I need planning help!! **Update** It is accomplished!!

I would love to take the train across country. I played around at Amtrak.com (I think I was a travel agent in a former life, I love doing this) and found there are no trains to Pasadena. You can take the train from Boston to LA. Pasadena is about 10 miles away according to Google. You can get a train out of Anaheim. It will take about 3 days each way.

I've been to San Diego and northern CA but not the LA area so I'm not much help there. I will help where I can.

I can highly recommend the Grand Californian. We've really enjoyed both times we've stayed there. 4-5 Days in the parks is probably the right amount. Have you thought about what else you want to do in CA?

Well I can't help with the train part... But SoCal is my specialty... Anything I can help ya with I'd be glad to!

It's definitely do-able. Now, if you have the time and want to spend the money is another issue.

If you take Amtrak, you can go from BOS-LA in 3 -5 days depending upon how much you want to spend. (Faster=pricier). It will range somewhere between $200-$1,000 one way (per person). Why the HUGE price difference? Well, it depends upon whether you take the fastest route or a slower route and if you choose to just pay for a seat or get a room with actual beds come night time. If you think of it as transportation and hotel for 3-4 nights, it's not that bad really. As JoAnn C posted, that will get you to LA, not Pasadena. From there you can rent a car, take a cab, shuttle, all sorts of options. Since you said you have never been to CA: Just for reference, with absolutely no traffic, it's about 20 min. (Note: This does NOT mean it's 20 minutes from LA to Pasadena. We can talk LA traffic later if you want. I'd say it's probably a 30-40 minute ride.)

I think Rose Parade tickets range from $50-$100, but it's been a few years since I've looked at pricing, so that's a guess.

If you stay in the Pasadena area (hotels will book out WAY in advance), you will have to be up bright and early on New Year's Day to get into your seats before the parade. The entire area (parking, walking, etc...) is a traffic cluster like you have never seen. It's fun, festive, and I do not mean that as discouraging, but I am not sure I would suggest arriving on the 31st as you will need a VERY early start on the 1st. I would probably get there on the 30th if it were me to just adjust, learn the layout, get a good night's sleep, etc....)

From there, your trip is easy. If you are going to rent a car, you can drive down to Disneyland (Anaheim) on the afternoon of the 1st. It's about an hour drive (but will be longer -- remember that LA traffic thing? ) You can stay on-site (Disneyland Hotel, Grand Californian Hotel, or Paradise Pier Hotel) or one of many off-site h/motels nearby. It's important to remember that this is one area where DLR is very different than WDW. You can walk from many of the off-site m/hotels very easily. Likewise, it's a short walk from the on-site hotels to DL and/or DCA. I agree with Brad 100%. If money is not an issue, stay at the GCH. It's wonderful, especially for two adults.

Stay as long as you like, drive back to LA, enjoy the train home. 6-10 days via train, 1 day for the parade, X park days, X sightseeing days. Depending upon how you do it (and how much you spend) it could be a nice three week+ vacation. One thing I would also consider is if part of your sightseeing includes LA/Hollywood/Beverly Hills, I would consider stay on place for that segment of your trip (along with the Rose Parade) and then a second hotel for your DLR portion. Driving back and forth from LA to Anaheim every day would not be something I would want to do on a vacation.

Hope this wasn't too lengthy. I just thought I would try to help as best as I can. Hope this helps.

- Dreams

P.S. Just a thought: You may want to look into some tour packages that have Rose Parade tickets and various So Cal sightseeing spots included if you plan on seeing lots of "touristy" spots.

Sounds like you've been thinking about this for a long time VL. I can help about this much......get on a train in Boston,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,head west!................................. , sorry thats all I got.

Ditto - I've never done and only been to CA a few times on business. But it sounds awesome! And looks like Disney Dreams has tons of useful insight - woo!

Now I can't wait to hear all about it, from planning to the final report

Let me know when you're ready for all my DLR food recommendations!

I've never taken the train cross country, but I have taken the Auto Train to Florida, and the only recommendation I have is:

GET A BEDROOM.

Or at least a roomette. A bedroom gives you a nice amount of space, plenty of seating, two reasonably comfortable beds, and a private toilet/shower. A roomette gives you two seats, two beds (the lower bunk is fairly comfortable, the upper is a little cramped and not so nice if you have issues with claustrophobia), and non-private toilets/showers that you share with the other people in your car. Both give you privacy when you want it.

We tried going to Florida in coach on our first trip, and NEVER AGAIN. Even one night trying to sleep sitting up is annoying. No way I would do it three days cross-country.

You're welcome. Glad I can help. Feel free to ask any other questions, not a "pest" in my view.

YAY for GCV DVC! I would still consider a hotel for the night in Pasadena upon arrival. I would not want to drive from Anaheim to Pasadena on New Year's morning to get to the Rose Parade. Just my opinion. The San Diego Zoo is wonderful. San Diego is about a 1.5-2 hour drive from Anaheim in clear traffic (There's that traffic thing again. Yeah, it comes with Southern CA). If you plan your SD Zoo trip on a weekend or to drive off peak hours, you will have a much better time.

As for rental cars, I believe most of the big rental car companies have pickup service from Union Station. You can Google "Union Station Los Angeles" and probably find exact info on that. Or try each individual rental car company's site. If you ask AAA, their travel peeps should know that info.

Hope that helps. Happy to help on the DLR part too, when you get to it. Sounds like a fun trip!

- Dreams

Have you done any long train trips before? Might want to practice first!

Glad your plan is coming together! As you commented, while the $2,500 at first seems like a big number, when you consider it is your cross-country transport, your hotel room, and your meals -- as well as some sight-seeing out the window along the way, it's a great value!

As for your question about hotels ON the route, that would be a perfect question for your AAA travel rep. They should be able to pull up the route and, of course, identify hotels that they recommend nearby. As many times as I have watched the parade on TV and in person, I can't visualize the hotels in the area. However, AAA should have that in a few clicks on their system I would guess.

And I'm with Brad, if you have not travelled on a train, you may want to take a day trip to practice! (Not that a day on a boat sets one up for a cruise, but....)

If I may make a suggestion...
You might want to Google "rose parade tour" to see some travel packages that are out there. I'm still learning the rules here on this site and I'm not sure on rules about posting links to outside sites exactly, but I was just looking at one that includes:

Hotels (that presumably are pre-scouted/used), reserved seat in the stands, bus transport to / from parade, time to view the floats post-parade, post-parade lunch, parade program and cushion, continental breakfast prior to the parade, and of course, a host. The whole shabang! Nice, in my opinion. Depending upon how much schlepping and navigating you want to do on your own, this could be an easy-peasy alternative. Of course, for a price. But sometimes, that's worth it, know what I mean?

I think your trip sounds pretty exciting, by the way. I've done quite a bit of traveling and new adventures can be so fun!

Now you just need t-shirts: "Vettelovers and Wife, California Here We Come!"

- Dreams

I am 100% useless on this little adventure, but I am LOVING living vicariously thru all the questions and good advice! Vettelover - I really hope it all works out, because it sounds truly fantastic. I'd love to stay in the GC in the worst way...the pics are absolutely stunning!

Good luck! And I hear Trader Sam's is a MUST do!

Keep us updated. I'm ready to start making some reservations at Cafe Orleans and Napa Rose chef's table!

Hows this VL link.

Haha! The Master has done it again!!

WTG, mrhub!

Are you coming back home January 17th or February 17th?

Your welcome friend! Anytime!

Not a problem, taken care of. I thought that was a really long trip but figured oh well!

That is going to be such an awesome trip!

Thats all I can say!

AWESOME!

vettelover, this is gonna be an awesome trip for you i hope to do the same some day. just curious what part of ma. are you from?