Length of stay in Anaheim

I am travelling to Anaheim in Sept/Oct with my husband and three children, 10, 13, 14.

I am really confused!

We were planning to spend 14 nights in USA, ten nights in Anaheim, (hopefully at the Camelot Inn)however reading the length of time that others stay, I wonder if this is too long.

We want to go to DL and DL California, Universal studios, knots berry farm and do some shopping.

We would like to go to San Diego for the other 4 nights and take in the zoo and sea world and the spanish influenced culture.

Does anyone have any suggestions with regards to this plan?

Length of stay in Anaheim

Ten nights is Anaheim might be a bit much, how many days are you planning on spending in the two Disney parks? The other places are really one day trips. We usually do a 4 day hopper for DL and DCA, sometimes that is a bit much for some. We like to go slow and take breaks back at our hotel for swimming, etc. Maybe just do 8 in Anaheim and 6 in San Diego. We have spent 5 in San Deigo before. There is also Legoland in San Deigo which is fun.

Length of stay in Anaheim

I would say that 7 days would be quite enough. That way you could do a 4 day hopper pass at DL and DCA and have a day for Universal and Knotts and fill in with some shopping. You could also do 5 if you were willing to give up some DL, DCA time, but I%26#39;m thinking that if it is your first time, the four days would be great!

Have fun!

Just wanted to point out that while the people of Los Angeles have the utmost respect for the cities of San Diego and Anaheim, it is Los Angeles that is the second largest city in the U.S. Please don%26#39;t overlook us!! There are 100s of attractions for your family to enjoy here. Sadly, our Aussie friends, often, travel for 15+ hours across 3 time zones and end up visiting only amusement parks (none of which are in the city of L.A., btw).

Give yourself and your children the opportunity of learning about a different culture!! Join us in the LOS ANGELES FORUM (and click on our FAQs section -- at the top of our TOPIC LIST) or simply type in

THINGS TO DO WITH KIDS

in the SEARCH IN box below the second narrow green stripe (that you will find in the LOS ANGELES FORUM and click GO). Here are quick links to these 2 areas:

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g32655-i61-k179702…

http://tinyurl.com/5wd3rx

Have fun!

Wow, thanks everyone.

The parks are definately our focus, so from what you all have said, the 4 day pass would be ample for DL and DCA.

We are going for 3 weeks in Sept/Oct this year and have booked 10 nights at the Carousel Inn. I am buying us 5 day hopper passes off the Disney website (cheaper than the travel agents here). I figure it will be a long long time if ever we get back to USA, and Disneyland is the main focus of the trip for my family.

Anyhow we are staying 4 nights in Los Angles. 10 Anaheim and then the Grand Canyon and Vegas.

I figure with Anaheim, the first day by the time we get there from L.A.,we will just check everything out, so that brings u back to 9 days, and we dont want to rush through the parks, take our time see everything there is and do some stuff twice if we want, this will give us time to also visit some shopping places, and have some time out by the pool, without having to set the alarm every morning and rush, rush, rush. Everyone is different but it is nice to have some chill out time whilst on holidays.

This seems like a long time in Orange County. While there are many fun parks to see in this area, they can be quite exhausting day after day. If you are into relaxing, you%26#39;ll need to rent a car and supplant the OC theme parks with trips to the beach, especially Laguna Beach, about 45 mins from Anaheim. Or just have a really nice hotel pool to lay around.

I find San Diego County much more relaxing for this. While there are still lots of theme parks to visit (Legoland, San Diego Zoo, Wild Animal Park, Sea World) there is much more ';real life'; and history accessible to tourists. The whole San Diego area is accessible by public transit if you have the patience for it. The area is breathtakingly beautiful. Only small parts of Orange County has that beauty going for it! Spend some time hiking in Torrey Pines preserve, visiting the Scripps Aquarium in La Jolla, and learning to surf on La Jolla Shores beach. I assure you, your family will remember roller blading along the jaw-dropping scenery of Mission Bay or Pacific Beach (San Diego) much more than any theme park anywhere! And your out-of-pocket expenses will be mere dollars compared to those same theme-park mega dollars! Take more time in San Diego. Otherwise, you and your kids will probably arrive home exhausted, wishing they had more time to explore the beaches of Southern California. That is the true SoCal experience!! Enjoy it while you can!

For the theme park experience, the Southern California CityPass is a great bargain. Check it out and use it!

In the Sept/Oct hols we%26#39;re staying 9 nights in Anaheim - my DD, who will be 6, is not very fast at a lot of activites and needs rest between. We%26#39;re catching the lunch time flight home on the Thursday so that doesn%26#39;t count as a day!

We are spending 3 nights before in Las Vegas which will incorp Grand Canyon.

My plan is 4-5 non rushed days at Disneyland/DCA. A one day tour of Los Angeles. My daughter needs rest time.

I found a bus jump on/off tour of the beaches that we may do for a day. We will also wing it a bit depending on DD%26#39;s needs.

From my research on this and other boards (I%26#39;ll PM the main Disneyland forums to you) that most Aussies/Kiwis will spend 8-12 nights in Anaheim and use it as a base for their other adventures. It%26#39;s a lot easier than packing up and moving around, and we get to see the countryside. Having the one base gives us one less thing to think about.

We%26#39;re also coming from a different perspective in that generally the culture, sites, sounds, etc are very different. Shopping to the US%26#39;s everyday stores such as Macys and Bloomingdales could take a day! Also, as adults we have 4+ weeks annual leave per year, most people in the US have only the 2 weeks, not allowing for as much relaxation, and therefore needing a quicker holiday.

You will need rest time, especially as it may take 1 or 2 days to get your internal clock adjusted!

I%26#39;ve also found that US accom tends to run smaller than what we may be used to in Australia, so try to get a one bedroom suite or adjoining rooms if possible for the room.

Our family spent 9 days at Disneyland and DCA last September and loved every minute of it. We did everything at Disneyland and all the rides and attractions our kids were able to ride at DCA. Sept/Oct at Disneyland is a good time to go, just stay away from 3 day weekends (there is one at the beginning of Sept and one in October).

There is so much to do at both parks, we just took our time and did everything possible. We love to ride rides, so we must have went on Space Mountain (our official family ride)20-30 times. What is the fun of going to Disneyland and only riding the rides just once?

Anaheim is a nice place to stage your vacation from. We spent a day at Huntington Beach and came back and went to Disneyland at night. On previous trips, we took a bus tour to Universal for the day that worked out well.

I enjoyed our 9 days because we never felt rushed at all. If we wanted to stay at the parks and ride, we did, if we wanted to go back to the motel (we stayed at Hojo%26#39;s)and take a nap or hit the swimming pool, we did.

The only downside of staying 9 days is now on the next vacation, the kids want to stay 10 days!