Hey guys, so me and 3 buddies are planning a cross country trip with stops in St. Louis (on the way out), Phoenix, Los Angeles, Anaheim and Dallas (on the way home). We're going to set out from the Pittsburgh area and drive the 5100 miles round trip for the 5 games.
Anyway, on task. Are there any cheap hotel/motels anyone recommends? The cheaper the better, also, would it be easy to use public transport to get from Phoenix (where we are starting with games) to LA and then LA to Anaheim? We might end up just driving the leg from Phoenix to LA and then LA to Anaheim, but public transport may save some money and hassle. Lastly, do games sellout? Being college students we want to get tickets as cheaply as humanly possible. I'll be checking this site, ebay, stubhub and ticketexchange but I'm wondering if there are any other Kings specific tips you guys have.
Thanks for the help! The game in question would be March 13 vs Detroit.
But most of the games sell out I think we had 35 last year? Don't exactly remember, but if your looking to go to a Kings-Wings game then yeah it's almost guaranteed to be sold out. Where are you guys wanting seats at? Lower bowl can get expensive, I was at the April 1'st game last year when we beat Vancouver 8-3, me and my dad sat in section 210 which is right behind the away team goal. Those were $120 for the both of us. And I wouldn't recommend eating in Staples food there is expensive, there are a ton of restaurants across the street in L.A Live. I've eatin at the YardHouse which is great, and ESPN Zone which is great too. Also if you drive don't park too close to Staples it's ridiculously expensive.
Usually getting tickets is pretty easy, particularly cheap tickets. However Detroit games always sell out, so don't wait until the last minute. You can probably wait until February and still get some, but I would get them before Christmas because the good games sell out with all the packages and offers they sell during Christmas.
As for motels, there are plenty of them... but since I live here I don't really know much about any one in particular.
Public transport from Phoenix to LA? Yeesh, I don't think so. Maybe a train... its like an 8 hour drive or something. LA to Anaheim is easy. Subway and a cab/bus, 40 minutes.
If you are spending any significant time in LA (more than a day or two) and/or want to do any sightseeing, have a car. The public transport here is not up to the standards of a big city at all. Everything is spread out too. Walking isn't really an option. If you want to see Hollywood and the beaches or Santa Monica, you'll definitely want the car.
Usually getting tickets is pretty easy, particularly cheap tickets. However Detroit games always sell out, so don't wait until the last minute. You can probably wait until February and still get some, but I would get them before Christmas because the good games sell out with all the packages and offers they sell during Christmas.
As for motels, there are plenty of them... but since I live here I don't really know much about any one in particular.
Public transport from Phoenix to LA? Yeesh, I don't think so. Maybe a train... its like an 8 hour drive or something. LA to Anaheim is easy. Subway and a cab/bus, 40 minutes.
If you are spending any significant time in LA (more than a day or two) and/or want to do any sightseeing, have a car. The public transport here is not up to the standards of a big city at all. Everything is spread out too. Walking isn't really an option. If you want to see Hollywood and the beaches or Santa Monica, you'll definitely want the car.
We are going to buy the tickets in January during our winter break if we can get people to commit to the trip. At that point we'll basically buy the cheapest tickets we can. Is there really any bad seat in Staples? Most of the new arenas don't have a bad seat in the house.
It's looking like we are going to end up driving from Phoenix to LA, which was the original plan anyway. The trick is going to be finding a motel outside the city that's going to be cheaper than inside and then getting to Staples. I think at that point we'd be looking for public transport and/or walking as options before we resorted to driving anywhere in a major city.
We are going to buy the tickets in January during our winter break if we can get people to commit to the trip. At that point we'll basically buy the cheapest tickets we can. Is there really any bad seat in Staples? Most of the new arenas don't have a bad seat in the house.
It's looking like we are going to end up driving from Phoenix to LA, which was the original plan anyway. The trick is going to be finding a motel outside the city that's going to be cheaper than inside and then getting to Staples. I think at that point we'd be looking for public transport and/or walking as options before we resorted to driving anywhere in a major city.
No bad seats at Staples. I sit halfway up my section, in the corner of the upper level. Cheapest seats in the house. Love the view.
If you are planning on wearing a Red Wings jersey, then you might want to sit downstairs in the expensive seats where people are nice
Motel outside the city? You mean outside downtown LA I assume... look into Silverlake maybe... or Vernon (crappy place... but hey, you said cheap). If you don't care about being in LA particularly or have a hotel near stuff, you could try for somewhere like Downey, which would put you about halfway between Honda Center and Staples Center... cut out one move. That would leave you with a 20-40 minute drive to either arena, depending on traffic.
Nobody walks in LA. It's not just a Missing Persons song. You need a car here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JDM
No bad seats at Staples. I sit halfway up my section, in the corner of the upper level. Cheapest seats in the house. Love the view.
If you are planning on wearing a Red Wings jersey, then you might want to sit downstairs in the expensive seats where people are nice
Motel outside the city? You mean outside downtown LA I assume... look into Silverlake maybe... or Vernon (crappy place... but hey, you said cheap). If you don't care about being in LA particularly or have a hotel near stuff, you could try for somewhere like Downey, which would put you about halfway between Honda Center and Staples Center... cut out one move. That would leave you with a 20-40 minute drive to either arena, depending on traffic.
The bolded made me crack up for whatever reason.
I actually like the Rangers. It's highly likely the rest of the group will be Pens fans (the crap part about going to school outside of Pittsburgh). It's our senior year spring break, so basically it's my last chance to do something ridiculous like this.
Downey actually sounds like the kind of area we'd be looking for because as you said it's between both arenas. Thanks a ton!
Cool. Just know that there is nothing interesting about Downey whatsoever.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hauspaint
they have hometown buffet.
We're all set!
We actually go to a school in California, Pennsylvania. Right now in the summer it feels like a zombie apocalypse movie, so I know all about not interesting at all. LA may be the place we "splurge" so to speak for a room so that we can experience the night life type bit, but it's good to know all the options.
The search function sucks here. I've posted detail on getting around on public transit here before. I can get you to just about anywhere you want to go in the LA area for fairly cheap if that is your highest priority. If you can afford a car, get one. I can get you to and from Downtown LA / Anaheim. Phoenix to LA is going to be greyhound or amtrack which is going to take you a long time and probably not going to be cost effective. Feel free to look on your own. The normal drive from Phoenix to LA is about 5-6 hours depending on traffic (time of day and day of week). Fridays and Sundays will be the worst more than likely but still shouldn't take that long.
As far as cheap hotels/motels, it is hard to say but if you find something cheap and you want to know if it is in a good area, just post it here and somebody will tell you (and hopefully be honest). The worst areas in LA are South LA and East LA. South LA is a much larger rough area compared to east LA. You might consider staying in a suburb of OC as there are very few rough neighborhoods there aside from parts of Anaheim and Santa Ana. The transit sucks worse in OC than it does in LA/LA County.
You picked one of the best times of year to come to LA. The weather should be mild and the air clear. The only thing that will be lacking his hot chicks on the beaches.
Some links:
www.metrolinktrains.com takes you too and from Downtown LA to OC and many other cities. You can even take it down to San Diego. costs about $5-$8 one way depending on where you care coming and going to/from. If you are going to take transit, you might consider staying in one of the cities that have a station on the Orange County line. Although, now that i'm thinking, they might not have late trains during the part of the year you are planning on traveling.
www.metro.net - all the LA city busses and trains are here. You can get to lots of places from Union Station which is in Downtown LA and is the main public transit hub for LA. If you can get to Union Station, you can get to just about anywhere int he LA area. These trains (blue, red/purple, green and future expo line) run until 1am all year round but DO NOT STAY AT A HOTEL ANYWHERE THAT THE BLUE LINE TRAVELS with the exception of Downtown Long Beach. the Blue line goes through some of the worst neighborhoods in LA.
Stay in Downey. Eat at El Taco. The Red Quesadilla's are incredible. Eat at Chris n Pitts. Cheap white trash steakhouse but the food is really good and very reasonable. I grew up there (as did The Carpenter's and James Hetfield of Metallica) and it is smack in between Staples and the Pond. Good chance to see Richard Carpenter driving around town in a 57 T Bird. Drive between Phoenix and LA as So Cal is spread out and there is lots to see & do.
For LA and Anaheim you might want to look at a hotel near Westminster. This way you close enough to Staples (35mins) but during the day you can Head down to Huntington Beach. Then the Honda center is about 20 mins from your Hotel which is not bad at all.
As far as tickets Detroit will sell out just as the other posters have said but you can sometime pick up tickets on Craigs list, but buyer beware. I have not had any issues yet but you know those people are out there. Gook luck to you and enjoy your trip.
So what? they can all be condensed in one thread instead of having to give answers everything single time a thread is made about visiting LA . . .
Why not make a sticky thread . . . .
Cause unlike Ohio, theres more than one town in Cali. People stay in different parts of Southern California/LA area and want specifics. Who pissed in your Arnold Palmer today?
It might be better to get a hotel last minute on one of those travel sites. If they can't sell a room themselves, they give em to the sites who sell em dirt cheap last minute.
Cause unlike Ohio, theres more than one town in Cali. People stay in different parts of Southern California/LA area and want specifics. Who pissed in your Arnold Palmer today?
The prerequisite for a sticky thread isnot the presence of only one piece of information.
It's a hockey forum and 90% of the travel questions is because people are coming in for a hockey game at Staples, so the information stays relevant.
Don't ever let anything about Ohio influence a decision you make or a reason you give. It's bad form.
Cause unlike Ohio, theres more than one town in Cali. People stay in different parts of Southern California/LA area and want specifics. Who pissed in your Arnold Palmer today?
What the hell does that have to do with MAKING A STICKY THREAD?! . . . .
Right now we are pegging a Downey/Long Beach Days Inn as the place where we'll get a room because we could keep the same room for two nights and use it for LA and Anaheim. We may change this depending on how much we can get a room in other places. If we are going to splurge a night, LA seems to be the place to do that.
One last question regarding tickets, if we bought tickets for the Detroit game at face + fees when tickets went on sale, how hard would it be to resell them at cost in case we decide we can't make the trip? LA seems to be the only place we may have any trouble getting tickets..
