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From Castles to Coastlines, Planning the Perfect SoCal Beach Day with Matt



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Show Summary

Prepare to elevate your beach game to expert level as we journey down the Southern California coastline with Matt. From the quaint allure of Redondo Beach to the swanky stretches of Hermosa and Manhattan Beach, Matt unveils a shoreline suited for every preference. Sandcastles and sunsets await as we navigate you through the best spots to complement your Disneyland escapades with a taste of the Pacific's finest.


Discover the quintessential beach gear that promises comfort and convenience, and hear why lugging a heavy cooler is a rookie move when local eateries beckon with tantalizing bites. We'll even help you tackle the sandy aftermath with a handy baby powder trick. So, tune in and let's make your next beach day as blissful as the California dream promises.

 

Chapters and Time Stamps

0:00 Intro

 

Show Transcript

Welcome to the parkMagic podcast, your place for insider tips for your next Disneyland Adventure. Whether you're a first timer or first time in a while visitor, we're here to unwrap the secrets to creating and simplifying your dream Disneyland vacation.


Robyn:

Welcome to the show today. I know a lot of people are planning to go to the beach when they go to Disneyland, especially if it's your first time coming to California. You might want to hit up that beach when you're coming on that trip. If you're coming all the way to California, it might seem silly not to go to the beach because the beach in California is beautiful. It's different than a lot of other beaches around the country, and it can be a great way to have like a rest or a down day in between your day at Disney.


Introducing Matt

So I have somebody today that had lived so close; they could see the beach for many years. He spent a lot of time biking from one beach to another, and he really kind of knows the vibes of the different beaches that are kind of near the areas where you might want to visit if you're going to the beach during a trip to Disneyland. So Matt, thanks for coming.


Matt:

Thanks for having, Robyn.


Robyn:

When it comes to people wanting to go to the beach for their Disneyland trip, I think that it can be a little overwhelming because there's a lot of beaches that are nearby, and like they each kind of have their own vibe, right?


Matt:

They do. Yeah, different beaches up and down in Los Angeles and Orange County coasts, they've got different vibes to them, as you put, so well.


Robyn:

I thought some of the things we could talk about, like what beach is the closest, then what beach might be best for like a family, and what beach might be best for maybe just a couple because some of them, like, you know, have piers where, you know, there's like more shopping, and some of them are just really great places to set up your beach blanket. And there's some places that even have rentals where you can, like, rent wagons and stuff that you can use for the beach as well. Let's start with what would be your favorite beach and how about how far is that from Disneyland?


Matt:
Beaches Near Los Angeles

Okay, well, I'm going to reveal my bias here. My favorite beach is Redondo Beach, because that's where I live for so long. Putting my bias aside, I feel like there's a lot that it has to offer. There's a whole pier in Marina area that's really great to walk around. There's a lot of restaurants and shops right up on the pier itself and within the marina. It's a very family-friendly area, lots of different types of food, and you know you got seafood, you got your regular bar and grills, and a little bit of everything in between. Great walking area also for Redondo Beach.


Robyn:

Some of the things that I really like about Redondo, because you know, obviously you live there, so I visited you a lot, is there's kind of like a ramp that gets you down, and then there's it's like a longer beach you have a like a longer area of sand before you get to the water and so there's more space to spread out. But like you said, not every place has food that's nearby, and it's pretty close to the Los Angeles airport. If somebody was doing LAX, then it actually isn't that far. And it is a really beautiful beach.


Matt:

That's true. If you are coming into LAX or going to be around that area at all, I would also highly recommend Dockweiler State Beach. It's got lots of parking, which is good because when these places fill up, you know, some of the smaller beach towns have really great beaches and really nice shops and restaurants but parking is either, you know, pretty much a nightmare to find in some of these some of the other beach towns. At Dockweiler State Beach, there's lots of parking, there's actually fire pits set up on the beach that are first come first serve. So you get there, you could put a grill top over it and barbecue or something like that. And the cool thing about Dockweiler is you can sit there and watch the planes taken off from LAX right overhead. They really do come right overhead. So it's it's pretty cool to see.


Robyn:

That's really cool. What do you think about like Hermosa Beach if they're in LAX? Would you skip Hermosa? I mean, I feel like Hermosa is more of like a fancy place. I feels like the food's more expensive there.


Matt:

I think Hermosa Beach is also really great. If you're in Redondo Beach, it's really not that far to get to Hermosa Beach; it's only two or three miles away. You could easily rent a bike and go up there and do it on the beach path called the strand. If you're feeling more ambitious, you can ride all the way to Santa Monica and back, but that's over 20 miles each way. But you can easily reach Hermosa Beach or Manhattan Beach, which are the other two beach cities in that area. Hermosa Beach is more like a small, like, old-school beach town, and then it gets progressively more upscale as you get to Manhattan Beach, which is more like boutiques and really nice and luxurious type of place. So they're all family-friendly for sure. But if you're doing the couple's thing, and you're going to be in the LA area, there's lots of great places in Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach as well.


Robyn:

So these LA-adjacent beaches, would you say that they're all pretty like the same amount of surf? Or are there ones where like you'd have to be like more cautious if you have like a little one?


Matt:

Well, that's a good question. It's probably just depends on the day. Yeah, the surf comes in there, and there'll be surfers out and in some areas, you know, just wherever the waves are. That being said, there are certain areas of the beach that are flagged off from surfing; they're swimming only, and they have lifeguards there through the summer months. And so, you know, you always want to be cautious when getting into the water, but there are some areas where you're not protected from the surf, but you're protected from surfers coming in onto your territory.


Robyn:
Orange County/Disneyland Beaches vs Walt Disney World Beaches

The nice thing about these beaches, like if you came from Florida, so maybe you're Walt Disney World or like this may be coming from Key West, those beaches are kind of like swampy and there's lots of critters that are in the sand. California beaches are very like the sand is pretty much really dry until you get up to the water. Very like clean sand for the most part. These ones don't have a lot of rocks so you know so there are places where you can comfortably get in the water.


Matt:

Yeah, I would say the LA County beaches in general, and even some of the ones in Orange County that we haven't mentioned yet. The sand is really nice and fine and clean, nice and soft, easy to find a place to put a towel down. You know, some of the beaches are a little narrower than others, depending on where you are. In general, the sand is pretty soft. There are rocky areas here and there, but they can pretty easily be avoided.


Robyn:

One thing is, on the longer beaches like Redondo where you have to walk further to get to the water, make sure you have flip flops or sandals; water shoes do not work well on the beach. It's a, it wants to see and gets in there. It's really abrasive, but the beach is in the summer that sand does get pretty hot. So make sure that you've got something to protect little feet or have them riding in something with very big wheels to get down to the beach.


Matt:

Yep, for sure, that sand does get scalding hot, and even if you think you could take it, sometimes you may get about a quarter of the way there and then start digging for your flip flops because it's pretty scorching hot in the summertime.


Driving Times to the Beach from Disneyland

If you're thinking about drive times to the beach, these are all quotes without traffic, which, you know, depending if you're there during the week and you're going outside of rush hour, you can make it around pretty easily. If you're there on the weekend going in the middle of the day, you can make it around pretty easily, but you can obviously add 50 to 100% to these times if you're considering trying to make the chips in rush hour if you're going to be in the LA area or want to go check out those beaches. Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach are probably about a 45-minute ride, maybe an hour ride depending on which part of the beach you're going to. 


Robyn:

Disneyland or from Disney? 


Matt:

From Disneyland if you're already at the resort. If you want to go to Dockweiler Beach, which is where the planes take off from LAX, that's about 45 minutes to an hour also. Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, all about the same distance; you just branch off at the end of the trip.


Long Beach

Long Beach is about 30 to 45 minutes away. Long Beach also has a lot of stuff to do, family-friendly; it has a great aquarium, it's got a home marina waterfront park set up, lots of restaurants over there, lots of great walking areas, just cool stuff to see for. It's actually a good place for either couples or families because it's got a lot to offer. And it's right near Long Beach itself. You can be on the sand and be just a couple blocks away from downtown. It's pretty cool to have the city right up on the waterfront like that. And lots of family-friendly entertainment in Long Beach as well.


Robyn:

I feel like Long Beach is really good because like if you're not sure how your kids are going to react to the beach, like you're not sure if they're going to want it, if the beach will be too much or the sand will be too much like there's lots of places to sit and see the water but also have other experiences like the aquarium and so I feel like there's a lot of things that you could do where you can still see and experience the ocean even if you're not sure if your family is really going to be the kind of people that want to sit at the beach and just hang out in the waves and the sand.


Matt:

Definitely, yeah, Long Beach is that kind of town for sure. And really, it's, you know, 30 to 45 minutes away from the resort so it's not too bad of a drive. Even if you're staying in one place, you know, staying in one of the other or you can stay in Long Beach and still make it into Disney without too terrible of a drive.


Robyn:

I mean, you know, when we do Disneyland and we do the beach, a lot of times we will do Long Beach because there's like, there's an area that has like all of these cute little old shops. And in that part of the beach, they had like a little ramp that was like that, like helped, like walk down to the beach front, which made it easier. But what I liked is I like there were so many food options so we could pick up pizza or tacos and then eat them on the beach if we wanted to. And then there were like ice cream stores and then there were also, last time we were there. We rented like umbrellas and stuff like that there that we were able to pick up and then take down to the beach in a wagon, which was kind of nice because my husband is a ginger, he’s redhead and so he burns really easy. So it was nice to have some shade for him.


Matt:

Yeah, if you're not from Southern California, you may get to the beach and it might only be 70 degrees, but you can get burnt really fast out there. Highly recommend unless you're already living in a climate where you get to spend a lot of time outside and you're already primed for it. Lots of sunscreen and find an umbrella or some kind of shade when you're at the beach for sure.


Robyn:

And Queen Mary's at Long Beach too, right? 


Matt:

It sure is. 


Robyn:

Yeah. Which is something that is like, it can be a fun thing to do, depending on the age of your kids and how much they like history. And there's some really cool hotels like there was a hotel Maya they have a lot of the hotels will have like s'mores and things that you can do. So there's some nice inexpensive things. And if you're flying into Long Beach airport or out of Long Beach airport, it can be really nice to kind of hit that up. You just have to think about how much sand is going to be on you and finding a place to shower.


Matt:
Flying into Long Beach Airport vs LAX

Yeah, this is a little off topic, but I highly recommend flying into Long Beach instead of LA.


Robyn:

It’s my favorite airport. Like, even Santa Ana Airport's great. Like, it's my second favorite, but Long Beach... I love being able to, like, just get off the plane with up ramps, like the old school ramps, and it's kind of like this really cool beach vibe. And it's so simple. LAX is so complicated and so stressful and Long Beach is very much like an airport could have beach vibes. I feel like Long Beach is the airport that has beach vibe.


Matt:

Definitely, yeah, highly recommend it. Some other beaches that are close to the Disneyland Resort... If you want to stay in Orange County and check out some of the beaches down there, Huntington Beach is probably the closest. It definitely has the beach town type of feel. Lots of shops and restaurants real close to the waterfront and close to the pier. It takes about 30 minutes to get there, so it's a pretty easy drive if you're at the resort and want to just go straight to the beach. Huntington Beach is your choice.


Robyn:

And there's usually pretty decent parking there, right?


Matt:
Luxurious Beaches and Souther Orange County Beaches

Huntington Beach has decent parking, yeah. It definitely gets full, you know, in prime times on the weekends and things like that. But there are parking lots and there's some street parking around that you can find in Huntington still fairly close to the water. A little bit further down the coast from Huntington, you start getting into the more luxurious Orange County beaches, and Newport Beach is also about a 30-35 minute drive from the resort. Really, really nice beach community, lots of nice walking areas on the sand, it's really kept up well. And on the Balboa Peninsula is a great place to try and go just to see the beach up there and to walk it. Really nice area. 


And then a little further down the coast, Laguna Beach, which is about a 30 to 45 minute drive from the resort, highly recommend it especially if it's a couples trip. You can go down there, there are tons of great restaurants so you can make a reservation or, you know, lots of nice hotels, the scenery there is absolutely beautiful. The mountains go right in, like, right up to the water, the beach there is kind of short, but it's definitely like, you know, really nice views and picturesque setting. The drive there is also super nice depending on which way you go, if you are going straight from the resort, you'll probably take the freeways down and then you end up on Laguna Canyon Road and it just, like, winds through this really steep canyon with, like, beautiful mountains on both sides and, you know, it's like all forested and lush and it's really beautiful. 


Or if you are a little more adventurous and have some more time to burn, I highly recommend taking PCH from Huntington Beach down to Laguna Beach, even further down to Dana Point if you'd like for southern Orange County beaches. But you'll be right up on the waterfront in the mountains on one side of the ocean on the other. It's not quite the same as doing the PCH drive in Northern California or the central coast but if you're at the Disneyland Resort, you're only about 30 minutes away from Huntington and if you start there, it's about, you know, 30 to 45 minutes down to Laguna and then about an hour down to Dana Point. So if you have some time to burn, you know, doing that loop, and there's plenty of, there'll be a million places to stop along the way, kind of pop in and do some shopping or, you know, hit a restaurant along the way. But very picturesque drive.


Robyn:

If you're not familiar with California, PCH, just like Highway One. And so it just goes right across, like you can see the beach for almost all of it. There are a couple of areas where it gets a little congested, and it can take time. So, you know, if you're somebody who hates sitting in traffic, it might not be as enjoyable in some parts as others, but like especially around Redondo and Hermosa.


Matt:

Yeah. And over there, there's a million traffic lights, and yeah, most of the PCH, Pacific Coast Highway, you can't actually see the beach from it.


Santa Monica, Venice Beach and Malibu

So, in the LA County area, I wouldn't really recommend taking it unless you're already in Santa Monica and are going north from there because that's about the point where it's right up on the coast and there's mountains that, you know, drive up toward Malibu, for example, from Santa Monica, probably take you about an hour but you know, you'll be right on the coast with the mountains on one side and the ocean on the other. That's probably like an hour plus to get to Santa Monica from the resort, so you'd really have to have a lot of time to burn to do it up that way.


Robyn:

There's a pier there too, though, right?


Matt:

In Santa Monica, yeah. So if you wanted to go to Santa Monica, also on the family-friendly lists beaches, it's great for everybody, really but there's actual rides like in a little amusement park right on the pier and there's, you know, walking paths and all sorts of shops and restaurants, you know, you can just like, if you started in Redondo, the same bike path is all the way up there so you can rent bikes, ride maybe from there down to Venice Beach or something like that. Venice Beach... I don't know if I'd call family-friendly, unless you know, you're ready to see pretty much anything but it is an interesting place to go. 


Robyn:

It's an experience.


Matt:

It’s an experience for sure. If you rent a bike and ride down there, like, parking is terrible down there. So I wouldn't recommend trying to drive into Venice Beach. But if you can find another way to get there, it's got like a boardwalk feel. You know, there's like lots of little shops and restaurants right up on the walking path. But there's also like street vendors and people wearing like neon everything and, you know, doing cartwheels on roller skates and there's also Muscle Beach, which is like that famous gym that's right up on the sand where all these bros are grunting. Really, it's just like you think it's gonna be. But yeah, it's kind of, it's very unique. So if you if you're brave, take the trip down to Venice Beach from Santa Monica on the bike and then pedal right back.


Robyn:

So like I usually recommend, tell me if you disagree, like if you're looking for close beach to Disneyland, so you're just trying to get some enclose, then I would say I usually recommend Long Beach or Newport Beach. But Huntington Beach is a great option if you're looking for near LAX, and I agree with you, I love Redondo, the other one that you suggested. And then the beaches that are past up north, like towards Malibu, they are gorgeous too, but they are quite the drive.


Matt:

Yeah, if you've got some time to kill, and you know, you want to go see them. The beaches in Malibu are amazing. If you go even further up the coast, I mean, if you want to, like, make a day trip out of it, I'd highly recommend driving all the way to Santa Barbara, you know, I mean, it's probably going to take three, three and a half, maybe four hours each way, to maybe even like take a night out and do it, but the beaches are spectacular up there. Really, really great pier and it's it's like it has all the things of a city but it feels like a small beach town at the same time.


Robyn:

And then if your family is into history too, that's also where some missions are. And from Santa Barbara, there are things like parasailing and, you know, some other opportunities that are like, you know, like sunset cruises and stuff that run out of Santa Barbara.


Matt:

Yep, that’s definitely a beautiful area .


Robyn:

Redondo has that too. Redondo has like whalewatching… 


Matt:

It sure does, yeah. I'm definitely biased but I would highly recommend it. One other thing, if you're into history, a little bit of a different kind of history. If you are staying in Orange County and want to go to a beach, it's not too far from Disneyland.


Bolsa Chica State Beach

You can go to Bolsa Chica State Beach. Bolsa Chica beach and Dockweiler beach, that's in LA County, both have lots and lots of parking. Which if you don't want to fight, you know, up and down little beach streets looking for a parking spot. If you want to stay in Orange County, at Bolsa Chica beach, the beach is nice, and it's family-friendly, there's not as much like right up on the water there, there's not restaurants and shops and everything, it's gonna be like, we're gonna go do a beach day, maybe even pack a lunch with you if you're going there. 


Right on the other side of the road, there is an ecological preserve and a Marine Conservation Area, which is nice. There's like a little walkway you can go up and there's a lookout point from there, you can see different wildlife and things. But the history part is across the inlet from that, there's a huge area that sort of still shows the history of the oil and gas exploration in California that used to occur there and there's, you know, just like a huge swath of land that's on the inner part of that inlet that still has like some of the old infrastructure and all these weird-colored ponds. It's interesting. 


If you ever have a few minutes on Google Maps, take a look at the ecological preserve and the beautiful state beach on one side and then the history of oil and gas exploration on the other side, it's definitely an interesting juxtaposition, but also, it is a close beach if you're at Disneyland and just want to get down to the beach. You want to stay away from the crowds, you know, Huntington, it seems like a little too much and maybe the other places are a little too far. You just want a nice quiet beach day, pack up your picnic lunch and take it down to Bolsa Chica.


Robyn:
Catalina Island

Should we talk about Catalina Island? And briefly, I mean you could do like for probably four episodes on Catalina Island, bu it's an expensive island. It can be kind of pricey to get there, but it is a tourist destination in and of itself.


Matt:

Yes, it is. You can go to Long Beach, and there is a ferry that will take you to Catalina Island. It is absolutely beautiful. The island is amazing. If you want to make it an overnight trip, try to book your hotel way in advance, I mean, they definitely have pretty high occupancy at all times, they're super pricey, but it's worth it, it’s like this own little paradise, right? You'd never know you're right offshore from a giant city. It's a super quiet vibe. You can rent these electric bikes because it's very hilly there, but you rent the bikes and you can just like loop all over the place up and down these hills and amazing views. The air is like nice and, you know, crisp and clean out there. The water is beautiful. And you know, it could be done in a day, if you take the boat out in the morning, you spend all day there, you come back on the boat, you know, the last word of the day. For the amount of money you're spending, you might as well just get the hotel room and make a night out of it.


Robyn:

Yeah. So you don't have to just limit yourself to the beaches too, because there are lots of like little boat tours, whale watching during certain times of years, glass-bottom boats, there's not a lot of snorkeling in Southern California.


Matt:

There's scuba. If you are a scuba person, apparently, there's really great spots just offshore, some of them are from Santa Monica and Malibu, but also from Palos Verdes. There's reefs right offshore.


Robyn:
Palos Verdes and Tide Pools

We've been to tide pools as kids, I can't remember where the tide pools were. 


Matt:

Some of those are in Palos Verdes. 


Robyn:

Palos Verdes. Oh yeah, 


Matt:

They're kind of hard to get to. And it's beautiful there. It's a great, really nice drive if you have the chance to go. Also, if you have some time to burn, drive from Redondo Beach to Long Beach, but don't take Pacific Coast Highway, which cuts inland. Take Palos Verdes Drive and it takes you all the way around, you're on the edge of the cliff. It's a really gorgeous drive. But along the way, there's a couple of spots you can stop. You pretty much have to, like, find the little hiking walking trail from where you parked, you know, down to the beach. It's not easy, like you can do it in flip flops kind of thing, but it's kind of steep. But once you get down there, there's these little tide pools. There's like sea urchins living in there. There's all sorts of little fishes swimming around. It is pretty. It could be dangerous because the tide changes a lot and you're standing on these wet rocks and all of a sudden.


Robyn:

They're very slippery, people get hurt sometimes. 


Matt:

Yeah, the waves are coming in, tides coming in faster than you think. But so be very careful in that, wouldn't recommend you know.


Robyn:

That would be the only time I'd recommend water shoes at the beach too.


Matt:

But there's some cool stuff to see that you can just walk down and take a look at a little tide pool ecosystem right there in Rancho Palos Verdes.


Robyn:

But like the Long Beach Aquarium has like a tide pool exhibit where you can see a lot of those creatures in like a more controlled environment if that's something that's interesting to you as a parent. 


What to Bring to the Beach

Should we talk about what to bring to the beach a little bit? Because I think that so first off, if you wanted to do boogie boards, or if you wanted to surf, there are shops all up and down that you can rent that you can rent wetsuits, you can rent umbrellas, or you can buy umbrellas. So know that those are just a Yelp search away from pretty much. All of these beaches have some service that is pretty close by. What do you, I know that you and your wife normally go to the beach without children. But so we could start with that. And then I can add some things that I usually bring for the kids.


Matt:

Sure. I just want to add to Robyn's list, also bicycle rentals in most of the beach towns super easy. Just, you know, Google bike rental, and there's probably a place right there. And most of the beach towns have bike paths that connect to the next town, so you can definitely, you know, park one place and get around quite a bit on the bike. Back to your question. 


Robyn:

What to bring?


Matt:

What do bring? You'll probably want to bring something to lay on, you know, a nice blanket or towels or something like that.


Robyn:

I like the Turkish beach, the Turkish towels. Really, they fold up really well. And yeah, they're bigger.


Matt:

Nice. Yeah, I like to have a big beach blanket personally, you know, then just have a lot of space because these beaches don't get so crowded where it's, you know, I grew up in the east coast where like you had to get there early in the morning. You still parked like three miles away. And then you had to find like just enough space for like a couple towels and a cooler or something that you have like, you know, love the cooler all the way from the car or whatever.


Robyn:

And even the most crowded beach in California. If you have somebody within like ten, that's rare, usually people a lot more spread out.


Matt:

Yeah, unless it's like, you know, Fourth of July weekend. Volleyball Tournament is like right off the street and you know, like then there's kind of there can be crowds for certain events, but usually, most of these beaches, there's plenty of room to spread out. So you can bring yourself a nice big blanket. I would definitely recommend an umbrella, you know, if you it's hard to travel with one but a lot of beach towns like Robyn said, you can rent one. You know, it kind of depends on what your speed is. If you just want to sit there and hang out, you can bring food onto all these beaches, certain beaches like Dockweiler has firepits and things where you can even cook your own food although people do start claiming them pretty early in the morning. So you do have to get there early if you want to do something like that. But if you're the kind of person, like, you just want to sit and chill, then you know, you can bring sandwiches down, you can bring whatever down. And if you're going to some of the state beaches that aren't going to have stores and restaurants nearby, you're gonna need to do that. If you're, but a lot of these towns have, you know, dozens of restaurants within a couple of blocks walk of the beach. So then all you need to bring is your debit card, or some cash.


Robyn:

That will get pizza or tacos or sandwich, you have to be careful as you hand it to your kids that it doesn't end up being a sandwich. But we've read it we, I mean, we've eaten all sorts of food. I mean, I wouldn't recommend Chinese food on the beach. But you know, you can eat almost anything on the beach. And then there's usually like fruit, fruit vendors that have amazing fruits that's nearby for most of them too.


Matt:

Yeah. So you don't, unless you're going to one of the state beaches, where you're, you know, you're not going to have the whole town right there next to the water. You don't really need to bring all that much because as long as you have a place on the sand where you got your towel out, you know. 


Robyn:

A bottled water, maybe.


Matt:

Yeah, definitely bring some water like, just like get burnt on those cooler days. It's really easy to get dehydrated on a you know, on a day that's not that hot. And, you know, the good thing is there's lots of water fountains and things like that like along the beaches, so you can just bring a water bottle and refill it as you need.


Robyn:

I think bring enough sunblock to reapply and reapply often, and make sure it gets make the big thing that I see that people do is they don't let the sunblock dry, you really need to let it dry in your skin before you wash off. And then so we put that with wet blankets, we got some food. With the kids, I usually bring some sand toys like there, you know, but a lot of times if I was traveling with by air, we would not, we would just rent them there or we would buy a cheap thing at the grocery store. You can even like, you know, they just bring you some cups from the buffet like they don't keep themselves entertained.


Matt:

That’s some I feel like you might find it $1 store. Yeah, you know, beach sand type toys.


Robyn:

Yeah. And if you can get those away from the like, if you get those like at the store like next to the beach, they're going to be more expensive. So there's a convenience factor there. But and then the other thing that I highly recommend bringing is going to sound weird, but it's baby powder, especially if you're not staying nearby. Baby powder is amazing to get the sand to dry enough to get it off of you. So most of the beaches have these little showers, but some of them don't. And especially if you're going to get an Uber afterwards, then you're going to want to get the sand off of you. If you're going to take an Uber make sure you bring towels or something, make sure you're completely dry, completely sand free. Just out of respect. You know, it takes money out of their drivers' pockets if they have to vacuum the car before they can pick up their next guest. So just be considerate there.


Uber and Car Rentals

But you can definitely take the Uber you can take an Uber there and back. You can also rent a car at Disneyland, there's a rental place in Downtown Disney where you can rent a car and there's like a budget rental that's like just down the street as well so there are options if you wanted to just rent a car for that one day. And then I had somebody ask me, they were like, ‘okay, so what our plan is, is we're going to do Disneyland we leave let's say we leave on Thursday night at 10pm. We're gonna get up at at nine, we're gonna go to the beach and then we'll go to the airport from there’. I told them that was not a great idea because the idea of me taking my kids kids, son soaked from the beach, crabby with sand all over them like and not having a place to like really shower and change. I told them that it would be better to do it like the day that they arrive. But I don't know, would you have a different thought on that, like when the good time to do the beach in a trip like that?


Matt:
Best Time to Plan a Beach Trip While at Disneyland

In a family trip? Kids with you? I don't know, if you're driving yourself in your own rental car. It kind of depends. I mean, like Robyn said, having their kid who you just had to drag, you know, away from the beach kicking and screaming because they wanted to stay there for the rest of their life and then you got to go and you know, then you're sitting in traffic for 45 minutes to an hour potentially to get back to the hotel. At the same time, depending on how far you're traveling in from, you know, you may not want to land and then go straight to the beach because that's kind of a big day. If you've, you know, flown here from the East Coast for example. So I don't know, I would just say preparation would be your best bet there. Just make sure you have extra towels with you, you know, bring a big old, especially if you're going into Uber or some kind of rideshare, you know, bring a big duffel bag with you that's got extra towels, a change of clothes for the kids. You should be able to find some type of like public restroom slash like, you know, sand shower type of thing to at least get them cleaned off enough and changed into something more comfortable before you head back in the car for your drive back.


Robyn:
Beach Attire for Kids

And I think the other thing is, on the beach, I usually will always have my kids on a long sleeve, rash guard, and if like, and the reason for that is that, no matter how much you apply, there's so much sun that's happening. I find that we have a lot less burn. And then I have them wear like a big, like floppy hat or something at the beach too, especially because you know they're you might be laying under the umbrella, but for the most part, the kids are going to be running back and gathering shells and you know doing all sorts of. They're going to be running around, so having that like permanent sunblock on them is helpful.


Matt:

Yeah, definitely. The last thing you want is for your little one to get toasted while they're out there. So, you know, make sure you're applying it maybe before you even leave your hotel, so that it's had time to soak in and dry on them before you actually have them out in the sun. And, you know, the white floppy hat it is serves two purposes: keeps the sun off the kids and it looks super cute. 


Robyn:

Yeah, it does look super cute in the pictures.


Beach Restrooms

And then the other question, I think people have is restrooms, and most of these, pretty much all the beaches I think that we talked about today, have some sort of restroom. Does weiler have one?


Matt:

So here's the thing, they have restrooms at Bolsa Chica and Dockweiler State Beach, but they're closed from like Labor Day to Memorial Day. They're closed from like Labor Day to Memorial Day, and there's still totally beach weather in between the first week of September and the last week of May. So you might be there on a perfectly nice beach day and then walk up to the restroom and like the door is locked. So just be prepared, and then make sure you know if you're there, that time of year, probably got to cut your trip short or like find a restaurant close by, or you know, there's always the ocean, I guess.


Robyn:

And especially if you're like alone with your kids, you really got to think about they're going to have to go to the bathroom. That means you're going to pack everything back up to go back out or, you know, leave your stuff and hope that it's still there. But I always make sure that we usually will walk down the sidewalk of a beach until we find the restroom and then we go down that way to be closer to the restroom. And we make sure everybody look, if you can avoid using those restrooms, you want to. They're not the Ritz-Carlton's of restrooms, but. So if you could get people to go beforehand, that is great, making sure there was enough room time for digestion from breakfast and stuff along those lines. But I think that's it for beach tips. Is there anything else that you would recommend or anything you would say, hey, if you're this kind of person, don't go to that beach.


Matt:

You know I might have been wrong about that, because right now it's April and it says the restroom's open.


Robyn:

Oh, okay, so I guess we'll post a link to the beach.


Matt:

Take out my wrong bathroom comment.


Robyn:

Yeah, we will take that out.


Matt:

The restrooms are actually open. I don't know, I've come across a locked restroom before, and I only tried to figure out where that was.


Robyn:

So, with all of the restrooms, the state beaches, the beaches will have like a fact page and we'll link to those in the show notes and so you can check to find out what amenities are at each beach to make sure that it fits your family's needs.


Best Beach for Surfing

If somebody really wants to surf, what's the best beach for them to go to? If they really want to surf, would it be to head back up north towards Santa Barbara?


Matt:

There's a lot of people that surf in Huntington and further south. A lot of people like to surf in Huntington and then further down the coast in the southern end of Orange County at Trestles Beach, also called San Onofre Beach. It's near the north end of Camp Pendleton and it's a pretty famous surf spot. Huntington Beach also, as I said, and people surf in Redondo and Hermosa. It kind of depends on the waves. You'll see them in Redondo, Hermosa, Manhattan, sometimes even El Segundo, just depending on which way the waves are coming in that day.


Robyn:

So I hope this was helpful. If you're planning on heading to the beach, if there are more questions, feel free to reach out, and we hope that you have an amazing time. If you're planning on going to the beach, just make sure you wear lots of sunblock, drink lots of water, and make sure you don't wait till you're hungry to get food because when you're beach hungry, you are really hungry.


Thanks for listening to this episode of the ParkMagic Podcast. For more tips and planning tools designed to help simplify your Disneyland adventure, visit parkmagic.com. If you enjoyed today's episode and want to hear more tips, be sure to subscribe to the ParkMagic Podcast, and don't forget to leave us a review. Your feedback helps us spread the magic even further. Leaving a review could also help you. Each month, we will be selecting one reviewer to win a one-hour planning session with Robyn. Winners will be announced at the end of the first episode of every month. Thanks for tuning in and remember that we are here to help you have a less stressful and more magical trip to Disneyland.

 

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