Go to DL or not?

alcie27

Mouseketeer
Joined
Oct 23, 2009
Messages
90
We've decided to plan a vacation in San Diego this summer with just us and our two girls. We're going to WDW in Dec with the 4 of us and a couple of grandparents so while I would love to stop at DL for a day or two I'm not sure it's worth the additional cost. Here's what we're thinking might be fun to see with the girls ages 4 and 7, do you think it would be worth adding Disneyland in to the plans or should we just skip it this trip? :confused3

Legoland
Sea World
USS Midway
San Diego Zoo
 
When in the summer are you going? Carsland opens in DCA on June 15th, if you're going later in the summer, it might be worth the visit to check it out since your girls are still young enough to enjoy it.
 
We'll be there in late June or sometime in July, we're still flexible on the dates.
 
If you won't be on the west coast again for quite a while, I would definitely take them to DL if they are fond of all things Disney! You may have to eliminate one or more of the places you had planned, but only you know what your girls would love the most. Good luck!
 

We've decided to plan a vacation in San Diego this summer with just us and our two girls. We're going to WDW in Dec with the 4 of us and a couple of grandparents so while I would love to stop at DL for a day or two I'm not sure it's worth the additional cost. Here's what we're thinking might be fun to see with the girls ages 4 and 7, do you think it would be worth adding Disneyland in to the plans or should we just skip it this trip? :confused3

Legoland
Sea World
USS Midway
San Diego Zoo

I might be bias as I love DL but I would rather do DL and only DL than go to all the other places you list. Those other places are ehh for me but DL is the highlight vacation for me. I would never plan a trip for Sea world, the zoo etc. But I will plan the heck out of a DL trip.
 
I guess it depends on when you might be back and what you are looking for. One to two days at DLR will be fun, but starting this summer one will need four days to get in a more thorough visit. A two day visit to DLR would be sort of like a four day visit to WDW. Enough time to hit everything major and see a show or two, but not close to enough time to get in a solid visit. A two day visit to DLR will leave you feeling like you did not have near enough time. A one day visit will only whet your appetite.

With that said, you can still have a ton of fun in one or two days so you need to make the call.

If you love Disney then I think it is definitely worth it to visit DLR. In fact I would put a DLR visit above all the other things you currently have planned. I lived in San Diego for five years and I think your other items are also worth doing (well, except for LegoLand - but that is just my opinion :rolleyes1) but Disney will be way more fun.

You might want to skim this lengthy thread to get a sense of DLR.

"A DLR Guide for WDW Vets" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599

Also there are huge, HUGE changes coming to DLR in June with Cars Land and Buena Vista Street. DCA in particular will be quite crowded. But WAY more fun!. Which is not to say don't go - I myself will be there in early July. It is just giving you a sense of the situation at DLR.

:wizard:
 
I think my concern is that it might spoil some of the excitement of WDW. Is that possible?
 
Of course not! It will just get the kids (and you) even more excited for more Disney!
 
For your daughters' ages, I think it makes perfect sense to visit DL.

DL is relatively close to San Diego. The drive is only about an hour and a half (depending on traffic).

Legoland is a fun place for 4 and 7-year-olds. Legoland isn’t a show like DL, but it’s a fun playground. It also has a small water park – not huge – but fun.

SeaWorld and the San Diego Zoo are good destinations, but I suspect that your daughters would find DL to be the highlight of their trip! You and your daughters will enjoy seeing DL’s Fantasyland – DL has some unique things like the Storybook Land Canal Boats, Casey Jr. train, Matterhorn, etc. DCA has the new Little Mermaid ride (Ariel’s Undersea Adventure). And I would splurge and go to the Princess character meal at the Ariel’s Grotto restaurant in DCA.

As far as DL taking the surprise out of WDW… it will be six months between the DL visit and the WDW visit. For children, six months is a l-o-n-g time. :)

IMO you can have a couple of really fun days at DL. You won’t be able to see everything in two days, but 4 and 7 are super great ages to visit DL!

:earsboy:
 
Disneyland would be the highlight of the trip for us, too. We've done 3 of the 4 you listed (we haven't done the USS Midway) and Disneyland would be our top pick of all of them.

Our second would be Sea World (we have APs there) and the zoo and Legoland would tie for last (we didn't care for either of them, but our zoo experience was largely affect by our group having a stroller, wheelchair and ECV and all those hills at the zoo. It may be a lot more fun without wheels or an hour+ line to see the panda) and Legoland just seemed like a big waste (long lines, short hours and nothing for my (then) 2-yr-old to ride).

I think that Disneyland and WDW are different enough that you wouldn't be ruining the surprise for them. We've had APs to DL this past year, yet my girls are still asking to go to WDW again. They have some different things that make them both worth visiting.
 
Spoil it?!?! Heck no, we visited WDW 10/09, we visited DLR March, May, July, Sept & Dec of that same year. That was a great year!
 
Another vote for DL. We love both DL and WDW. DD (6) has been to WDW 5 times and DL 2 times. All those trips just fuel her excitement to get back to one of those places. She still jumps up and down with uncontained excitement when she gets to visit and get hugs from one of her favorite characters. Plus, DL is a much smaller scale than WDW and will give all of you a good taste of things to come and will give you some idea of what will and will not work for your family on a full day in a Disney park. I think a couple of days at DL will get them more excited about going to WDW, to the point that they drive you crazy repeatedly asking how many more days it is until you get to go. My only worry would be that the grandparents would be bothered that they would not be there for the very 1st Disney trip- or the 1st time they see a certain character etc.

We usually spend 1/2 the week at DL and 1/2 the week in the San Diego area. Your girls will probably love Legoland if they have not been to a Disney park yet. My DD liked it on our first trip in the area and had a great time there, but it definitely isn't Disney and she was not interested in going back the next year. Legoland definitely didn't have much for the adults, where Disney is geared for all ages. DH isn't interested in going back to Legoland and he was thrilled when DD didn't want to go on our last trip. The San Diego zoo is a great zoo. I think your girls will really like it. Some kids love Sea World. It isn't really my DD's thing. She is more of a Broadway show/dancing and singing kind of girl. She gets bored extremely quickly with sea lion, whale, or other animal shows. If your girls love animal shows, they will love it.
 
If it's a longer trip, I'd add DL onto it. If it's shorter, and San Diego is where you're based, honestly, and this is coming from someone who left a "girl's trip" (full of obnoxious debauchery that depressed me) and took the train to Disneyland, sneaking out at around 3am to do so, I wouldn't do Disneyland this time.

I like SeaWorld (didn't like the first half of my first trip there, but then we saw the "Pets Rule" show and our day turned around for the better!) and as long as you know that the zoo is HOT and HILLY and can be a big of a slog if you get thirsty or hungry, it's a good zoo. We haven't yet been to Legoland, but I've heard it's good for 7ish year olds (so we've got to get there before my son ages out of it!). I wouldn't be interested in the Midway, but DH and DS probably would, and I'm sure it'll make our list on some trip (my brother lives down there and has a condo right at the waterfront so we visit relatively often).

On a shorter trip, Disneyland would just make it crazy. On a longer trip, however, it would be nice.
 
The correct answer to the question, "do we go to DL?" is always "yes".

That being said, myself, my wife and 7 yr old daughter come down to So Cal every fall for about 12 days - 5 or 6 of which we spend at DL and the rest in the San Diego area. Quite frankly, we find that we never have enough time to do everything we want to do in SD. Sea World is a must do, and that is 1-2 days. Coronado Island and the beach is a day. The Zoo (we actually prefer the Wild Animal Park) is a day. The museums at Balboa Park are multiple days. The Midway is a few hours (although you may want to reconsider this one, since your daughters may be too young to appreciate it). If you go to a Chargers or Padres game, that's half a day. And I could go on and on (get the sense that a landlocked Canadian like me LOVES SD???)

No matter what you choose, you really can't go wrong (except for Legoland - the 4 yr old will love it, but the 7 yr old might be past it).
 
There's no such thing as too much Disney. There's also no such thing as a bad time for Disney. And if you ask "should we go to Disney?" the answer is always yes.
 
I might be bias as I love DL but I would rather do DL and only DL than go to all the other places you list. Those other places are ehh for me but DL is the highlight vacation for me. I would never plan a trip for Sea world, the zoo etc. But I will plan the heck out of a DL trip.

Since I live in San Diego I also have a bias and think that you should see Legoland, the Zoo, and your husband would love the midway. I'm not a fan of Seaworld because of the small amount of water the animals are in. I love DL, I even have a pass, but believe it or not, the whole world is not Disney. Legoland is especially fun for kids the age your are.
 




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