Palm Springs area to Carlsbad--how's the drive?

[noryglory]

Looking on the map it appears to be about two hours away...we are going to visit Grandparents in Indian Wells in January and thought about doing a day trip or quick overnighter into Carlsbad to do Legoland. Has anyone done this, how is the drive and any other recommendations in the PS area for little kid activities (3 and 7 yos)? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Tangent_]

Depending on how the kids are with heights, the PS Aerial Tramway could be a nice side trip. http://www.pstramway.com/ Just make sure you dress for temperatures a good 30 degrees or so lower than ground level.

There's also the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens right there in Indian Wells. http://www.livingdesert.org/ Their season appears to just go to January 15th according to their website so you might miss it.

Otherwise, unless your kids are into golf I'm not sure there's much else in the immediate area. If there's somebody here that live right there they might have more ideas, I just live nearby and sometimes pass through...

I'd call it more of a 3 hour drive from Palm Springs to Legoland, but your mileage may vary depending on the day of the week and time of day. Traffic will be pretty bad during weekday commuting hours, especially heading towards Carlsbad in the morning and back in the evening.

The best route from Palm Springs to Legoland is 10 West -> 60 West -> 215 South -> 15 South -> 78 East -> Rancho Santa Fe exit left -> West San Marcos Blvd right.

If you want some great Mexican food near Carlsbad I highly recommend Las Olas. From Legoland take the 5 North to Carlsbad Village Dr left -> County Hwy S21/Hwy1 right(I forget what they call it right there...) and it's on the left side. (Parking's in back)

 

[missstcroix]

Hello! We did Palm Springs a few years ago...LOVED the aerial tram!!!!!!
We were there Spring Break and it was about 90 degrees in PS...but at the top of the tram it was WINTER with snow on the ground...Super fun for my kids to be playing in the snow, then taking the ride down to "summer".
There is a big amusement area on the main drag there...I do not remember the name, but they had go carts, a rock climbing wall and a huge arcade. We went there after dinner. I also remember there was a covered wagon dinner tour but we were only there for a few days and it was booked solid. We stayed at the Marriott which had an awesome pool with a slide.
We did drive to Legoland from Palm Springs...without looking at a map I couldnt tell you what roads we were on, but they cut thru the mountains and it was quite scenic and a little scary driving. I think it did take around 2 hours. HAVE FUN!

 

[noryglory]

Great guys, thanks for the tips. We're driving out to Carlsbad on a Sunday early afternoon so the traffic hopefully won't be too bad, and we'll head back to PS Monday night (after the commute dies down considerably hopefully)...like around 7 p.m. or so.

We'll look into Las Olas also, as we'll definitely want to do a Mexican dinner that night for sure!

We might check the tram out if we need something else to do one day...the kids love the OHSU tram in Portland and obviously that one is bigger and better. And we'll look out for the amusement area as well.

THANKS!!

 

[Zoemakes5]

We spent a week in Palm Desert in 2006. A couple of things we didn't get to that I saw and was interested in (and having boys, they may really be interested....there's an airplane museum there and a children's museum (I hear it's small, though.) Our kids ended up wanting to spend all the free time they had in the pool.
The big go karts is Boomers, I think. You're able to download coupons from their website, if you want.
I personally haven't been to Legoland, and everyone has different opinions, but we haven't gone because I've heard that it's really for the pre-school set, and once you get older than that, the kids don't have a lot of enjoyment.
I like Sea World alot. The kids LOVE it. The only downside about going when you'd be here is that you prob. wouldn't want to get wet (which you can easily avoid!) and the Happy Harbor area is closed. That's the big kids' playground area that's at Sea World.
Have fun.