Go San Diego Card

[cmusschoot]

Hi - first family trip to California.

We are spending 3 days in Disneyland...then heading south to San Diego.

We will have a rental car and are renting a condo on Mission bay/beach.

Has anyone had experience with the Go San Diego Card?
Good...bad...

I can get a deal on the 5 day Adult- 220.00
we would be heading to Sea World, Zoo, Safari Park and Lego Land (at least).

Is the pass a good deal, or wold i be better off searching for deals/coupons on-line?
Thanks - Carrie

 

[cmwade77]

I would check out the one day prices and add them up. Also, check out how much the So Cal city pass with the zoo and wild animal park add on would be, if they don't offer that see how much it would be with buying those parks as one day tickets (there are usually discounts available for the zoo and wild animal park as well). Since the City Pass includes Disneyland, it may work out cheaper. You can also add additional Disneyland days once you get to the parks if you need.

You can also quite often find discounts on the So Cal city pass (usually in the form of extra days at one of the parks) and it also would give you a day at Universal Studios (which is A LOT different than Florida's from what I hear).

 

[cmwade77]

Looking at it, it appears that you can only get the Zoo add on if buying on the City Pass Website and the add on is $33 (for Adults). Which makes the total $339 for adults and $294 for kids ages 3-9.

It would include:
3 Disneyland Days (upgradeable at the park last I checked, the exact dollar amount will vary)
1 day at Sea World
1 day at Universal Studios
1 Day at San Diego Zoo or Safari Park and includes the bus tour, skyfari and African tram ride, as applicable (these normally cost extra).

On a side note, if you go to the San Diego Zoo on a weekend, ask about the Lighter Side Tour. It is done by a professional stand up comedian who has also worked at the Zoo for ages. He is known as the Zooman (yes, his name tag even says so), he has had his own show on Animal Planet, etc. so he is knowledgeable an the tour is a lot of fun and lasts a bit longer. There may be a small upcharge for it (I think $2-$4 extra per person), but it is well worth it.

 

[cmusschoot]

I will look into all of my options...
This information is a tremendous help...
Thank you

 

[cmwade77]

I will look into all of my options...
This information is a tremendous help...
Thank you

Now, if you weren't doing Disneyland, the Go Card would probably be the best option, as they are really a good value.

 

[cmusschoot]

I had thought about the citi pass....
We are looking at 3 Disney days,
Along with: zoo, safari park, sea world and legoland, and possibly a whale watching outing.

Looking like I will be spending a lot of money, yikes!!!

 

[PHXscuba]

Kinda depends on what you are doing ... I made an exhaustive/exhausting spreadsheet for our options, including deals on tickets I could get through other sources, kids getting in free, etc.

I think the Go Cards are a good deal IF you plan to do multiple things per day -- zoo during the day, Belmont at night, for example. When we went to SD, our youngest was 3 and we couldn't get through that much per day, so it didn't matter how many attractions they offered.

You might also look another factor -- if you didn't buy the Go card, how many of the individual activities would you pre-purchase vs. buying at the gate? If you don't prepay for activities, you are more flexible based on desires, weather, health, etc.

PHXscuba

 

[cmusschoot]

though I don't usually alow my kids to get sick (ha)...my guess is that they probablay would, but ONLY if I pre paid for tickets

And weather...isn't San Diego 75 and sunny all year?

Thanks for reminding me that health and weather do not always cooperate.
As my youngest will be 3 as well...
I was thinking Zoo in the morning...something quick in the afternoon (museum...aquarium)...

Maybe that would be too much!

 

[cmwade77]

though I don't usually alow my kids to get sick (ha)...my guess is that they probablay would, but ONLY if I pre paid for tickets

And weather...isn't San Diego 75 and sunny all year?

Thanks for reminding me that health and weather do not always cooperate.
As my youngest will be 3 as well...
I was thinking Zoo in the morning...something quick in the afternoon (museum...aquarium)...

Maybe that would be too much!

The San Diego Zoo is NOT small, you should plan for at least 6 hours in the winter, 10 in the summer when night time stuff is happening. I have had a pass on and off (mostly on) for the last 13 years and still haven't seem everything. Th Wild Animal Park is similar, but a lot more walking, especially if you get the bus tour at the zoo.

As for the weather, it depends on the time of the year. But 75 is a good estimate most of the year, but summer can get a lot hotter for a few weeks. The winter can get a bit colder (down to a high of 50 or so) for a few days at a time. Now do the Safari Park, it is effectively in Escondido (it actually used to be within Escondido city limits and the city limits were modified so San Diego could claim it from what I understand), which gets to about 105 most summer days and can get down to a high of about 40 in the winter. It also can rain a lot more there, usually a total of about two and a half weeks total between late November through early January.

 

[PHXscuba]

though I don't usually alow my kids to get sick (ha)...my guess is that they probablay would, but ONLY if I pre paid for tickets

And weather...isn't San Diego 75 and sunny all year?

Thanks for reminding me that health and weather do not always cooperate.
As my youngest will be 3 as well...
I was thinking Zoo in the morning...something quick in the afternoon (museum...aquarium)...

Maybe that would be too much!

I've been there in just about every month over the years and been rained on in just about every month too! It's true most days are very nice, but if you're toting a 3-year-old, being wet is miserable!

PHXscuba

p.s. Watch those height requirements at Legoland with a 3-year-old. They are even stricter than Disney!

 

[cmusschoot]

Lots to think about, I like the idea of the go San Diego 5day card so we could hit the zoo and maybe sea world a couple of times...I can get a light discount through nea.

We do live in Chicago and have a Brilliant zoo here...but I am certain my daughter will want to be there every day!!!

Rain is okay as we are at DisneyWorld usually in the summer and it rains every day there in the summer!!!

 

[Sammy Cat]

I priced it out for our family and determined it would be cheaper to go separately - especially since we got Seaworld included in our SoCal CityPass purchased through costco. We opted to just do the zoo instead of both the zoo and safari park - it would be too much out of our limited time anyway.

I just wish the zoo was included on the citypass like it used to be - just a couple of years ago it was included and the tickets were actually a bit cheaper. *sigh*

It is funny how the cost of entertainment seems to go up much faster than our incomes!