Best Days for San Diego Attractions?

[akasleepingbeauty]

We are headed to California later this month. We'll be in San Diego for 5 days and then another 5 in Anaheim.

We are planning to visit Sea World, San Diego Zoo, and Legoland while in San Diego. We have Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday open for these attractions (with one day left open obviously). So, can anyone speculate on which day would be best for each park? I am sure that the weekend days are busiest at all of these parks but any ideas on which would be the best choice for the weekend since obviously we have to visit at least 1 on a weekend day?

Any help is most appreciated!

 

[akasleepingbeauty]

Bumping in case anyone can help me!

 

[lovemygoofy]

Now I have never been to Legoland but I think that would be my pick for the Saturday if you had to do a park on Saturday. I would think the zoo for Friday (be prepared to walk, it's HUGE). SeaWorld for Sunday and either buy the tix where you get a free day so you can take your time and even come back on Monday if you wanted or just go on Monday when I think it would be less crowded.

I hope you have a great time. I was in San Diego for a week in July and we had the best time. YUMMY food everywhere

 

[Tink33]

I would try to stay away from the San Diego Zoo on the weekend. October is Founder's Month and all kids are admitted free so there will be more local people on the weekends.

Check the Legoland website because I think they have Brick or Treat offered and that will impact crowds too.

The weather is beautiful here right now.

 

[lark]

I disagree with some of the advice above. Of the parks, Seaworld is the least affected by heavy crowds (with the zoo a close second) and Legoland is the most affected.

The reason for this is that Seaworld has many attractions that are either walk through exhibits or that take place in very large stadiums. If your primary reason for going to Seaworld is either the Journey to Atlantis ride or the ride portion of the Wild Arctic ride, this advice is not so good, but for everything else -- Shamu show, Dolphin show, walk-through arctic exhibit, penguins, sharks, etc. -- crowds make it somewhat cumbersome but not awful.

Legoland on the other hand has a huge number of slow-loading non cycling rides. In other words, they let 20 people on, and then you wait 4 minutes for them to unload and let another 20 on. Big crowds at legoland turn a wonderful park into a very difficult day.

The zoo is more fun when it's not crowded, but again, since it's not heavily ride dependent, it's more like seaworld in that regard. The founders month thing is troubling, but still, if the option is seaworld or legoland on the weekend, I'd choose the zoo on the weekend and just deal with it.

I would do it this way: Seaworld on Friday, Legoland on Monday, and zoo on either Saturday or Sunday. (I'd try to get specific advice about which day is better, although note that the zoo requires a lot of walking, so it might be tough to do it back to back with legoland.)

As a matter of fact, I might try to convince you that these 3 parks in 4 days is too ambitious. If you're not going to be back in San Diego for a long time, you have to go to the zoo, and so it's not an option. But if you might be back soon, I'd consider replacing the zoo with the wild animal park on the weekend. I think the WAP is perhaps one of the most underrated attractions in the country. The first time I went, I was blown away. I was absolutely dumbfounded that this enormous african savannah replica was there. There is a relaxing 1-hour monorail ride that takes you around the entire park, where you see some amazing things. So, if it were me, I'd do: Seaworld on Friday, beach on Saturday, WAP on Sunday, and legoland on Monday.

 

[azgal81]

I went to the zoo on Saturday and Seaworld on Sunday of labor day weekend. It was crowded but bearable. We also turned down the street going directly into legoland on friday (we got a little lost driving around for food) and it was completely dead. Maybe this will help. I think the weekend is just crowded in general no matter what park you go to.

 

[psimon]

I would try to stay away from the San Diego Zoo on the weekend. October is Founder's Month and all kids are admitted free so there will be more local people on the weekends.

Check the Legoland website because I think they have Brick or Treat offered and that will impact crowds too.

The weather is beautiful here right now.

Since I am planning to be at the zoo on a Saturday in November, my only hope is that all the kids have already gone in October, making November empty!.... yea, right!

---Paul in Southern NJ

 

[abby]

check when lego land is open. two years ago we went in May and they were closed two or three days a week. Make sure they are going to be open when you want to go. As for founder's day at the zoo, if you e-mail them they will tell you which day is founder's day (when zoo admission is free and it is very very busy) otherwise you should be ok at the zoo even on a weekend. Get the zoo admission that let's you take the bus around and get off when you want, I recommend taking the bus to the polar bears and then walking (downhill I might add) to see other stuff. Have a great trip

 

[akasleepingbeauty]

Thank you all so very much for your input!! I am really going back and forth over all this trying to make sure we plan as well as we can. We are traveling with a 2 y/o ds and a 5 y/o dd and this will probably be our only trip out to CA for several years. So, obviously I want to see as much as we can without overdoing it.

We had considered doing both the zoo and the WAP but decided it was absolutely too much and so opted for the zoo. I thought the WAP sounded great but I don't know if my 2 y/o will sit through the monorail ride very well and if he is restless none of us will enjoy it. So we chose the zoo instead. I did wonder about how the free admission for kids in October (I believe it is free for everyone only on Founder's Day but kids get in free all month long) would affect attendance - definitely something else to consider.

At SW, we are mostly going for the shows and visiting the stingrays, dolphins etc. We may try out the rides but they are not our primary focus as the kids can't both ride which means babyswap or someone not going at all. We have been to the SW here in Texas quite a few times but the kids like it so much we thought it would be worth visiting the SD location also.

I know very little about LL and haven't found their website to be that helpful. I have heard from several friends how much their kids enjoyed it but nothing about crowd levels etc. Of course we'd like short lines etc. but our kids have been to Disney enough times to at least understand some lines.

LL's website shows they are closed on Tuesdays and Wednesday this time of year and Brick or Treat is scheduled for Saturday & Sunday when we are there - Friday & Monday are just "regular" days. SW is open from 10 - 5 on Thursday & Monday and 10 - 7:30 on Saturday & Sunday. The zoo is open 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. (grounds close at 5). So SW does offer extended hours for the weekend (which would help as we could probably squeeze in an afternoon nap and return for the later hours) which may make it more appealing. We could then hope to avoid the local crowds at the zoo and LL on Friday and Monday. Hmmm.... so much to decide!

Well if anyone else has any imput it is most appreciated. I want to try to see as much as we can without wearing everyone completely out (especially since we then have 5 days in Anaheim for visiting DL) but obviously we want to enjoy our time there as well.

Thank you all again!

 

[disneylvr2]

I took DS8 to Legoland on a Monday in early August last year. There were some crowds and some waiting in lines, but it was tolerable because there are so many other things to see. We got there late as we had to drop family off at Sea World who wanted an extra day there instead of going to Legoland. We probably could have spent more time there and done a few more things, but time did not allow it. We will head back there again in Dec to do it all again anyway. Don't miss the 'real driving experience' if your child is old enough. That was my son's favorite part!!

 

[Itinkso]

We were just at the zoo last Saturday and it wasn't too crowded. We arrived at 12:00 and stayed until 5:00. With the bus tour and the SkyWay buckets we were able to see the majority of the zoo. Our longest wait was for the pandas; we were able to walk right onto the tour bus; had a short wait for the SkyWay. We didn't go to any shows but would recommend that families with young children need to plan on a full day. There are many places to eat and rest. Highly recommend the combo ticket that includes admission, guided tour, express bus, and the sky bucket ride.