Disneyland and California Honeymoon

My husband is from LA so I’m in that area about once a year. Santa Monica is my FAVORITE... you could easily spend an entire day there just walking around, shopping, going to the pier, and eating. SO many good restaurants. Sushi Roku has by far the best sushi I’ve ever had in the continental US (can’t count Hawaii sushi because of course nothing can compare to that hahah).


Check out the Marina del Ray/el segundo/manhattan beach/hermosa beach area too! That’s actually the area where my husband grew up and it’s just such a stunningly gorgeous place. I’ve never actually gotten to enjoy beach weather there (we usually go in the winter to escape the cold of the northeast lol) but it’s just such a lovely area and the houses are so astonishingly huge and beautiful it’s kinda just fun to walk around there haha. Especially many of the residential streets are “walking streets” so no cars.
I haven’t been to downtown LA much (we usually are in the more residential areas) but you have to do the classics like walk of fame, Regal Cinema if you’re interested, and seeing the Hollywood sign... we actually hiked all the way up to it a few years ago... 7 miles round trip, though it was a fairly “easy” hike (would’ve been much better if it wasn’t 90 degrees that day and if we brought more water 😭😂)
Haven’t been to San Diego yet but planning to go next month actually since we’re planning another visit, and I can believe how many times I’ve been to LA but not seen San Diego yet hahaha.

Jealous! If you're super into Disney, and depending on when youre going, consider doing the Oogie Boogie Halloween party at DCA. We're WDWing and DCLing for our Honeymoon. But Disneyland's Oogie Boogid Bash is on our must do list. Tickets go on sale in April, I think.

If you like beaches and want to go to one, definitely Mission Beach in San Diego. Santa Monica pier to me was not as fun as it seemed like it would be, plus it is expensive there. If you do decided to do Santa Monica pier, do the whole beach town. There is a really good spaghetti place in the Santa Monica mall by the beach. I am warning you, everything will be expensive their, but their is a lot to see. California is a smart idea, it might not be cheap, but there is a lot to do there.

We are doing Disney world

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Oh my gosh YES!!! I was able to convince my FH to do Disneyland for our honeymoon because they'll be set up for Halloween when we go and we definitely want to do Oogie Boogie Bash. I'm anxiously awaiting when they'll announce sales haha I'm a Disney Visa card holder so I should get early access to them!

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I'm not expecting a super cheap vacation...I know it'll probably be a lot. Flights from Cleveland already look crazy haha but I'll look into Mission Beach!! I'd love to see the ocean

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That's amazing!!! I'd love to do Disney World, but we were just there last year and figured we should do something different. You'll definitely have an amazing time. If you need any tips or advice, I'm happy to give any!! We stayed there for a whole week inside the parks at a more adult themed resort for under $1,000. I considered that a win in my book because Disney is NOT cheap.

Ask for pins for your honeymoon too!! We wore I'm celebrating pins for our dating anniversary when we went and got more dessert at Be Our Guest.

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Oh my gosh wow thank you for all the advice!!! I feel like Santa Monica might be an overrated tourist trap BUT I DON'T CARE I WANNA GO haha

View Quoted Comment I went two years ago with my dad and my son. We are going to go my FH and my son two months after we get married. My son will be 9 so it’ll be a lot of fun!!

Native CA and daughter worked in the Disney parks throughout college.... You cannot really go wrong in So Cal. Your options depend a lot on what you're into, how long you'll be here, and what you like best. If you truly LOVE theme parks, you can easily do 2-3 days (with park hopper tickets) at Disney and CA Adventure. Universal Studios is fascinating if you're into TV & movies. I haven't been to the Universal Studios park in FL, but these are the actual backlots and sound studios.... Even better, if you want less of a "theme park" studio tour is the Warner Bros Studios Tour (even better if you can get tickets to a filming on the Warner Bros lot...look online). The LA Zoo is nice (but nowhere near SD Zoo). All the beach towns are interesting (a pp suggested Santa Monica). There is super-touristy stuff like the Hollywood sign and the crazies on Hollywood Blvd.; as a native, we avoid like the plague, but we've had friends and family from the midwest and east coast who go straight there.... There is an amazing distillery that is a little bit of Disney-type magic in the LA Arts district, Lost Spirits Distillery. Even if you don't like distilled liquor or crazy science, that place is AMAZING! You must make reservations way ahead of time though. If you're into US history, the Reagan Museum is just north of LA and the Nixon Museum is just south in Orange County. Even if you aren't fans of Reagan or Nixon, both offer wonderful US history exhibits. LA has some awesome and unusual museums as well: La Brea Tar Pits, Peterson Automotive, Natural History, LACMA, etc. You could easily do a full-week in LA proper, but traffic is awful and you will need to drive everywhere. Personally? I love South Orange County and San Diego. One of our favorite small beach towns is San Clemente (stay at the Beachcomber, if at all possible...). San Diego is good for another week.... The SD Zoo is world class. Balboa Park is filled with museums. If you have any tie to US WWII history, touring the aircraft carrier Midway is a "don't miss." The SD Zoo's Safari Park offers a completely different experience from the zoo and puts you close to tons of wineries in east SD and the Inland Empire. I haven't even mentioned Santa Barbara or points north on the Central Coast, like Hearst Castle. CA is AMAZING -- SO MUCH TO DO, regardless of what your passions are! Happy honeymoon!

We went to California for our honeymoon. We went to San Diego for 3 days and Los Angeles for 3. We did go to Disney which was a lot of fun. I had never been to either Disney or California before. I forgot to wear sunscreen on the first day so I was burnt like a lobster and it wasn't fun at all because I was really sore the rest of the honeymoon so don't forgot sunscreen. We bought a package that enabled us to go to SeaWorld, the Zoo and Safari Park which was a lot of fun. We also went to Hollywood. We did a ton of stuff and we are going to California again this year in October for our best man's wedding as that is where he lives. I can't wait.

View Quoted Comment I’ve never actually done any of the rides or anything on the pier so idk about that, but I do love just walking around the city and they have sooo many good stores if you like shopping lol.


It’s one of my husband’s favorite places to go too and he actually lived in the greater LA area for 19 years so idk if that makes it seem less touristy hahaha.
Really Hollywood is the biggest tourist trap of all lol, but my first time in LA I insisted because hey, I AM a tourist 🤷🏻‍♀️

I live in SoCal and my only advice is to make sure you choose things to do in one general area. It takes roughly 1 hour+ to get anywhere here with the traffic! You don't want to get stuck in traffic while you're here. Also, try to avoid traffic by traveling around 10am, but then stay out until 8pm if possible. Rush hour sucks here!

There's so much to do! Disneland isn't as great as Disneyworld either. I work in Santa Monica and it's beautiful. Hiking trails all over. Lots of beaches. You'll have fun!

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Try to hike the Hollywood sign from the back instead of the trail from the Griffith Observatory. Less tourists, more locals hike that way.

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Pretty much all of San Diego is beautiful and worth seeing. My brother lives there, and I'm in Northern California, so I get down there every year or two. San Diego is super fun!! Beautiful beaches, great food, attractions, night life. Especially if you've never seen the ocean, you have to go!!

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Ooh! We are too! I didn't realize that was a perk of the card! Good to know! We are planning on getting out there to do the party hopefully in a year or two! Thanks for the info!

Grew up in Florida and just got to experience Disneyland for the first time this past December. You'll love being able to walk everything! We stayed at a hotel right across the entrance, so convenient! Also get the max pass, it covers fast passes and photos. I wish Florida would take that system, all the good rides are gone too soon when some can book them so far out.

View Quoted Comment There's a lot of perks actually!! (: I'm saving up my rewards dollars for when we go on our honeymoon and I have around $100!


But if you use your card in the parks at some shops you can get a discount!

Socal has a bunch of other theme parks too if you wanna keep up with the theme parks aha

We are going straight from our wedding to Disneyland. We are staying, for the first time, at the Disneyland Hotel. We are season ticket holders so we are extremely excited. Just to relax, enjoy Disney, and spend the first days of the rest of our lives with Mickey and his friends.