Best place to but citypass online esp Aussie/Kiwis

Hi have been lurking and reading for the past couple of weeks, so much great info. Now have confirmed bookings through Aus travel agent for mid April at the Sheraton Anaheim for 9 nights. Have priced the city pass and it is much cheaper if we buy online at Disney or from Citypass. My question is where have others bought the pass? online or is it readily available from Hotels when we get there. Interested in hearing from other Aussies/Kiwis their experience.

Thanks in advance one very excited mama.

Best place to but citypass online esp Aussie/Kiwis

One big warning.

If you buy Citypass from Disneyland.com or the Universal Studios Hollywood website, you MUST go to that park as your first visit, as they will only issue you a voucher, and then you exchange the voucher for the actual booklet. The benefit, no shipping charge.

If you order from Citypass.com, they will send you the actual booklet, so you can go to any of the parks first. But the drawback is shipping fee.

So if you know your plans, and where you are staying (and it sounds like the Sheraton Anaheim), Disneyland.com will work, as you don%26#39;t have to go to the park the day you redemn the voucher, so you could do it the first day you arrive.

A question re Santa Monica & Venice Beach

I will be in LA in early August (from Australia). I am planning to visit the Santa Monica and Venice Beach area one day. I%26#39;m interested in shopping (chain and independent), arty stuff, photography, people watching etc. I was thinking of going to places like 3rd Street Promenade, Main St, Abbot Kinney Blvd, Bergamot Station and Pacific Park.

My friend has visited LA twice, the last being at least 10 years ago. She has been on bus tours and was ';stuck'; at Venice Beach for several hours as part of one tour. As a result she is not a fan of the area. She has suggested it is rather a dump, including the shops there, implying that spending a day in the area might be wasting my time.

Are her thoughts of SM and VB true or a misconception? Will I have enough to see and do in the area for a day? My friend and I do have different ideas about what to do on our holiday.

A question re Santa Monica %26amp; Venice Beach

Venice Beach is not for everyone ... it is artsy, edgy, gritty, and yes, a bit dumpy. It is perfect for people/performer-watching, shopping, and soaking up the LA vibe. In short, I think it%26#39;s a great place ... but then again, I grew up there.

A question re Santa Monica %26amp; Venice Beach

I prefer Santa Monica over Venice Beach. VB is full of tacky t-shirt and tattoo shops. The third street promenade is much nicer.

Venice and SM are next to one another. Venice is ';artsy'; and a little run down in place. On the other hand, SM is a major metropolitan center with high-rise office buldings, major shopping, etc.

There%26#39;s is no reason to be ';stuck'; in Venice when you can:

1. Take a 5-minute bus ride from Venice to SM.

2. Walk up the boardwalk (20 minutes) from Venice to SM.

You can also walk from the boardwalk to Abbot Kinney Ave with all kinds of artsy shops and restaurants(10 minute walk) In addition, do not miss out on the remaining Venice Canals, just walk the boardwalk to Venice Blvd, go north on Venice and make a right(south) when you see the canals.

It%26#39;s a beautiful, almost surreal and quiet area you can walk around and have some fun with the ducks in the area. Deffinatly worth the walk(10 min from Venice Blvd)

Last but not least, you can walk the boardwalk all the way to Washington Ave, the boardwalk turns into a beautiful residential area. On Washington between the boardwalk and Ocean are plenty of nice restaurants, you can stop for lunch and do a little people watching

There is a lot more to Venice Beach than just the Boardwalk, unfortunatly it is mostly overlooked by tourists

There is a big difference between the Venice Beach boardwalk which your friend is talking about (although it%26#39;s improved a lot with in the last 10 yrs) and hte areas you described that you want to see. Abbot Kinney, Main St, Promenade, and Montave Ave (shopping area in SM you should add to the list) would definitely be exactly what you%26#39;re looking for and they%26#39;re all upscale (unlike the boardwalk). Venice Beach boardwalk is grungy and artsy with a bunch of piercing places, tattoo shops, smoking shops, t-shirt shops, street vendors and performers etc. If you like the independent artsy scene, you%26#39;ll find it interesting regardless.

Montana Ave is not even close to Venice. Why you keep on confusing people?

Question was if you stuck on a tour in Venice Beach/Boardwalk and a previous visitor had a misconception of the area if there is enough to to do and make sure the op knows it is not a ';dump'; area.

So i gave them some excellent(in my opinion at least) alternatives they can walk to from the boardwalk and enjoy the area

No reason to take a taxi to go to Montana Ave when you get the same experience at Abbot Kinney.

Unlike the previous poster, i would like to see you why us locals actually like Venice Beach. You dont have to run to a different area to enjoy he where you actually are.

Let it be

(NOT Let it go! Actually a famous quote from ';The Wire';)

Thanks all. Based on your descriptions, I am interested in briefly visiting Venice Beach for people watching / photography. My only concern would be personal safety. Is it generally safe for a single woman (mid 30s) to walk around the Venice Beach area on her own DURING THE DAY? I don%26#39;t go wandering around at night.

It was my friend who described herself as being ';stuck'; at Venice Beach while she was on a bus tour. I will be making my own way there and will have most of the day to see both areas (if needed).

Perfectly Save, Venice Beach is visited by over 14 million people every year. It is one of the biggest tourist attractions in California. You dont need to worry at all

carson daly tickets help

on the 1iota.com website you can get tickets to carson daly, however there are both studio audience tickets and mini-concert tickets for the same day. Does anyone know how this works? The website says if you have studio audience tickets you also see the musical performance, so I%26#39;m wondering if the performer plays more songs for the mini concert (more than the one song that is on the show).

Does anyone know?

carson daly tickets help

If it is the same as Jimmy Kimmel than yes, the group who is performing for one song on the show will play multiple songs for the audience in attendance

Best western west hollywood v beverly hilton

Hi

We have our choice to these hotels,

Will have no car and not doing universal studios.

Would like to eat at various resteraunts steak,mexican etc,check out some live music.Rock,covers original etc.

During the day the usual hollywood tourist stuff.

We will in town for 3 nights in our early 40s.

We are open to other accomodation suggestions.

Cheers,

Pomlea

Best western west hollywood v beverly hilton

Stay at the Hilton if you want to take advantage of their free car service within 3 miles. That means that they can drive you to Sunset Strip where the Best Western Sunset Plaza is, along with a bunch of music venues, restaurants and shops, and to any other restaurant within 3 miles (there are tons). There are restaurants and shops in Beverly Hills as well, but if you want to be able to walk around in the evening in a happening area, then Sunset Strip is better (However, Best Western is not in the same class as the Hilton..you may want to consider the Grafton or Chamberlain West Hollywood instead).

';Hollywood sites'; consist of only a few blocks. It will take you 1-2 hrs to explore. No need to plan a whole day around it. Plan on going to Santa Monica for one of the days instead.

Best western west hollywood v beverly hilton

Nothing beats the Beverly Hilton for tourists visiting - great pool, great services, walk to shops in BH. But the WH BW is the best location for sightseeing, walking to cafes and bars and clubs - especially the live music along Sunset. If you want to see live music, stay at WH Best Western.

For walking, the Best Western on Sunset is the best option. there you have access to the very user-friendly buses that go east and west on Sunset, and you are only a few blocks from Santa Monica Blvd and even Melrose if you want more choices in restaurants and activities.

The Beverly Hilton is very nice but it is near a noisy intersection, and much of BH closes down at night. I would recommend that only if you want to more spend time at the hotel than seeing the city.

If you dont have a car, the Beverly Hilton is basically on an island by itself. Nothing in the area unless you walk about 10 blocks

Although they have a carservice(which looks good on paper but dont expect to have a personal driver at all times driving you to places, you have to request it and obey by there availability)

There are two major buslines outside the hotel(Santa Monica and Wilshire) that are running every couple of minutes

If you are looking for restaurants/touristy places/live music e.t.c. I would stick with the West Hollywood option

favorite lipstick

networking

Pacific Grove visit in June

My family is visiting CA in June, spending 4 or 5 days out near Yosemite, and they want to spend a couple days on the central coast. We were looking at Seabright and Pacific Grove. I don%26#39;t know much about the area. We found a house rental we like for a reasonable rate on 7th street in PG. Can anyone advise what there is to do and whether this is a good place to visit? There will be 4 adults and perhaps 2 children (11/14 yrs).

Pacific Grove visit in June

Pacific Grove is a lovely, quiet little town sandwiched between Monterey on one side and Carmel and Pebble Beach on the other. I think it%26#39;s an idea place to stay while visiting the area. Things to do:

1. The Monterey Bay Aquarium is world-class. You and your children would enjoy it very much.

2. Kayaking on the bay: www.adventuresbythesea.com

3. Hiking at Point Lobos State Reserve: 10 minutes south of Carmel on Hwy 1. Great trails overlooking the ocean and tidepools to explore.

4. More hiking in a very different sort of terrain at Garland Park in Carmel Valley (about 20 minutes from Carmel)

5. Drive half an hour north on Hwy 1 to Moss Landing and Elkhorn Slough--lots of wildlife to be seen. See www.elkhornslough.org for info on the slough and www.elkhornslough.com for info on the pontoon boat tour.

6. About 45 minutes north on Hwy 1 is Santa Cruz. Your kids would love the Beach Boardwalk: www.beachboardwalk.com

7. There are beautiful beaches (Carmel beach, Asilomar) to wander. Just keep in mind that June can be cool (60s) and foggy and that the ocean up here is very cold. This is not a place to come to bask in the sun and cool off in the water. For that, you%26#39;d need to go farther south.

This is an area full of beauty. Between here and Santa Cruz, there is more than enough to keep you and your children occupied for a few days.

Pacific Grove visit in June

Thank you, PG!

Outlet malls

Are there any outlet malls around Disneyland? Or close enough to shuttle or cab it?

Outlet malls

Not really, there are a couple of Outlet Stores at the Block of Orange, which is serviced by the ART system. But the vast majority of the stores in the block of Orange are of the normal variety.

www.simon.com/mall/default.aspx?ID=1236

And then the corner of Harbor and Orangethorpe is a major shopping location, basically strip malls with discount shops as part of the mix. (Located about 3 mile north of the DLR). A major outlet here is the Disney%26#39;s Character Warehouse, where they sell outdated park merchandise. The local bus service the area about every 15 minutes, route 43 goes up and down Harbor, $1.25 each way.

There is also the Anaheim Marketplace, which is an indoor swapmeet/flea market. They offer free shuttles from most hotels.

http://www.anaheimmarketplace.com/

Outlet malls

The closest outlet mall would be the Citadel Outlets, at Commerce. Commerce is an easy 20 minute drive by car on the I-5 from Anaheim, during off-peak hours. It is in between Anaheim and LA.

I don%26#39;t know about cabbing it, but there may be a tour that goes there? Check with GreyLine Tours, they might have a bus that goes there. (Just an idea, I don%26#39;t know for sure that they do.)

Thanks alot, I%26#39;ll definatly be checking these out!

Here%26#39;s a link to the Citadel outlet website:

http://www.citadeloutlets.com/

If you can%26#39;t find info anywhere else, maybe they could give you some info on any tour busses that may go there.

Also, you will love Steve and Barry%26#39;s at the Block at Orange. This is a huge store with clothing for the whole family. Their prices are unbelievable. They also have the largest collection of t-shirts I have ever seen. Some of them are absolutely outrageous. It is very easy to access using public transit.

Disney%26#39;s Character Warehouse gets mixed reviews here, but I think it%26#39;s great. We make a point of going there every time we visit Disney. I always find plenty of bargains there. The selection varies, because it is their clearing centre for last year%26#39;s merchandise. You can expect to find good bargains on things like t-shirts, ball caps, coffee mugs, pens, pins, key chains and things like that.

Personally, if I am looking for a souvenir with, say, Mickey Mouse on it, it doesn%26#39;t matter to me whether it%26#39;s this year%26#39;s merchandise or last year%26#39;s.

Traveling to Target from Disneyland

I wonder if anyone knows how many miles it is from Disneyland to the Target store. Is there a bus that you can catch from Disneyland and how much is the bus and is it just one bus? Thanks you%26#39;all

Traveling to Target from Disneyland

Actually there are 2 Targets near the DLR, one is about 3 miles North of the Resort area, at the Corner of Harbor and Orangethorpe. I prefer this one, since there are many other stores in the area, including a Costco, Disney%26#39;s Character Warehouse which sells outdated Park Merchandise and plenty more shops, plus a Henry%26#39;s Grocery if you want to stock up on some food and drink for your hotel room. Also some great place to eat, including In-n-Out Burger, a classic California eatery.

The other Target is located south of the DLR at Harbor and Chapman. Not much else to shop, but there is Joe%26#39;s Crab Shack, Coco%26#39;s, Outback and Red Robin at the same intersection.

The local bus, OCTA Route 43 goes up and down Harbor about every 15 minutes most of the day. $1.25 each way. The trip to Harbor and Orangethorpe is 3 miles, or about 20 miles by bus.

You can also take the 43 south to Chapman.

Traveling to Target from Disneyland

I%26#39;ve only ever been to the one down by Red Robin. Had no idea about the other one. As usual, thank you Darkbeer!

Thanks so much for the info. That is very helpful!

I think a lot of people miss the north Target, because it isn%26#39;t visible from Harbour. There is a shopping centre on the corner of Harbour and Orangethorpe (actually there is one on both the east and west sides of the intersection). The Target is ';around back';, on the west side of the shopping centre on the west side of Harbour. We found it by accident, when we were driving to Fullerton Harley Davidson.

I also like to drive to the north store, for all the reasons Darkbeer has already mentioned. If you haven%26#39;t tried an In-N-Out burger before, it%26#39;s worth the drive, just for a burger. The In-N-Out is just north of the intersection, on the east side of Harbour.