Love DL, afraid to waste days @ other attractions

[heatherleigh]

This year we are planning a two day trip to SD on our way to DL. Our plan is to do Legoland one day and SeaWorld the next. I have not been to either place, so I really can't form an opinion. However, I hate to "waste" two days in So. CA when we can be using that time up in DL! Did anyone else ever feel this way? I love DL so much, I hate to go anywhere else.

I have our hotel accomodations arranged for Oct-Nov in Carlsbad. I just hope it won't be a bore. My 4-yr old is a Legoman, so I'm guessing he will like it. That's the main reason we are going there. SW looks even worse, but everyone tells me it's actually a lot of fun. What do you all think? Not too bad, or are we wasting valuable Disney days?

 

[Disneylvrforever]

I don't think you'll be wasting any days. A day for Legoland and Sea World will give you plenty of time to do the things that sound interesting and fun. And don't be fooled by SW commercials. I really like spending my time there and I'm sure your 4 yr. old will and hopefully you too. There's lots of shows and animals to see and touch! So if you don't get to visit every single thing in either of the parks, you'll at least get a sense of what they're like and plenty of time to do it.

 

[lisah0711]

I totally understand how you feel. I had the same worries when we went to San Diego for Spring Break -- would we have fun? Would we be able to do everything we wanted? And were we going to be stuck in endless lines because we didn't know what we were doing like we (sorta) do on Disney trips?

We had a great time and I almost didn't mind being so close to Disneyland and not going . . .

In theory this is a link to our trip report but if the link doesn't work, it's on the San Diego thread on page 4.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1778469

Have a great time and your Lego man will have a blast!

 

[Phalene]

We did a combined Disneyland/San Diego vacation last November. The first 5.5 days were in Disneyland, and then another 5.5 in San Diego. We went to both Sea World and Legoland, along with the zoo and the Wild Animal Park.

The parks did have shorter operating hours since it wasn't peak time, but we had plenty of time to see the things we wanted to at each one. Legoland especially had light crowds, going through some of the walkways we were the only people in sight.

My kids (4 and 6 at the time) enjoyed both parks and still talk about it and my son, who is a lego fan, wants to go back to Legoland especially.

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

Can't really speak for either of those places. We did Universal in June, and I regret it now. It was okay, but the whole time I kept thinking we could have been in DL. LOL Nothing compares ya know! We left Universal around 3:30pm, and then spent the rest of the day in DL.

I really wouldn't mind seeing Sea World though (my son is a bit too old for Lego land). I think it probably would have been better then Universal.

 

[cheshiregirl]

I have never been to the San Diego SW, but I grew up in Northeast Ohio and we had a SW. My family had season passes and I spent many, many summer days playing with Shamu and friends. It's not DL but is a fun and magical place where you get to get up close and personal with all sorts of animals from around the world.

I would also make time for the San Diego Zoo if you are headed that direction. It is truly the best zoo that I have ever been to including the National Zoo in Washington, DC and the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago which are considered two of the other best zoos in America. We had an amazing time there and literally spent from open to close and didn't see it all!

 

[silence]

I think you will have fun. Good idea scheduling those other parks PRIOR to DL though. We always tend to compare other parks to DL and they just don't stack up.

We have done both Legoland and Sea World. We really enjoyed how light attendance was at Legoland and we love seeing the animals at Sea World. However, we did not stay a full "long" day at either one, the way we do when at DL.

 

[ballarinamom]

We live in San Antonio and have season passes to our Seaworld. One bit of advice- get on their website the day before for their show schedules. They will also have feeding schedules. That way you can plan your day. They really have it worked out where if you miss the first show, you're playing catchup the rest of the day. Get there early as parking is always kind of crazy and can be slow. Also security can be very picky.

 

[mariezp]

This will be our 8th annual trip to Disneyland in November. The first 2 trips we made were the first time we had ever been to California so we made sure to take in other sights and attractions. We did Legoland and enjoyed it. It is a great park for younger children such as yours. Do be aware that the park closes early and may not be open every day. We did not do Seaworld but we did lots of other places.

After those first 2 years we decided that we would rather just stay at DL and save ourselves the hassle of changing hotels and driving in CA traffic! We are all perfectly happy spending our entire vacation in one place and not wasting time elsewhere. I am one of those people who can never get enough of DL! So, yes, we have felt the same way!

What does your DH think? Do you think your kids would be happier spending those 2 days somewhere else or would they even know the difference? I am going against the majority here but IMHO if you feel you will be just wasting time going elsewhere I would do some serious thinking about just doing DL.

 

[bumbershoot]

We haven't been to Legoland b/c we just can't find time for it, so I understand your feelings.

But we really like seaworld. Here's the thing...you *have to* go to the Pets Rule show. If you don't I'll pout at you angrily. It's a super-sweet show, and somehow seems more amazing than the "how'd they get the dolphin to do that jump" shows. I mean HOW do you teach a cat to do, well, anything?

Wear sunscreen, drink tons of water (they don't allow outside food/drink at all, GRR). It can get hot in there, and when you're watching the whale/dolphin shows, it's burning hot. Be careful b/c of that.

Oh and even if your kids can't go on the Atlantis ride, go over there, b/c there are some interesting dolphins near the line to the left.

 

[Disney Dreams]

Sea World (and San Diego for that matter) is wonderful. Sea World is a great theme park to visit, lots of fun, and so many great things to see. We love it!

The SD Zoo is nice, but to be honest, we prefer the Wild Animal Park. It is just incredible. Absolutely worth a visit!

Legoland - sigh - This one is tough for me. We don't have children. We go when my niece and nephew are in town and while there are a few things there that we enjoy (Mini Land is great!) it honestly is just all about having fun with the kids. They enjoy it, but it is by no way akin to Disneyland. I would take a day at DL over Legoland every day of the week, but you might want to follow the tips of those with kids more than mine when LegoLand is being debated.

Wild Animal Park and Sea World are spectacular though (for all ages)!

- Dreams

 

[tink2dw]

We loved Sea World San Diego! Your son should love the New Play ground at SW. It will be open now.

The Shamo Show was very fun.

A playful Dolphin

Dd got to Swim with the Dolphins.[I took a pic of the curser on the photo screen.]It cost with an AAA discount $150.00.

 

[bzkds]

We love Legoland and Sea World! In fact, 3 of my 4 kids would rather go to Legoland instead of Disneyland (blasphemy, I know, but I've got weird kids who don't like Disney rides). I think your 4 year old is perfect for Legoland.

Legoland is really a nice break from Disney. Less crowded, cooler weather, smaller. And a HUGE Lego store. They also have a whole big room full of Legos/Duplos set out to play with and have races, etc. It's really a lot of fun there.

Beth

 

[NWPrincess]

I think it depends on what you want to do.

In 2006, we hit all of the theme parks with our CityPass (Seaworld, San Diego Zoo, Universal Studios and Disneyland--no Legoland though).

Seaworld was our first stop. I liked it. I couldn't say it was Disney amazing, but it was good. Atlantis is a really good ride. We rode it at least three times. We watched a lot of shows and it is a good experience to do once. However, halfway through the day I just got bored. I guess I'm just a ride person and Seaworld is more of a show-type attraction, but for your little one, this might be perfect.

I was not impressed with the San Diego Zoo. It was hot and there were tons of hills and walking. There was just too much to see and it became overwhelming. I think we ended up leaving (with blisters) halfway through the day.

I agree about Universal Studios. Though they had fun rides, my dad and I (whom I went with to all these sites) agreed that these just could not compare to Disneyland, so this year, we are spending the whole time at DL. It's actually cheaper too with the decreased per-day price for DL tickets as you stay longer. I guess they do that so you stay at their parks.

 

[beansf]

Can't really speak for either of those places. We did Universal in June, and I regret it now. It was okay, but the whole time I kept thinking we could have been in DL. LOL Nothing compares ya know! We left Universal around 3:30pm, and then spent the rest of the day in DL.

I can relate to this. I regret that I let my husband talk me into Universal during our last trip to DL in October. Yuck. I wish we had spent that time at Disneyland, too. Well, I guess I know better now and won't be wasting any more time there in the future.

The thing is, if you don't go, you may always wonder what you are missing.

 

[mikayla73]

We haven't been to Legoland as we don't have kids, but have been to Sea World twice. We usually do it as a day trip rather than moving hotels. We had a good time at Sea World and the drive down the PCH was not bad (yes even with the traffic). The shows are fun and there are plenty of animals to check out.

We wouldn't do it every trip, especially now since we live closer and tend to do more shorter trips to DL rather than one or two long ones. Our trip would have to be at least 5 days before I would consider skipping an entire day to go to SW if I knew it would be a year or so before I could come back.

Be sure to check out GAT and compare prices for tickets. We bought ours there last time at a good discount, which made it even better.

I think that San Diego could be it's own trip and we could spend an entire vacation there and have a great time, including going to Sea World.

We too were dissappointed by US. It was fine to do once, but I don't feel the need to return.

 

[averyiggy]

We did SeaWorld, Legoland and DL last years with our 4yr and 1yr. DD4 still to this day says Legoland was her favorite part of the trip. There were alot of rides she couldn't go on because of height restrictions but she loved it. We went in Sept and there were no lines. With that said we were there when it opened and were done by 2pm.

Seaworld is fun too but it's not the type of place I would go year after year like we do Disney. If you haven't been I think you'll have a great time. Like someone else said map out the shows or look into breakfast or lunch with Shamu not too expensive considering the price of food there.

Have fun!