California's Best Trips 2 - Full PDF eBook

1 Disneyland
No SoCal theme park
welcomes more millions
of visitors every year
than Disneyland (%714-
781-4636; http://www.disneyland.
com; 1313 S Harbor Blvd;
1-day single-park admission
adult/child $87/81, 2-park day
pass $125/119; c). From
the ghostly skeletons of
Pirates of the Caribbean
to the screeching
monkeys of the Indiana
Jones Adventure,
there’s magical detail
everywhere. Retro-
futuristic Tomorrowland
is where the Finding
Nemo Submarine Voyage
and Star Wars–themed
Star Tours and Jedi
Training Academy

await. Use the Fastpass

system and you’ll be

hurtling through Space

Mountain – still the

park’s best adrenaline

pumper – in no time.

After dark, watch

fireworks explode over

Sleeping Beauty’s Castle.

Any fear of heights?

Then ditch the

Twilight Zone Tower

of Terror at Disney’s

California Adventure

(DCA), Disneyland’s

newer neighbor. DCA’s

lightheartedly themed

areas highlight the best

of the Golden State, while

plenty of adventures like

Route 66–themed Cars

Land don’t involve losing

your lunch. An exception

is rockin’ California

Screamin’ at Paradise

Pier: this whip-fast

coaster looks like an

old-school carnival ride,

but from the moment it

blasts forward with a

cannon-shot whoosh, this

monster never lets go.

Catch the enthusiasm of

the Pixar Play Parade by

day and World of Color

special-effects show at

night.

Just outside the

parks, Downtown Disney

pedestrian mall is packed

with souvenir shops,

family restaurants,

after-dark bars and

entertainment venues

and, in summer, live

musicians playing for the

crowds.

54 p281

The Drive Follow Harbor Blvd

south for 3 not-very-scenic

miles, then take Hwy 22 west

through inland Orange County,

merging onto the I-405 north.

After another mile or so, exit

onto Seal Beach Blvd, which

crawls 3 miles toward the

coast. Turn right onto Hwy 1,

also known as the Pacific Coast

Hwy (PCH) throughout Orange

County, then take a left onto

Main St in Seal Beach.

2 Seal Beach

In the SoCal beauty

pageant for pint-sized

beach towns, Seal Beach

is the winner of the

crown. Stop here and

you’ll discover it’s a

refreshingly unhurried

alternative to the more

crowded Orange County

coast further south. Its

three-block Main St is a

stoplight-free zone that

bustles with mom-and-

pop restaurants and

indie shops that are low

on ’tude and high on

nostalgia. Follow the

path of barefoot surfers

as they trot toward the

beach to where Main

St ends, then walk out

onto Seal Beach Pier.

The 1906 original first

fell victim to winter

storms in the 1930s, and

since then it has been

rebuilt three times with

a splintery, wooden

boardwalk. Down on

the beach, you’ll find

families spread out

on blankets, building

sandcastles and playing

in the water – all of them

ignoring that hideous

oil derrick offshore.

TRIP HIGHLIGHT

1

Pacific Coast

Highways

Orange County is
California’s official
section of the Pacific
Coast Hwy (PCH),
running along Hwy 1
between laidback Seal
Beach and Dana Point.

r

Fun on the San

Diego Coast

It’s just a 30-mile drive
south of Dana Point
along I-5 to Carlsbad in
San Diego’s family-
friendly North County.

LINK

YOUR

TRIP

SOUTHERN.CALIFORNIA..

26

.DISNEYLAND & ORANGE COUNTY BEACHES