Having planned and taken a week-long family vacation to Southern California, I thought it might be helpful to share what we did so that others could use the info.
About us:
Family of five, parents in early forties with three boys ages 11, 13, and 16. We travel on a budget. For this trip, we decided to save in advance and not incur any debt. In the end, we were just $20.06 over our budget--not bad for a trip costing over $6k.
Where we went:
Disneyland & Disney California Adventure (3 days), Universal Studios, SeaWorld, and Newport Beach.
When we went:
June 24-30, 2012
How we went:
Traveled by air, rented a minivan for transportation, stayed in a hotel.
This is simply a recap of what we did with some thoughts on what we might have done differently had we known in advance what we know now. That's why you are reading this, right? This article details what worked, what didn't, and why. It may not be your cup of tea, so please don't assume this is a magic formula that will work for you. Also, things change quickly with regard to many of these details, so do your own verification of any and all facts noted here. The older this is, the less accurate, but you already knew that.
Also, this doesn't include reviews of the various rides since everyone has different tastes and different children.
PLANNING
Travel Agent (or not)
After deciding to go to southern California, I called Costco Travel to check into packages. I knew I had nearly 50,000 Alaska Air miles saved up, so I wanted to find out if they could work with that and get any tips I could about where we were going. The agent was very helpful in pointing out these things:
- Don't go too early in June, there could be nights where the Disney parks close early for special grad nights that may not be listed on their website.
- There was a new section of Disneyland (Cars Land) opening June 15.
- There is something called the Southern California CityPass which includes 3 Disney park hopper days, SeaWorld, and Universal Studios for less than just the 3-day park hopper pass direct from Disney. Even if you're only going to Disney, this is a better deal than the 3-day Disney pass. See chart below.
Hotel
Our philosophy about the hotel is this: we don't plan to spend a lot of time at the hotel while we are vacation--it isn't our destination. For this trip requirements were:
- Swimming pool
- In-room refrigerator and microwave
- Free breakfast
- Free parking
- Queen size beds
- Top 25% rating with TripAdvisor and/or 3.5 stars or better
- Proximity to Disneyland and/or a shuttle
- Ability to use or add to existing loyalty program membership
Narrowing our hotel requirements in advance made selection a little easier. We found Expedia's search tool to be the easiest to use for selecting specific amenities. Make sure you know your dates before you search.
In the end, we chose the Hampton Inn and Suites Santa Ana. You may have come here from my review of that property on TripAdvisor. While it was 11 miles from Disneyland, it worked very well for us. Some thoughts:
- It is slightly closer to SeaWorld--nice when returning late at night.
- The room wasn't huge but didn't feel cramped even with all five of us inside.
- I don't mind driving on the freeway in LA (we used our smart phones to navigate--I wouldn't attempt driving around without it!)
- Very close to John Wayne Santa Ana airport--handy for arrival and departure
- Having one bathroom worked OK, but next time we will consider one of the hotels with a suite having two bathrooms. Even with boys, it was a hassle. There was a common area hotel bathroom one floor below us that was used multiple times when someone couldn't wait and we were in a hurry to get going.
Rental Car
Because we drive a minivan at home, and we would have luggage plus five people, it seemed the best option. We rented from Budget. They allow reservation updates if you find better discount codes. While my corporate code is very good, the Costco code turned out to be the best, with a slightly lower rate and unlimited miles. Total rental cost turned out to be $446 for the week. Not bad for a van. It was a Toyota Sienna. Plenty of power on the freeway and decent mileage. We used about 23 gallons of fuel for the week. Remember to budget for fuel in addition to car rental.
Search retailmenot.com and elsewhere for codes. There are multiple codes, so you have to poke around a bit. We used code MUGZ023. If you think a standard or intermediate SUV would work, UUGZ039 or D464700 may be better codes for you. Try 'em all! If you only need a sedan, try Avis and search for a code--they were the cheapest and codes were all over the place.
Airfare
Check for specials. For us, the best deal was to buy a few miles to put me over the 50,000 mile mark. In essence we got one free round-trip ticket that way. We flew Alaska, buying our tickets direct online without the help of anyone "live" - they have a great system that is easy to use.
Also, baggage check fees. Gone are the days of free checked luggage on most carriers. And remember, you pay twice for a round-trip. Alaska is $20 per checked bag, each way, up to three bags. If you have a 4th bag to check ($50), you should probably stop here and reexamine your travel needs. Keep the weight under 50 lbs for checked bags, or you'll incur a lovely $50 fee each way! (Reminder: check these facts and figures with your airline's website, as they change and there are exceptions.)
Park Passes
As noted above, we opted to do the Southern California CityPass. Cost was $279.00 each (no tax for out of state buyers). There is an option to add the San Diego Zoo for $32 more. We opted to skip the zoo. We purchased in advance and the passes (which are like a credit card) were shipped to us.
Parking
Easily forgotten, parking fees can add up! Disney parks charge $15/day with in/out privileges. Universal is also $15. SeaWorld is $14.
Meals
Yes, we planned out our meal expenses. It might sound a little over the top, but it is much more relaxing to pay $90 (with tip) for dinner knowing that it was part of the planned cost. Our original plan called for:
- Breakfast - all free, in hotel.
- Lunch - one purchased each way in the airport, plus one purchased in SeaWorld. The rest would be made ourselves. See below.
- Dinner - six purchased plus one more expensive dinner at 2x the cost.
- Groceries - one trip for snacks and lunch items.
We also gave our boys a specific amount for souvenirs. It was up to them to budget as they wished. T-shirts generally cost around $25, sweatshirts are $50 or more. They each had $75 to spend and we reserved another $75 for ourselves.
The Book
Everyone told us about this book that is a guide to Disney and other parks called The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland 2012. They said it was so amazing and had a plan that helped them ride all the rides and minimize wait times. (Disney World, too.) We bought said book. It works. We are now among the ranks saying that it is worth the $10.31 Amazon wants for it ($17.99 retail.) Buy it. Not only is it helpful, it is a decent read and humorous too. Read it early. It will explain everything you could need to know, from fast passes to food to age-specific ratings for every ride.
The Apps
If you have an Android or iPhone, be sure to get the free apps for Disney, SeaWorld, and Universal Studios. Disney's app in particular is extremely useful in telling the current wait time for the ride and whether fast passes are available. It also lets you know if a ride is closed, which some do temporarily for the evening shows.
Other Stuff
For each of our boys we got athletic "sackpacks" for less than $10. They are lighter and smaller than a backpack, but big enough to hold a water bottle, snacks, and even a sweatshirt. Some include a zippered section for safely keeping a cell phone or small camera. These turned out to be highly useful on the trip.
Laundry - we have done laundry before when traveling, but this time packed with the expectation that we wouldn't bother with laundry. We were able to do so with 5 carry-ons (3 suitcases and 2 duffel bags) and one larger suitcase that we checked.
Call me a geek, but I actually put together a spreadsheet to keep track of my comparison shopping, budget, etc. My wife helped. Laugh all you want, it worked for us and we didn't incur any debt with our trip. Ha! Here is it, in all it's glory.
[Couldn't easily embed a spreadsheet, so here is a link to a PDF instead.]
SPREADSHEET
THE TRIP
We left knowing we had five days of adventure, but did not have a set plan for which park on which day. It worked well to talk with our kids and decide on the fly. Also, we had not originally planned to go to the beach, but it turned out to be a lot of fun and we're glad we did. Because the passes cost so much, the tendency is to want to wring out as much time in the parks as possible, but don't let it be so exhausting that you don't enjoy it. That said, here is what we ended up doing.
Day 1 - Travel
We had breakfast at home, lunch at the connection airport (90 minute layover), and dinner was ordered delivery to the hotel.
Mom and Dad took a quick trip to a nearby Super Target to stock up on snacks, lunch items, and a few supplies for the hotel room.
Day 2 - Disney California Adventure
We followed the signs from the freeway for parking directions and landed in the Toy Story outdoor lot. A bus transported us to the Disney plaza. As expected, the fee was $15 and included in/out privileges.
While our "park hopper" passes allowed us to go between parks, we opted to conquer just the one park this day. We used the book and got there right at opening. Our first ride (Soarin' Over California) had no line at all, which convinced even our jaded 16-year old that it was worth using the plan from the book.
Alert! Follow the book's recommendation to fast-pass Radiator Springs Racers ASAP. We didn't, and there were no passes left. You do NOT want to miss that ride. The wait for non-fast pass entry can exceed 3 hours! They make the line fun, but not that fun.
At mid-day, we drove back to the hotel for some down time. We had a picnic lunch at the hotel pool and the boys swam.
Refreshed, we returned to Disney (note: traffic was quite heavy on the freeway) and spent the rest of our day there and watched the World of Color show after dark. Amazing. We ate dinner inside California Adventure at a quick service place. We also purchased fresh sourdough in the shape of Mickey Mouse's head at the bread factory inside the park.
Note: It is now standard practice when entering any of these theme parks to have your bags searched. My camera bag, the boys' sackpacks, my wife's belt pack--all had to be opened and placed on the table. I assume they are looking for weapons? The search is usually very cursory and quick. They didn't question snacks or water bottles, and we did not attempt to hide them. Maybe if you had an entire picnic lunch there would be a problem, but peanuts and licorice were fine.
Day 3 - Universal Studios
We got a later start this day. We knew there was less to Universal than the other parks and thought an extra 90 minutes of sleep might be good. It was. Also, Tuesday is one of the least crowded days for Universal. I would hate to see it on a Saturday! On the way to Universal we took a little side trip to drive up Beachwood Drive to get a photo with the famous Hollywood sign.
Again, we used the tips in the book and thoroughly enjoyed all that Universal had to offer. We ate at a restaurant in Universal City Walk, which is outside the park and offers more options and wider price range than inside the park.
Universal isn't open as late as Disney, and we stayed until closing. The drive back to the hotel wasn't too bad.
Day 4 - Disneyland
We wanted to hit Disneyland early because our passes included one "magic morning" - unfortunately we didn't realize that it only was available on specific days, so we weren't able to do that. However, we were a little late in getting there and it worked out that we were right on time for the book's daily plan! They let us into the park early, but not into any of the lands until 8 AM. We were at the front of the throng. Note: people get a little...excited. The Disney staff asked us to WALK but when the ropes were taken away and they let us in, many people ran like crazed fans. We didn't, and the wait for our first ride was less than 20 minutes. Win.
Note: The book talks about entering the park at turnstile 13. That was not accurate in our experience--that turnstile was never opened.
Also, this time we didn't follow the signs from the freeway. Instead, we exited at Harbor Blvd and then took Ball Rd. to Disneyland Drive, the entrance to the parking garage. I recommend doing this because your vehicle is out of the sun and you get to ride the cool and very Disney tram to the park entrance. It was just as quick as using the Toy Story lot and bus.
Again at mid-day we returned to the hotel for a break and lunch. The trams (and buses) run all day so there's never much of a wait to get back to your vehicle. Getting into a garaged van that wasn't baking in the sun was nice. When we went back to the park we made sure to put sweatshirts in the boys' sackpacks because it was a bit chilly in the later evening. There were a few things mom and dad wanted to see, so the boys went to do their own thing. We met up for dinner in Tomorrow Land at about 8 PM and happened to be there for a really impressive Elvis impersonator's concert. (The kids asked why Elvis would be performing in Tomorrow Land. Good question. We enjoyed it anyway.) We then stayed for Fantasmic and the nightly fireworks show. Fun times!
Day 5 - SeaWorld
It was a 90+ minute drive to SeaWorld. We got a later start and arrived just before noon, but it worked out. Being rested trumped maximizing our time in the park. For meals, we opted to do the All Day Meal Plan offered in the park. For $29.99 per person, it is basically unlimited food at four different restaurants in the park. This is purchased right inside the park. They give you a wrist-band and you aren't supposed to share. The restaurants serve cafeteria-style but the food is surprisingly good and there are a lot of choices among the four places. The line can get pretty long but it goes quickly. I don't think SeaWorld came out ahead on that deal with our three boys who seem to be constantly ravenous.
We stayed through the last Shamu show. SeaWorld was fun, but did seem a bit more commercialized than I remember and the shows seemed shorter. The map and signage were confusing to us--we spent a lot of time backtracking and trying to find things. They need a better map.
Note: there is a reason they call it a "soak zone" and not a "splash zone" in the big show stadiums. You cannot believe the volume of water an orca whale can push with its tail. If you don't want to get absolutely drenched, avoid the soak zone. We saw people who seemed surprised that they got wet...what did they expect?
Day 6 - Newport Beach and Disney
The drive back from San Diego included a big slowdown for a border patrol check, plus we needed fuel, so the trip took about 2 hours, putting us in the hotel after midnight. Again opting to be rested, we slept in quite late on Day 6. The weather was beautiful and we were so close to the ocean, we couldn't resist the urge to visit the beach. The hotel is next to highway 55, which drives right into Newport Beach and Balboa Island, which has one of the nicer beaches in the area. (An alternate is Huntington Beach, aka "Surf City USA" which is only a short drive north up the coast from Newport Beach.) We snack-lunched on the way in the car (Disney sourdough!) and then spent the better part of the afternoon on the beach. There is public parking right on Balboa Island. Our boys played in the surf and confirmed that there are indeed "California girls" just like in the song (to them, Katy Perry and to me, the Beach Boys.)
After showering the saltwater off near Newport Pier, we headed to Disneyland, arriving late afternoon. We spent time there doing some of the things we either hadn't gotten to do or wanted to re-do. Then we went to check out Downtown Disney.
Not unlike Universal City Walk, Downtown Disney is an outdoor shopping mall that also has restaurants. But here the restaurants are mostly sit-down places which take more time and cost more. There is a LEGO store worth seeing if you haven't seen one before. There is also World of Disney, a gift shop so big I think it may have it's own mayor and city council. They have almost everything you can find anywhere within the parks themselves. By this time we were starving and decided to eat at the Rainforest Cafe. The food was good and the atmosphere was unique. The waiter was excellent and made the visit fun by exchanging riddles with us. Afterward, we boarded the monorail for transport back to Disneyland.
Having seen everything we wanted to at Disneyland, we hopped over to California Adventure with just an hour left before closing. Because we had missed the fast passes for Radiator Springs Racers on day 2, we thought maybe we could get on. The wait was still 180 minutes! But we noticed that the single-rider line was open, with a 35 minute wait. They will let people join the queue right up to closing time, so we went for it with just minutes to spare. The wait ended up being just 25 minutes! While we didn't get to ride together, we did get to experience the ride. It is not to be missed. I wish we would have jumped into the single rider line on day 2 - that is one ride that should be repeated a few times.
Day 7 - Travel
Not much to it--we returned the way we came.
SUMMARY
While we didn't follow our food plan exactly, we did keep track of the daily cost and managed to stay amazingly close to budget.
Opting to get rest was smart. We felt better, got along better, and were able to enjoy ourselves more.
While no one got fried, we did somewhat underestimate the intensity of the SoCal sunshine. Sunscreen and re-apply! Also, beware dehydration. It is easy to get dehydrated when you're having so much fun.
Reading this over, it seems like there's a big focus on food. Perhaps that is because it is such a big and variable part of the travel budget, or maybe it is just that with three growing and active boys, we're always trying to feed them.
Taking the unplanned side trip to the beach was well worth it. In fact, our next family vacation is likely to be somewhere on a beach, with a slower pace and more relaxation. The theme park vacation is something everyone should try to do at least once with their family. We thoroughly enjoyed and created a lot of great memories.
