First time disneyland trip ...need lots of help!

[Ivette1980]

I have been Trying to plan this trip and am super overwhelemd. This will be a jam packed vacation. I plan a stay for 6 night 7 days in Augsut of 2013. For a quick background, coming along will be DH, DD 17, DS 11, DS, 9, DS 8. Id like to go to both DL parks, legoland, maybe san diego zoo. What i have no clue on is in what order to do this in. What makes sense travel wise, less travel time? Is it better to go to john wayne first or san diego. Also we will have to rent a car to travel to lego land but won't need it for DL parks. I also plan to stay out of resorts, which are the better good neighborhood resorts for a larger family and mainly boys?

Please anythong info at thos point will help ... I welcome them all. Thanks in advance!

 

[HydroGuy]

FWIW, lots of folks will advise you to take a pass on LegoLand.

Your main issue will be driving from SD to DLR and traffic. It will be less on weekends. Will you be staying in SD or doing a day trip from DLR area? I would advise staying in SD but if you are only doing the zoo then it could be done on a day trip from DLR. In any case, as much as you can make your driving on weekends you should. That means doing hte SD portion over a weekend.

Of course build in some down time. Maybe a day or two at the beach? This can be in SD and/or the DLR area (Newport or Huntington are good choices).

Hope that gets you started. Your trip is so long from now it seems you are a little early on the feeling overwhelmed part!

 

[scoker]

I visit San Diego and DL together a lot. My brother lives in SD and we usually combine trips. I prefer to fly into John Wayne especially if renting a car. At the San Diego airport you have to take a mini bus to the rental car companies and it just adds time to the whole thing. So my preference is to fly into JW and get a rental car, drive to San Diego and visit and then go to DL and be close to the airport on the way out. I've had to drive to JW from San Diego in the past and felt like I had to leave really early for the airport in case of traffic problems. There is just a lot more that can go wrong between San Diego and John Wayne than DLR and John Wayne. So this is how I've done it in the past.

Day one fly into JW and rent a car. Stay overnight in SD.

Day two go to San Diego Zoo and stay overnight in SD.

Day three go to Legoland and check into Anaheim hotel/drop rental car back at airport if you don't want it while at DLR

Day 4,5,6 at DL and DCA

Day 7 head for home

We have done this basic itinerary more than one and had it work very well.

A note on legoland I think adults think the park is cool and probably your 8 and 9 year old will like it. Your two older kids might not think it is too cool but I"m not sure. If you do go to Legoland you can usually get coupons for buy one get one free admission on ebay.

You can also get lots of advise on this board about off site hotels. For me I like to be as close to the gates as I can and I want something clean and comfortable. I've stayed both on site and off site. My next trip we are staying at the Best Western Park Place Inn. It is very close and has generally good reviews. Since your kids are older and you probably will have less reason to need to pop back to the hotel you might consider some of the walkable yet slightly more distant hotels. I prefer to be super close.

Good luck planning

 

[Ivette1980]

I visit San Diego and DL together a lot. My brother lives in SD and we usually combine trips. I prefer to fly into John Wayne especially if renting a car. At the San Diego airport you have to take a mini bus to the rental car companies and it just adds time to the whole thing. So my preference is to fly into JW and get a rental car, drive to San Diego and visit and then go to DL and be close to the airport on the way out. I've had to drive to JW from San Diego in the past and felt like I had to leave really early for the airport in case of traffic problems. There is just a lot more that can go wrong between San Diego and John Wayne than DLR and John Wayne. So this is how I've done it in the past.

Day one fly into JW and rent a car. Stay overnight in SD.

Day two go to San Diego Zoo and stay overnight in SD.

Day three go to Legoland and check into Anaheim hotel/drop rental car back at airport if you don't want it while at DLR

Day 4,5,6 at DL and DCA

Day 7 head for home

We have done this basic itinerary more than one and had it work very well.

A note on legoland I think adults think the park is cool and probably your 8 and 9 year old will like it. Your two older kids might not think it is too cool but I"m not sure. If you do go to Legoland you can usually get coupons for buy one get one free admission on ebay.

You can also get lots of advise on this board about off site hotels. For me I like to be as close to the gates as I can and I want something clean and comfortable. I've stayed both on site and off site. My next trip we are staying at the Best Western Park Place Inn. It is very close and has generally good reviews. Since your kids are older and you probably will have less reason to need to pop back to the hotel you might consider some of the walkable yet slightly more distant hotels. I prefer to be super close.

Good luck planning

Thank you ... you mentioned dropping off the rental car back at airport and co tinued on your vacation, how did you get back to anaheim? Shuttle? Did that take long?

 

[Ivette1980]

FWIW, lots of folks will advise you to take a pass on LegoLand.

Your main issue will be driving from SD to DLR and traffic. It will be less on weekends. Will you be staying in SD or doing a day trip from DLR area? I would advise staying in SD but if you are only doing the zoo then it could be done on a day trip from DLR. In any case, as much as you can make your driving on weekends you should. That means doing hte SD portion over a weekend.

Of course build in some down time. Maybe a day or two at the beach? This can be in SD and/or the DLR area (Newport or Huntington are good choices).

Hope that gets you started. Your trip is so long from now it seems you are a little early on the feeling overwhelmed part!

Thank you, yes I know I have less than a year ahead of me, but I like things planned out and be ready to go. I cant even book my flights yet and that really factors into it all.

I cant pass on legoland, itll be our first time, but believe me thats what is keeping me tied up in the plans.

 

[Monica D]

My family loves Legoland. We have always included a trip there in our plans, with the exception of our trip last week. Even though my kids are 15 and (almost) 13 now, I'm sure they'd be willing to go back. It's a great park that isn't overwhelming and you feel confident letting your kids run around without feeling like you'll lose them in the crowds. The rides aren't anything exciting but they're cute and fun.

Other fun things to do in San Diego are the Wild Animal Park, Sea World, and Balboa Park. Coronado Island is really cool, too. The last time we were down there we stayed in a suite type hotel (Portofino, maybe?) that had breakfast, a nice pool and laundry facilities.

I would either do all of the Disney stuff first and then rent a car and drive to SD or vice versa. You will definitely need a car in SD as everything is pretty spread out. When you're at DL there are so many restaurants and shops nearby a car isn't necessary.

 

[Ivette1980]

Thank you so much your reply was very helpful! So it is safe to say that from John Wayne I can grab a shuttle do whatever in DL and then rent a car and drive down to SD? Where would I pick up and drop off car? any recommendations on good rates?

 

[igomezkailua]

This is my Socal schedule for this months trip..

1. Thursday (Knotts Berry Farm)
2. Friday (DL)
3. Saturday (Universal)
4. Sunday (Santa Monica, Laker Game)
5. Monday (CA)
6. Tuesday (CA, DL)

I really recommend going to a Laker or Clippers game, it's a great experience and good for family too..

 

[DTDkettleCORNfan]

Don't have much to add, except to echo the previous posters regarding Legoland being a little kids park. Not sure about your 17 year old. But I think it will be great for your 3 youngest....my 11 son would still have a great time (even though I think he is a bit old now). Also - spend your last day at Disneyland or California Adventure. Not one of the other parks. Other places are great, but DL is in a league of its own. Great way to end a trip! Happy planning!

 

[lake queen]

We also had our first trip to Cali. this summer. We have 2 girls 16 and 18. Here was our schedule.

Day 1- Flew into SNA, picked up rental car. Drove to Newport Beach. Went to Anaheim to check into hotel ( HOJO). Late dinner at Downtown Disney and shopping.

Day 2-4- DLR and DCA

Day 5- Drove from Anaheim to Universal Studios. Then went to SD. Arrived around 11 pm.

Day 6- Went Kayaking on the ocean at La Jolla Beach ( would really recommend this, especially if you are from a land- locked area!) Had a pizza picnic on the Beach.

Day 7- Sea World

Day 8- SD Zoo and more time at the Beach.

Day 9- Drove to SNA to return car and fly out.

This plan worked great for us. We had a GREAT time, we let the girls help us with the planning. We orginally wanted to go to Knotts, but ended up with the So. Cal pass, so we went to Universal instead. Good luck!