California Questions

[DisnIse]

Going to Cali next summer for the first time with kids (14, 9 and 9). I know we're going to do the Southern California Pass, but we want to do some more nature-type exploring. We thought about driving up to Big Sur, and it looks gorgeous (from all we've seen from Soarin') but I don't know if we want to travel that far. We only have a week, or maybe 8 days if we stretch it.

We're thinking Big Bear Lake and/or the Catalina Islands to do some outdoor adventures. Any input on which would be better? Or is there some place else that would be even better?

[mook3y]

Big Bear and Lake Arrowhead are pretty close to each other. Growing up, I spent a lot of time in both of these areas and it certainlly is worth the time.

My wife lived on Catalina Island and she endorses that as a must do! She is just a little partial there though.

However, the drive up 101 to Big Sur is breathtaking. You can make a vacation out of just travelling from LA to Big Sur on 101 with stops at Solvang, San Simeon (Hearst Castle) and seeing the missions in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara.

[mariak]

We just had a 10 day trip to California in August. Our nephew was married in San Diego but, before the wedding, we HAD to spend a few days up in Mouse Country. We also drove up to LA to pick up my mom and stepdad from the airport one day and did the Hollywood thing and we also visited Universal for a day as well. Needless to say, we did a lot of driving in CA. Just be prepared for a lot of stop and go. The traffic there is crazy!

Since you mentioned getting the City Pass, I thought I’d give you a little food for thought. We already had our Disney Premier Annual Passes so we had to purchase separate tickets to Universal Studios Hollywood. However, my mom and stepdad purchased the City Pass. We decided that, since we were only going to be there for a day, we wanted to get the most bang for our buck. We purchased the Front of the Line Pass and my mom and stepdad upgraded to it. In case you’re not familiar with it, it allows you to go to the front of the line once for each attraction. It was money well spent because with it, we were able to do EVERYTHING at least once with no wait.

After hearing such great reviews of the Transformers Ride, we used our Disney logic and decided to endure the 40 minute wait first thing in the morning and get on the ride without the pass first and use it for a second ride when the lines would be even longer. It was a wise decision. We were able to ride Transformers twice and our wait with the Front of the Line Pass was truly “front of the line”.

Anyway, if you’re going to spend a day at Universal, upgrading to Front of the Line is SOOOO worth it!

Have fun! :coaster:

Maria