Please critique- need input on travel times

[BlueFairy]

Hi everyone. I've posted on the DL and SoCal board, but I'd love a littel more specific input. Here is our current itinerary with family of 4 (very petite DDs 8 and 5).

Sat - travel day to SAN, arrive midday; checkin San Diego Sheraton Hotel and Marina for 2 nights; rent car.
Sun- San Diego Zoo (Sunday of Memorial Day weekend; arrive EARLY); Is this the best day to go while our legs are fresh? DD's top priority.
Mon - (Memorial Day) a leisure day; explore waterfront/beaches. Checkout of hotel; transfer to an inland Residence Inn (Scripps Poway Pkwy) using free nights to spread out and enjoy a kitchenette, laundry and free breakfast, free parking.
Tues, Wed - tour San Diego area with Sea World. La Jolla. (How much time to allow from hotel to Sea World on a Tues. or Wed. a.m.?)
Thurs (Grad night) travel via rental car to Anaheim (Again, how long from Scripps Poway Pkwy to Anaheim in Thurs. traffic? Best time to start the journey would be?); Check-in Sheraton Park; grocery run. No parks today unless we add a day. Dinner DTD.
Fri (Grad night; SoCal blackout) drop car; begin 4 day park hoppers DL/DCA
Sat (SoCal blackout) Magic Morning at Disneyland. DL/DCA
Sun (SoCal blackout) DL/DCA
Mon DL/DCA
Tues. - shuttle to airport; fly out of SNA

I realize the suite hotel is not in a prime tourist location, but it gets fantastic reviews from families on Trip Advisor. We need the space to spread out and the nights are free. I'm interested in knowing whether we'll be adding a lot of hassle with traffic between that location and tourist areas.

Any other input? I'm having trouble getting the lay of the land on these forums when it comes to areas outside of Anaheim. Please help me out.

Thanks!

 

[CaptainEIEIO]

Hi everyone. I've posted on the DL and SoCal board, but I'd love a littel more specific input. Here is our current itinerary with family of 4 (very petite DDs 8 and 5).

Sat - travel day to SAN, arrive midday; checkin San Diego Sheraton Hotel and Marina for 2 nights; rent car.
Sun- San Diego Zoo (Sunday of Memorial Day weekend; arrive EARLY); Is this the best day to go while our legs are fresh? DD's top priority.
Mon - (Memorial Day) a leisure day; explore waterfront/beaches. Checkout of hotel; transfer to an inland Residence Inn (Scripps Poway Pkwy) using free nights to spread out and enjoy a kitchenette, laundry and free breakfast, free parking.
Tues, Wed - tour San Diego area with Sea World. La Jolla. (How much time to allow from hotel to Sea World on a Tues. or Wed. a.m.?)
Thurs (Grad night) travel via rental car to Anaheim (Again, how long from Scripps Poway Pkwy to Anaheim in Thurs. traffic? Best time to start the journey would be?); Check-in Sheraton Park; grocery run. No parks today unless we add a day. Dinner DTD.
Fri (Grad night; SoCal blackout) drop car; begin 4 day park hoppers DL/DCA
Sat (SoCal blackout) Magic Morning at Disneyland. DL/DCA
Sun (SoCal blackout) DL/DCA
Mon DL/DCA
Tues. - shuttle to airport; fly out of SNA

I realize the suite hotel is not in a prime tourist location, but it gets fantastic reviews from families on Trip Advisor. We need the space to spread out and the nights are free. I'm interested in knowing whether we'll be adding a lot of hassle with traffic between that location and tourist areas.

Any other input? I'm having trouble getting the lay of the land on these forums when it comes to areas outside of Anaheim. Please help me out.

Thanks!

You could almost do the Southern California City Pass. That gets you 1 day at Sea World, 1 day at Universal Studios, and 3 day with park hopper at Disneyland/California Adventure for $306 per adult, $269 per child 3 - 9 yrs old. They also have an add on where you can add the San Diego Zoo that will cost you a bit more, $339 per adult, $294 per child 3 - 9 yrs old. My family has used this 3 times now and it works great along with saving you money. You didn't have Universal Studios on your list however. But if you add a day, or go to Universal on your travel day from San Diego to Anaheim it would work out. You did also put down 4 days at DLR and this pass only gives you 3 days, but it might be worth looking into for you and switching some things around to make it fit.

I would do the zoo with fresh legs, it is very big and your travel time from SD to Anaheim is about 1 hour and the best time to go would be around 9 am after the morning rush is over. San Diego also has a Old Town Trolly tour bus that is great to ride around on. The driver talks about SD as you go around the city with different stops. You can get off at any stop you want to and when your done in that area get back on and continue the tour. You can get off and on at any of the stops they have. It does a great job of covering the whole city. Another fun thing to do in San Diego is Ride the Seals, it also goes around the city from the pickup point to where it enters the bay and takes you out to view the seals sunning. So you go out in the water in this one.

Heres the link to the City Pass site:
http://www.citypass.com/southern-ca..._content=1465029734&utm_campaign=none&mkwid=e

Here is the link to the Old Towne Trolly Tour Bus:
http://www.trolleytours.com/san-diego/

Here is the link to Ride The Seals:
http://www.sealtours.com/index.asp

Hope this helps.

 

[BlueFairy]

You could almost do the Southern California City Pass. That gets you 1 day at Sea World, 1 day at Universal Studios, and 3 day with park hopper at Disneyland/California Adventure. They also have an add on where you can add the San Diego Zoo that will cost you a bit more. My family has used this 3 times now and it works great along with saving you money. You didn't have Universal Studios on your list however. But if you add a day, or go to Universal on your travel day from San Diego to Anaheim it would work out. You did also put down 4 days at DLR and this pass only gives you 3 days, but it might be worth looking into for you and switching some things around to make it fit.

I would do the zoo with fresh legs, it is very big and your travel time from SD to Anaheim is about 1 hour. San Diego also has a Old Town Trolly tour bus that is great to ride around on. It has a narration as you go around the city with different stops. You can get off at any stop you want to and when your done in that area get back on and continue the tour.

Heres the link to the City Pass site:
http://www.citypass.com/southern-ca..._content=1465029734&utm_campaign=none&mkwid=e

Herre is the link to the Old Towne Trolly Tour Bus:
http://www.trolleytours.com/san-diego/

Thanks. I'm pretty sure we won't be doing the CityPass since a)We aren't interested in Universal. We'd rather spend time seeing the USS Midway, beaches and parks or something less like a theme park, and b) I would really prefer 5 days in DL. We may never get back and I want to have a pretty comprehensive look at DL. The LA area really doesn't interest us as much as SD.

Thanks for the link on the trolley tour. Little legs might enjoy that. And 1 hour to Anaheim really isn't bad at all. That will be a leisurely day.

 

[PHXscuba]

If your travel day between San Diego and Anaheim is a relaxing one, I would wait until after rush hour (10 a.m.?) and be in Anaheim before afternoon rush hour starts around 3 p.m. Sleep in, take your time, go to the store when you get to Anaheim.

PHXscuba

 

[BlueFairy]

If your travel day between San Diego and Anaheim is a relaxing one, I would wait until after rush hour (10 a.m.?) and be in Anaheim before afternoon rush hour starts around 3 p.m. Sleep in, take your time, go to the store when you get to Anaheim.

PHXscuba

Thanks. That's what I was hoping to hear. Sounds like plenty of time for a stop along the coast (La Jolla?) and lunch. We have no plans that day, if I can just quell the urge to get to DLR ASAP. Even so, we could conceivably be in Anaheim by noon and have the evening in a park.