What's a good time to visit Vegas and California?

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2004-01-20 07:45pm

San Francisco's lovely around September, plus it isn't too congested.

Wicked Pilot · Post by **Wicked Pilot** » 2004-01-20 07:48pm

I would suggest you fly into McCarren (Las Vegas), and get a room on the strip. There is more than plenty that you, your wife, and your kids can find to enjoy there. Think of every theme hotel as a sort of specialized, minature Disneyland with slot machines. Outside the city there is of course Hoover Dam, which is quite impressive. If going to Vegas I would reccommed that you do it during the cooler months. It is a desert, and while it is a dry heat, it would be feirce to someone who is not acclimated to that weather. I have spent several Christmas's there, and one of the things I used to always do was go up into the mountains to see the snow. I'm not sure that would interest a Canadian though. From Vegas, you can rent a car and make the drive to Los Angeles or San Diego. In LA you could go visit hollywood, see a show, breathe the smog, enjoy the traffic, etc.. In San Diego, you could, well... enjoy San Diego. It is really really nice out there. If you ever want to see the Pacific from the CONUS, San Diego is the place. From there if you wish you can cross the border and visit Mexico, just don't drink the water. And between LA and San Diego is the mecca for all kids, and adults who wish they were kids: LEGOLAND!.

salm · Post by **salm** » 2004-01-20 07:50pm

don´t forget to stop by at crater lake in oregon on your way south.

Wicked Pilot · Post by **Wicked Pilot** » 2004-01-20 07:51pm

salm wrote:don´t forget to stop by at crater lake in oregon on your way south.

Umm... Geography check: Do you have any idea how far Crater Lake is from Vegas? Do you have any idea where Oregon is?

salm · Post by **salm** » 2004-01-20 08:12pm

Wicked Pilot wrote:
salm wrote:don´t forget to stop by at crater lake in oregon on your way south.
Umm... Geography check: Do you have any idea how far Crater Lake is from Vegas? Do you have any idea where Oregon is?

sure but comming from canada, um... well, maybe toronto IS slightly east of vancouver....

Hamel · Post by **Hamel** » 2004-01-21 04:14am

I went to Vegas during the summer of '97. You'll want to buy a ton of bottled water from anywhere but Hoover Dam. I'm not shitting you when I say that they charge 3 bucks per bottle there.

The Stratosphere was where I stayed at. It's nice. Has arcades and the usual gambling machines. Besides arcades and a few rides and attractions around the strip, there really isn't that much for a young kid to do in Vegas. That's what I remember from my week there.

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2004-01-21 04:36am

salm wrote:sure but comming from canada, um... well, maybe toronto IS slightly east of vancouver....

To be serious, if there's any way you can reasonably fit it into your itinerary, Crater Lake is absolutely beautiful. Of course, I imagine there isn't, but it warrants saying.

Darth Fanboy · Post by **Darth Fanboy** » 2004-01-21 12:44pm

Well if you get out here before the end of hockey season Ducks tickets have been rather cheap as of late

San Diego - Seaworld, Legoland, San Diego Zoo (The biggest) and the Wild Animal Park, but you dont want to overdose on the animals. Traffic is quite hardcore.

Id recommend at some point Taking the SUrfliner if you wanted to travel from San Diego to LA or Anaheim (and vice versa) its a train that goes right along the cost, has a low cost, and you don't have to drive in San Diego traffic which is worse than LA. (I thinks itsthemosre entertaining city.)

Orange County has a bunch of Beaches, the Various DIsney Parks, and Knotts Berry Farm (which I guarantee is a good time). There is also a hooters of Katella Ave, in Anaheim that has ... oh wait im thinking for myself. (If your kids dominate the itinerary then Anaheims your best bet, and at least everything is close.)

Los Angeles is loaded with things to do but DO NOT I repeat, DO NOT go to West Hollywood or the areas surrounding the Staples Center. Your still innocent Canadian brain would not enjoy it and Its a terible place for anyone, let alone children. Also Michael Jackson lives in Hollywood. (Still can be fun)

However Las Vegas IS Las Vegas, and if you're going to go there you might not want to split your time between nevada and California, especially after turning your money and the title of your car into beautiful beautiful casino chips. Preccciousssss

Knife · Post by **Knife** » 2004-01-21 01:21pm

Well, I spent a week in southern Cali last summer and the summer before I did a four dayer at Vegas. Here's what I can tell you;

When in Vegas, it really doesn't matter where you stay because there is so much concentrated in a few short blocks. The heat really isn't a factor any more either in the dead of summer. Alot of the Casino's are now connected together by airconditioned walkways.

The Excalibur, Luxor, and the Mandalan Bay are connected in such a fashion. Me and the wife stayed at the Excalibur and spend three of the four days just traveling between the three casino's. We did take a day trip and taxied our selves up the strip and casino-hopped down the strip back to Excalibur.

Walk a block and check out the shops, get hot and dive into a casino for a beer and some slot jocketing.

If you bring the kiddies, which you said you were, there are multitudes of family things to do. M&M world is right there next to New York New York and has a HUGE acarde in the basement. The Medivial Times Dinner at the Excalibur can not be missed. I mean there is just so much there I can't relate it all.

Rollar Coasters are popping up on all of the Casino's but if you want a really good ride, drive about an hour south towards the Nevada/California state line and Buffalo Bill's has one that wippes you around and then plunges you under the freeway and up the other side.

On California. San Diego is a lovely city. Coronado bridge takes you to a quiant small beach town on Coronado. Silver Strand Beach is there too. On a good day, you can watch the Navy (everything from cruisers to aircraft carriers) scoot in and out of the bay. The STAR of INDIA is moored in the gaslamp district and you can go aboard to check her out.

The San Diego Zoo was a definate favorite of my kids though its rough on the feet because its so freaking huge. Sea World is a hell of a day too. Pacific Beach is a good place to hang for a while, what with the board walk and all.

Legoland is just an hour north of San Diege. Disneyland is ok, I went half a dozen times when I was in the military there. But real fun is Magic Mountain. Wheeeeeeeeeeeee.

When me and the family went to Cali last summer, we spent some time at Universal Studios. That is a fun play to go for a day. If you do go, I recomend spending the $ and getting the 'backstage pass'. It enables you to get into everything really quickly. It costs twice as much as the regular entry but its way worth it.

Some miscalanious stuff, driving up PCH is a fun thing. Lots of small towns on the beach to milk you our of you money. Knotts Berry Farm is ok. New Port beach is good for checking out half naked women.

And Venice Beach is like going to the zoo. Lots of wierd ass mo-fo's there but fun.

I never thought HollyWood was any thing special but you might want to check it out. But other than that...........

Let me know if you need anything specific. I think I keeped alot of the brochures and internet info on alot of it.

Vertigo1 · Post by **Vertigo1** » 2004-01-22 03:40am

Hamel wrote:I went to Vegas during the summer of '97. You'll want to buy a ton of bottled water from anywhere but Hoover Dam. I'm not shitting you when I say that they charge 3 bucks per bottle there.

And don't be an idiot like me and forget your chapstick..... Where I live 97 cents will get you stick of the stuff. Out west, its about $3 and up anywhere you look.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2004-01-23 05:15pm

Thanks for the tips so far, guys. I'll talk to Rebecca about the actual timing of our trip. Hopefully we can meet up with a few of you.

PS. Are there any pet-friendly hotels around there? The idea of leaving Fuzzy in a kennel for two weeks is distressing to us.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2004-01-23 06:26pm

Be warned that Vegas is a 4-5 hour drive from the LA basin. And a very, very boring drive at that. Probably not a good idea with the kids. On the other hand if you're really interested in seeing stuff there, tickets between Vegas and LAX are dirt cheap, then you'd just fly home from LAX.

It would probably end up being cheaper than driving anyway.

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2004-01-23 06:41pm

As for flying in, avoid LAX like the plague. If you're coming from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, then you'll want to hop over on Southwest Airlines into the Glendale/Burbank/Pasadena Airport. Traffic there is much better than LAX, and Southwest has cheaper airfare than the other carriers.

As for attractions in the San Fernando Valley (where Burbank Airport is located), right next to the airport there's a Fry's Electronics with a rather corny 1950s science fiction theme. You might want to check it out just for laughs.

Then, in Pasadena there's Old Pasadena, with lots of assorted shops and restaurants in historic buildings. Plan to do a lot of walking.

Going the other way, in the Antelope Valley you have Six Flags: Magic Mountain. Roller-coasters aplenty, and a water park as well. Just watch what you eat beforehand.

Knife mentioned Universal Studios. That, by the way, is much easier to get into coming from the San Fernando Valley rather than downtown Los Angeles; you'll want to go in from Barham Boulevard. If you plan ahead, you might catch a worthwhile concert at Universal Amphitheatre. And, of course, there's the Citywalk with all its restaurants and shops (again, plan to walk a lot.)

Finally, if you go up the coast on Pacific Coast Highway, IMO the best beaches in Southern California can be found in Ventura County. Clean, uncrowded... you can't beat them.

I've probably missed a bunch of notable places, but the LA area is huge.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2004-01-23 06:44pm

You're right, I almost tend to use LAX as a synonym for any LA-area airport.

Robert Treder · Post by **Robert Treder** » 2004-01-23 07:54pm

The things I like to do in Southern California:

1) Theme Parks. They've got a lot of 'em, Six Flags is great, Knott's Berry Farm is great, and Disneyland is great, even if it doesn't have rollercoasters. Your kids probably would be too small to go on most rollercoasters anyways. Universal Studios is a kick, too.

2) Death Valley is pretty interesting. In fact, there's a lot of cool stuff to explore in the Mojave Desert. But your kids are probably a little too young to appreciate that.

3) The beach. There are some kickass beaches down there, but I should warn you that California water is cold. I know you like the cold, but don't be surprised. I don't actually like the beach that much, but I know most people do, and your kids would get a kick out of it (the Pacific Ocean beats the pants off of the Great Lakes).

4) LA. There are a lot of cool metropolitan things to do here; lots of great resteraunts, etc. Hollywood is disappointing, though, and driving in LA can be annoying because it's fucking huge, and there's a lot of traffic. But really, there's not much you can do in LA that you can't do in Toronto, NY, SF, etc. etc. Especially since most of LA's downtown is relatively new and unhistoric.

Depending on how long your trip is, I suggest driving north, either by Highway 1 (the most scenic road in the world, and that's not just my opinion) or by 395 in the east. Highway 1 lets you hit the mission at San Luis Obispo, Morro Bay (which is a cutesy coastal town, plus it has this awesome big-assed rock which looks cool), Hearst Castle San Simeon (my personal favorite), and the BEAUTIFUL stretch of road between San Simeon and Big Sur (many car commercials are filmed here, you'll recognize some bridges from them...it's kind of weird). You also get to go to Carmel (very cutesy coastal town, home of rich-ass people and a lot of French tourists), Monterey (where you can see a GREAT aquarium, plus some of Steinbeck's old haunts if that interests you), and the beautiful drive around the area of Pebble Beach (which includes "the most photographed tree in the world"...you'll know it when you see it).
From there you can hit the rest of the Monterey Bay, including Santa Cruz (more rollercoasters) and Capitola (more cutesy coastal town), and then cut into the Silicon Valley, where you can see the historic (albeit entirely unexciting) birthplaces of innumerable high-tech companies, and, on a better note, Paramount's Great America, home of some kickass rollercoasters. From there, you can head up to San Francisco, which has more tourist attractions than I could possibly name. A bonus here is that SFO, OAK, and SJC are easier to negotiate than LAX.

Alternatively, head north by 395 in the east. Not as scenic as Highway 1, but damn scenic in its own right. Bonuses for 395 are Death Valley, Mono Lake, Yosemite, Lake Taho (Reno, too). Downside is that to get back, you'd have to drive to LA, SF, or Las Vegas, as there are no big airports in the Sierra Nevadas.

Darth Fanboy · Post by **Darth Fanboy** » 2004-01-23 08:53pm

One note. Do not underestimate the distance between the SF Bay Area and Southern California(Los Angeles and anything south of it). Especially if you are in a car with kids and a puppy. Thats Four or more hours of your life you may never get back.

Highway 1 is awesome, depending on what time of year you can take PCH down to Dana Point and go Whale Watching. THey also have Stuft Pizza which is Incredibly delicious, as well as Adolfo's Mexican grill, which has Enchiladas that will do the same thing.

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2004-01-23 09:23pm

By the way, Mike, you might want to consider stopping by Disney Land just for the Star Tours ride. It was a great time for my family when we went, and your kids would probably get just as big a kick out of it as you would.

Darth Yoshi · Post by **Darth Yoshi** » 2004-01-23 11:38pm

Disneyland has a roller-coaster: Space Mountain. Although as far as coasters go, it's nothing special.

You should definitely check out Great America.

Exonerate · Post by **Exonerate** » 2004-01-23 11:56pm

Disneyland will be boring for older kids - might just be right for yours though.

I'd have to second many opinions here - Goto Knott's Berry Farm. Yosemite is pretty cold, even during the summer, but the trip is well worth it. Maybe Universal Studios might interest you...

Robert Treder · Post by **Robert Treder** » 2004-01-24 06:30am

Darth Fanboy wrote:One note. Do not underestimate the distance between the SF Bay Area and Southern California(Los Angeles and anything south of it). Especially if you are in a car with kids and a puppy. Thats Four or more hours of your life you may never get back.

Highway 1 is awesome, depending on what time of year you can take PCH down to Dana Point and go Whale Watching. THey also have Stuft Pizza which is Incredibly delicious, as well as Adolfo's Mexican grill, which has Enchiladas that will do the same thing.

True. But I guess that depends on the type of trip you're used to. I don't know how Mike and fam like doing trips. The way my family vacationed when I was a kid was this: pile into the car, drive for a day, stop at a hotel, stay at a location for a day or two, pile into the car again, drive for another day, rinse and repeat. We didn't do too much of the lounging in a resort type of vacation; I find that boring.

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2004-01-24 04:32pm

Durandal wrote:By the way, Mike, you might want to consider stopping by Disney Land just for the Star Tours ride. It was a great time for my family when we went, and your kids would probably get just as big a kick out of it as you would.

I'm pretty sure that it's only Disney World in Florida that has the Star Tours ride. Disneyland in Anaheim, CA only has Space Mountain... which IMO is a rather boring rollercoaster.

Knife · Post by **Knife** » 2004-01-24 04:54pm

As for flying in, avoid LAX like the plague. If you're coming from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, then you'll want to hop over on Southwest Airlines into the Glendale/Burbank/Pasadena Airport. Traffic there is much better than LAX, and Southwest has cheaper airfare than the other carriers.

Or John Wayne down in Irvine. Convienately next to the 405/5 interchange.

Robert Treder · Post by **Robert Treder** » 2004-01-24 07:38pm

Crayz9000 wrote:
Durandal wrote:By the way, Mike, you might want to consider stopping by Disney Land just for the Star Tours ride. It was a great time for my family when we went, and your kids would probably get just as big a kick out of it as you would.
I'm pretty sure that it's only Disney World in Florida that has the Star Tours ride. Disneyland in Anaheim, CA only has Space Mountain... which IMO is a rather boring rollercoaster.

I thought you lived in Southern California! How dare you not know Disneyland very well!

I used to go to Disneyland once a year back in elementary/middle school, because I visited my cousins in Garden Grove. There is a Star Tours ride. IIRC, it is the original Star Tours.

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2004-01-24 09:48pm

Robert Treder wrote:I thought you lived in Southern California! How dare you not know Disneyland very well!

I do live in Southern California; I've only been to Disneyland once, when I was 6. I wasn't too impressed, and haven't been back since then.

I never saw Star Tours while I was there, so I just assumed it didn't exist there.

muse · Post by **muse** » 2004-01-24 09:56pm

I'm told there's a huge annual porn convention in Vegas. One of my guy friends went to it last year and came back with a whole bunch of interesting toys and stories. I'm not sure when it's on but it sounds like something fun to visit, and needless to say it's definitely not for the kids.