Travelling Around California

[tarheelmjfan]

Here- click on this link http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-podcast/archives.htm and go to "March 25th" and click on the link "Amtrack to San Diego". This is a clip from the podcast that you can listen to (just through your computer without Itunes). This should maybe help.

On the note of Sf hotels- we also use priceline when we go to SF. We live right near Sf so we don't stay there often. But we have gotten Parc55 and other good hotels for 90-99 per night which is pretty good. We LOVE it for San Diego because we can pick Coastal 4 star and get pretty good hotels, but we only do it when we have a car in SD so it won't matter if we have to drive to our destinations since you can't get as picky with priceline. You can get good Priceline "name your own price" deals during comic con too. We have also gotten good flight/hotel/car package deals through travelocity and other booking sites for SD.

Good Luck, I hope you find something great!

Thanks for the link & the Priceline info. I really appreciate it. We stayed in Fisherman's Wharf last time. I wouldn't mind to stay somewhere else next time, but I don't want to stay at Union Square. Is there another area we should consider? If not, we'll probably stay at FW again.

For San Diego, we're looking at the Gaslamp, or Marina/Downtown area? Should we try PL for that? If so, when should we start bidding for a July 2010 trip? As you can see, I'm not that familiar with PL. I do know to check Better Bidding &/or Bidding For Travel, but I don't know when to start looking.

This year there were many hotels available from the Comicon site for around $200 a night. They offer single, double, triple, and quad rooms generally - I was looking to sleep 5 and got a $194 rate at a nice chain but not on the bus route. The close ones - as in next door like the Hard Rock-- are a LOT more. However - I heard the Hard Rock was where all the celebrities were staying and hanging around at the guest-only bar - so if you want to blow a bundle for one night, that could be wild. Robert Downey Jr and Keifer Sutherland were both in the bar area according to gossip.

Definitely try to get a hotel on the bus route or near the trolley. You can get parking if you get there before 8 or 9 - but it's at least $20. The buses fill up too - so it's actually best to pick the hotel furthest out on the bus route ( the first stop ). Sort of like WDW - the bus can be full by the time it gets to the close hotels.

As for Wed night - I only went once. Didn't think it was worth the extra hotel night.
If you kids are Sandman fans they may be in luck - Neil Gaiman (author) has been there the last few years. There will be comics panels - and those can be easier to get into. There are usually silver and golden age panel discussions with authors/artists from those days - cool stuff. It's mainly the exhibit hall that's mostly movies & games -- although artist's alley is full of very talented comic artists every year.

And for SanFrancisco - we've successfully pricelined several times there. I recommend sticking with 4 star, and Union Square and Nob Hill areas. We've gotten Stanford Court and the Hilton for $125. Depends on days of week, time of year, conventions, etc of course. Travelzoo gets good deals as well if you feel better knowing where you're going to stay.

The kids will be so excited to hear Neil Gaimon may be there. Thanks for the advice for going on Wed. I'll tell the kids Wed. night isn't that big of a deal. I'd rather spend that night at DLR.

We'd like to stay w/i walking distance to the Convention Center? What should I expect to pay & when should I start looking to book?

As for SF, as I noted above, we don't really want to stay in Union Square. We live in a big city & would rather stay somewhere that's unique to SF. I'll check out Nob Hill. We didn't even go there last time, so that would be someplace new.


PS: I'm sorry I'm such a pest. Hopefully, I'll get this figured out soon, & stop bugging all of you. Thanks for your patience.