**July 2024 Check-In**

[LKing]

Most of the coastline is residential. There are a couple of hotels in San Pedro, but the area can be a bit rough for tourists. I think I would either stay in Redondo Beach or maybe near the LB Convention Center.

What are you and your daughter interested in doing? Long Beach has the Aquarium of the Pacific. While the shopping area near AOP looks nice in pictures, it is kind of run down. Redondo has a classic So Cal beach. You can play in the water or rent a bike and cruise along the bike path. The Hollywood Riviera section of Redondo Beach is cute with restaurants and small shops. Torrance has a large shopping mall - Del Amo Fashion Center.

 

[kittylady1972]

Most of the coastline is residential. There are a couple of hotels in San Pedro, but the area can be a bit rough for tourists. I think I would either stay in Redondo Beach or maybe near the LB Convention Center.

What are you and your daughter interested in doing? Long Beach has the Aquarium of the Pacific. While the shopping area near AOP looks nice in pictures, it is kind of run down. Redondo has a classic So Cal beach. You can play in the water or rent a bike and cruise along the bike path. The Hollywood Riviera section of Redondo Beach is cute with restaurants and small shops. Torrance has a large shopping mall - Del Amo Fashion Center.

Honestly just sitting on the beach, people watching, also having some pool time, and lunch somewhere...she is not a foodie at all. Biking or walking a path sound nice too. I was leaning towards Redondo (was last there in 2001 when her 24yo brother was a toddler) but also considered Huntington Area for proximity. We stayed in Dana Point back in 2013 but don't think we visited the beach. We aren't big shoppers.

 

[LKing]

Honestly just sitting on the beach, people watching, also having some pool time, and lunch somewhere...she is not a foodie at all. Biking or walking a path sound nice too. I was leaning towards Redondo (was last there in 2001 when her 24yo brother was a toddler) but also considered Huntington Area for proximity. We stayed in Dana Point back in 2013 but don't think we visited the beach. We aren't big shoppers.

How old is your daughter?

I don't think I would drive down to Huntington and then back to San Pedro to pick up the guys. There is a bike path that starts at Torrance Beach and ends just north of Santa Monica. The distance from Torrance Beach (around the Hollywood Riviera area) to the Redondo pier is 2 miles. Along that path, you'll see classic So Cal sandy beaches, sunbathers, volleyball players, etc. Another option would be heading into Palos Verdes. There are some beautiful walking trails from the cliffs overlooking the ocean.

Edit to add: Not sure how much time the guys will take, but depending on the time of day, tide pooling might be fun.

 

[kittylady1972]

How old is your daughter?

I don't think I would drive down to Huntington and then back to San Pedro to pick up the guys. There is a bike path that starts at Torrance Beach and ends just north of Santa Monica. The distance from Torrance Beach (around the Hollywood Riviera area) to the Redondo pier is 2 miles. Along that path, you'll see classic So Cal sandy beaches, sunbathers, volleyball players, etc. Another option would be heading into Palos Verdes. There are some beautiful walking trails from the cliffs overlooking the ocean.

Edit to add: Not sure how much time the guys will take, but depending on the time of day, tide pooling might be fun.

She is 21...so adult girls day is what we are looking to do.

Sounds like Redondo is going to win this battle. Thanks!

 

[LKing]

She is 21...so adult girls day is what we are looking to do.

Sounds like Redondo is going to win this battle. Thanks!

Most of the bike rentals are closer to the Redondo Pier. Some hotels might have bikes for guest to use as well. You might start at the pier and bike towards Hermosa Pier (approx 2 mile). There are a lot of restaurants and bars on Pier Ave. If you had a little one, I would head south, but a 21 year old might prefer the beach scene in Hermosa over Redondo.

 

[BriannaRuth]

Just returned from our trip and can confirm what others have said about crowd levels and rides being down. Our first day in the park was Saturday, 7/20. Crowd levels were very manageable all day. Same for Sunday. We had EE at DL on Saturday and did everything we wanted to in FL during that time, then did Matterhorn right as the parks were opening for regular guests. We did DL first again on Sunday without EE since it was at DCA and had pretty much the same experience.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday felt very crowded, to the point that my guest who was in an ECV had so much trouble navigating once it got to be early afternoon that she gave up and went back to the hotel. It was hard for her to even navigate a few feet without people cutting her off, walking in front of her, etc., so she had a very hard time staying with the rest of the group. The crowd in general also just wasn't as nice on those days. Lots of people, especially teens, acting like they owned the park and everyone else was just in their way. My guess is that they were AP holders (since the lower levels are blocked on the weekends). Crowds were more manageable after 10 or so. We still had a good time overall.

ROTR was down a lot, as was RSR, but we still were able to ride both of those every day.

 

[kittylady1972]

Just returned from our trip and can confirm what others have said about crowd levels and rides being down. Our first day in the park was Saturday, 7/20. Crowd levels were very manageable all day. Same for Sunday. We had EE at DL on Saturday and did everything we wanted to in FL during that time, then did Matterhorn right as the parks were opening for regular guests. We did DL first again on Sunday without EE since it was at DCA and had pretty much the same experience.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday felt very crowded, to the point that my guest who was in an ECV had so much trouble navigating once it got to be early afternoon that she gave up and went back to the hotel. It was hard for her to even navigate a few feet without people cutting her off, walking in front of her, etc., so she had a very hard time staying with the rest of the group. The crowd in general also just wasn't as nice on those days. Lots of people, especially teens, acting like they owned the park and everyone else was just in their way. My guess is that they were AP holders (since the lower levels are blocked on the weekends). Crowds were more manageable after 10 or so. We still had a good time overall.

ROTR was down a lot, as was RSR, but we still were able to ride both of those every day.

Based on what I've been reading, it seems our weekdays (our only park days) might be crowded this week. Our park days are Wed/Thur/Fri so I guess we'll just take our time and perhaps end up buying Genie after all. I'm not so worried about doing ROTR since we've done it at WDW and we aren't huge Star Wars fans. I'm REALLY hoping that Deadpool and Wolverine make an appearance on the Avengers Campus though. DH has only ONE goal...Matterhorn. I'd like to of course doing anything new since our last visit in 2013 (including the reimagined Tower there). Everything else will be a bonus for us and we do plan some downtime at the pool.

 

[BriannaRuth]

Hopefully your Friday won't be too busy. We weren't in the parks on Friday, but we were in DTD and it was less crowded than it was during the early part of the week.

 

[OlliePop27]

With it being the end of July, I just want to say thank you to everyone who participated in this thread! I hope everyone had fantastic visits. I appreciate everyone who offered thoughts, recommendations, opinions, advice, and asked questions!

My family has already been talking about visiting DL in 2025 and I think we might try for July again next year. Keep your eyes posted for a July 2025 thread once we get closer!

 

[BriannaRuth]

Yes, and thanks to you for taking charge of it! Hope everyone had a great time!

 

[kittylady1972]

Back from our July/August trip. Our Disneyland and DCA days were Wed, Thur and Friday. Wed and Fri were scheduled DCA early entry days and Thu was DL early entry. We didn't take too much advantage of that as the only real early entry day we sorta made was Friday at DCA.

Wed: Arrived at Disneyland around 7:45am (not an early entry day). We decided our plan was to hit Matterhorn first as that was the only goal or my husband, so we waited until the 8a rope drop and went there. Next was SpaceMt with about a 30 minute wait, then Snow White and then BTMRR which was about 25 minutes? Then Jungle Cruise...about 30 minutes at around 10am. Earlier that morning, DH had checked the app and noticed that there was a queue for Holiday Haunted Mansion...I was sure it was a joke but since he couldn't see all of us in the app he only got himself added. I was able to add the other 3 of us and at 11am we were called for that. We were super excited to see this!

Parks seemed quite crowded now so we decided to leave and our hotel room was ready. We had lunch at the Disneyland Hotel which was pretty good. I think we hit the pool next and decided we'd head back to the parks around 4:30pm to finish many of the smaller rides: Storyland, Mr. Toad, Pinnochio but the crowds were still much so we thought we'd take our chances at DCA. At 6:30pm the only reasonable wait for rides we wanted was Monsters Inc. We grabbed dinner around 7:30pm in SanFranSokyo area and then dessert. Decided to make it a somewhat early evening, left around 8:30pm

Next day was planned DCA day and we already decided to buy Genie+/Lightning Lane for the day which cost $120 for the 4 of us but well worth it. We admit we approached it wrong starting early. We booked Guardians early then decided we would just head directly for Radiator Springs Racers but the line was INSANE as everybody did that...so while in line we bit the bullet and shelled out $80 for the 4 of us to Lightning Lane it as the wait was easily going to be close to an hour already. Worth it. We headed to the Incredicoaster which said 15 minute wait U think but was closer to 25. Then did Toy Story with our pass. Guardian pass I managed to change from 1pm to 10:40am at some point, so we did that. Stalking that is your friend of course. We stopped at the Ghiardelli place for lunch/dessert around 11am. Got a pass for Webslingers and did that around 11:30am. Got a pass for Soarin around 12pm then left the park for more downtime in the room. Early dinner around 3:30pm at Tangaroa Terrace. Monorail back to Disneyland to finally ride Indiana Jones (we had been stalking ride times for it and it was down a LOT) around 5:30pm (70 minute standby wait). It broke down again soon after we rode it and was down a lot that day and the next day. We booked Matterhorn with LL and did that again...much rougher the 2nd time! Around 7:30pm we did the Autopia (with LL but it wasn't needed) and then our last must do was Nemo but no LL for that and it was a 30 minute wait and DD and I wanted to see the show at the castle so we left the boys to go do that. Crowds insane for that and hard to find a good view of the castle unless you are really up close.

So the day 2 LLMultipass was well worth it for us as we would not have been able to do all the stuff we wanted to do for sure. Friday we returned and did early entry at DCA and hit Guardians first thing with no wait and then Webslingers after that. We then did a few more rides there like the Goofy Sky School and Pixar Pal a Round. We finished with Grizzly River Run (which broke down quite a bit also) and then headed back to our hotel. Oh we also left the park that morning and went to breakfast at GCH Craftsman Bar which was lovely. We had snacks at the pool and early dinner at Centrico which was okay...but I wouldn't return to it. We then returned to DCA to ride Mater and Luigi rides, then back to Disneyland and did Teacups and Nemo. 2 kids and I headed back to DCA to hit Ghiardelli again, then DD and I tried to view the evening show at DCA but didn't get a great spot for that. She was able to book VQ for it for 10:15pm but we didn't want to stay for that. We headed back to our resort to pack and get ready for the next morning when we would be checking out.

That was our experience. We had a nice trip but I'm okay returning in another 10 years or so. I don't know, it's just a different vibe for me. Also didn't enjoy our pool experience at DLH as much as I do the various WDW resorts. So few chairs and just not as much of a fun atmosphere. Glad we went though.

 

[VicgirlBC]

Back from our July/August trip. Our Disneyland and DCA days were Wed, Thur and Friday. Wed and Fri were scheduled DCA early entry days and Thu was DL early entry. We didn't take too much advantage of that as the only real early entry day we sorta made was Friday at DCA.

Wed: Arrived at Disneyland around 7:45am (not an early entry day). We decided our plan was to hit Matterhorn first as that was the only goal or my husband, so we waited until the 8a rope drop and went there. Next was SpaceMt with about a 30 minute wait, then Snow White and then BTMRR which was about 25 minutes? Then Jungle Cruise...about 30 minutes at around 10am. Earlier that morning, DH had checked the app and noticed that there was a queue for Holiday Haunted Mansion...I was sure it was a joke but since he couldn't see all of us in the app he only got himself added. I was able to add the other 3 of us and at 11am we were called for that. We were super excited to see this!

Parks seemed quite crowded now so we decided to leave and our hotel room was ready. We had lunch at the Disneyland Hotel which was pretty good. I think we hit the pool next and decided we'd head back to the parks around 4:30pm to finish many of the smaller rides: Storyland, Mr. Toad, Pinnochio but the crowds were still much so we thought we'd take our chances at DCA. At 6:30pm the only reasonable wait for rides we wanted was Monsters Inc. We grabbed dinner around 7:30pm in SanFranSokyo area and then dessert. Decided to make it a somewhat early evening, left around 8:30pm

Next day was planned DCA day and we already decided to buy Genie+/Lightning Lane for the day which cost $120 for the 4 of us but well worth it. We admit we approached it wrong starting early. We booked Guardians early then decided we would just head directly for Radiator Springs Racers but the line was INSANE as everybody did that...so while in line we bit the bullet and shelled out $80 for the 4 of us to Lightning Lane it as the wait was easily going to be close to an hour already. Worth it. We headed to the Incredicoaster which said 15 minute wait U think but was closer to 25. Then did Toy Story with our pass. Guardian pass I managed to change from 1pm to 10:40am at some point, so we did that. Stalking that is your friend of course. We stopped at the Ghiardelli place for lunch/dessert around 11am. Got a pass for Webslingers and did that around 11:30am. Got a pass for Soarin around 12pm then left the park for more downtime in the room. Early dinner around 3:30pm at Tangaroa Terrace. Monorail back to Disneyland to finally ride Indiana Jones (we had been stalking ride times for it and it was down a LOT) around 5:30pm (70 minute standby wait). It broke down again soon after we rode it and was down a lot that day and the next day. We booked Matterhorn with LL and did that again...much rougher the 2nd time! Around 7:30pm we did the Autopia (with LL but it wasn't needed) and then our last must do was Nemo but no LL for that and it was a 30 minute wait and DD and I wanted to see the show at the castle so we left the boys to go do that. Crowds insane for that and hard to find a good view of the castle unless you are really up close.

So the day 2 LLMultipass was well worth it for us as we would not have been able to do all the stuff we wanted to do for sure. Friday we returned and did early entry at DCA and hit Guardians first thing with no wait and then Webslingers after that. We then did a few more rides there like the Goofy Sky School and Pixar Pal a Round. We finished with Grizzly River Run (which broke down quite a bit also) and then headed back to our hotel. Oh we also left the park that morning and went to breakfast at GCH Craftsman Bar which was lovely. We had snacks at the pool and early dinner at Centrico which was okay...but I wouldn't return to it. We then returned to DCA to ride Mater and Luigi rides, then back to Disneyland and did Teacups and Nemo. 2 kids and I headed back to DCA to hit Ghiardelli again, then DD and I tried to view the evening show at DCA but didn't get a great spot for that. She was able to book VQ for it for 10:15pm but we didn't want to stay for that. We headed back to our resort to pack and get ready for the next morning when we would be checking out.

That was our experience. We had a nice trip but I'm okay returning in another 10 years or so. I don't know, it's just a different vibe for me. Also didn't enjoy our pool experience at DLH as much as I do the various WDW resorts. So few chairs and just not as much of a fun atmosphere. Glad we went though.

Thanks for posting! Can you tell me more about your experience at Centrico? I have booked it for our first night, but may cancel if the reviews aren't great.

 

[LKing]

Back from our July/August trip. Our Disneyland and DCA days were Wed, Thur and Friday. Wed and Fri were scheduled DCA early entry days and Thu was DL early entry. We didn't take too much advantage of that as the only real early entry day we sorta made was Friday at DCA.

Wed: Arrived at Disneyland around 7:45am (not an early entry day). We decided our plan was to hit Matterhorn first as that was the only goal or my husband, so we waited until the 8a rope drop and went there. Next was SpaceMt with about a 30 minute wait, then Snow White and then BTMRR which was about 25 minutes? Then Jungle Cruise...about 30 minutes at around 10am. Earlier that morning, DH had checked the app and noticed that there was a queue for Holiday Haunted Mansion...I was sure it was a joke but since he couldn't see all of us in the app he only got himself added. I was able to add the other 3 of us and at 11am we were called for that. We were super excited to see this!

Parks seemed quite crowded now so we decided to leave and our hotel room was ready. We had lunch at the Disneyland Hotel which was pretty good. I think we hit the pool next and decided we'd head back to the parks around 4:30pm to finish many of the smaller rides: Storyland, Mr. Toad, Pinnochio but the crowds were still much so we thought we'd take our chances at DCA. At 6:30pm the only reasonable wait for rides we wanted was Monsters Inc. We grabbed dinner around 7:30pm in SanFranSokyo area and then dessert. Decided to make it a somewhat early evening, left around 8:30pm

Next day was planned DCA day and we already decided to buy Genie+/Lightning Lane for the day which cost $120 for the 4 of us but well worth it. We admit we approached it wrong starting early. We booked Guardians early then decided we would just head directly for Radiator Springs Racers but the line was INSANE as everybody did that...so while in line we bit the bullet and shelled out $80 for the 4 of us to Lightning Lane it as the wait was easily going to be close to an hour already. Worth it. We headed to the Incredicoaster which said 15 minute wait U think but was closer to 25. Then did Toy Story with our pass. Guardian pass I managed to change from 1pm to 10:40am at some point, so we did that. Stalking that is your friend of course. We stopped at the Ghiardelli place for lunch/dessert around 11am. Got a pass for Webslingers and did that around 11:30am. Got a pass for Soarin around 12pm then left the park for more downtime in the room. Early dinner around 3:30pm at Tangaroa Terrace. Monorail back to Disneyland to finally ride Indiana Jones (we had been stalking ride times for it and it was down a LOT) around 5:30pm (70 minute standby wait). It broke down again soon after we rode it and was down a lot that day and the next day. We booked Matterhorn with LL and did that again...much rougher the 2nd time! Around 7:30pm we did the Autopia (with LL but it wasn't needed) and then our last must do was Nemo but no LL for that and it was a 30 minute wait and DD and I wanted to see the show at the castle so we left the boys to go do that. Crowds insane for that and hard to find a good view of the castle unless you are really up close.

So the day 2 LLMultipass was well worth it for us as we would not have been able to do all the stuff we wanted to do for sure. Friday we returned and did early entry at DCA and hit Guardians first thing with no wait and then Webslingers after that. We then did a few more rides there like the Goofy Sky School and Pixar Pal a Round. We finished with Grizzly River Run (which broke down quite a bit also) and then headed back to our hotel. Oh we also left the park that morning and went to breakfast at GCH Craftsman Bar which was lovely. We had snacks at the pool and early dinner at Centrico which was okay...but I wouldn't return to it. We then returned to DCA to ride Mater and Luigi rides, then back to Disneyland and did Teacups and Nemo. 2 kids and I headed back to DCA to hit Ghiardelli again, then DD and I tried to view the evening show at DCA but didn't get a great spot for that. She was able to book VQ for it for 10:15pm but we didn't want to stay for that. We headed back to our resort to pack and get ready for the next morning when we would be checking out.

That was our experience. We had a nice trip but I'm okay returning in another 10 years or so. I don't know, it's just a different vibe for me. Also didn't enjoy our pool experience at DLH as much as I do the various WDW resorts. So few chairs and just not as much of a fun atmosphere. Glad we went though.

What did you end up doing while the guys were in San Pedro?

 

[BriannaRuth]

Thanks for posting! Can you tell me more about your experience at Centrico? I have booked it for our first night, but may cancel if the reviews aren't great.

We ate at Centrico a couple of weeks ago. I'd say it was good, but not great. I'd seen so many glowing reviews, maybe my expectations were too high, IDK.

Service was good when we first arrived. We bypassed the long line since we had reservations and it didn't take long for someone to come by. I ordered a cocktail and the rest of my family ordered non-alcoholic drinks. They got their drinks but mine wasn't with it; server assured me it would be there soon. We ordered the guacamole with pork belly appetizer (sounds weird, but it was really good). My cocktail didn't arrive until we had nearly finished the appetizer, but it was very good. We ordered our meals when they brought the appetizer, and those came within a reasonable amount of time. I ordered another cocktail about halfway through the meal and that one came quicker.

I didn't keep track of what we had for dinner other than the braised short rib burrito that my daughter ordered, but nothing was so good that it made me want to go back a second time. We got dessert; unfortunately, I didn't record what it was, but it was something that sounded really different and it was indeed, very different. But not in a good way. There were 3 of us, we split it but most of it was left on the plate. I looked at the menu online and I didn't see it there. I think it may have been a special. Both of my cocktails were excellent. We asked for the check along with dessert and sat there what seemed like FOREVER to get it.

The menu is fairly adventurous and I'm an adventurous eater who is used to nice restaurants (like I've done the chef's table at Napa Rose a few times), but I wasn't that impressed with this restaurant. I know the chef has a Michelin star, and maybe my experience wasn't typical, but next time I'll probably just have cocktails and that pork belly guacamole or another appetizer at the bar rather than doing a full dinner because it was $$$.

 

[kittylady1972]

Thanks for posting! Can you tell me more about your experience at Centrico? I have booked it for our first night, but may cancel if the reviews aren't great.

I see somebody else posted a review and I can concur with that. Here was our experience. We booked an early (430pm) dinner as reservations day of had few options. While I love fresh guac, we had some for lunch at the Disneyland hotel pool (which was okay, but the chips they served were not good) I didn't order it here. However the dishes came with a small portion of guac and it was good. They charged for chips and salsa so we opted out, knowing we weren't all THAT hungry and we tend to overeat on that stuff anyway and then not want dinner.
We were seated pretty quickly (no wait at that time) and it took a little while to get a server. When she came, she took drink orders and DH I think got a mixed drink and the rest of us had water and iced tea. I had to ask for sweetener for my tea twice and the restaurant and our server didn't seem that busy.
My daughter and I split the chicken taquitos, DH got the fish tacos and my 20yo got a burrito. Of the 3 dishes, the burrito was the winner...it was huge and the filling. I think it was this one though the description has things that I don't recall seeing on it or in it?
It was tasty and he barely ate half of it.

Burrito Norteño​

Braised Short Ribs, crispy Oaxacan Cheese, Pinto Beans, Tomatillo & Chile de Arbol Salsa, Sour Cream, Queso Fresco, Avocado


Tacuitos:

Chicken Taquitos​

four lightly fried Corn Tortillas, Marinated Chicken, Sour Cream, Queso Fresco, Salsa Verde, Avocado [Made without Gluten]



These were just okay. Three of them and the sauce had somewhat flavor but the chicken itself didn't seem to have any flavor at all. It needed something. I liked having the fresh avocado and the quac though.

Tacos:

Fish Tacos​

Fresh Corn Tortillas, Mahi Mahi, light Tempura crisp, creamy Coleslaw, Chipotle Aïoli



So these were okay, again the fish didn't have much flavor and I think that sauce had too much kick for my liking.

Service was so-so overall. I read some horrible reviews about service online, but I didn't think it was the worst but could have been our timing. It as just nothing special (other than that burrito which is something I normally wouldn't order anyway) so I wouldn't go out of my way to return.

What did you end up doing while the guys were in San Pedro?

So this was interesting because our schedule changed a LOT from our initial plans (thank you SWA). We ended up having to change flights out on Tuesday so instead of 6am with connection in Austin and 11:30am Long Beach arrival we had to get off the plane due to problems (just us and a few others that had no hope of making their connections) and instead booked a 9:30am flight to LAX with Midway connection arriving around 2:30pm. Needless to say, our day one plans were just getting our rental and driving to our hotel in Anaheim. That meant I booked an extra day for our trip, so we flew out Sunday 6am out of LAX instead of Saturday 10am out of Long Beach. Our San Pedro and Beach day was Saturday.

We ended up having DH drop us off at Rosie's Dog Beach (we were aiming for Belmont) do DD and I just changed there and hung out at the beach for a few hours, people watching and watching the dogs...so MANY dogs! Weather was great, so we didn't mind just chilling out for a few hours. DH and 20yo went to the USS Iowa but were done touring in just about 2 hours...this was not their favorite of all of the Iowa Class battleships. They said they had limited access to areas and even the gift shop was abysmal. They picked us up and we actually drove to San Pedro and went by the house that DH grew up in (he moved from CA when he was 6 years old). We took a photo of him in front of his old house, and then for lunch the kids insisted on trying In and Out Burger. Ugh.

Overall it was a good day, we left and went to our hotel which was just outside of the LAX airport (6am flight remember?). We ordered some really good pizza from Valentino's near there for dinner and just chilled at hour hotel for the night. Thankfully Sunday's direct flight home was uneventful. This was good since most of my morning Tuesday involved me changing our rental car (originally in and out of Long Beach), our flight home (originally out of LGB on Saturday) and adding a hotel for Saturday night. This was done in the 3 hours we sat at BWI airport waiting for our new flight to California.