Anaheim Travel Forum

Hi again everyone, I was so impressed by everyones great response to my where to stay in Disneyland questions that I thought I would ask another one. Oh and by the way I think I have narrowed down the hotels to either the Peacock, Howard Johnson, Candy Cane Inn or Carousel, if anyone has any further suggestions I'm still researching!!! But onto my other question, we will be arriving in LA about 2pm on a Wednesday in Sept. and leave LAX on Sat 29th at 3.30pm allowing that we will have to be at the airport by midday any suggestions on the easiest and cheapest way to get to and from the above hotels in Anaheim (family of 2a & 2 c age 11 & 13) We will have 2 full days to 'do' Disneyland. Is there anyway either the afternoon we arrive or the morning that we leave that somehow we could see the big white Hollywwod sign on the hill - not close up just from a distance so my 13year old can take a photo. Bearing in mind we won't have a car. Is it somthing that is visible say on the trip between LAX and Anaheim? Showing my complete lack of geograhical knowledge here but cut me some slack - I am Australian after all!! Thnaks for any help, Michele

check this website: www.gocalifornia.com and type in transportation between LAX & Disneyland. There's also a Disney airport bus (can't miss it as it has all the Disney characters painted on it) that picks up @ LAX and goes straight to the Disneyland Hotel & I believe 2 other stops, however, it's $16 per person each way-all the hotels you're considering are within reasonable walking distance of the Disneyland Hotel.
A second option is to take the "Flyaway" bus @ LAX (about $3.00 per person one way, I believe)to Union Station in downtown L.A.-from there you can either take the Amtrak train (Surfliner) headed to San Diego (around $10 each way for adults, kids are cheaper)& get off @ the Anaheim train station, located on the parking lot of Angel Baseball Stadium. From there you can take a taxi to your hotel which isn't very far at all.
A third option is to take the commuter train called Metrolink, Orange County line, headed to its final destination of Oceanside but you will again get off @ the Anaheim station (it's about a half hour after you leave L.A.). The cost is less, you purchase tickets from a machine located in Union Station. Check out www.metrolinktrains.com
As for the Hollywood sign, that's an entire destination unto itself & not visible on the trip from LAX to Anaheim or vice-versa.
Assuming you will return by train to Union Station & "Flyaway" bus to LAX but wishing to see the Hollywood sign before heading to the airport, I would take the train to Union Station, go downstairs to the subway called the Red Line (check out www.mta.com)& take it to Hollywood, to the Hollywood/Highland exit. In addition to seeing the sign in the hills, you can also see the Kodak Theatre where the Academy Awards are held & Grauman's Chinese Theatre where the stars footprints are.
I suggest leaving early the morning you plan to return home via train from Anaheim in order to allow enough time to go to Hollywood to see the sign, etc.
Once you're done in Hollywood, jump back on the Red Line headed back to L.A. but exit @ the 7th Street Metro stop, & find the Green Line. Make sure you're headed in the direction of the airport. Once you arrive at the LAX stop, a free shuttle will transport you to your airline terminal.
Feel free to e-mail me: kidsolly@dslextreme.com
I live in Anaheim just under 2 miles from Disneyland so perhaps I can be of further assistance to you.
The Disneyland Resort area is pretty densly populated with hotels, motels & restaurants. Most are either across the street or down the street within walking distance of Disneyland & California Adventure.

Thank you, that was an incredibly detailed answer thank you for thaking so much time with it. I will have a look at all the options you suggested, the train bit seems a bit overwhelming, we don't use our public transport here in Australia and it is really small & simple so I don't know if we would be able to manage lots of changes etc but I will look into it. Maybe we should hire a car from the airport & drive to Hollywood and have a look before going onto Anaheim? or would that be even harder? what sort of distances are we talking here? I appreciate your advice.Michele

Hi Michele,

It is fairly easy to get around with a rental car in LA/Anaheim. It's not a "quick" drive (It would take about an hour to drive from Anaheim to Hollywood) but the freeways make things really easy and everything is well-marked in advance with big signs. We were there in December, and I was really nervous about driving in LA, but we found it really simple. Our drive from LAX to DL took about 40 minutes mid-day and midweek.

As far as hotels, I would go for the Candy Cane Inn. They are really well reviewed by travellers. They include a continental breakfast in their rates and it is much better than the muffins, cereal and coffee that you get at a lot of the other hotels as a free "breakfast". They have a free shuttle every half hour to and from DL so you won't need to worry about driving or parking at DL. The hotel is situated south of the resort on Harbour Blvd close to a Target (dept store) and if you have a car, it is a really quick drive from there to the Block at Orange, where you can find some great shopping and phenomenal deals. They have a nice pool at the Candy Cane, too.

You may want to check out my Anaheim page for some other ideas for your trip. I hope that helps and I hope you enjoy your trip.

- CG

Also: Keep your eyes open as you fly into LAX. You can often see the Hollywood sign from the plane as you approach LAX to land. You probably won't have time to get a photo, but at least you could say you saw it.

Thanks for your help CG, I am leaning towards the hire car although here in Australia we drive on the other side of the road so it will be a bit of an adventure! My husband & I spent a week in Hawaii a long time ago & hired a car but gave it back after the first day because we kept drifting over to the wrong side when we weren't concentrating!! We're a lot older & wiser? now so we're ready to have another crack at it. Thank you also for the Candy Cane info sounds good.This holiday is part of a 8 week round the world and DL is the 2nd last stop so we will either be seasoned travellers by then or else completely over it eiher way it will still be fun. Thanks again, Michele

Michelle, we were in Anaheim in May last year and we stayed at Crown-which was fantastic as it was directly opposite TARGET. Target had grocery's and chemist etc it was good to know if we needed anything we could just walk over and buy it close by as opposed to hiring a taxi to go shopping. Also, outside the hotel there were drivers who would take you anywhere you wanted to go in LA for a small fee. We hired one to take us INTO Beverly Hills for a private tour of all the celebrity homes (WOW)...this opposed to the expensive tours that don't take you to places you want to really see. (No tour buses allowed into the private roads of BV) he also took us to see the Hollywood sign and we went to the Chinese theatre to see all the kooky dressed up characters on the Hollywood walk of fame. The day was fabulous and we will remember it forever!
Also bear in mind where you are staying in Anaheim, most places are not close to major shops like Target, you might see convenienec stores and they are very expensive. We paid $32 US for a driver to take us to another major shopping centre where we shopped at Macy's , Nordstrums etc.(Now owned by Westfield). The restaurants are hit & miss. Do not miss the 'breakfast' restaurant in the Target complex...or a place called 'Buca did Beppo'nearby. We also had dinner at a great place called 'Joes Crab Shack'...shrimp, shrimp and even more shrimp. Take your own bottled water and sandwiches into Disneyland as the food there is very expensive. Also have 'breakfast with the Disney characters' while you are in the park. $125.00 for 2 adults and 3 kids but worth all the photos you get to take with your kids with there fave Disney characters. I also agree about the publ;ic transport being overwhelming- I came to this web-site before we left to get tips on how to get to Universal City walk from Anaheim (for a Wiggles concert) and with all the advice I was getting to hop on a bus/train- we ended up hiring a driver for a couple of hours. Well worth it- and you know you will get back to your hotel at a decent hour! Hope that helps Michelle.

Hi Michelle,

If you pop over to the Los angeles forum you'll see I asked the same question and got great replies.

You can get within 100yards (legally) by driving down a winding road (use google maps or google earth - search for "hollywood Sign"). Then the photo is the sign over your shoulder - prefect!

You can get ABOVE the sign on a bike - Trek to Mount Lee.

People do walk to the sign - it's illegal but the pix are great.

Search for "hollywood sign" on youtube.

Alternatively Griffith Park gives the standard views.

Personally, my daughter (10) and I are going in August for Option 1 - see my virtualtourist home page to see if we did it!

Paul

Thanks again to everyone for their help, I will be doing a fair bit more research (seems all I do lately!!) but it should pay off in the end, Thnaks again.
Michele