West Coast Ball Park Trip
Hey everyone. I'm new to BallPark Chasers. I'm pretty excited about my upcoming trip in June. My son is graduating from high school and as a graduation present I'm going to be taking him on a trip to see a game in San Fran., Oakland, LA Dodgers, Angels, San Diego, and Phoenix. Can't wait to get going. I would appreciate any tips for any of those places.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by meg minard (30/44/205) on
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Glenn -
Be sure to check the Chaser Guides (Link on top of page to the left of FAQ). They'll provide a lot of valuable information.
You can get to SF, Oakland, SD, and Phx pretty easily using public transportation. LA is a nightmare getting out of.
Be sure to get to SF early and waunder around the out of the ballpark. If you can try to get tours of each of the stadiums.
Enjoy your trip!
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Permalink Reply by Glenn (17) on
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Awesome! Thanks.
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Permalink Reply by David Lasdon on
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Welcome. For us to be the most help you need to tell us more about your trip. Give us game dates. Are you driving or flying? If you're flying, do you plan to rent a car? (We can give you tips on that) What is your hotel budget and where do you expect to spend the night? If you have a car, there are hotels you want to avoid because parking in the hotel in certain areas is ridiculously expensive.
If you want to stay in San Francisco, it can be expensive, but if you're leaving after the game to drive to Southern California, there are less expensive options. Do you plan to spend any time in the cities and want sightseeing recommendations?
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We are flying to Phoenix (From DFW) on Friday, June 13 and renting a car there. I'd appreciate car rental tips for sure. From there we plan to drive to the Grand Canyon to spend just a few hours (I know we should spend longer but we just want to say we've been there). Then we will drive a few hours that evening towards San Fran and then drive all day the next day to San Francisco. Here is our itinerary from there:
June 15: San Fran game at 1pm. (no stadium tour on this day because of the day game).
June 16: Tour AT&T stadium in SF in the AM. Oakland game at 7pm
June 17: Drive to LA ( see some sites in LA)
June 18: Tour Dodger stadium in the AM. See more LA sites in the afternoon. Attend Dodger game at 7pm
June 19: Drive to San Diego. See Padres game at 3:40.
June 20: Drive to Anaheim and see sites. Attend Angels game at 7pm
June 21: Drive back to Phoenix. Attend Diamondbacks game at 7pm.
June 22: Fly home
I've already booked the hotels in each city (using Priceline.com) except San Francisco. It's quite a bit more expensive so I'm waiting for a better deal. I still need to rent a car. Any thoughts or tips based on your experience would be helpful.
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I usually find Budget, Dollar, and Enterprise to be the best deals. In some cities renting off airport will be cheaper than renting at the airport. This may be demand or an airport tax. Renting off airport might be a problem for you if you're returning the car on a Sunday. Also, you can get a great deal renting a car for a week, but the extra two days could end up being half the cost of your previous week.
Know your hotel's parking rate. Hotels in parts of San Francisco and Los Angeles can charge you $40+ a night just to park there.
I just booked the Mosser in San Francisco. It's near AT&T and the BART, well reviewed, and reasonably priced. There is bathroom sharing in less expensive rooms. I'll be staying there over Memorial Day weekend.
In San Diego I recommend parking at a trolley stop and taking the trolley to the game. It's less expensive and you don't have to worry about traffic.
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Thanks for the advice!
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Permalink Reply by Robert Beans(39MLB/32MiLB/28ST) on
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Glenn,
We did this trip in 2007 except for the Phoenix portion. Great trip, I agree with Meg about the tours. We have been to every stadium and really wish we would have done the tours in every stadium. We started late and have done 12 of the 30 tours. After the SD game we decided to drive into Mexico for a couple hours. Thought it would be fun, NOT, very easy to get across the boarder but 4 hours to get back and good luck finding a line that will actually let you out. Wish we actually had more time in San Francisco, we took a tour on a boat under the Golden Gate bridge but wish we would have done Alcatraz.
Take lots of pictures and enjoy, something you can always look back on.
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Thanks for the advice!
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Hi Glenn,
My granddaughter and I are doing this trip also. We leave June 15 from DFW. We are basing ourselves out of Anaheim for the Dodgers, Padres, and Angels. The only real drive is to San Diego and I have been reassured that I have nothing to worry about when it comes to parking options so we can do a little exploring in the gas lamp district before the game. The trolley will work fine for us. In San Francisco we are staying at the Mayflower where they have free parking and breakfast. We will be there only one day and night, which makes me sad because San Francisco is the BEST. Be sure to walk around McCovey Cove and right behind right field is the "knot hole" where you could watch the game for free if you want. We are going to watch an inning from there to give my granddaughter another type of experience. I do not think any other park has this option. If you are going to be there for a night game please make sure you wear long pants and a jacket, it will be cool and possibly COLD. Transportation is no sweat and the people are nice.
From there we are going to Seattle.
Have so much fun and be safe.
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Thanks for the advice!
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What are some sightseeing recommendations in these cities?
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In San Diego, I think we might try to go see The Midway. We can park and take public transportation to and from there to get back to Petco. In my research, they said most people take 4-5 hours. The ball game begins at 3:40 so we will get there as close to 10 as possible. If we do not go there I think we will do the Gas Lamp district.
In Anaheim we will visit Downtown Disney.
San Francisco, take your pick, so much, and never enough time. I think we will do Ghirardelli Square, Fisherman's Wharf to see the Sea Lions, the Golden Gate, and whatever else time permits before the game.
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