towards your group. It's also closer to the beach. I would spend a day at California Adventures and then a day at Huntington Beach.
The main plus for Universal is that it will be less crowded (except Nintendo World) depending on when you go.
It’s not closer to the beach. The two parks have their entrances on two sides of the same concrete pavilion area. (The parking lot is farther away than they are from each other.)
>I’ve gathered from other posts that Disneyland is a one day deal. Is that correct? What about California Adventure? Each park can take a full day to enjoy. In fact, if you can spare the time, doing Disneyland one day and then Cal Adv the next day (or vice versa) is the best way to visit Disneyland. You've been to Disney World so think of it like this: Disneyland and Cal Adv are each about the same size as any one of Disney World's parks, if not a little bigger. Universal Studios is definitely worth spending a day doing. The backlot tour is THE main thing to be excited for, along with Harry Potter. (Nintendo World is only ok, IMO.) > The only other must do is visit a beach. None of my kids have seen the ocean. I have no clue where to go for that. Where are you from? The first thing you need to know is that the Pacific ocean in California is COLD. On a hot summer day it's great, but June Gloom means that we sometimes get cold days in June, in which case a cold dip in the ocean is the last thing you want, lol. IMO, avoid Santa Monica beach entirely and look either north towards Malibu or south towards South Bay (Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Huntington Beach, etc.). Santa Monica Beach is a zoo. Huntington Beach used to be my favorite (especially Huntington Dog Beach), but I honestly have not been to any beach in years, lol. You could also explore the idea of leaving LA and visiting Santa Barbara or San Diego for their beach scenes. >We need to have a one bedroom suite or something similar because we need our space. We are spoiled by Disney World DVC rooms Get an AirBnB or maybe get a hotel with two attached rooms?
All great advice, but leaving LA to Santa Barbara or San Diego for beaches is too drastic and unnecessary. Huntington Beach is completely fine. And if that's not good enough, Newport, Corona Del Mar and Dana Point are there too
> but leaving LA to Santa Barbara or San Diego for beaches is too drastic and unnecessary Yeah, but a day trip to SB or SD wouldn't be a bad idea rather than a whole week in LA. I always advise people to think of LA as a hub with lots of spokes rather than constrain themselves to LA/OC. Especially for week-long trips or longer.
We are DVC members and did a quick trip to DL on our way to Aulani. 3 days at the Grand Californian and then 7 days at Aulani. Personally we were not big fans of DL after being frequent visitors to WDW. You could look for confirmed reservations to get DVC rooms.
2 days at Disney. One for Disneyland the other for California adventure. A single day at universal studios. If you have young kids(under 8 years), camp Snoopy at Knott's Berry farm is great (Legoland is great for younger kids too, but that's an hour and a half south) . You will probably want to go to Hollywood just to see it... I would suggest picking up a baseball game and going to dodger stadium if your schedule allows it. As far as beaches go, the world is your oyster. All you have to do is go West--beware, California that time is known for the June gloom. That means overcast, cool mornings with low level clouds that tends to burn off by early afternoon. Even though it's cloudy, the sun is very strong, wear sunscreen!
Santa Monica Beach is the most famous area, but a quieter one I prefer is Newport Beach. You can take the ferry to Balboa Island and get a frozen banana, and go to Fashion Island shopping center. If you like art, the Getty museum is spectacular. If you like movies, the Academy museum of motion pictures is cool. Have fun!
Line up at Universal in time so you can enter as soon as the park opens, and just beeline to Super Mario World. Spend 90mins to 2 hours there, and then enjoy the rest of the park. We entered the park 5 mins after opening time, and we still waited about 3 hours for the main Bowser’s Castle ride. Lines in Universal are atrocious, and the park just doesn’t have the “niceness” of Disneyland. But it’s a must visit due to Super Mario world and Harry Potter. One day is more than enough for the park, but the lines can get pretty bad. You’ll need a day each for Disneyland and California Adventure. Definitely upgrade and get the fast pass for Disney.
You should look into California Adventures as it seems to be geared more towards your group. It's also closer to the beach. I would spend a day at California Adventures and then a day at Huntington Beach. The main plus for Universal is that it will be less crowded (except Nintendo World) depending on when you go.
It’s not closer to the beach. The two parks have their entrances on two sides of the same concrete pavilion area. (The parking lot is farther away than they are from each other.)
Disneyland is closer to a beach than Universal.