California Adventure! Need some help, please...

Hello, all.

So, I'm heading to Southern California for the first ever this summer with a friend of mine. Our plan is as follows:

Day 1: Tour Warner Bos Studios (I have a connection)

Day 2-4 (order TBD): Universal Hollywood, Disneyland and California Adventure (in one day), Six Flags Magic Mountain.

So, I have some questions about this trip

Souvenirs: what should I expect cost-wise for this trip? I'm planning on buying something from each park and additional gifts for family/friends.

Food: What is the cost of food at these places? What should I expect in terms of variety?

Transportation: What is the cost of renting a car from LAX airport? Uber costs would be ~$400. Would a 3-day car rental for Warner, Universal, and MM be less expensive?

Fast Passes: How does the Disney MaxPass work? Would it be worth it? What about the Universal Fast Pass? Also, for MM, should I get Regular, Gold, or Platinum? I only have 1 full day there. How much is the X2 fee?

Rides: What are must-do rides at these places? I want to try to get all the coaster credits at MM, but not spend too much money on a Flash Pass.

My trip is in early mid-June.

I'll post any additional questions later

Thanks for all help in advance!

Oh don't worry, I'm here to help.

Souvenirs: what should I expect cost-wise for this trip? I'm planning on buying something from each park and additional gifts for family/friends.

This is impossible to answer, we need way more information. How many people are you buying for? What are you buying? Shirts, Magnets? A $2500 glass blown castle?

Food: What is the cost of food at these places?

Expensive

What is the cost of renting a car from LAX airport?

Here you go.

I want to try to get all the coaster credits at MM, but not spend too much money on a Flash Pass.

These are pretty general questions, and lot of them can be answered by some of your own research (try each park's website, that'll tell you all costs and food prices) but I can add:

WB and USH are very, very close to each other, and USH can be done in one day, even shorter if you are able to afford a Gate A pass. So if you're looking to save time/money, I'd see if I could do both in one day. If USH is open late the day your here (which is likely by the summer, it's usually open until 10pm then), it'd be a long day, but possible. Plus, the lines at USH really decrease a lot in the late evening hours, so much so that usually even Forbidden Journey, which can get to be 2-3 hours long during the morning and day, can become a walk on. You could even start your day at USH, drive over to WB and do the tour, and then return to USH... you can re-enter the parking lot for free on the same day if you keep the receipt.

In terms of the other parks, distance is an issue. SFMM is north, USH/WB is about 30 minutes south (more with traffic), and DL/DCA is about 45-60 minutes south of USH (again, more with traffic). So I'd either work from the top down or bottom up (geographically speaking), or else you'll be doing a lot of double backing.

And given all those distances, I think it would be cheaper, if not at least a lot more convenient, to rent a car. With all those distances, I'd imagine Uber costs would be way more than $400, especially if you include driving back to LAX, which is also not really close to any of those locations. LA is very spread out. Google map it all, and you'll see what I mean.

And no Knott's Berry Farm? It's quite close to DL/DCA, and a smaller park with some great and unique rides and attractions, not to mention history. It could be done in less than a day. Although that is the only park I know that does not allow re-entery for cars, so if you leave and come back on the same day, you'd have to pay for parking again (though not re-admittance into the park, just the parking).

I can help on Disneyland and Magic Mountain since I have been to those two.

 

Souvenirs: what should I expect cost-wise for this trip? I'm planning on buying something from each park and additional gifts for family/friends.

 

Depends what type of souvenirs you want. Shirts and hats are pretty typical for an amusement park. I highly recommend the "I Survived It's a Small World" shirt at Disneyland.

 

Food: What is the cost of food at these places? What should I expect in terms of variety?

 

If you've been to Six Flags New England (judging by your location), Magic Mountain has basically the same food and it costs the same. There are quite a few food options right down the road that you could get before/after the park is open. I haven't had anything at Disneyland that wowed me, but I do really like the food from the Flo's Cafe in Carsland at California Adventure. I think meals were $10-12? The clam chowder place at California Adventure was pretty good as well.

 

Transportation: What is the cost of renting a car from LAX airport? Uber costs would be ~$400. Would a 3-day car rental for Warner, Universal, and MM be less expensive?

 

I had a car for 4 days last year and don't remember it being over $200. Went through Budget.

 

Fast Passes: How does the Disney MaxPass work? Would it be worth it? What about the Universal Fast Pass? Also, for MM, should I get Regular, Gold, or Platinum? I only have 1 full day there. How much is the X2 fee?

 

MaxPass wasn't available the last times I've been to Disneyland, so I can't comment on that. Disneyland and California Adventure can both definitely be done in a day if you are willing to walk a lot and use single rider lines. Radiator Springs Racers, California Screamin', Grizzly River Rapids, Soarin', Splash Mountain, and Indiana Jones all have single rider lines. Of those, the lines for Radiator Springs Racers, Grizzly River Rapids, Indiana Jones, and California Screamin' can get you on much faster than the regular line. I've found Splash Mountain and Soarin' had pretty slow single rider lines, but they were still better than the regular queue. To maximize Fastpasses, I usually go to California Adventure, get a fastpass and then go to Disneyland to get a fastpass. I then go back to California Adventure to use the first fastpass and then grab another. I repeat this strategy all day since fastpasses between the two parks aren't linked. Radiator Springs Racers is the most likely to run out of fastpasses with Soarin' right behind it at California Adventure. At Disneyland, Space Mountain and Splash Mountain (on a hot day) will run out of fastpasses first.

I've been to Six Flags Magic Mountain twice. The first was on a weekday in May; the second was on a Saturday in June. For that weekday in May, I was fine without a Flash Pass. I only hit two bad waits (60 min for Full Throttle and 60 min for Riddler's Revenge- PS this one has a hidden single rider line I didn't know about at the time). I was able to get on X2 four times (the line died down at the end of the day) and all of the major coasters except Batman. Even with most waits as walk-ons, I couldn't get on everything because of how large the park is. It takes a long time to get around the park and there's a lot of coasters. For my second visit, I got a Flash Pass and it was much needed until 6 pm when the crowds died down. I recommend a Gold Flash Pass since you will be there during peak season. You may be able to avoid paying the $15 X2 surcharge if you ride it right at opening or the end of the day.

 

Rides: What are must-do rides at these places? I want to try to get all the coaster credits at MM, but not spend too much money on a Flash Pass.

 

I'm assuming you want to ride all of the coasters, so I'll skip those. At Magic Mountain, the non-coasters worth riding are Lex Luthor and the new Justice League ride.

At Disneyland, make sure you ride Indiana Jones, Roger Rabbit, Star Tours, Splash Mountain, Mr. Toad, and Buzz Lightyear.

At California Adventure, make sure you ride Radiator Springs Racers, the ride formerly known as Tower of Terror, Toy Story Mania, Soarin', and Grizzly River Rapids. Also watch World of Color. It's an amazing night show.

Thanks, everyone! I'm actually staying at the Dolphin's Cove Resort right by Disney. To answer a couple of issues, I'm not doing Knotts because, technically, I was invited to participate in my friend's trip, and we had to make some agreements. He decided to do Disney, Universal, and MM. I'm thinking now about renting a car, since it's less expensive than Uber. My plan is to use the rental for the trips to WB, Universal, and SFMM, then return the car and get cheap bus passes for the Disney day at the end of the trip. For souvenirs, I'm thinking about buying at least one keychain and one t-shirt from each place, and some smaller gifts (magnets, keychains, etc) for friends, and some shirts for family gifts. I might buy additional shirts if I feel like it and have money. So, any additional suggestions based on this?