Disneyland to San Diego...what would you do?

[tycopj]

Hi,
We have reservations at Carousel Inn for our trip. However, we want to spend the first two days in the San Diego area to visit friends. The first two days of our trip will be Sat and Sun, no rush hour. I have been looking at hotels in the San Diego area (by our friends house) and they aren't cheap.

My first question is....

Would you visit San Diego (Saturday) and drive back to Carousel Inn in the evening and then drive back to San Diego (Sunday) the next morning and back to Carousel Inn that night. (Disneyland the next four days!!!!!!)

Or would you try to find a hotel in the San Diego area for the one night and avoid the driving?

The second question is....besides Sea World, what would be a fun thing to do in San Diego. We are going in January so I think it will be too cold for the beach???

Thanks

 

[TravelingJen24]

Just because it is the weekend does not mean there might not be some jam up on the way down. I would definitely find a place to stay the night. It is about an hour and a half on a good day from Disneyland and unless you want to waste that time, then just stay in San diego. There has to be places, especially that time of year that would be affordable. Good luck and have fun.

 

[iceskatejen]

I agree that staying in SD would be a good idea. The I-5 just isn't a fun drive, regardless of what day of the week you're looking at.

The SD Zoo is beautiful. It's located in Balboa Park and there are also several museums nearby.

 

[Tink33]

Saturday is the worst day to drive South on I5 from Anaheim to San Diego. There is always traffic. I would stay in San Diego on Saturday night. Could you stay with your friends that night?

As far as things to do in San Diego, what are your interests and the ages of your group? I would be happy to help give you some suggestions if you provide a little information about yourself.

 

[smdisneyfan]

Since we are on a San Diego topic...
My family will be there next week w/ our 2 daughters (5 & 7). We will be driving to SD (from Anaheim) Tuesday in the late morning and will be there until Thursday when we drive back to Anaheim for one last day at DL on Friday. We are going to the zoo. I am hoping to explore the beaches but, we have no other plans. Any kid friendly restuarants? We are dropping a lot of money in DL so I'm hoping to just do "free" (or nearly free) things at a relaxed pace. Thanks for any hints. We are staying in a suite hotel near the zoo. This is our first time in SD

 

[AStarOnMars]

There still is some traffic on the weekends ... specially through Del Mar no matter what direction you are going ... On Sundays you most likely will hit traffic From Del Mar all the way north until Oceanside ... but it is nothing like weekday traffic.

 

[Bete]

It's just too stressful to do it. I'm passing on Sea World because it's so similar to Orlando's location. I rather see those attractions that are special to the area. San Diego Zoo is a good choice. Also, Wild Animal Park is not too far away and it's another good choice.

Ask your friends for suggestions since they are local they should know many things to do there. Ask them for better suggestions on cheaper resorts to stay. They should know the safe and not so safe areas; so, you can make a wise choice. There may be an area near San Diego that would be cheaper; maybe, it's a half hour commute.

We will be going there on our May 2005 trip and I'm looking at Entertainment Book rates and the other typical web sites for a good deal. I have a little time and I'm patient to find a good deal. I do agree it's a lot higher to stay in San Diego.

 

[Tink33]

smdisneyfan

Here are some ideas from San Diego Family Magazine for next week:

Tuesday, Nov 2

Pajama Story Night - Bring your favorite stuffed animal and enjoy stories, songs and creative movement. PJs optional. 7pm. Free.
619-269-1543

Free Museums at Balboa Park - On the first Tuesday, free museums include, San Diego Model Railroad Museum, San Diego Natural History Museum, Reuben H. Fleet Science Center.
www.balboapark.org/familyfun.htm

In Balboa Park, there are street performers and artists. Don't forget to ride the historic carousel and try to grab the brass ring.

Wednesday, Nov 3

Planetarium and Star Show: Free telescope viewing outdoors following the show, weather permitting. 7pm. Rueben H Fleet Science Center, Balboa Park. www.rhfleet.org


If the weather is nice, you could spend some time in La Jolla. You can see wild seals at the Children's Pool www.sannet.gov/lifeguards/safety/seals.shtml, walk down into a sea cave (small fee), search through the tide pools at the La Jolla Cove and visit the Birch Aquarium http://aquarium.ucsd.edu/ (you can get a free child's ticket with each adult purchase coupon in the SD Family Magazine).

 

[smdisneyfan]

Thanks Tink!! Those are some awesome ideas!

 

[debbiedana]

We're doing a similar trip in early December (San Diego and DL). Will we be able to go to the beach at all? We're from Chicago, so a big part of our vacations are swimming-type things for our daughter. Will she be able to swim in an outdoor heated pool in December, or will I be spending big bucks in San Diego AND Anaheim for places with an indoor pool? Thanks for the help.

 

[smdisneyfan]

We are from Chicago area too. I don't think you'll be able to swim in Dec. I've already told our girls that this is not a swimming vacation. The hotels we are staying at only have outdoor pools. We are leaving on Saturday. Good luck with your planning!

 

[RKB]

We just stayed at the Paradise Point Hotel in San Diego. The pool was very heated! Another fun thing we did was the Dine with Shamu at Seaworld. They serve a buffet while you have interaction with Shamu...

 

[tycopj]

Thanks for all the replys, we are going to get a room in San Diego and save the hassle of driving. I'm pretty sure we are going to Sea World. Our friends are in Miramar, I think.

TravelingJen24 thanks for the info about traffic on Saturday, I assumed it wouldn't be too bad-I should have known better than to assume....

iceskatejen, the zoo sounds fun, I hadn't thought about that, I'm not sure if we can get it in, but I want to!

Tink33..again, I shouldn't have assumed about the traffic . Our group includes me and husband, daughter 7, son 2 1/2 and our neice who is 21. Any ideas you have would be great. We have never been to the Zoo or Sea World, we have been to Tijuana and don't have a desire to go back.---Thanks for all the links and info, have to check those out next!

smdisneyfan
How was your trip??? Did you find any great things to do in San Diego?

AStarOnMars....thanks! again me and my assumptions


Bete
The zoo seems to be a popular choice, I'm not familiar with the Wild Animal Park, need to check into that.
Our friends are a bit "boreing". They don't really want to do much except eat out. I think we will be on our on for the tourist stuff. We are trying to stay fairly close to their house, the hotels they have suggested have been $99 and up. I'm too cheap for that.

debbiedana. I'm thinking it will be too cold to do much at the beach other than walk around. I don't plan on any of us going in the water. I am hoping we can enjoy the pool at the hotel.


RKB Dining with Shamu sound great. Did you have to make reservations for that?


Thank you all for the great info, I know it takes time to respond to these posts. I really do appreciate it!

 

[Alison Wonderland]

You do need to make reservations for Dine with Shamu, and probably the sooner you make it the better table you'll get. I did it in December and it was pretty neat. I probably wouldn't do it again but I do recommend it for 1 time. I haven't heard anything negative about the Wild Animal Park but I have heard that the zoo is the best if you can only go to one. Also there is a tour with a bus that, sometime during the San Diego tour, somehow turns into a boat and goes into the water of the bay, called the "Seal" tour. I am going to do that next time I go there.

 

[Goofster57]

Our family just got back from three days in San Diego and we had a great time.

We went to Sea World for a day, spent most of another day at Sea Port Village shopping and watching the boats in the bay.

We took a walking tour of the USS Midway aircraft carrier. It cost $13 for adults and it takes about 2-3 hours to see everything. Be aware that there is a lot of walking and some stair climbing, but it wasn’t too bad.

We also took a diner cruise that was fabulous; it ran $55 but was well worth it. We boarded the boat. Uh I mean ship (sorry dad ex-navy) around 7:00, departed at 7:30 and had a great dinner of steak, potatoes and some really good vegetables. After we finished desert, a chocolate box filled with something good, we went to the top deck and we could see Coronado Island and had a really good view of the San Diego skyline.

Hope this gives you some good ideas

 

[smdisneyfan]

San Diego was beautiful!!! The weather was perfect. We only ended up being there Tuesday thru Thursday, so we only had one full day. We went to the zoo, which was beautiful! It wasn't the animals that made the zoo, it was the setting. We went to the beach on Coranado Island. We stopped at La Jolla on our way back to Anaheim. Next trip we will plan a full week in San Diego! We loved it!!!

 

[ahutton]

Some attractions that haven't been mentioned that we've always loved and are good in almost any weather:

Star of India sailing ship http://www.gothere.com/sandiego/Ghosts/Star_of_India/

Harbor Cruise - there is a 1 hour, 2 hour or dinner cruise. The 2 hours is a great time, lots of very interesting stuff.

Scripps Park in La Jolla is beautiful, and a nice place to park and stroll around La Jolla.

The Broken Yolk is a great breakfast place (1851 Garnet Ave. San Diego, CA 92109)

For a bit fancier option without as heavy a price tag as its more famous cousin George's Ocean Terrace (http://www.georgesatthecove.com/ocean.php) is a great place and not as fancy as George's at The Cove. The view is breath-taking.

As for hotels, those around Hotel Circle are not fancy, but they are centrally located, have many restaurants nearby and are very budget friendly. For super bargains we've stayed at the Super 8 (4380 Alvarado Canyon Road San Diego CA 92120). You can probably walk around the beach, but it will likely be too cold for more than wading.

Can you tell I love this city? Too bad we moved so far from it!

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

tycopj -- If your friends are in Miramar, are they (or you) eligible for military benefits? If so, there are some lodging facilities on the military bases that are very reasonably priced.