Rob doing Disney at Thanksgiving

Venice beach is more for people watching and shopping for touristy stuff on the boardwalk. SaMo beach itself is more generally more crowded in the Summer since it's the most accessible via public transportation but you also get the pier and 3rd St Promenade. Neither one should be a mob in November though. The water is going to be in the mid 60's.

 

As stated, most of the beaches will be cold. Around this time of year, Zuma was always my go to, but with the fires, that's likely out. Since you're in OC, Newport peninsula is a great classic CA beach spot. From RJs on down. You might want to try main beach in Laguna, which is great even if you don't swim (used to be the place for NBA offseason pickup games.)

 

Disney in Anaheim is a long, long way from Venice Beach.

"The pheasants are beneath me." - SoCal to az
"I have very few pet peeves in life . . . " - PeterS
"Change is inedible" - fc2

 

For the beach you might try Crystal Cove. Then if the water is too cold, you can explore the tide pools.

 

Anything north of Santa Monica (which includes Malibu) might be impacted by the fires.


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You will definitely want to stay away from Malibu. Hollywood will smell smoky. Orange County (Disneyland and Crystal Cove) will not be an issue. Another beach suggestion would be Huntington Beach, if there are waves you could see some good surfing and the beach is huge.

 

With all due respect, but perhaps your perception of it may differ from expectations of a young teenage girl who has never experienced it (see below).

 

Yeah, rule out Malibu.... sad moonscape.

When you're around the Chinese Theater in Hollywood, Universal Studios tour is just over Highland Bl from there and you get the City Walk along with it. BH, Venice and SaMo in the same day will be too much so you might want to consider staying around here for a night since all of this stuff is at least a good hour or more from OC.

Remember, the "commission scene" from Pretty Woman was filmed at Boulmiche!

.... girls like that

 

I'm in Hollywood right now. There's no significant impact from the fires, skies are clear, no smell of smoke. Air quality is listed as "moderate" according to my iPhone.
I will add, when I had my family in LA this spring, we stayed in Santa Monica and rented bikes. The ride down the boardwalk from Santa Monica through Venice was a highlight, so don't rule it out.

 

Rob, if you are 12 then the highlights of the LA area would be Disneyland, Universal Studios and Sea World. I would shudder as an adult trying to do all 3 in one trip. However, if you are in Orange County, Sea World in San Diego is about the same distance in terms of time as Universal or Santa Monica. So you might want to think about a day trip in that direction. Sea World is also a nice contrast to Disneyland and the surrounding area is much nicer and cleaner than anything in LA.

Also if you are down in San Diego and you want to make it a long day you might want to think about Misson Bay (the water is far better there than anywhere in LA or OC) and dinner in Old Town.

 

One other possibility, depending on the kind of 12 year old you have, is Rodeo Drive in BeverlyHills. If your daughter is into fashion and celebrities (and some 12 year olds are) then a trip there would be interesting. There are tons of designer shops and you will always see at least 2 or 3 celebrities. Your wife probably will like it too, though your pocketbook likely wont.

Rodeo Drive would be good in combination with a Santa Monica trip.

 

Hollywierd is the wild card in the equation and frankly not much there other than panhandlers and traffic. Traffic is always bad in that area and often Sunday is the worst. As an example, it will likely take you twice as long to get from OC to Hollywood as from OC to Santa Monica even though the distance is about the same.

If you have to do Hollywierd then I would leave it to the tail end of the day trip (no loss if you don’t do it) and go from Rodeo Drive to it on surface streets. Then at the end of the day you can return to OC using the freeway. That is about the time and direction of travel that will minimize traffic (but I have tried that commute at midnight on a Sunday and it still is jammed).

As part of the day I would suggest visiting Venice Beach (weird and wonderful people in micro bikinis juggling chain saws on a nice beach), the Santa Monica Pier (with the Ferris wheel) and a nice beach, lunch at the Ivy at the Shore on Ocean in Santa Monica (great views from the cliff down at Santa Monica beach with great food and again celebrities and people watching) and then a drive over to Rodeo Drive. If you want, you can take a bus tour of Beverly Hills and they will point out the celebrity homes. Then a quick drive on Sunset Boulevard over to Hollywierd.

Good luck.

 

The only time that there is not heavy traffic is early Saturday and Sunday. That said, getting from the Santa Monica area (or Hollywood) back to Disneyland will probably only be around an hour almost any time on Sunday. Santa Monica and Venice are a good choice for viewage, that will be more entertaining then just a beach.

 

Concur with all but the last sentence.
If you’re at Dland, Newport Beach is just 20 min south.
Plenty to do and see on the island.
Going to OC beaches, you avoid some of the horrendous LA traffic.

Of course, living in La Jolla, I’m spoiled AND biased.

 

Yeah, but they are going up there anyway, and Venice is the only place to see Venice.

 

If you're coming all the way up to SaMo then you have to check out the Venice boardwalk too.

Have you decided against swimming in the ocean?

 

Yup, I got that.
Being a SOCAL native, I've never understood the allure of Venice Beach.
Far too many that are much better. Again, I'm biased.

 

Last summer we did all three in one trip plus whale watching, Venice Beach, Santa Monica Pier, Knots Berry Farm and Hollywood. It was a bit much (And flipping expensive!). I thought Universal was a let down for me but my grand kids loved the Harry Potter stuff, especially the castle show at night. But overall that is the one I would pass on next time.

Sea World was amazing, I don't care what kind of bad press they get, that was everyones favorite stop on our trip. Hint though, if you go to Sea World, don't go see the dolphin show first and get soaked..........Next time that will be my last stop. When they offer to sell you rain ponchos, BUY THEM! That is if you sit in the "splash zone" but I wouldn't have sat any where else.

 

Did this trip over the summer w/ kids. Stayed in Beverly Hills (fathers day car show on rodeo is fantastic!), hit Hollywood for walk of fame, studio tour, and then moved along to disney and Santa Monica pier. Prepare yourself, walk of fame is depressing and dirty as it's basically a flee market covering the stars with people selling fried hot dogs every 15 feet. However, it's a must see and check off the list item. Oh, and check out the guy who spray paints incredible paintings w/ just krypton and newspaper, regret not buying one now. . I believe the studio tour we did was Warner Brothers. Very cool tour and if your daughter likes "friends", she can be photographed on the sofa in "central perk". They also have a great deal of Harry Potter items, batman cars. costumes, etc. If you've been to Disney Florida, Disney California will fit in your your Florida Disney's hotel parking lot. It's fun and different, especially car's land, but go in knowing it's a completely different vibe and size. That being said, we had a blast. Fun trip and y'all will have a great time!

 

Are you traveling today?