What to do around Costa Mesa(OC), CA?

[wiredspider]

Going to be there 2nd week of December for a few days.
I'm thinking a day or two at Disneyland, but ticket prices seem expensive... Could I do it all in one day? Do I need two or more? Is it for little kids or would someone in their 20s enjoy it? I think I just want one of those big turkey legs, lol.

How are the buses? I want to avoid renting a car if possible, less to be responsible for, less to pack for (no GPS), don't need to worry about parking ($14/day at Disney), or gas(OMG, ca gas prices!). Looks like the bus would take about an hour to get to Disneyland from my hotel in Costa Mesa. That is definitely slow, but I guess as long as I get there, it isn't much of a problem.

Normally I wouldn't go across the country with no plans, but I needed some airline miles and this (John Wayne Airport) was the cheapest flight that got me the miles that I needed. I was going to try for LA, but that would leave me short in terms of miles and San Francisco was really expensive. Original plans were just to fly out and fly back same day, but found a coupon for orbitz and a cheap hotel, so it ended up just being just $20 more to stay for a few days! Figured I might as well and use some of my vacation days.

Would there be any people on the beaches in Dec? (lol, I'm from the east coast, it will probably be snowing here)

Thanks!

 

[QueBert]

Buses in So Cal suck, OCTA or whatever they call it is better than some places in Cali, but east coast kills even the best bus system out here. You could do dial-a-ride, which is a little bus that picks you up directly and takes you where you want to go. Not as fast as a taxi as it stops to pick up more people and drop them off, but should be much quicker than the normal bus, not too expensive either. It's been years since I've taken public transportation in OC, so I'm just assuming they still offer dial-a-ride. There will be some people at the beach, in December it'll usually just be a couple crazy surfers who don't care about the cold and a few people around a bon fire.

 

[PhoKingGuy]

Going to be there 2nd week of December for a few days.
I'm thinking a day or two at Disneyland, but ticket prices seem expensive... Could I do it all in one day? Do I need two or more? Is it for little kids or would someone in their 20s enjoy it? I think I just want one of those big turkey legs, lol.

How are the buses? I want to avoid renting a car if possible, less to be responsible for, less to pack for (no GPS), don't need to worry about parking ($14/day at Disney), or gas(OMG, ca gas prices!). Looks like the bus would take about an hour to get to Disneyland from my hotel in Costa Mesa. That is definitely slow, but I guess as long as I get there, it isn't much of a problem.

Normally I wouldn't go across the country with no plans, but I needed some airline miles and this (John Wayne Airport) was the cheapest flight that got me the miles that I needed. I was going to try for LA, but that would leave me short in terms of miles and San Francisco was really expensive. Original plans were just to fly out and fly back same day, but found a coupon for orbitz and a cheap hotel, so it ended up just being just $20 more to stay for a few days! Figured I might as well and use some of my vacation days.

Would there be any people on the beaches in Dec? (lol, I'm from the east coast, it will probably be snowing here)

Thanks!

Disney is a day thing easily, if you want to do both parks maybe a day and a half, but you really could fit it in a day if you want. The weather isnt too bad right now, its still a little warm in the afternoons, so the beach would be passable if you really wanted. Though you really should go to laguna/corona del mar for that sort of thing. Huntington beach is pretty ghetto in comparison.

You need a car, period. Public transport is next to non-existant over here, OCTA busses are never on time and they recently cut the schedules so its even worse. Go to priceline and rent the cheapest thing you can. Where in costa mesa are you staying and what kinda things do you want to do? I've lived here my whole life and went to college here as well, theres plenty to do for people of all ages if you know what you want.

Disney is good for anyone, im 23 and I still love to go.

 

[sygyzy]

There's nothing to do there except shop.

 

[NaOH]

Bars and shopping at South Coast

 

[oogabooga]

Don't rely on public transportation, it won't get you where you want to be in a timely manner in that area. You're better off renting a car if you can.

If you want to go to disney rent a car and pay for parking, even with traffic and all that it'd probably be less stressful then trying to take OC's public transportation.

Bars and shopping at South Coast

Or Fashion Island, Spectrum, or etcetc, - Essentially the easiest thing to do will be to shop and drink.

Also : Costa Mesa is about an hour away from LA depending on time of day/traffic. If that's really where you wanted to go you could rent a car and go.

Newport Beach will have people. No where near the people of the summers, but there will be people shopping and at the beach itself. You'll find college students braving the harsh cold of 70degree california days (I know.. the horror) to go skimboarding etc. As long as it's not raining which is really rare it wouldn't be unheard of to go to the beach. Even if it was raining you'd find people there actually, just not nearly as many.

 

[wiredspider]

I'll try to find a cheap rental car, but may have to rely on public transportation. I'm in that under 25 crowd, where they tack on an extra hundred bucks...

I forget the name of the hotel, just remember it is near or next to a Hooters, lol. It's probably a dump, otherwise it wouldn't be so cheap. Hopefully I won't be spending much time there.

I probably don't mind doing nothing at all, just want a few days to relax, but figure since I did make it all the way out there, I might as well take in some of it. It looks like Knotts is close by as well, not sure if I really want to do that after Disney though.

I do love shopping, plan on visiting Fry's and the South Coast Plaza, but I'm going to be trying to pack light (no checked luggage) since my baggage waivers won't kick in until after this trip. Though I wouldn't be against shipping stuff home or just buying a cheap suitcase there to check luggage back.

I was thinking of a fishing trip, but not totally sure I would enjoy it. If I'm paying like ~$70 and catch nothing, I would be pretty disappointed.

I like photo ops and taking pictures, maybe any special or unique signs or statues around? I mean that is pretty stupid since you could probably just do it in PS, but I do love looking back at that stuff and bringing back trip memories .

This Asian chick can't drink so no bars for me.

 

[KeithP]

Could try cart racing at K1: http://www.k1speed.com/

-KeithP

 

[Newbian]

The normal...hookers and blow.

 

[PhoKingGuy]

I'll try to find a cheap rental car, but may have to rely on public transportation. I'm in that under 25 crowd, where they tack on an extra hundred bucks...

I forget the name of the hotel, just remember it is near or next to a Hooters, lol. It's probably a dump, otherwise it wouldn't be so cheap. Hopefully I won't be spending much time there.

I probably don't mind doing nothing at all, just want a few days to relax, but figure since I did make it all the way out there, I might as well take in some of it. It looks like Knotts is close by as well, not sure if I really want to do that after Disney though.

I do love shopping, plan on visiting Fry's and the South Coast Plaza, but I'm going to be trying to pack light (no checked luggage) since my baggage waivers won't kick in until after this trip. Though I wouldn't be against shipping stuff home or just buying a cheap suitcase there to check luggage back.

I was thinking of a fishing trip, but not totally sure I would enjoy it. If I'm paying like ~$70 and catch nothing, I would be pretty disappointed.

I like photo ops and taking pictures, maybe any special or unique signs or statues around? I mean that is pretty stupid since you could probably just do it in PS, but I do love looking back at that stuff and bringing back trip memories .

This Asian chick can't drink so no bars for me.

If you look around you can find coupon codes that get rid of the underage fee, ive always been able to find one when I rent cars. Theres plenty of photo-ops in laguna/corona del mar/newport beach if you just walk around. PCH is good for that. Knotts is kinda lame, I wouldn't pay full price for admission.

LA is only an hour drive away, plenty of stuff to do.

I know what hotel you're talking about, its right next to the freeway. If you like IKEA its right across the street. Lol. South coast is just about a mile away from it. Theres not much to do in a social sense around there unless you're into the club/restaurant scene.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Go to the beach only if you don't plan on going in the ocean. The water is fucking cold right now and will be even colder a month from now. Typical water temps in December are in the mid 50s.

 

[chorb]

If you look around you can find coupon codes that get rid of the underage fee, ive always been able to find one when I rent cars. Theres plenty of photo-ops in laguna/corona del mar/newport beach if you just walk around. PCH is good for that. Knotts is kinda lame, I wouldn't pay full price for admission.

LA is only an hour drive away, plenty of stuff to do.

I know what hotel you're talking about, its right next to the freeway. If you like IKEA its right across the street. Lol. South coast is just about a mile away from it. Theres not much to do in a social sense around there unless you're into the club/restaurant scene.

I work 1/4 a mile away from that hooters, and I can verify the hotel its right next to the freeway and Ikea is just a block away.

As its already been said you will need a rental car to get anywhere.

 

[wiredspider]

Cheapest rates I can get for a rental is $30+/day. Just doesn't seem worth it and that is before underage fee (maybe coupon or certain memberships will waive this), insurance (not sure if my insurance covers it or what insurance my credit card actually covers), gas, and parking. Tried just weekend only and those rates are still pretty high. I'm just going to have to suck it up with the bus, but I can still rent a car there if it's really that bad. It doesn't seem like I'm getting any special or crazy good rates now anyway.

The hotel has a shuttle so I should be covered for the airport.

I've got 4 days to do stuff (excludes 2 days for late arrival and early departure), thinking of spending most of it at Disney due to lack of car, will do that LA stuff some other time. Looks like I just need one bus (the 43?) down Harbour Blvd to get to Disney Surprised to find out that Disneyland is open 8am to 12am on weekends, think I could probably do it all in 2 days, maybe 3 days at a more leisurely pace? Does that sound about right? I want to go on every single ride, some maybe more than once

Besides Disney, I want to go to an In and Out and get me an animal style burger, should I believe all the hype? lol
I haven't been to an Ikea before so I'll do that and hit the shops at South Coast and then I guess some sorta water related type activity near the coastline (like a ferryride or whale watching thing).
If that doesn't fill up my time, I did find some day tour things to LA so I could book one of those if I had to.

 

[SupaDupaPan]

There's also Balboa Island that's nearby if you want to walk around and see some quaint little shops, view the beach etc, Newport Beach has a few things to do (kayaking etc).

I've always liked Knotts more than Disneyland, but I would never pay full price. But if you look on Craigslist, there's usually a bunch of people trying to sell Knotts tickets for like $20 a pop and/or less.

 

[zerocool84]

The bars in Newport Beach area pretty cool if you're into that. OC chicks are sluts and if you get them drunk it's pretty much in the bag.

I'm 25 and have an annual pass to Disneyland. Never get tired of it and go at least once a month. They recently raised prices but it's still awesome and by the time you go it'll be themed up for Xmas and it looks awesome.

Yes there will definitely be people in beaches. There are people at the beaches year round here but it really depends on how cold and cloudy it is. More people go on a sunny day even if it's not warm just to soak in the rays.

You definitely want to hit Downtown LA. It's an awesome place to be cus it pretty much has everything. Bars are great, food is the best, lots of things to do, don't drive though especially if you're new here cus it'll eat you alive.

If you want to do one of those tour things that's cool but I suggest you plan it out and do it yourself.

 

[wwswimming]

Going to be there 2nd week of December for a few days.
I'm thinking a day or two at Disneyland, but ticket prices seem expensive... Could I do it all in one day? Do I need two or more? Is it for little kids or would someone in their 20s enjoy it? I think I just want one of those big turkey legs, lol.

How are the buses? I want to avoid renting a car if possible, less to be responsible for, less to pack for (no GPS), don't need to worry about parking ($14/day at Disney), or gas(OMG, ca gas prices!). Looks like the bus would take about an hour to get to Disneyland from my hotel in Costa Mesa. That is definitely slow, but I guess as long as I get there, it isn't much of a problem.

Normally I wouldn't go across the country with no plans, but I needed some airline miles and this (John Wayne Airport) was the cheapest flight that got me the miles that I needed. I was going to try for LA, but that would leave me short in terms of miles and San Francisco was really expensive. Original plans were just to fly out and fly back same day, but found a coupon for orbitz and a cheap hotel, so it ended up just being just $20 more to stay for a few days! Figured I might as well and use some of my vacation days.

Would there be any people on the beaches in Dec? (lol, I'm from the east coast, it will probably be snowing here)

Thanks!

as far as Costa Mesa itself ... i've been to the courthouse. it's worth taking pictures of ... if you're writing a book about the Demise of American Architecture.

i would head out to the beach, somewhere, but not taking the bus.

e.g. Seal Beach, there's a good Mexican place on the south side of the main drag overlooking the boardwalk.

as far as the ocean itself - water temps will be about 60 degrees F. if there's waves people go out on the pier and watch the surfers.

alternately - head down 73 (and maybe also the 405) to the Jamboree Road exit, and go West towards the ocean, which will be Newport Beach. there's another pier there and also surfing and restaurants and stuff.

one suggestion - GET A MAP or use Mapquest before you go out driving. It's never been a good time to end up on a dead-end in a bad neighborhood, but now, with the economy the way it is, robbing tourists is sort of like a recreation sport - and sometimes also, a spectator sport.

PLUS there's a Fry's Electronics off 405 there near Long Beach, they got computer stuff. always a good place to kill time.

 

[magomago]

Like others said - get a car. No such thing as public transportation here. I know you are thinking "I can't afford it"....but listen to me: If you don't get a car, you will spend half your time waiting for a shitty bus that is always late or may not come. The only places its semi functioning is around UCI because it HAS to. So unless you literally want to spend a quarter of your time waiting for the bus or sitting in a bus (geez I can't imagine taking the bus everywhere...does the bus even go to places like Ikea?) find a way to get a car, or cut down on the money yo'ull spend. Honestly no one walks here...its kinda sad lol. If I see someone walking on the streets (well..costa mesa may be different) I typically actually pay attention and look because its a pretty rare thing (again, unless you are next to campus)

If you are worried about spending 70 bucks for a day's worth of fishing to catch nothing, don't bother with K1. It'll last like 10 minutes and its 20 bucks IIRC. A fishing trip is supposed to be a realtively peaceful day of just relaxing and tossing the shit with friends. If you get something, nice.

Beach is fine IMO...its not that cold, but I'd think most are at work during the day. If you can go to the beach at late Night...although it might be too cold. But a place like San Clemente @ midnight during the summer is pretty nice and relaxing.

There is Balboa Park, like another user mentioned, but its really just a place to get you to spend money. You can easily do SouthCoast in a day, although I haven't spent more than 5 hours there. I honestly prefer SC over Balboa park, but its really different environment. You could probably do Ikea/SC over the course of a day. LOL @ taking a trip to go to Frys...I suppose if there isn't one around where you live...If you want an outdoor shopping/walking experience you can try the Spectrum which is an outdoor mall. finally, if you really just want to blash cash go to Fashion Island. Hella baller, but everything is just stupid overpriced. If you can get up to Valencia, you can go to Six Flags.

Meh In'n'out is over rated IMO.

If you can, try to go to the Getty in LA. Its pretty cool. There is also some nice Traditional Mexican Areas around LA that are really nice. I wouldn't do a random tour through LA....LA is either a ghetto or it is a super rich area; If you want you can go downtown near UCLA and walk around all the stores. There is a Iranian district that has a store that sells some really interesting icecream (Saffron Icecream lol).
You might also want to look up and see if any band/group is playing in the Verizon ampitheatre during your stay that you could get some tickets to.

If you are an outdoors person maybe go spend a some time up in Big Bear. If its not snowing, it is still a nice area to relax in. I would also suggest doing like a desert barbque/campout...but that only really works in the summer when its much hotter.

Yeah honestly...unless you literally want to be shuffled to different locations requiring you to spend money as a form of enjoyment (ie: look at the suggestions: ikea, balboa island, southcoast, spectrum), you won't find too much. Then again, most places are like that.

 

[OCGuy]

Drink at the beach bars.

Main St. in Huntington is fun if you are 21-28.

 

[wiredspider]

Ikea is across the street from my hotel, I'm sure I can make it the two blocks over there
Not interested in the K1, we have one of those tracks around here, but never really interested me enough to go.
We have a Six Flags in Jersey, so I'm not really interested in that.

I was about to visit the Fry's in Vegas, but never found the time. The same with In and Out.

I think the fishing trip was like ~$40 which was reasonable, but then I had to buy a ONE DAY fishing license for $16 (wtf, my yearly license doesn't even cost that much) plus rental fees and probably charge me for some bait too...

When all is said and done, the car is going to cost $45+ a day vs bus that is like $4 for all day. I don't think the car is going to get me there 10x faster. I'm a little skeptical myself if things are really as bad as people say, had nearly everyone telling me Circus Circus was horrible and that shuttles from the airport would take forever. CC was fine aside from the ice maker on my floor not working for the first two days and the shuttle took me directly to CC.
Though like I said, I'm prepared to rent a car if it is as bad as people say.

What's the tax rate in CA? Usually just head over to DE for some tax free shopping

 

[PhoKingGuy]

Like others said - get a car. No such thing as public transportation here. I know you are thinking "I can't afford it"....but listen to me: If you don't get a car, you will spend half your time waiting for a shitty bus that is always late or may not come. The only places its semi functioning is around UCI because it HAS to. So unless you literally want to spend a quarter of your time waiting for the bus or sitting in a bus (geez I can't imagine taking the bus everywhere...does the bus even go to places like Ikea?) find a way to get a car, or cut down on the money yo'ull spend. Honestly no one walks here...its kinda sad lol. If I see someone walking on the streets (well..costa mesa may be different) I typically actually pay attention and look because its a pretty rare thing (again, unless you are next to campus)

If you are worried about spending 70 bucks for a day's worth of fishing to catch nothing, don't bother with K1. It'll last like 10 minutes and its 20 bucks IIRC. A fishing trip is supposed to be a realtively peaceful day of just relaxing and tossing the shit with friends. If you get something, nice.

Beach is fine IMO...its not that cold, but I'd think most are at work during the day. If you can go to the beach at late Night...although it might be too cold. But a place like San Clemente @ midnight during the summer is pretty nice and relaxing.

There is Balboa Park, like another user mentioned, but its really just a place to get you to spend money. You can easily do SouthCoast in a day, although I haven't spent more than 5 hours there. I honestly prefer SC over Balboa park, but its really different environment. You could probably do Ikea/SC over the course of a day. LOL @ taking a trip to go to Frys...I suppose if there isn't one around where you live...If you want an outdoor shopping/walking experience you can try the Spectrum which is an outdoor mall. finally, if you really just want to blash cash go to Fashion Island. Hella baller, but everything is just stupid overpriced. If you can get up to Valencia, you can go to Six Flags.

Meh In'n'out is over rated IMO.

If you can, try to go to the Getty in LA. Its pretty cool. There is also some nice Traditional Mexican Areas around LA that are really nice. I wouldn't do a random tour through LA....LA is either a ghetto or it is a super rich area; If you want you can go downtown near UCLA and walk around all the stores. There is a Iranian district that has a store that sells some really interesting icecream (Saffron Icecream lol).
You might also want to look up and see if any band/group is playing in the Verizon ampitheatre during your stay that you could get some tickets to.

If you are an outdoors person maybe go spend a some time up in Big Bear. If its not snowing, it is still a nice area to relax in. I would also suggest doing like a desert barbque/campout...but that only really works in the summer when its much hotter.

Yeah honestly...unless you literally want to be shuffled to different locations requiring you to spend money as a form of enjoyment (ie: look at the suggestions: ikea, balboa island, southcoast, spectrum), you won't find too much. Then again, most places are like that.

This is pretty much it. The bus even sucks around UCI, 10-15 minutes late at the least. You need a car, no question about it.

 

[magomago]

Ikea is across the street from my hotel, I'm sure I can make it the two blocks over there
Not interested in the K1, we have one of those tracks around here, but never really interested me enough to go.
We have a Six Flags in Jersey, so I'm not really interested in that.

I was about to visit the Fry's in Vegas, but never found the time. The same with In and Out.

I think the fishing trip was like ~$40 which was reasonable, but then I had to buy a ONE DAY fishing license for $16 (wtf, my yearly license doesn't even cost that much) plus rental fees and probably charge me for some bait too...

When all is said and done, the car is going to cost $45+ a day vs bus that is like $4 for all day. I don't think the car is going to get me there 10x faster. I'm a little skeptical myself if things are really as bad as people say, had nearly everyone telling me Circus Circus was horrible and that shuttles from the airport would take forever. CC was fine aside from the ice maker on my floor not working for the first two days and the shuttle took me directly to CC.
Though like I said, I'm prepared to rent a car if it is as bad as people say.

What's the tax rate in CA? Usually just head over to DE for some tax free shopping

I think its 7.75% in OC....lol...I THINK haha.

Well try it out and we'll see as far as transportation is considered. Let us know if it is horrible. At the very least I'm totally spoiled by a trip to Taiwan - those people know how to do public transportation right. But those people live in an island that is less than the total size of SanBernadino county, and they all cluster around massive cities whose pop density puts anyplace in CA (even SF) to shame.

 

[wiredspider]

Just got back from my trip, didn't need to rent a car .

Airport shuttle from the hotel was able to pick me up and drop me off at the airport. They were even willing to drive me to places around the hotel, like 3-5 miles, though I never utilized it.

I just did a park hopper for Disneyland/California Adventure and it ended up filling up the 4 days I was there. Might have been able to do things in 3 days, if the weather was a little nicer (though I guess then there would have just been longer lines for stuff). Basically the goal was to ride/see everything at least once.

Since my hotel was near Harbour Blvd, I was able to take the OCTA 43 everyday. I wish I printed a schedule or downloaded one to compare the times or know when the bus should be coming. Though, I never really had to wait very long for the bus when coming from hotel or out of Disneyland. Only the first time I rode it from my hotel did it seem like it took a long time, but I think I was just anxious and nervous it wouldn't come.

It was really hard to leave the parks, so I never did end up venturing to the In and Out or Fry's. I should of asked the shuttle driver to go to the In and Out when he picked me up from the airport, but I was tired then .

 

[pray4mojo]

You came to socal to go to disney parks for 4 days? You missed out

 

[wiredspider]

Aside from the rain, I had a great time at Disney