Help me plan my So Cal trip!!

[lovevacations]

Family of 4- (me, dh, dd-10, dd-8)

June '08 ( either arrive on the 5th or 12th)
arrive late in San Diego Thursday night (from Houston)
Friday, Saturday, Sunday- San Diego (we have been to the zoo and go to Sea World San Antonio often). Beach, harbour cruise,..? ideas!

Monday- We will drive to Anaheim today. Hoping to take a route that will let us beach hop along the way. I think we are going to stay at Candy Cane Inn. We will splurge on our San Diego hotel or a great beach hotel in San Diego area. What is south of San Diego- any good beach hotels that way?

Tuesday- Thursday Disneyland / CA

Friday- check out of Canday Cane. We have friends in Long Beach, so most likely spend the day there. Hotel ? Maybe something on Newport Beach?

Saturday- Maybe visit Wild Animal Park? Stay at hotel near San Diego airport.

Sunday -Depart

Any tips, ideas, hotels suggestions?

 

[c&m]

Sounds like a great trip you have planned!

Check out Coronado Beach in San Diego, which is the one my family enjoys the most. I also read yesterday that Dr. Beach rated it as one of the Top 10 beaches in the U.S.

There are beachfront hotels at Coronado, namely the famous Hotel Del Coronado, and the others that I know of in Coronado are Loews and the Marriott. They are all very pricey, in the $300+ range.

We are going in July and are opting to stay at the Hyatt La Jolla, which I got for $165/night. Would love to stay in Coronado but the hotel cost is too much to justify to my DH, so we'll just drive to Coronado and spend a beach day there.

 

[casaazul]

3 days in San Diego.

Play on the beach
Visit the waterfront area and visit the Maritime Museum and the Midway (aircraft carrier)
Take a harbor cruise
Visit Old Town
Visit Balboa Park and the museums
Rent bikes and ride along the Mission Beach boardwalk
Drive up to Legoland if you kids like them
Visit the Scripps Aquarium and La Jolla.

We stayed at the Bahia Resort on Mission Bay. A walk to the beach and there is a small amusement park there with a cool wooden roller coaster.

Driving up from San Diego, part on the interstate and you can drive most of the way along the ocean. Stop in Carlsbad, Oceanside, fun beaches!

South of San Diego other than Mexico, not much. I would stay in the Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Coronado Island areas.

The Aquarium in Long Beach is really nice.

Have fun.

 

[lovevacations]

My new plan
TH- arrival night somewhere near John Wayne airport
San Diego- Lowes Coronado Bay Resort F-M
Anaheim- Candy Cane Inn M-F
Santa Monica Double Tree (free with points) F-Sunday

Thanks for the great ideas!!! We decided to focus on the little things not the theme parks, except for DL!!!!

Most likely we will fly in and out of John Wayne because it is more central. I know it will be a bit of a hike but it will be late on Th and on a Sunday, so hopefully traffic won't be too bad. I want be in DL on weekdays.

 

[Hound 109]

You've got a year to plan, but I've got a couple of thoughts:

- If in SD for 2+ days you MUST visit the zoo / balboa park, it's the finest in the world & it's beautiful. (like most attractions, get there at opening.)

- Take a look at THIS JUNE'S calender for Disneyland on the Disneyland website & pencil in the nights they do fireworks. When we were there LAST WEEK, they only had fireworks show (it was great) on Fri-Sun. Because of this we planned our DLR trip for Sun-Tues (to watch the fireworks & the Alladin show - which runs Tue - Sun).

- Also inquire about THIS YEAR'S GRAD NIGHTS.

- If in Santa Monica for 2-3 days, consider a drive 30 - 45 minutes up the BEAUTIFUL PCH....through Malibu & on up to Pt. Magoo. Once out of Santa Monica, it's not stressful & I can recommend a couple of beautiful beaches, a couple of "upscale" grocery / drug stores that the "stars" hang out, and the best fish sandwich on sour dough in the world.

(just remembered another incredible fish sandwich on sourdough can be found in Pt. Loma in San Diego .)

- You must pull up ALL of Hydroguy's threads Rules / Threads (he has 4-5 of them). It will give you a good feel for DLR (especially if you've ever been to WDW).

Have fun.

hound

 

[scanmom]

but I would not bother with the San Diego zoo. We went and were less than impressed. alot of the animals were on "loan" to other zoos, and it was hot and hilly. My kids were asking to leave by noon, and they love zoos. I would stick with your plan, as it is now. and yes, check the DL website to see when the fireworks and Fantasmic will be shown. Do not miss these or Alladin! They are all top notch shows and well worth adjusting your schedule for. and if you have already seen Fantasmic at WDW, don't worry.... the DL version is 100 times better, we don't even bother seeing it while at WDW, it is dissapointing after the DL version!!!! Have fun!!

 

[lovevacations]

My new plan!!
June 2nd
Fly into Oakland Airport from Houston
Spend 2 days in San Fran (Muir Woods and other tourist attractions!)
Spend 2 days in Monterey
Spend 2 days in Santa Barbara
Spend 4 days in Anaheim- 3 park days
Spend 1 night in Santa Monica
Fly to Chicago from LAX


Plan B
Fly into LAX after my last day of school (teacher workday). DL Tuesday-Saturday (4 park days).
1 night Santa Monica
2 nights Santa Barbara
2 nights Monterey
3 nights San Fran
Fly to Chicago from Oakland (dh would fly back to Houston)
I need to check Southwest website for airfares and I will only fly direct!!

 

[StormalongKay]

Well just throwing this in the mix because both of your plans include a little of mine....we are going in a few weeks
Flying into San Fran - 3 days
Renting a car driving to Monterey - 1 day
Santa Barbara - 1 day
Disneyland - 3 days
San Diego - 3 days

 

[humantouch]

You must visit the World Famous San Diego Zoo while you are down here

 

[lovevacations]

We have been to the San Diego Zoo before, but it was in November of '04. We might have to change our dates to July due to a summer conference my dh needs to attend. We would reverse our route too. (we will be coming from Chicago, then CA, then back to Houston.

July 11-26 (yes, this trip keeps getting longer! We should be able to use Hilton points for everywhere except DL. We will either stay at Canday Cane Inn or GC conceirge as a splurge if we don't pay for any other nights!

Fly Chicago to San Diego- 4 nights (that gives us 2 full days)
Drive to Anaheim- 4 nights DLR (3 days in the parks)
Drive to Santa Barbara-2 nights
Drive to Monterey-stop in Solvang along the way- 3 nights
Drive to San Fran-3 nights
Fly to Houston

I know the crowds in DL will be increased vs early June, but the weather should be better in the other places.