Favorite (inexpensive) Day Trips?

[hollyrose1313]

I think we are going to get a rental car for our off day from the parks on Saturday 3/25. Any suggestions on where to go? It will be me, DH, and DS 6. I would like it be under $100 total (not including food, gas, the car, etc) so other theme parks are out. I would also rather not go into LA/Hollywood. DH is a huge Walt fan and we all like the outdoors, mueseums, food. Not so much into shopping.

 

[Aladora]

What about the Science Centre? Discovery Cube OC

Edited to add this link: Anaheim Orange county deals and coupons

If you sort by Attractions there is one for the Discovery Cube.

 

[Darkbeer1]

Well, Knott's Berry Farm would push your budget, but it is close to $100 (about $125 for tickets)

www.visitbuenapark.com

Maybe the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, admission is about $80, though I would try and up the budget to get the combo Museum/Whale Watch tour, and then explore the area.

www.visitlongbeach.com

Museums, the Bowers is World Class.

www.bowers.org

The Mission San Juan Capristrano is unique, then you could drive east on Highway 74 through the Cleveland NationalForest.

http://www.missionsjc.com/

A day at the beach, I like the Balboa Pier area of Newport Beach, close to Disneyland, and some fun things to do, including taking the Balboa Ferry. Also, you can get a great deal on Whale Watching. $13 per person. Also ExploreOcean is available, part of the Discovery Cube group of science centers.

http://tinyurl.com/zvgveqv

The Santa Ana Zoo is close by.

http://santaanazoo.org/

Adventure City is also close by...

http://www.adventurecity.com/

So there are some of the many choices, with a lot of variety.

 

[VandVsmama]

I second the Discovery Cube museum idea. Nancy Johnson w/the DIS Unplugged did a review of this some time last year in one of the podcasts and it sounds like a lot of fun. Your 6 yr old would probably love it. And it's just 1 or 2 exits away from Disneyland on I-5.

We have friends who live in Orange and they have children around your child's age. They really enjoy taking their kids to the Santa Ana zoo once in awhile. It's $10/adult and $7/child on weekdays and $2 more per person on weekends. It's not the San Diego Zoo, but our friends love it. The Santa Ana zoo has a train that you can ride, a carousel, and a rainforest adventure maze. Parking is free.

You could also consider going to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. They are open 9am-6pm. Admission costs $29.95/adult and $17.95/child.

Or you could go the route of packing a lunch you buy from a sandwich shop or something and spend part of the morning or afternoon at a local park. The OC Register has some good options here --> http://www.ocregister.com/articles/park-722210-playground-play.html.

 

[TinkLoverSam]

Griffith Park is a good day trip. The carousel that inspired Walt to build Disneyland is there as is a small zoo and a train museum

http://www.laparks.org/griffithpark/attractions

 

[sheetz]

Be sure to check sites like Goldstar, Groupon, Travelzoo, and Livingsocial for discounts.

 

[buyerbrad]

We are going for 6 full days with a travel day on each end of our trip in August. We are going to spend 3 days at Disney, 1 day at Sunset Beach, 1 afternoon at a baseball game (Anaheim Angels) and 1 day at The Grove and Hollywood Boulevard.

In the past we have done the TMZ Tour, Warner Bros Studio Tour, Hop-on-hop-off bus tour, LA Dodgers, Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel and Let's Make a Deal game show taping.

 

[wingednike]

There's a tiny but decent museum about 5 minutes from Disneyland called Muzeo that you might enjoy. Across from it is The Packing District, a food hall with a variety of food booths.

 

[snootchiebootchies]

Crystal Cove State Park! Located at Laguna Beach. About a 30 to 40 minute drive from Disneyland. It's free to enter but you will have to pony up $15 for parking.