LA in December

We went in November 2015. 1 day at Universal was enough time for us to do everything in the park but if you are considering the greyline tour there is not really enough time to do citywalk. We stayed in Anaheim for our whole trip and did day trips from there for everything else and this worked well for us. I felt totally safe walking to and from our hotel on Harbor blvd to the parks, Downtown disney and Anaheim Garden walk even at midnight as it is all well lit and as previous poster said always plenty of people about even late at night.
 
Thank you waydownunder. We want to do Universal, warner bros, the space centre etc so I am starting to think we should stay part of the time in LA. I was thinking Burbank or around Universal studios. We would just need more local transportation then . Does anyone have experience with Uber? Can they accomodate 5 people in some cars? I'm trying to decide which way to go. The expense will be similar when you take into account needing bus rides 3 of the days from Anaheim if we stay there the whole time.
 
Thank you waydownunder. We want to do Universal, warner bros, the space centre etc so I am starting to think we should stay part of the time in LA. I was thinking Burbank or around Universal studios. We would just need more local transportation then . Does anyone have experience with Uber? Can they accomodate 5 people in some cars? I'm trying to decide which way to go. The expense will be similar when you take into account needing bus rides 3 of the days from Anaheim if we stay there the whole time.

You can use Uber XL or UberSUV which shoudl be able to habndle 5 pax .

We stayed at Hollywood (Loews) and caught subway ( from memory 10-15mins) to Universal. Very easy.
 
We used UberSUV when we were in LA and we had 3 adults and two children. When it was just my daughters and I, we used UberXL. Cars would arrive very quickly.
 


Thanks Iffam and Montanabel. So Iffam you felt safe staying in Hollywood and catching the subway?
 
Thanks Iffam and Montanabel. So Iffam you felt safe staying in Hollywood and catching the subway?

Yes no problem with safety at Loews Hollywood. Hollywood boulevard gets pretty full of tourist traffic from about 11am onwards but there was never an issue of feeling unsafe for us. Just a bit over all the spruickers trying to get you to take their Cd's or tours or a photos with some super hero characters and ever some pretty rough looking Mickey & Minnies!.
 
Well it is getting very exciting, although working on this is not getting much housework done :)
Our plane for home leaves at 10pm and I gather we check out at 11am. What do people do for that time with their luggage?
Same problem on the day we travel from our accomodation in LA to our accomodation in Anaheim. Will hotels mind your luggage? I don't mind paying? Any suggestions what to do on that last day? What time would we need to leave Anaheim to get to the plane? Is it 2 hours before departure? Or 3 for international in Australia now.
 


Well it is getting very exciting, although working on this is not getting much housework done :)
Our plane for home leaves at 10pm and I gather we check out at 11am. What do people do for that time with their luggage?
Same problem on the day we travel from our accomodation in LA to our accomodation in Anaheim. Will hotels mind your luggage? I don't mind paying? Any suggestions what to do on that last day? What time would we need to leave Anaheim to get to the plane? Is it 2 hours before departure? Or 3 for international in Australia now.

Most hotels will store your luggage at no cost.

When coming into LA, we normally book the hotel from the evening before. Only one time we did not. While it might seem a waste, I can tell you that it can be a godsend being able to arrive and go to your room straight away to either freshen up or rest a bit if you don't feel up to hitting the parks right away or even if you do it can still be great to just have a place to settle in before you go to the park. While you may feel great at 8:30am when you arrive at Anaheim, if you start to waiver at lunch time, like we did in 2015 when we didn't book from the night before , the wait between then and a 4pm check-in can be a real drag. After that I swore I'd always revert to our booking the night before.

At the departure end, we also choose to book for the extra night, that way we can make good use of the last day but still have a room to crash in the later afternoon / early evening. We left Disneyland at 8:30pm for our 11:30 flight.
 
We have been lucky in that our Anaheim hotel has always let us check in early. One year we got there at 8.30am, and they still gave us the keys to the room even thought check in was at 3pm - they even invited us to go to the breakfast room and help ourselves to the buffet breakfast. I always email in advance and advise we will be arriving early due to the timing of our international flight (doesn't hurt to remind them you have just flown 14+ hours to get there) and they have been expected us with a room allocated.

This time we might not be so lucky, given we will be there in mid December. I expect the Hotel will be very full. As Iffam mentioned, most hotels will store your luggage for no cost, which will be my fall back position. But Iffam does raise a very valid point, and for some families, booking in that night before to guarantee you have a room when you arrive might be worth the piece of mind of knowing your family can have a rest when they arrive.

When we leave we check out at the regular time (although our hotel and I think a couple of others offer a late checkout for an additional fee), store our luggage at the hotel (no cost), go to Disneyland for the day, come back around 6pm to met our transport who takes us to LAX for 10.30pm flight.
 
We have been lucky in that our Anaheim hotel has always let us check in early. One year we got there at 8.30am, and they still gave us the keys to the room even thought check in was at 3pm - they even invited us to go to the breakfast room and help ourselves to the buffet breakfast. I always email in advance and advise we will be arriving early due to the timing of our international flight (doesn't hurt to remind them you have just flown 14+ hours to get there) and they have been expected us with a room allocated.

This time we might not be so lucky, given we will be there in mid December. I expect the Hotel will be very full. As Iffam mentioned, most hotels will store your luggage for no cost, which will be my fall back position. But Iffam does raise a very valid point, and for some families, booking in that night before to guarantee you have a room when you arrive might be worth the piece of mind of knowing your family can have a rest when they arrive.

When we leave we check out at the regular time (although our hotel and I think a couple of others offer a late checkout for an additional fee), store our luggage at the hotel (no cost), go to Disneyland for the day, come back around 6pm to met our transport who takes us to LAX for 10.30pm flight.

I have read quite a few people who have had the hotel let them check in as soon as they arrive, which is great when that happens, saves a bit of money and gives you access early. Of course it's all about availability , sometimes you win, sometimes you don't. Good luck for December :)
 
Yeh agree with the luck bit, but saying that when we arrived 16th Dec, we got to the Camelot Inn around 7.30am, was first plane to land and straight thru immigration & customs & only ones on the shuttle bus!
The guy at checkin said, I know that's a long flight from Sydney, so I can let u check in now, didn't even ask.
But that is the only time it happened out of 3 times staying in Anaheim, the other visits we stayed at Fairfield Inn & Carousel Inn.
Iffan are u doing a trip report from your latest visit, really enjoy reading your reports.:drinking:
 
I have read quite a few people who have had the hotel let them check in as soon as they arrive, which is great when that happens, saves a bit of money and gives you access early. Of course it's all about availability , sometimes you win, sometimes you don't. Good luck for December :)

Thanks Iffam - I'll think I'll need it!
Looking forward to hearing about your last trip (hint hint :D)
 
Hi everyone, We would like to do Universal, warner bros studio tour, IMAX and science centre etc. Do you suggest the GO LA pass or just buy tickets at each place?
 
That's a really good question. Last year I bought separate tickets for Universal and Warner Bros Studio Tour. When I booked the tickets directly with Warner Bros, it allowed me to select what date and time we wanted to do the tour. This year I have bought the GO LA pass (2 day) as I want to do a couple of different things, plus the Warner Bros tour and it looks like the LA GO card would save us a bit of money. The one thing is, I haven't figured out how to book a date/time to go on the Warner Bros tour via the Go LA pass... I have been meaning to email Warner Bros or GO LA and find out how I do that. I am a bit worried they will tell me that we just turn up at Warner Bros on our preferred day and get allocated to the first available tour. Not particularly keen on that idea.....
 
Ok yes as we are only going for quick trip I'd need to make sure we could lock in a day and time for Warner Bros. Thanks Montanbel.
 
Good news @Sombra, I emailed Warner Bros and explained I had purchased the Go LA card and asked how do I book a date/time for a tour without purchasing from their website and they provided me with their call center phone number to book in. If calling wasn't an option, they said I could advise by return email of what date/time we wanted and how many people (and if we want the English or Spanish tour) and they would book us in. Happy about that!
 

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