Hey everyone-

So we are heading to the Happiest Place this coming Saturday through Wednesday. I know this may be inconceivable, but I am worried that my parents might not want to spend all 5 days through the week at DLR/DCA. Do people have recommendations for other things in the area for us/my parents to do? Knott's Berry Farm probably would be out since I think they would want to get away from the theme/amusement park experience. My dad was asking what more there was to do in Anaheim so I stated I would come on here and ask all my friends.

Any thoughts? Is it worth it to rent a car for 5 days and thus also solve the Disneyland Express vs shared van ride question?

Thanks all!!

Cool Runnings
Doc

Well it depends if you/they have seen much of the LA area. If not you could rent a car for 1 day. Suggestions would be drive along the coast to Long Beach, attend a TV show taping or of course, Universal. I know, it's not Disney but if they are tired of Disney that would be the point. It's different enough to be entertaining (it's more shows then rides) and won't take all day, so you can visit Hollywood area too.

I'm not aware of much else interesting close to Anaheim, we'll see what others say.

We just had my in-laws with us for 8 days at DL. They did a nice dinner by themselves at DTD, and we took an afternoon off to do Medieval Times. We also had dinner all together at Jazz Kitchen and RainForest Cafe, which they liked because it wasn't Disney.
We also sent them back to the hotel to take a break every day, took card games along to play in the evening and let them sleep in a few days while we took off for our 2 Magical Mornings. They seemed okay and they are definitely NOT theme park people!

Medieval Times was cool!! Thats where we went last year since we didn't want to sit around in the hotel! :~D

My dad was asking what more there was to do in Anaheim so I stated I would come on here and ask all my friends.

The Nixon Library is in Yorba Linda if a Museum/History/Presidential Library experience might interest them. You'd probably need a rental car to get there. The San Juan Capistrano Mission would be another 'car trip' but would also be another "not-theme-park" but touristy 'go see it' destination.

How far away would you want to go- or rather, what's the furthest out you'd go? What kinds of things might they like? Shopping? Museums? Trains? Beaches?

Adrienne

It depends on how far you want to travel. All of my ideas will require a car. You could see Wicked at the Pantages Theater in LA. I would also consider the Getty Museum, or the Huntington Museum and gardens. Griffith Park Observatory. Hollywood Bowl. If you want to do a beach experience you have many to choose from. Huntington Beach is the easiest, but you can also do Whale watching or boat tour from Long Beach. You have the Queen Mary to tour in Long Beach. You could easily spend several days in San Diego. So many other things. But decide if you want museusm, concerts, gardens, beach, tourist traps, amusement parks, etc., and narrow down the choices.

Oh, The OC Performing Arts theater is doing Phantom of the Opera right now too.