Suggestions for Must-do's on a Non-Park Day?

[traciruns]

We are Disney World vets heading to Disneyland for our first time next month. We have planned four park days (with hoppers) so that we can be fairly leisurely on a day or two if needed, and to make sure we can see the nighttime shows/parade without stressing about overlap. We have one day in the middle of our trip with no plans, except maybe some pool time and DTD. Is there anything that is a must-do in the area (or an Uber ride away) that we should consider on our day off? We hope to get back to California again someday to see much more, but I'm curious if there's something nearby that we should sneak in on that day? If it matters, it will be a Saturday. Thanks so much!

 

[pblack]

If you like coffee, Roasting Water is a fabulous local coffee shop. It's not within walking distance, but it would be a short uber ride away. Depending on which location you go to there are some shops nearby a few of them. https://www.roastingwater.com/ They also have a decent selection of teas, lemonade, and fruit drinks.

 

[ExcitedMama]

Does anyone have any particular interests? We loved seeing the space ship Endeavor.
https://californiasciencecenter.org/exhibits/air-space/space-shuttle-endeavour

Next door is an easy walk to the Natural Science Museum to see dinosaurs. We’ve been back again on a different trip because we enjoyed it so much. It’s amazing to see the rockets and the fossils in person to grasp the actual scale. Of course it depends on if that sounds at all interesting and what you have available at home. LA traffic is always an issue so it will also depend on how you feel about dealing with that. My husband and son love cars so we did a stop at https://www.petersen.org/ afterwards.

I took my daughter to American Girl at The Grove and everyone was happy.

My son would vote Universal but if you go to WDW you might not be interested.

I’ve never been but one day I’d like to go the show at https://www.medievaltimes.com/ which could be fun for your non park day dinner. There’s also a pirate one close by too. Never been to that one either but it sounded fun for my son.

 

[Hojoanaheim]

When are you staying next month? The OC Fair is open until August 12! This is really fun! If you are a foodie, there a lot of crazy foods you can try: deep fried twinkies, Krispy Kreme doughnut burgers, etc! The also have rides, games, and shows! Here is a link so you can get a better idea of what they have. https://ocfair.com/

OC Bus also offers the OC Fair Express during this time. The bus ride is only $2 per person and if you take the bus you get OC Fair admission ticket for only $4!! I believe it is normally it is $14, Here is a link for the OC Fair Express. http://www.octa.net/Bus/OC-Fair-Express/Overview/

PS: I recommend Roasting Waters too! They have great drinks and you get to keep the bottle it come I'm. Sometimes the bottle is glass, other times it is plastic, but they always have a nice design on it!

Have fun!
Kriss

 

[tzeitel]

We always do an off property day (or 2), but we rent a car. We have done the La Brea tar pits, Petersen Automotive Museum (interesting even for non car fans), lunch at the Original Farmer's Market, LACMA, movie at the El Capitan, Santa Monica pier, Griffith Observatory and the carousel nearby (where Walt thought up Disneyland). You can do a combination of those and still have time for dinner at the Anaheim packing district.

One place I really wanted to see but we missed because of traffic coming back from the Santa Monica pier was -
http://www.hilbertmuseum.com/#california-art
They have an Eyvin Earl exhibit (Sleeping Beauty), the Star Wars art of Robert Bailey, and an Art of Animation exhibit.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Are you skipping the Saturday because of feared crowds? If so, be flexible about that and play it by ear. Saturdays have been consistently good days crowd-wise in the parks for some time now.
As for what to do on your non-park day, what are your interests? Do you want to go to the beach? shopping? restaurants? ball game? Let us know what strikes your fancy so we can tailor suggestions for you.

 

[traciruns]

Thanks for the suggestions! We thought we would skip Saturday because it was in the middle of the trip. We have park days on Thursday and Friday, and then again on Sunday and Monday (that pattern of 2 days on/1 day off has worked for as at WDW, but we would consider mixing it up if Saturday is truly a better day to go....crowd calendars seem to be all over the place!) I'm thinking we'd prefer something that wouldn't take the whole day so that we can truly kick back a bit would be best....like maybe a few hours at a beach or some other quintessential (but short) California experience? We won't have a car, though, so we would need to Uber. Thanks again for your input!

 

[smartlabelprint]

Monday’s are pretty horrible. Honestly I’d add a 5th day. It’s probably about $15 each. Especially if you buy your tickets through last minute travel club. You save $50 each anyway.

Then you can spend quite a bit of time by the pool but go back in the evening or something.

 

[momof2n2]

Pacific Ocean. Hands down.
There is so much more to SoCal than just DLR. (Though DLR was more fun than WDW to my WDW vet family)

We enjoyed three half days at the beach with a variety of morning activities.

http://dayspringdisciples122.blogspot.com/2018/06/aquarium-of-pacific-and-mothers-beach.html?m=1

http://dayspringdisciples122.blogspot.com/2018/06/hollywood-boulevard-and-santa-monica.html?m=1

http://dayspringdisciples122.blogspot.com/2018/06/fathers-day.html?m=1

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Thanks for the suggestions! We thought we would skip Saturday because it was in the middle of the trip. We have park days on Thursday and Friday, and then again on Sunday and Monday (that pattern of 2 days on/1 day off has worked for as at WDW, but we would consider mixing it up if Saturday is truly a better day to go....crowd calendars seem to be all over the place!)...

See this thread: Mondays at the park are bad. Bad!. Agree with the pp about adding a 5th day if possible. The cost will be minimal and the convenience big. Crowd calendars are not very reliable at DLR. You are better off asking here, looking at the convention and school break calendars (do a search here), and checking the AP blockout calendar.
Also read this thread for lots of very helpful information:A DLR Guide for WDW Vets. Relying automatically on the WDW mindset can get you into trouble at DLR!

Some suggestions for a fun half day:
beach: most are about half an hour away from DLR -- look into Newport, Huntington, Corona del Mar, Laguna (a bit farther away)
shopping: South Coast Plaza (upscale, indoor mall -- there is a free shuttle from DLR area hotels) or Fashion Island (nice, outdoor mall -- near Newport Beach)
food: Anaheim Packing District (about 10 minutes from the parks -- fun, upscale food court with many different options, live music, good energy)