Feb 20, 2011 - Presidents' Week - Mexican Riviera

[vetbeth]

Hey Bruins -

We will hopefully be arriving on Friday (weather permitting) and are trying to do decide what to do with a 5 year old boy on a free Saturday (also the Sunday after we return as we do not leave until Monday). Any suggestions? We will be renting a car from the airport and will drop it off on Sunday at the Doubletree. We have not decided if we will stay in San Pedro Saturday night or elsewhere. Any ideas?

We have considered: Legoland, Disney (both expensive- legoland maybe less so with Buy one get one tickets if possible), the LA zoo, the aquarium and other places.

 

[Jennifer_W]

Hey Bruins -

We will hopefully be arriving on Friday (weather permitting) and are trying to do decide what to do with a 5 year old boy on a free Saturday (also the Sunday after we return as we do not leave until Monday). Any suggestions? We will be renting a car from the airport and will drop it off on Sunday at the Doubletree. We have not decided if we will stay in San Pedro Saturday night or elsewhere. Any ideas?

We have considered: Legoland, Disney (both expensive- legoland maybe less so with Buy one get one tickets if possible), the LA zoo, the aquarium and other places.

Our boys looooooved Legoland when they were that age! We would be doing that onSaturday for our 3 1/2 year old this time, but his older brothers want to do DL & DCA instead. We will be jam-packing our day to fit in as much as possible. Legoland is a good fit for one day.

Can you give me details on your car decision? We haven't ironed that out yet.

 

[vetbeth]

We haven't booked yet, but I'm planning on renting from Enterprise as they have an agent at the Doubletree (I think) in San Pedro near the pier. It appears to be open from 9am-12 noon on sunday to drop off the car. I have to call them and confirm it.

 

[talie]

We were just at Legoland (Disneyland too) in November. While my kids enjoyed it I'm not sure it would be worth your effort to drive all the way down to Carlsbad for a one day trip. It's a pretty significant drive and we ended up hitting traffic both coming and going (and we came back to Orange County on a Saturday evening). For us the trip was worth it because we were down there for three days and did Legoland, the beach and the San Diego Zoo. I'd probably do either Disneyland or find a nearby beach if I just had one day.

 

[Jennifer_W]

We haven't booked yet, but I'm planning on renting from Enterprise as they have an agent at the Doubletree (I think) in San Pedro near the pier. It appears to be open from 9am-12 noon on sunday to drop off the car. I have to call them and confirm it.

And then will you call a taxi to take the person dropping off the car to the port? Enterprise does one way rentals, huh? Cool. Sorry...just trying to piggyback on your hard work. Hope you don't mind!

 

[Jennifer_W]

We were just at Legoland (Disneyland too) in November. While my kids enjoyed it I'm not sure it would be worth your effort to drive all the way down to Carlsbad for a one day trip. It's a pretty significant drive and we ended up hitting traffic both coming and going (and we came back to Orange County on a Saturday evening). For us the trip was worth it because we were down there for three days and did Legoland, the beach and the San Diego Zoo. I'd probably do either Disneyland or find a nearby beach if I just had one day.

I am not from CA, so I am sure others know better than me. Our experience, 9 years ago, was it took a little less than 2 hours from the Disney area to Legoland. I believe Legoland is still much less busy than DL, more laid back, you can feel like you've accomplished most of the park in one day. Try to make sure you're there for as much of the operating hours as you can.

Just my opinion...if your son is a Lego fanatic, don't be afraid to go for it.

 

[Bruins]

Hey Bruins -

We will hopefully be arriving on Friday (weather permitting) and are trying to do decide what to do with a 5 year old boy on a free Saturday (also the Sunday after we return as we do not leave until Monday). Any suggestions? We will be renting a car from the airport and will drop it off on Sunday at the Doubletree. We have not decided if we will stay in San Pedro Saturday night or elsewhere. Any ideas?

We have considered: Legoland, Disney (both expensive- legoland maybe less so with Buy one get one tickets if possible), the LA zoo, the aquarium and other places.

Our kids loved Legoland when they were about 5. It is about 1.5 hours from Long Beach to Carlsbad, but if you can get discount tickets, it may be worthwhile. Hours and days of operation are limited in winter.

The Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific is nice, but fairly small. You can tour the whole thing in a couple of hours, and there are usually discounts of some sort available throughout the year. Within walking distance of the aquarium are quite a few restaurants, whale watching / harbor cruise boats, and bike rentals.

There are also some areas within a few miles where you can explore tidepools, and other areas with sandy beaches (Torrance, Redondo, Hermosa, and Manhattan Beaches). Just stay away from Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro, which has stagnant water, and gets the worst water quality ratings in the LA area.

 

[Bruins]

If anyone is a Food Network kind of person, there is a place in San Pedro that was featured on Diners, Drive Inns, and Dives- it's called the Gaffey Street Diner. Giant portions, open for breakfast and lunch.

http://www.gaffeystreetdiner.com/

http://www.flavortownusa.com/gaffey-street-diner.aspx


If anyone is staying at the Crowne Plaza, there is a good restaurant/ brewpub within walking distance called the San Pedro Brewing Company. They have discounts available at restaurant.com.

http://sanpedrobrewing.com/

 

[LKFan]

If anyone is staying at the Crowne Plaza, there is a good restaurant/ brewpub within walking distance called the San Pedro Brewing Company. They have discounts available at restaurant.com.

http://sanpedrobrewing.com/

If you are planning on going to San Pedro Brewing, you might want to purchase a GC at restaurant.com. http://www.restaurant.com/rdc/san-p...o-bargastro-pubwine-bar-restaurant-rid=341811 Keep your eyes open for a restaurant.com coupon code.

 

[LKFan]

Hey Bruins -

We will hopefully be arriving on Friday (weather permitting) and are trying to do decide what to do with a 5 year old boy on a free Saturday (also the Sunday after we return as we do not leave until Monday). Any suggestions? We will be renting a car from the airport and will drop it off on Sunday at the Doubletree. We have not decided if we will stay in San Pedro Saturday night or elsewhere. Any ideas?

We have considered: Legoland, Disney (both expensive- legoland maybe less so with Buy one get one tickets if possible), the LA zoo, the aquarium and other places.

Where are you coming from and what types of things does your son like to do?

If you don't arrive too late on Friday, you can get the rental car, drive down to Carlsbad and spend Friday night there. Legoland is open from 10-5 on Saturday so you can spend the entire day at the park, grab some dinner and drive back up to San Pedro in the evening.

Remember, if you are renting a car, make sure there is enough space in the trunk for your luggage. You don't want to leave a car in an amusement park parking lot with luggage visable.

I think I would be more inclined to do LL before the cruise, while you are still excited, rather than after. On Sunday, you could go to the Aquarium and possibly (depending on the weather) take a whale watching trip. http://www.2seewhales.com/index.asp. If it is something you are thinking about, you can follow how many whales are in the area on their sightings log: http://www.pacificbluewhales.com/sightings.htm. It is just the beginning of the grey whale season so the numbers of whales sighted should increase in the next few weeks.

 

[talie]

I believe Legoland is still much less busy than DL, more laid back, you can feel like you've accomplished most of the park in one day. Try to make sure you're there for as much of the operating hours as you can.

Just my opinion...if your son is a Lego fanatic, don't be afraid to go for it.

If you were to drive down on Friday night and get to Legoland first thing in the morning, then yes, I think it would be worth it. If you can't make opening, I fear you may find yourself frustrated with the crowds. In November we were there for two days, the Thursday and Friday of Veterans Day. The first couple of hours were a lot of fun but after that the lines were so slow and the park so crowded that it became a chore. Legoland rides are VERY slow loading so what looks like a short line can take forever. We ended up leaving in the afternoons to go to the beach.

 

[XMom]

What about Knotts Berry Farm? I hadn't been there since I was a kid and my kids had a blast. its much cheaper and not nearly crowded as Disneyland. There is also the Pirate dinner theater and Midevil times right by Knotts as well.

 

[winnypooh]

Minie_meese, don't shoot me please... I just logged into my cruise dashboard, and it says my room number is 7114 (not 7116 as originally indicated)... . YAY! 44 days, YIKES!.

 

[Dishy24]

Minie_meese, don't shoot me please... I just logged into my cruise dashboard, and it says my room number is 7114 (not 7116 as originally indicated)... . YAY! 44 days, YIKES!.

Don't feel bad-- mine changed from 7534 to 7636-- I'm sure there will be loys more changes in the next 44 days! (That sure feels nice to type as I look out the window at the 10" of snow we received yesterday!)

 

[minie_meese]

Minie_meese, don't shoot me please... I just logged into my cruise dashboard, and it says my room number is 7114 (not 7116 as originally indicated)... . YAY! 44 days, YIKES!.

Don't worry about it. If people have room changes just post them or send them to me. I'll send out an update with everything I have the weekend before the cruise.

Any changes that happen after that we'll deal with on the ship - I'll also have paper copies of the list onboard - which reminds me - we should try to meet up on the first day for anyone who can so we can meet each other and to make sure everyone has the updated room lists. On my last cruise we met in the piano bar outside of Parrot Cay. Not sure of times on sailing day so I hesitate to suggest a time.

 

[LKFan]

Six weeks!

Is anyone else as excited as I am? I am so looking forward to this vacation.

 

[silence]

Six weeks!

Is anyone else as excited as I am? I am so looking forward to this vacation.

ME ME ME!

Is it too early to start packing?

 

[talie]

I'm excited but very confused at the same time. This upcoming weekend we are going to the snow so on the one hand we're going through snow gear and making sure we've got everything ready to go for that trip, while all the rest of my time is spent thinking about the cruise.

 

[talie]

BRRRRRRR, I'm freezing to death here in Northern California and can't wait until the cruise! I can't make up my mind as to what we are going to do at the ports. I know we're doing Las Caletas in Puerto Vallarta although I've thought about canceling that and just winging it in PV. For Cabo we're doing the Dolphin Excursion. I'm still debating that one as I'm not sure whether my kids will freak out about it or not (they're enthused at the moment.) Mazatlan - I have no clue. I really want to book a Mazatlan Frank tour but I'm afraid the kids will be bored. The Salsa and Salsa Excursion looks like a hoot as well. There's also the thought that we could just wing it and do the beaches on our own. Oh, the indecisiveness.

 

[Bruins]

We're also on the dolphin excursion in Cabo- I think we are with the first group in the morning.

Puerto Vallarta is the one spot that we're not sure about. I wouldn't mind doing a snorkel trip, but am not sure about how warm the water would be, or how interesting the sea life would be. We may wind up just taking a cab into the main part of town and going shopping/ exploring on our own.

Our daughter likes shrimp, so if anyone knows of any good seafood/ shrimp restaurants in any of the stops, we're open to suggestions.