October in San Diego Area

[BigDisneyOE]

I'm busy planning our trip for next year. Post Wonder cruise and five days in OC, we want to go down to San Diego area. This is a first for us and we want to spend at least two days at Legoland as our boys are Lego mad. So I'm looking at about seven or eight days in the area to get all those good holiday things done. We are now looking at renting a place to have a bit of space. It's going to be second week of October 2012 and I don't know much about the weather there (autumn isn't it? But that could mean anything I guess). I've found two cute places - one in Carlsbad and one in Mission. I like both and both have twin beds in the second room, which is important. I don't mind a half hour drive to get into San Diego area or up to Carlsbad depending on location. Which is preferable in the month of October?

We just want to be able to have a nice family holiday and do San Diego area justice without commuting down from OC every day. I don't need beachfront, a glimpse is nice but I grew up with the sea at the bottom of the garden, so sea isn't a big deal. We are looking for an area which is night quiet, family oriented and no large trains or planes honking past at 1AM.

Which locale would you choose for Oct - Carlsbad or Mission?

 

[sonnyjane]

When you say Mission, can you give more details? Mission is not a San Diego neighborhood. There is Mission Bay, Mission Valley, and Mission Beach, so I can't really give a good recommendation unless you know a little more about where the house is located.

If you're going to do several days in San Diego but only two days at Legoland, then I wouldn't rent the place in Carlsbad. Carlsbad might be 35 minutes away from San Diego with no traffic, but if you plan to commute anytime around rush-hour (like to make it to park openings) you might find yourself spending at least an hour in traffic. For that reason, I'd recommend staying down in San Diego and just commuting for those two days to Carlsbad. The other option that makes sense to me is to just stop down in Carlsbad after your days in OC, stay at a hotel for one night near Legoland, and then head down to San Diego after your second day at Legoland and stay somewhere down here to see Sea World, the zoo, Balboa Park, the beach...basically whatever attractions you want to visit down here.

As far as weather, it won't be much different between Sept. and Oct. It will be cooler in Oct., but not "autumn" by any other state's standards The ocean water will be cold, so don't plan on doing much swimming.

 

[BigDisneyOE]

Oh sorry, it's Mission Beach, ocean side of the area.

Hmm - certainly don't want to sit in traffic for an hour or so a day. Maybe October will be a bit more off season and rental owners will take part weeks?

Edit to add - It's been nearly a decade since I swam in the sea. Despite living by the beach now too. It was warm enough when it was 45C in Rhodes, Greece on holiday. Now it's never that warm in NZ for me to get in the sea.

 

[sonnyjane]

Oh sorry, it's Mission Beach, ocean side of the area.

Hmm - certainly don't want to sit in traffic for an hour or so a day. Maybe October will be a bit more off season and rental owners will take part weeks?

Edit to add - It's been nearly a decade since I swam in the sea. Despite living by the beach now too. It was warm enough when it was 45C in Rhodes, Greece on holiday. Now it's never that warm in NZ for me to get in the sea.

Okay, Mission Beach helps I think in October you should be fine with getting a place there. In the summer there can be a lot of college-aged kids, but during October that should die down. Mission Beach is still a long strand, but without knowing exactly where your place would be, I'll say that the area near Belmont Park (an area that has a roller coaster and a few small rides) has a lot of bars, so if the house is immediately in that area, it might be loud at night on the weekends, but other than that, Mission Beach is pretty family friendly - better than the closer alternatives in the area

I will say, also, that you very well might not need two days at Legoland. The only time I would suggest someone needed two days at Legoland would be if they were going to the amusement park, the aquarium, AND the waterpark. In October, the waterpark is only open on weekends and it might still be too cold to be outside at a waterpark. The aquarium is very small - I'd say you could spend 45 minutes there TOPS if you really stopped and stared at absolutely every sign, tank, and decoration. Knowing that, maybe you could still rent the house for one week, and just leave early from OC and visit Legoland on the way down to San Diego. Just my two cents

 

[BigDisneyOE]

This place in Mission is a five min walk to Belmont Park but it's on a residential side street. The reviews say it's very quiet and has new windows too. It has a wee deck and some outside space, which is important for us as I don't want kids to get cooped up.

I've managed to work it out timewise that we'd be at Legoland over the weekend. My kids don't feel the cold so much and have seen the YouTube stuff of the water park and are dead keen for it. It's mainly the ride your own car stuff they are very keen on. If they have their way we'd be on it for a week!

Half of me wants to do everything in reverse for better weather in Sept. San Diego area in first week of Sept, then OC and then cruise. The only thing putting me off is the fact we will never get everything in our cabin for the cruise as we intend on hitting the outlet malls in a big way and buying a great deal.

Besides Mission Beach, is there anywhere that's family oriented that you'd recommend for rentals in San Diego? I'd be keen to hear from an expert what they think.

 

[sonnyjane]

Besides Mission Beach, is there anywhere that's family oriented that you'd recommend for rentals in San Diego? I'd be keen to hear from an expert what they think.

I am hardly an expert, since I live here so know nothing about local vacation rentals. I actually think you're pretty spot in with Mission Beach. The only other place I would suggest is La Jolla but it's likely to be much more expensive. Mission Beach offers a better location to get to all the main SD attractions as well.

 

[BigDisneyOE]

Thank you SonnyJane, I'll look at La Jolla too. My husband just came home and I told him I'd been talking to someone local and they were giving sage advice and he was very grateful. It's hard when you've never been to a place, irrespective if you are from 100, 1000 or 10,000 kms away. I just love the Disboards - I'm so glad we decided on a Disney holiday.

 

[dwelty]

I would not worry too much about the weather, mid October is usually about perfect weather here. rainy season does not start until late November. It is actually a time I would choose to travel given the choice.

 

[PHXscuba]

We did San Diego a few years ago in mid-October and the weather was gorgeous. We rented a condo on Mission Bay, right on the bay. If your boys are small it's nice because the waves are almost nothing and the water is a tad warmer in the bay. We had a 4-night rental. It was near Sea World and fairly central to Balboa Park (with the zoo and museums) and Legoland. You are going mostly against traffic heading north to Carlsbad.

The hard part about only doing 1 day at Legoland is that it is only open 10-5 in October and closed a couple days of the week. Some of the shows won't be running too.

PHXscuba

 

[BigDisneyOE]

We rented a condo on Mission Bay, right on the bay. If your boys are small it's nice because the waves are almost nothing and the water is a tad warmer in the bay. PHXscuba

Can you recall the name of the rental PHXscuba? Small waves sound good, we've had some 'issues' with one boy and waves post the Christchurch earthquake and Japanese tsunami, we've just managed to get him back on the beach (kind unfortunate as we are a few blocks back from a lovely surf beach).