Advice for day at Seaworld and beach after disney.

[rebeccadunham]

We will be spending 3 nights 4 days at Disneyland from Sep 8-11. When we leave Disney on the 11th we would like to head to a different destination to spend the night and then do a day at Seaworld and then a day at a beach before flying home on Friday Sep 14 out of LAX (4:30pm flight). We're trying to come up with a logical plan and location for this portion of our trip and I could really use some advice. The hotels that I'm leaning towards all seem to be in Carlsbad, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, and the Oceanside area. Which would be our best bet as far as:
Travel from Anaheim on Tuesday evening and then to LAX on Friday afternoon that won't have horrible traffic.

A pretty beach that will be good for our 4 year old to play on.

Restaurants that are fun and family friendly.

We're not looking for anything upscale, we prefer easy and laid back. We're just trying to keep things as simple as possible.

Also wondering about rental cars. We won't need a car for the first part of our trip, we have transportation from the airport to the Grand Californian. We will need a car after our 4 days at disney, has anyone had experience have a car brought to you or is there a company withing walking distance? We also have free vouchers for transportation back to the airport, would it be easier to drive the rental car back to LAX or return it and go back to Grand Californian and ride the shuttle back to LAX?

Thank you in advance for your help!
Rebecca

 

[HydroGuy]

We will be spending 3 nights 4 days at Disneyland from Sep 8-11. When we leave Disney on the 11th we would like to head to a different destination to spend the night and then do a day at Seaworld and then a day at a beach before flying home on Friday Sep 14 out of LAX (4:30pm flight). We're trying to come up with a logical plan and location for this portion of our trip and I could really use some advice. The hotels that I'm leaning towards all seem to be in Carlsbad, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, and the Oceanside area. Which would be our best bet as far as:
Travel from Anaheim on Tuesday evening and then to LAX on Friday afternoon that won't have horrible traffic.

A pretty beach that will be good for our 4 year old to play on.

Restaurants that are fun and family friendly.

We're not looking for anything upscale, we prefer easy and laid back. We're just trying to keep things as simple as possible.

Also wondering about rental cars. We won't need a car for the first part of our trip, we have transportation from the airport to the Grand Californian. We will need a car after our 4 days at disney, has anyone had experience have a car brought to you or is there a company withing walking distance? We also have free vouchers for transportation back to the airport, would it be easier to drive the rental car back to LAX or return it and go back to Grand Californian and ride the shuttle back to LAX?

Thank you in advance for your help!
Rebecca

So, your plan for SW will be a day trip from the beach condo?

Plan to hit lots of traffic on Interstate 5 whatever you do.

My info on Newport and Laguna Beach is dated (I used to go all the time about 30 years ago). The beaches are nice. Most places rent by the week. Not sure of what to recommend if you only want a few days.

My knowledge of Oceanside/Carlsbad is current as we spend time there every summer (as in last month). A place that might work in Carlsbad for say 4 days is Best Western Beach Terrace Inn. We have not been there for about 10 years but stayed there 4-5 times. It is right on the beach, has a pool, and units with and without kitchenettes.

Places to eat? We like Breakwater Brewing company for the pizza. It is great. We like Tio Leo's for Mexican food. It is down in Del Mar maybe 15 minutes away.

The beach there is nice but like any place with water you will have to keep a close eye on your child. We stayed there with four kids when they were 2-6 years in age up thru the time they were 7-11.

From Oceanside/Carlsbad you will still have a hike to SW, but not nearly as far as from Newport/Laguna. be very careful driving to SW on a weekday morning. The traffic down I-5 is terrible. Same thing returning in the evening. This will be even more true if you try to drive from NPB/Laguna.

You also could consider staying somewhere closer to SW. A place like Mission Beach would be fun. There are tide pools to explore with your child in many places including Point Loma area and La Jolla area. You would be close to SW and then would only have to worry about getting to LAX.

I would drive the rental straight to teh airport unless you are really pinching pennies. The saved time is significant and I do not like ot risk missing flights. Where to get a rental car? There are lots of places around DLR. There is an Alamo near the GCH and DLH which you can walk to. I have rented from Avis which is a 10 minute walk away.

 

[TIGGER'SFRIEND]

Laguna Beach-try the Laguna Riviera- is a classic Southern California Inn--beachfront at a reasonable price- I highly reccomend