*Need Help with Planning!*

[yupikgal]

My 16 yr old daughter and I have been planning to go on a mother/daughter trip, and now my husband is saying him and our son may be coming along...whether they do or don't, we are going! The plan so far: Fly into John Wayne airport (Santa Ana) on the 23rd of May (leave in the morning won't get there until 630p, we are in Alaska) We would like to spend 4 nights there with 3 dayParkhoppers. Then if we are by ourselves without the boys, were thinking of taking Amtrak down the coast to San Diego for the remainder of our trip. So we would leave Anaheim the 27th, and stay 6 nights in San Diego, leaving CA for home on the 2nd of June. The only things I want to do down there for sure are Seaworld, Old Town, Balboa Park and go to Coronado Island. The last time we were there was years ago and we took the old town trolley everywhere, it was a lot of fun! I'm not driving there at all, unless my husband comes down, in which case we still wouldn't rent a car for the entire time.

My questions are; which hotels would work for us? I like ones with breakfast included if possible. We have stayed at the CCI and liked it. What about San Diego hotels? I'm trying to stay within a certain budget and not get extravagant hotels with a high pricetag, but I don't want the cheap cockroach motels either. Please help with any suggestions that you have! Thank you!!

 

[yupikgal]

**bump**

 

[princessnicchia]

Hi Yupikgal from a fellow Alaskan. I have stayed twice at the Tropicana, great location and decent breakfast. We are staying at the Hojo this time because of the rate and the great reviews on this site. The CCI also gets great reviews, but seems a little further away.

I went to San Diego in 2006, it was a great time. The only thing I would add to your list would be the San Diego Zoo--it was awesome. Love the pandas. We stayed at the Marriot Hotel and Marina in San Diego---it was right on the water and very nice. The price was not bad either---we had a conference rate because part of it was a work trip, so I'm not sure what the normal pricing is.

Hope you have a fabulous trip!

 

[imjen]

We are staying at the Tropicana across the street this next trip. I have read lots of great things about it and got a good rate. I was also highly considering the BWPPI (Best Western Park Place Inn), the CCI, or the HoJo. We stayed at The Camelot a couple years ago and liked it. We weren't as pleased with our stay at the Carousel 1.5 yrs ago but it was ok. If you use the search feature at the top of the page and type in the hotel you are considering, you can find lots of helpful reviews. Tripadvisor.com is wonderful as well for hotel reviews.

San Diego is beautiful. We like Sea World and hope to have more time to spend down there on a future trip. Another great S. Cal thing to do is Catalina Island. With the number of days you have for this trip, you could easily park at one of the ferry locations in the morning and spend the day over at the island, then drive down to San Diego. We LOVED our excursion there for our anniversary.

Good luck planning!