Holiday Trip To California

[disneylvr2]

I finally got my husband to commit to a vacation to California. I wanted to go in October, but he would only go this Christmas Holiday. That doesn't leave me very much time to plan. We'll get to California on 12/17 and leave 1/3/06 HELP!!! Here's a few questions to start with:

What are the must sees in calif with a 10 yr old DS?
What days would you experts use to go to Disney & CA?
(We are probably doing 4 days disney parks, & 1 day ea on seaworld, beach, legoland, downtown LA. Universal, Magic Mountain, Six Flags, Knotts & SD zoo.)
Which ones would you spend Christmas & New Years in?
Which ones are crazy crowded over the holidays, that we should hit earlier (The 17th)?
Money is definitely an object because we are going 10 months sooner than I had planned. I just joined the site and will be reading through all the threads for lots of ideas, but can anyone give me some direction on how to best schedule?

THX so much!!!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Click on the link for Other things to do when visiting Disneyland

Visit:
** Hollywood area & La Brea Tarpits
** Knotts at Christmastime is really nice, and be sure to visit Mrs. Knotts Restaurant for yummy chicken dinners
** San Juan Capistrano Mission
** If it's warm enough, rent bikes & ride on the strand by Redondo/Manhattan Beaches, or Newport Beach & take the ferry across to Balboa Island ($1 as of last year)

 

[disneylvr2]

I checked the link you suggested and got some great ideas!

Does DL do anything 'special' on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or New Year's? (I vaguely remember seeing Dick Clark switch to the celebration at Disneyland or Disney World in previous years.)