LA Day trip

[TinkerbellinNY6]

Hello,

I am planning my trip to Disneyland in September and we are planning to take a day to maybe head to the beach, and see some sights in LA. Where do you recommend to see the Hollywood Sign? What beach would you recommend (Party of all Adults)? Is there any tours that you could recommend that may pick us up at Paradise Pier Resort as we will not have a rental?

Thanks!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

For the Hollywood Sign (which is on private property) you can go to the Griffith Observatory (a fun trip in itself) or visit the Hollywood & Highland shopping center (which has a photo op for the sign on an upper level). If you choose H&H, the Dolby Theater (home of the Oscar Ceremony) is there, Walk of Fame is out front, Chinese Theater is next door, Disney's El Capitan is across the street, Jimmy Kimmel tapes across the street, etc. Parking is validated -- ask at any shop or restaurant.
Do you want a beach near/nearish DLR? Look into Huntington, Newport, and Laguna.

 

[StageTek]

Is there any tours that you could recommend that may pick us up at Paradise Pier Resort as we will not have a rental?

Starline is a reputable company - there is one that covers beaches https://www.starlinetours.com/la-beaches-from-anaheim/
Anaheim Tour Co. offers a good tour to Hollywood - you'll see the Hollywood sights but not the beach.

 

[MagicalMicycles]

I normalky wouldn't recommend trying to make a trek all the way to the Hollywood sign (you cannot make it all the way up to it anyways) because the roads are windy and not great to navigate. Best bet is to go to the Observatory like some people have said. If I may make a suggestion for other sightseeing, I would head up to Dodger Stadium to get a great view of the LA skyline. I don't know of a whole lot of places that you wouldn't have to spend a couple of hours at. I don't sightsee here. I just go to places and spend time. My two recommendations for food are not fancy LA dining, but great resaurants that are very popular. Phillipe the Original is one of my favorite places to eat, plus, there are 3 great sights right by there: Olvera Street, Union Station and Chinatown. It is very close to Dodger Stadium so you can head there right after. Another is Andres, which is across the street from the Grove/Farmers' Market. Great Italian food there and then you can go shopping at the grove right after. Hope this helps. Prepare for traffic.

 

[EscalatorKid]

Griffith Observatory all the way. I had to park and hike up a hill a good way when I went, but the reward was a great view of nature on the way.

Not only do you get a view of the Hollywood sign, there's also a fantastic overlook of Los Angeles as well.

We ended up doing the entire walk of Fame (and dodging weirdos and junk hawkers) and also the Museum of Death.

I ended up going to Santa Monica beach because it was close and my sister wanted to check out a shop at the Third St Promenade. (Also saw Dee Snider in passing which made the metalhead kid in me beyond thrilled. I didn't bother him, but it was cool to just see him.)

I didn't do the tours, so I can't help you there. I got a rental because it was cheaper than an Uber and I could have flexibility.

 

[OhStuffandFluff]

How much would be reasonable to expect to accomplish or do in LA for one day? My family will be traveling to that area in July with myself, DH, and 3 kids (13,11,3). I was thinking of going to Santa Monica beach, Griffith Observatory and La Brea tar pits.

 

[heybets30]

We did a very eclectic trip 2 years back, having been to Socal so many times as a family, I’m always looking for new things to do. Here’s an LA trip we did:

My husband is a HUGE batman (adam west tv) fan, so we drove to Bronson Caves on the outskirts of Griffith Park and walked the EASY 1/4 mile from the lot to the cave, through the cave is a great view of the Hollywood sign! Not crowded, most people hit up other major canyons for hiking. This pkg is in a neighborhood of houses. Free pkg, free hike. No shade on the walk, I brought an umbrella to avoid sun.

We then drove to Pink’s hot dogs for lunch - kitschy, fun, decent dog (Not quite Chicago standard), but good. Plenty of street pkg/lot parking during week when we went. Few quarters needed for meters.

A trip to Hollywood & Higland followed - Sweet! Candy store is a must-visit with kids. Parents too go crazy in here. $7 make-your own chocolate bar is a great souvenir. There’s a fantastic view of the Hollywood sign here too. Dolby theater (we were there 2 days before oscars, so everything was alreDy set up). El Capitan, so much right there to quickly see. Almost free depending on how much candy you buy!

Then we hit up the La Brea Tar Pits. These are cool, but my kids weren’t that interested - never been “dinosaurs are SO cool” type of kids. We skipped the museum given their disinterest. Lots of outdoor exhibits (free), museum has a fee I think.

This was a relatively inexpensive day for us, I wanted to see what we could do as a family of 4 for under $100. We did it easily that day! Dinner was back at DL, so that wasn’t in our day budget!

 

[OhStuffandFluff]

We did a very eclectic trip 2 years back, having been to Socal so many times as a family, I’m always looking for new things to do. Here’s an LA trip we did:

My husband is a HUGE batman (adam west tv) fan, so we drove to Bronson Caves on the outskirts of Griffith Park and walked the EASY 1/4 mile from the lot to the cave, through the cave is a great view of the Hollywood sign! Not crowded, most people hit up other major canyons for hiking. This pkg is in a neighborhood of houses. Free pkg, free hike. No shade on the walk, I brought an umbrella to avoid sun.

We then drove to Pink’s hot dogs for lunch - kitschy, fun, decent dog (Not quite Chicago standard), but good. Plenty of street pkg/lot parking during week when we went. Few quarters needed for meters.

A trip to Hollywood & Higland followed - Sweet! Candy store is a must-visit with kids. Parents too go crazy in here. $7 make-your own chocolate bar is a great souvenir. There’s a fantastic view of the Hollywood sign here too. Dolby theater (we were there 2 days before oscars, so everything was alreDy set up). El Capitan, so much right there to quickly see. Almost free depending on how much candy you buy!

Then we hit up the La Brea Tar Pits. These are cool, but my kids weren’t that interested - never been “dinosaurs are SO cool” type of kids. We skipped the museum given their disinterest. Lots of outdoor exhibits (free), museum has a fee I think.

This was a relatively inexpensive day for us, I wanted to see what we could do as a family of 4 for under $100. We did it easily that day! Dinner was back at DL, so that wasn’t in our day budget!

This sounds so fun! My DS would love to check out the caves! Didn't know those were there! Thank you for that tidbit!

 

[MagicalMicycles]

How much would be reasonable to expect to accomplish or do in LA for one day? My family will be traveling to that area in July with myself, DH, and 3 kids (13,11,3). I was thinking of going to Santa Monica beach, Griffith Observatory and La Brea tar pits.

Personally, I wouldn't try to pack in a trip to the beach if you want to experience the other things. The time investement will be huge considering that is a very compact and very heavily trafficked area. Just stick to the Hollywood stuff. Since you are going to the Tar Pits, I will tell you what I like to tell everyone. Head north from there on Fairfax. When you reach 3rd (I think it's only technically one city block up) pull into the shopping center on the right. NOT THE GROVE/FARMER'S MARKET. The other one with the Whole Foods. There is an great restaurant there called Andre's. Great italian food, great spaghetti. It's my family's favorite restaurant. After you eat there, then go across the street to the Grove/Farmers Market for some shopping. I will warn you of course that parking in the areas you're trying to get to is very hard to come by. If you're going to the Observatory, head to the other Griffith Park areas like Travel Town and the LA Live Steamers. I'm sure you know Walt Disney had/has a great influence on those two places. I hope you get to have more fun as a visitor here than I do as a resident.

 

[oakleycat]

This sounds so fun! My DS would love to check out the caves! Didn't know those were there! Thank you for that tidbit!

The Observatory, Tar Pits and beach is a lot of jumping around (driving) for one day. I'd stick to the Observatory and some other things in the area. If you're interested in the Bronson caves, my boys' absolute favorite place is the Old Zoo at Griffith Park. It's an abandoned zoo from the 1930s and they can run around and explore the enclosures. It's only a short hike up from the carousel (which inspired Walt to build DL, so you might be interested in that as well). Mine are 9 & 11 so similar ages to yours. They were less than impressed with the caves, but I think they were expecting more "Batman"! They also like the Tar Pits as well as the Natural History Museum and CA Science Center.

 

[OhStuffandFluff]

The Observatory, Tar Pits and beach is a lot of jumping around (driving) for one day. I'd stick to the Observatory and some other things in the area. If you're interested in the Bronson caves, my boys' absolute favorite place is the Old Zoo at Griffith Park. It's an abandoned zoo from the 1930s and they can run around and explore the enclosures. It's only a short hike up from the carousel (which inspired Walt to build DL, so you might be interested in that as well). Mine are 9 & 11 so similar ages to yours. They were less than impressed with the caves, but I think they were expecting more "Batman"! They also like the Tar Pits as well as the Natural History Museum and CA Science Center.

Thank you for this advice!

 

[TinkerbellinNY6]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I am thinking we will get an uber to the Griffith Observatory for the Hollywood Sign, and then take another uber to Hollywood and Highland to do the Walk of Fame. depending on what others want to do may plan a stop just to walk on the beach as well.