I can't speak to your travel arrangements -- hotel, flights, restaurants, etc. My best suggestion would be to talk to the hotel staff (concierge, if they have one) regarding gameday logistics. I can say the talk of LA traffic is for real. Allow at least twice as long for intra-city travel as you think you'll need.
As 81suaf92 has already said, the stadium itself is hopelessly outdated. When you're finally sitting in your seat, it really is as pretty as you've seen on TV. But getting there is a world class pain.
Short version is: Get your ticket scanned and enter the stadium grounds at least 75 minutes prior to kickoff. At least. Be mentally prepared for the entrance process. It's slow and scary. Once seated, try to keep your excursions to bathrooms and/or concessions to a minimum.
TLDNR version follows.
Mrs. Basket Case and I went to the 2009 BCS Championship against Texas.
We had our tickets scanned an hour before kickoff, entering the stadium grounds proper. We needed to (1) make a bathroom stop, (2) get a beverage, and (3) get to our seats. We almost missed kickoff, even though we started that process an hour ahead.
There are two issues. First, as 81 said, the bathrooms and concessions are way too few, and the ones that exist are completely outside the stadium in detached outbuildings. There is no concourse. The closest thing to one is an oval encircling the stadium.
Second is the entryways. You go through a long tunnel. And I mean a tunnel. It is concrete walls morphing into an arched concrete ceiling, and narrows slightly as you proceed toward the field.
I'm not usually claustrophobic, but I was about to crawl out of my skin by the time I got out of that godforsaken thing.
It's a recipe for a trampling incident, and I'm amazed the fire marshall hasn't declared it unsafe. If one were to happen, it would make an English soccer trampling incident look like a bunch of friendly handshakes. There is absolutely no place to go.
They mitigate the risk somewhat by having swinging gates, sort of like what you see at train tracks. When the tunnels fill up, attendants manually swing the gates to cut off any more entrants. The tunnel eventually clears, and they repeat the cycle. But if you're not familiar with the drill -- as I wasn't -- you don't know what's going on and can't figure out why there's no progress until you make your glacially-slow way toward the entrance and see the attendant / gate process in action.
Also as 81 said, seats are made for 1909 butts. And you have to be careful not to knee the poor schmoo in front of you on the back of the head. Do not assume reciprocal treatment from the cretin behind you.
When someone gets up to go to concession or bathroom, the whole row has to stand. It's still a squeeze, even for a 150-pounder. If you're dealing with a plus-sized person, you will know what soap they used that morning.
Because of the turn-of-the-20th century design, movement on one row indirectly affects the row in front and behind. Yes, one person going for a drink affects somewhere between 50 and 100, depending on the specific seat. Then there’s the return trip.
Can you tell I'm not a fan of the Rose Bowl?
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