collybabe24

Hi guys ive put a thread in the other forum but have had no response so was just wondering for those of you who moved back to the uk who flew via usa? we are hoping to stay in LA for 5 nights and visit disneyland but have no idea how to plan this or what kind of cost i'm looking at, would be grateful of any replies

TillyG

We haven't moved back to the UK (and not planning to) but we flew from the UK to LA to Sydney about a year ago and had about 7-8 days in Anaheim and had park tickets for 5 days, which worked really well.

We booked the accommodation through expedia.com.au and paid it in AUD at the time of booking rather than waiting until the end of the stay and paying in USD (and being subject to FX fluctuations). We stayed at the Howard Johnson place in Anaheim - it was really good. Rooms were big and clean and it has the funkiest swimming pool area - lots of fun!

It was also only about a 10min walk from the hotel to the Disneyland Parks. And on the way from the hotel there were loads of places to eat (incl a McDonalds which was handy for lunches). If you can help it, try not to eat in Disneyland itself as it's pretty pricey and not as nice as the places just outside.

Price-wise, the accommodation + the 5-day tickets (for 2 adults and 1 child) came to AUD 2152.94.

We then spent a further AUD 1103.13 of which AUD 765.49 was food for those 7-8 days. We also had about USD500.00 in cash too which was spent of bit and bobs, mainly water and snacks in the HoJo (there's a little shop there and you have a fridge, microwave & kettle in your room)

Before we went, we had pretty much budgetted AUD 100 per day for meals and most days came in around that. Breakfasts were more than we had planned at about USD 40.00 for the 3 of us (at IHOP normally), evening meals were around USD 40 for us too. And for lunches we often went to Macca's on the way back from the park for about USD 15 - 20.

Most days we left the park at lunchtime to have lunch and to go back to the hotel for a rest or play in the swimming pool. And then headed back to the park around 3-4pm for a couple of hours.

HTH a bit - sorry for waffling on LOL

penguinsix

Did you post in the USA board? It's a frequent question (what to do on a layover in LA).

If you have the time, have you considered seeing a bit more of the states? You could layover in LA, then off to San Fran or New York or Washington or some other major city. Depends how tight you are for time.

You could also go to Orlando and visit DisneyWorld (instead of DisneyLand) as DW is much bigger than the original in Los Angeles.

CPW

I have flown to Australia from the UK via Los Angeles, where we spent four days. Disneyland was the chief attraction, and we stayed Disneyland Hotel. There are other, more expensive hotels near Disneyland, but this one was fine, and the children especially enjoyed the rather massive pool. It is also possible to stay more cheaply further away from Disneyland itself, but then you're reliant on buses (or having hired a car), and this would be rather limiting I think.

We got a three-day pass, which worked very well because we didn't feel any compunction to spend the whole day at Disneyland, since we could come and go at will.

I would echo the comment above about eating in Disneyland: it's OK, but it can be pricey for what it is. We found some quite good eateries on the pedestrianised street between our hotel and Disneyland, including an Italian restaurant/pizzeria that made children very welcome without neglecting the needs of the grown-ups.

We hired a car for a day and went further afield, taking in a couple of the great museums in the Los Angeles area.

We organised the stay through the hotel, essentially, and I think we booked our three-day passes with them before arrival; certainly they were waiting for us at the hotel when we checked in, and we were handed them with our room keys. The flights we did separately: BA (London to Los Angeles) and Qantas (Los Angeles to Sydney), booked through our travel agent.

I must admit I can't remember the costs: it's a couple of years ago now. Nothing was cheap, I can say that. (I can look up the costs if you like.)

On the other hand, it is an experience and great fun was had by everyone: only the most cynical would fail to be entertained. (Having said that, I was surprised at the number of adults there unaccompanied by children, many of whom, it seemed, made pretty regular visits to Disneyand.)

PS: Our favourite ride was "Soarin' over California". I lost count of how many times we went on that one.

CPW

That depends in part on the time of year. Orlando is very sticky and rainy in the summer and early autumn.

TillyG

DH & I went on honeymoon to WaltDisneyWorld in Florida... as did one of my brothers for his honeymoon too LOL.

We loved Soarin' too - fantastic ride... especially when it was sticky hot outside (32c ish), so so cool in there!

alipally

I think that Colly is thinking of going to Disneyland in California, not Orlando, which is an altogether different affair.... (2 weeks isn't enough IMO!)
We flew to Oz via LA, did a week....

We didn't do Disney as we don't have kids, but we enjoyed the shopping aspect of it, and did some 'grown up' tours in LA which were interesting and entertaining.

And I have to say that breaking up the time difference really helped with the jet lag too.... (not sure how that will pan out on the return journey though!)

To my thinking the USA is always worth a visit even if only for the shopping aspect... Everything is just SOOOO cheap!

collybabe24

Thanks guys for all of ur replies really helped, i have been searching for flights etc and just flights we are talking $11000 which is quite steep lol, i just want a stopover to break the flight up and give the kids a break, will keep looking