Help me you smart southern Cal people:

[estherhead]

What to do?

We are staying 5 nights/6 days at Anaheim HoJo. We'll buy 4 day DL hoppers but will plan on 2-3 days/ partial days doing other things. DH & I have been to southern Cal 3 times. This is our kids first trip. They are 5, 10, 11. All girls.

We love nature, we love roller coasters, we love movies & pop culture, we love history of all kinds. We don't love LA traffic (I feel like I spend all my time in LA just wishing I was out of LA) and we don't love haunted houses/being terrified.

There is so much to do in southern Cal I'm getting confused. I've kind of eliminated going to San Diego because of the traffic, though our first choice after DL would be Sea World. But we're already driving to Sequoia & Yosemite for the first half of this trip so minimizing long drives is important to me.

What would you all do? Knott's Berry? Universal? Six Flags? Whale watching? Would you get a Go LA card? Would you just say forget it & stay at the HoJo chilling & going to DL? My 5 year old is obsessed with Jupiter. Is Griffith's interesting for a 5 year old? Tour Disney's house?

As a point of reference our fave trips have been to WDW (many times), Cedar Point, Williamsburg & Busch Gardens, and NYC.

 

[Huff]

Knotts is only 5 miles from Disneyland so no need to change hotels. Its mostly coasters and other thrill rides but there are plenty for small kids as well.

Six Flags Magic Mountain is Six Flags main park. Its a huge park with some of the biggest coasters in the country.

Universal Studios is tons of fun if you can go when crowds are moderate. Its mostly shows and a few good rides. The backlot tram tour goes through numerous older outdoor movie sets adults enjoy as well as a few areas kids enjoy as well.

Sea World in San Diego isn't a bad drive except for rush hour mornings or evenings. Its too far to drive for a day trip so we always plan 1 or 2 nights staying there to enjoy Sea World, beach or zoo.

We've gone whale watching out of Dana Point. Their website often has discount coupons making it very affordable. Went twice but only saw whales once, other tims tons of dolphins and sea lions.

 

[lcasa]

Lots of good info on the sticky on this forum : http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1163086

Knotts has good thrill coasters but most of the old-time charm it once had is gone. Still, the original theme park and even Walt got some ideas there.

Griffith is great - I think there's plenty for a 5 year old, esp one obsessed with jupiter. Lots of interactive exhibits and a very cool display of the planets in relative sizes downstairs, and great views. Always been one of my favorite LA spots. It's not far from the El Capitan theater - where they do a kid-friendly movie 1 morning a week ( lights dim not off , sound lower) and any time is a very beautiful place to see a film - get there early for the organist!
That's across from the Chinese theater with the footprints and the sidewalk stars are all around that area.
La Brea tar pits might be interesting if your kids are into saber tooth tigers and wooly mammoths.
Universal isn't very big really - on a less busy day you can easily see it all in a day. If you're movie crazy it might be interesting. Simpsons ride is very cool and a new Transformers attraction is coming very soon.
You should do a beach trip too!

 

[chttyangel]

I really love the Aquarium in Long Beach. My husband and I stumbled across it a few years ago by accident. We had a nice lunch at Bubba Gump’s across the street and then spent the whole afternoon there. They have a few birds and other animals too. One of my fav memories!

A second favorite (non-theme park) would be the beach and boardwalk area in Newport. I also think everyone needs to visit Hollywood at least once.