Traveling to Disneyland About This Page:

[Disney Fan 101]

We are traveling to DL Grand California Resort using DVC pts. This will be our first trip to this location. We are flying into the airport late around 11:30 p.m. i decided to reserve a room at the Embassy suites for one night. I was wondering what would be the best method of traveling to disney. We would like to go to the parks for maybe 2 days and then travel to see different parts of california. We will be in california for about 9 days. I will be adding a couple of relaxing days so that this we seem like a vacation.
Looking for recommendations of places to see, eat and mode of transportation. We were thinking about renting a car, or picking a tour company to take us around. We are interest in keeping our cost low so any recommendations to help save time and money is appreciated.

Thanks for all you help.

Look forward to hearing from everyone. We are traveling March 31st.

[HeatherD]

I can't help on getting from the Embassy to DLR, since we drive from Las Vegas, but I recommend the following for "other things" to do:
- Tour of Hollywood (many recommend doing a company, rather than on your own)
- La Brea Tar Pits and Griffith Observatory
- Universal Studios/Knott's Berry Farm/Magic Mountain (any comb of these - Knott's is closest to DLR with Magic Mountain being a bit of a drive)
- Visit Newport Beach/Balboa, which is only 20 minutes or so from DLR - great beaches, very safe and Balboa Pier has a fun zone we enjoy (we stay on the beach every summer). This would be a great economical choice!

Have fun planning!

[Dave Marx]

Under the circumstances a car rental will be your best bet. Go to a site like Kayak.com to search for the best deal. You'll be amazed by the difference between the various rental rates.

There are so many places to see and things to do, that it's hard to make specific suggestions without knowing your interests. We cover a bunch of sights in our Disneyland guidebook, but that's only scratching the surface. San Diego is good for a few days all by itself. There's no end to the number of natural areas to visit, both by the coast and inland. Then there's Los Angeles/Hollywood... Yes, driving is almost a necessity.

[atriphan]

You must rent a car. First time California visitors do not realize how spread out things are and trust me, they are. Also, public transportation in California is laughable in most areas and almost impossible to use when switching cities.
As far as where to visit, make sure you visit a beach. Our favorite beach town by Disneyland is Huntington Beach, about 30 minutes from Disney. We love it here and there's a really cool pier/boardwalk, pro volleyball to watch, and nice waves for boogie boarding or surfing. If you want to make it a 3 day trip, then San Diego is the place to go, they also have great beaches and a lot to do. The San Diego zoo is also very cool and unique. Look into the Southern California passes if you are planning on doing a combination of Disneyland, Universal, Sea World and San Diego Zoo. You get tickets to all 4 and some pretty good savings and perks at most times of the year.
One last word of advice, regardless of what people tell you, stay in Southern California. Not that Northern California doesn't have awesome things too but for a 9 day trip, there's more than enough in S. Cali and the drive to N. Cali is much farther than you'd think.