Crazy person just returned from sf and la

[zoo2tycoon]

I had posted about doing Yosemite, SF and LA in a week earlier this year. I took lots of your advice and want to thank you! We drove to SF on a Sunday from Phoenix (took off Yosemite). Yes a long drive but we drove. Stayed at a VRBO in Cows Hollow ($600 less than hotel in Fisherman's Wharf). It was ideal location. On Monday we walked to Disney Family Museum (about 1.5 miles) and enjoyed half a day there. The rest of Monday we went to Fisherman's Wharf (took the bus from Presido and made a bus change which was easy). Walked to Chinatown and enjoyed the day. Tuesday we walked to Hyde Street and rented bikes (had a Groupon from Blazing Saddles) and spent day riding bikes (lunch in Saulsilito). Wednesday we did Alcatraz in the morning (8:45) and then drove to Pebble Beach and looked around then went to Paso Robles for the night.
Thursday we drove into Glendale in the morning and saw Walt Disney's grave, Hollywood sign and drove around Graumans Theater.
Friday we did Universal and from our hotel in 8:30 AM traffic a 15 minute drive so worth the $$ saved over hotels at Universal.
Did front of line pass but followed plan I found here and rode most rides once without using then did tour, watched 2 shows THEN used front of line when LONG lines in afternoon.
Drove back to Phoenix on Saturday.

Lots of driving BUT a great trip. Not rushed and would do again.
Thanks for the advice.

 

[csjordan]

I had posted about doing Yosemite, SF and LA in a week earlier this year. I took lots of your advice and want to thank you! We drove to SF on a Sunday from Phoenix (took off Yosemite). Yes a long drive but we drove. Stayed at a VRBO in Cows Hollow ($600 less than hotel in Fisherman's Wharf). It was ideal location. On Monday we walked to Disney Family Museum (about 1.5 miles) and enjoyed half a day there. The rest of Monday we went to Fisherman's Wharf (took the bus from Presido and made a bus change which was easy). Walked to Chinatown and enjoyed the day. Tuesday we walked to Hyde Street and rented bikes (had a Groupon from Blazing Saddles) and spent day riding bikes (lunch in Saulsilito). Wednesday we did Alcatraz in the morning (8:45) and then drove to Pebble Beach and looked around then went to Paso Robles for the night.
Thursday we drove into Glendale in the morning and saw Walt Disney's grave, Hollywood sign and drove around Graumans Theater.
Friday we did Universal and from our hotel in 8:30 AM traffic a 15 minute drive so worth the $$ saved over hotels at Universal.
Did front of line pass but followed plan I found here and rode most rides once without using then did tour, watched 2 shows THEN used front of line when LONG lines in afternoon.
Drove back to Phoenix on Saturday.

Lots of driving BUT a great trip. Not rushed and would do again.
Thanks for the advice.

I remember your post, I think. It caught my eye, as we are planning a trip out west next Summer and we want to do Yosemite and LA (Disneyland only). Thought about flying into SF, renting a car, going over to Yosemite, then making our way down to Disneyland. BUT, it is over $600 just to rent the car! Not sure what approach to take. Yosemeti is a must and so is Disney!! So glad you had a great trip!

 

[Unas]

I remember your post, I think. It caught my eye, as we are planning a trip out west next Summer and we want to do Yosemite and LA (Disneyland only). Thought about flying into SF, renting a car, going over to Yosemite, then making our way down to Disneyland. BUT, it is over $600 just to rent the car! Not sure what approach to take. Yosemeti is a must and so is Disney!! So glad you had a great trip!

Did you price things in the reverse order? Sometimes it makes a difference. Fly into one of the LA airports . . . or use Oakland or San Jose.

 

[csjordan]

Did you price things in the reverse order? Sometimes it makes a difference. Fly into one of the LA airports . . . or use Oakland or San Jose.

The flights aren't the problem. Pretty cheap to fly into SF, LAX, and/or Reno. It's the cost of the rental car! I checked on rentals out of Sacremento, Reno, and a few other smaller airports, and they were $200 more that out of SF and LAX. LAX is the cheapest of all. With a pick up in SF on a Thursday and returning to LAX 10 days later, it is quoting me over $600! I thought about flying into SF, doing Yosemite, flying from SF to LAX on Southwest ($69/pp) and picking up a car there. Seems like such a hassle and is not really saving me much $$.

 

[MermaidMommy]

The flights aren't the problem. Pretty cheap to fly into SF, LAX, and/or Reno. It's the cost of the rental car! I checked on rentals out of Sacremento, Reno, and a few other smaller airports, and they were $200 more that out of SF and LAX. LAX is the cheapest of all. With a pick up in SF on a Thursday and returning to LAX 10 days later, it is quoting me over $600! I thought about flying into SF, doing Yosemite, flying from SF to LAX on Southwest ($69/pp) and picking up a car there. Seems like such a hassle and is not really saving me much $$.

I joined Last Minute Travel Club (look online for a free membership code) and got a one week rental from SFO - LAX for $250, including taxes and fees. Saved me at least $400.

 

[alryan]

We are planning a trip for next May, Disneyland, SF, and Yosemite and found that rental car prices out of SF were way higher than others. An 11 day pick up in SF and drop off in SNA was over $1000! But then the exact dates pick up at SNA and drop off in SF was $335, much more doable. It seems like rental cars are much more expensive picking up in SF. So looks like we may have to do Disneyland first and then head north.

 

[csjordan]

We are planning a trip for next May, Disneyland, SF, and Yosemite and found that rental car prices out of SF were way higher than others. An 11 day pick up in SF and drop off in SNA was over $1000! But then the exact dates pick up at SNA and drop off in SF was $335, much more doable. It seems like rental cars are much more expensive picking up in SF. So looks like we may have to do Disneyland first and then head north.

Did you try rentalcars.com or carrentals.com? Can't remember which one it was, but one of them had pretty good rates picking up in SF and dropping off in LA.

Good luck with your planning!

 

[DaretoDis]

Check into flying to OAK. OAK is a lot closer to downtown San Francisco than SFO and if you plan on spending time in The City just rent a car when you need it, and then rent one your last day there to head to DL.

 

[bcla]

Check into flying to OAK. OAK is a lot closer to downtown San Francisco than SFO and if you plan on spending time in The City just rent a car when you need it, and then rent one your last day there to head to DL.

It's closer "as the crow flies" but it's not a straight shot to get to San Francisco. I've been stuck on the 880 to Bay Bridge flyway for a half hour on a weekend. Under typical conditions, it's faster from SFO. Of course time of day and rush hour traffic create a lot of variables.

However, OAK (or SJC) are far better when there's fog due to an issue called "flow control" where they effectively reduce their operating capacity. If it's foggy at SFO it's likely to be the same at OAK. However, SFO has far more flights and needs to operate simultaneous runways in order to keep to peak schedules. They can't do that once the fog gets heavy enough, and they have to use one runway each for takeoffs/landings. OAK has a far lighter schedule, and their single runway is adequate even if there's fog.