After much indecisiveness, I'm going back to the US.

[WanderlustNZ]

How exciting! I would totally recommend a car too. It's so eay to drive there and we bought a GPS at Target which was awesome as we take it with us whenever we go and ir can download heaps of maps from other countries too. I would maybe stay in Anaheim, we don't like the Hollywood area of LA much. It's pretty grotty. That said, we are spending a week in LA this trip as we always seem to whiz through it going somewhere else. But we have booked an apartment in Santa Monica, and I am looking forward to exploring LA in itself a bit. I can't comment on universal (went last time about 15 years ago...) but those passes sound amazing. When our children are older we will take them but they are too little for many of the rides yet. I would just buy the passes, as you may never do it again and it seems to maximise your experience.

Thanks viaggiamo. All the advice I'm getting is so useful and I think I've now completely steered away from the idea of staying in Hollywood. We will hire a car and drive to Universal instead.
Have fun in Santa Monica. Despite feeling a bit depressed by all the homeless people in the area, I really enjoyed staying there many years ago. Lot's of shops and restaurants and we enjoyed the walk along the waterfront and pier. It's a fun place to people watch.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

We also hire a car the whole time, and wouldn't do it any other way. It is great to have the flexibility to go anywhere you want at any time.

Thanks Caroline. Who did you hire your car from and what insurances did you get?

 

[WanderlustNZ]

+1 on car hire. We're here now, DH is driving, I'm helping Navman where needed! DH thinks it's easy.

So happy that your DH is finding it easy. That's the kind of thing I need to hear to put my own concerns at bay.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

I completely agree on hiring a car. We've hired through Traveljigsaw on both our US trips and have been very happy with them. Oh, and don't forget, your VIP passes to Universal include valet parking

I'm going to have to check out this Traveljigsaw site. I'd never heard of it until it was mentioned on here.

 

[zanzibar138]

Check the fine print on your insurance information. Most travel insurance covers rental vehicle excess in the US. If you're the overly polite, can't say no type of person like me, it might be worth printing out that page of the document so you've got a good comeback if the rental car agency start pressuring you. That's what I plan to do next time.

 

[aussie shaz]

We had normal travel insurance which covers up to $4000 excess on car hire. Most insurances will.

When you book with Traveljigsaw, all the insurance you need is included. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

We have never been pressured to buy extra insurance because we give a very confident 'No' when asked.

Remember to check prices on both Carhire3000 and Traveljigsaw. They are the same company, but Traveljigsaw is in Aussie $, and Carhire3000 is in Pounds. From memory, the exchange rate with Pounds turned out for us best both times we hired. Both have identical websites to look at, and the contact number is answered by Aussies.

 

[marvel]

ditto, carhire3000 has been the cheapest for us the last 4 trips and all insurance is covered. your travel insurance would also cover you for any excesses so no need for anything extra. i had a minor bump in a car park, and the process for super simple, no excess to pay or anything.

 

[Caroline NZ]

We went through Enterprise Car Hire this time ( in the past have used National) . The website asks you to put what country you are from, and when you put NZ it automatically defaults to include all the necessary insurances ( LDW, Personal liability etc). We got a premium full size for around US$50/day ( though that did include a work discount). Smaller cars will be quite a bit cheaper. We had the car for 32 days this time and it is so worth it ( we were doing a road trip so put over 3,000kms on the clock)

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Thanks so much everyone for your advice on the car hire. I'm going to have to do some research.

 

[Tashinwdw]

Definitely don't get sucked into getting more insurance when you pick up the car. I did last year, as the travel agent never told me that it was all covered on our travel insurance. I only found out last month when I was discussing travel insurance with my travel agent for this upcoming holiday. Would have saved me a few hundred dollars last time.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Definitely don't get sucked into getting more insurance when you pick up the car. I did last year, as the travel agent never told me that it was all covered on our travel insurance. I only found out last month when I was discussing travel insurance with my travel agent for this upcoming holiday. Would have saved me a few hundred dollars last time.

Thanks for the tip. I need to take a good hard look at my travel insurance t&cs. My biggest concern is the third party cover as I would hate to be sued if we had a crash. Talk about a fast way to ruin a good holiday.

 

[Caroline NZ]

The travel insurance that we personally take out here in NZ ( both QBE and Visa Gold Card) doesn't cover car hire (either damage or liability), it just covers any excess you may have to pay on the car hire company insurance (eg; in our QBE policy it will cover up to $3,000 for the excess). Make sure you ready your travel insurance carefully re this. We ALWAYS hire with car rental companies that offer the all inclusive insurance rates: -including car damage aka Loss damage waiver/LDW & damage to others & their property aka supplemental liability insurance/SLI. There is also the option of personal accident insurance/PAI for yourself/family - but your travel insurance normally does cover this. At least that's that way I understand it.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

The travel insurance that we personally take out here in NZ ( both QBE and Visa Gold Card) doesn't cover car hire (either damage or liability), it just covers any excess you may have to pay on the car hire company insurance (eg; in our QBE policy it will cover up to $3,000 for the excess). Make sure you ready your travel insurance carefully re this. We ALWAYS hire with car rental companies that offer the all inclusive insurance rates: -including car damage aka Loss damage waiver/LDW & damage to others & their property aka supplemental liability insurance/SLI. There is also the option of personal accident insurance/PAI for yourself/family - but your travel insurance normally does cover this. At least that's that way I understand it.

Thanks Caroline. That's really helpful. I have Visa Gold Card Insurance so I will make sure I read the T&Cs carefully and get the LDW and SLI as needed.

Even when I hire a car here in NZ I always pay the bit extra to reduce the excess to $0. It's just a piece of mind thing for me and a place I'm happy to budget the extra dollars. It's nice picking up and dropping off the car without giving a second thought to what scratches are on the vehicle.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

So here are my plans as they sit at present:

Thur: Arrive late at night. Check into LAX hotel and sleep off the flight.

Fri: Pick up hire car (which we'll keep for the whole stay) and drive to San Diego or Carlsbad. Base ourselves in the area for 3 nights and visit sites around San Diego.

Mon: Spend the day at Legoland. Drive in the evening to Anaheim. Check into accommodation. At present I'm looking at holiday houses.

Tue - Mon: 8 nights in Anaheim to explore Disneyland, Universal and some shopping malls. Perhaps also a tour of LA.

Tues: Early morning flight to Hawaii. The flight is at 8:40, so we would be wanting to drop off the car around 6:20. I'm thinking that would mean leaving Anaheim around 5am. I have no issues with the early morning wake-up and would rather maximise Monday if I can by not having to pack up our stuff and check out that day. But please speak up if you think I should be playing it safer by dropping the car off the night before and staying Monday night in a LAX hotel?

 

[aussie shaz]

It looks great. Legoland doesn't need more than a day and I think you'll enjoy looking around San Diego if you're not stuck in Carlsbad (away from the beach).

I think a vacation rental is the way to go. We loved ours.

We did a tour of LA etc with a private driver in 2011 and it was great. We got to go where we wanted and saw lots of stuff we wouldn't have if we had driven ourselves or gone on a large bus tour.

 

[kylieh]

So here are my plans as they sit at present: Thur: Arrive late at night. Check into LAX hotel and sleep off the flight. Fri: Pick up hire car (which we'll keep for the whole stay) and drive to San Diego or Carlsbad. Base ourselves in the area for 3 nights and visit sites around San Diego. Mon: Spend the day at Legoland. Drive in the evening to Anaheim. Check into accommodation. At present I'm looking at holiday houses. Tue - Mon: 8 nights in Anaheim to explore Disneyland, Universal and some shopping malls. Perhaps also a tour of LA. Tues: Early morning flight to Hawaii. The flight is at 8:40, so we would be wanting to drop off the car around 6:20. I'm thinking that would mean leaving Anaheim around 5am. I have no issues with the early morning wake-up and would rather maximise Monday if I can by not having to pack up our stuff and check out that day. But please speak up if you think I should be playing it safer by dropping the car off the night before and staying Monday night in a LAX hotel?

Great idea on the day between arriving and getting the car. We did that, makes a big difference. Depending on who you hire the car from and their location it might be worth staying away from the airport, that way you'll be able to safely wonder around and get your bearings. Pick up the car then close yo where you are staying.

On the return, you might want to consider dropping off the car the night before at an Anaheim depot and getting a private super shuttle to the airport.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

It looks great. Legoland doesn't need more than a day and I think you'll enjoy looking around San Diego if you're not stuck in Carlsbad (away from the beach). I think a vacation rental is the way to go. We loved ours. We did a tour of LA etc with a private driver in 2011 and it was great. We got to go where we wanted and saw lots of stuff we wouldn't have if we had driven ourselves or gone on a large bus tour.

Where was your vacation rental? I've seen a few that look great and will make inquiries as soon as I've secured our dates, but I'm really keen to hear about reliable places that others have used.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Great idea on the day between arriving and getting the car. We did that, makes a big difference. Depending on who you hire the car from and their location it might be worth staying away from the airport, that way you'll be able to safely wonder around and get your bearings. Pick up the car then close yo where you are staying. On the return, you might want to consider dropping off the car the night before at an Anaheim depot and getting a private super shuttle to the airport.

Thanks kylieh. I am beginning to think we should play it safe and return to the airport area the night before. Ideally I'd rather not pack up on Monday and drive around with our luggage in the car, but this could be better than stressing the next morning.

 

[aussie shaz]

Our vacation rental was on the other side of Disneyland (opposite side to South Harbour Blvd). We walked each day which was really easy. Walked across a road, past the car park, though Downtown Disney and into the parks. Max 20 mins at an easy walk.
The rental was great. Have a look at my trip report (which I did while I was still over there) I included photos etc. it was so nice to have a homely type place that we could come home to each day. We ate in most nights, had normal breakfast etc. they included everything you could imagine. The complex has a pool, which we used quite a few time. We could watch the fireworks from the pool or from our bedroom window. It was magnificent.
If you go onto the VRBO website, ours is called Mickeys Magical Getaway #3.

 

[Caroline NZ]

And here is the one we stayed at

http://www.vrbo.com/361877

Same owner as the one Shaz stayed at

I am sure all Brittas properties are wonderful.