Please help with my May trip to DL and San Diego

[rizzo0904]

Travelling in May with two boys, ages 2 and 3. We arrive in LAX from Boston on 5/16 at lunch time. Headed to the HoJo Anaheim. Will just hang at the pool since the kids are likely to be exhausted with the jet leg. If they sleep, maybe we'll head to Downtown Disney?

Thurs 5/17: DL

Fri 5/18: character breakfast, either Goofy's Kitchen or Surf's Up. Then may check out of the hotel and head south. This is where I'm not sure what to do.

I have rooms reserved in Carlsbad for 2 nights and Pacific Beach for 2 nights. Want to do Legoland and the SD Zoo. Not sure if we try and cram in Seaworld too or not. Want to spend some time at the beach. Both the Carlsbad hotel and the Pacific Beach hotel are right on the beach. Or is Carlsbad close enough that we spend 4 nights there instead to simplify things? Or do I find a hotel midpoint between those two?

We were going to fly out of San Diego, but LAX has much better times and non-stop flights so we will head back up to LAX for Tuesday night, have dinner with family friends, and then leave for home in the morning.

1: arrive
2: DL
3: character breakfast and drive south maybe stopping at the children's beach to see the seals?
4: legoland
5: beach day
6: zoo
7: something leasurely for the drive back north? or seaworld?
8: leave

Please help!

 

[helenb]

A few years ago, we spent the night at the Best Western in Carlsbad:

http://book.bestwestern.com/bestwes...e=05225&cm_mmc=GooglePlaces-_-BW-_-CA-_-05225

It was kind of a dumpy (2 star) hotel, but the location was awesome, because it was literally across the street from the beach. It was a beautiful beach, swimmable, with lots of nice sand for playing. If you find a hotel in that area, you won't need to drive anywhere/switch hotels to get to another beach.

Be aware that Legoland now has 2 parks (there's a marine park there as well) so you may want to do 2 days. A 2 day pass isn't much more than a single day pass, so 1.5 days is an option as well. Also, Legoland has TONS of water play. Dress your kids in rashguards/water shorts and water shoes/sandals so they can run in and out of the water areas all day. Oh yeah, and bring some towels.

You don't need an entire day to drive between Anaheim/LA and San Diego. It's only a couple of hours. However if you go during rush hour, obviously the times will increase!

 

[sonnyjane]

Meh, I don't think you need two full days at Legoland unless you were also going to the waterpark, and for that time period in May, the waterpark is only open on weekends. I would do at least one more day at Disneyland. One day is so sad Also, Disneyland will by far be the best of the three places you're considering, so if you do it first, everything else will seem lame in comparison lol. I'd try to end at DL, not start if at all possible. I also don't think you need two beach days, but that's just me. May weather will be unpredictable. We have something called "May Grey" here in San Diego, which means that in the mornings, it's chilly and foggy. If/when it burns off, it's usually already the afternoon. The water is really cold also. With two little ones I wouldn't think they would want two long days of chilly beach. Definitely go to La Jolla and see Children's Pool and the seals, but I think you can do some reshuffling.

If I were building the perfect itinerary from scratch, I would say fly into LAX, drive down to San Diego that first day, stop at Children's Pool on the way down, find somewhere fun for dinner, then rest at a hotel near the zoo. Then I would go to the zoo the next day (a full day affair), and drive up to Carlsbad to stay at a hotel near Legoland. Then I would drive up to Anaheim after the day at Legoland, check into my Anaheim hotel, and enjoy a couple days at Disneyland! If you think 3 days at DL is too much because of the ages of your kids, you could cut that down to two at add SeaWorld or another beach day at either one of those stops, but I would try to do at least two full days at Disneyland just based on everything you would miss if you only did one day.

I do personally feel that Carlsbad is far to drive down to San Diego more than once. It's about 40 minutes. Not impossible, obviously, but if you were planning on coming down to SD for more than one attraction, I would just stay down here overnight.

 

[rizzo0904]

We are staying at the Tamarack Beach Resort in Carlsbad. My understanding is it's right on the beach. So maybe I'll change my San Diego hotel to something inland and closer to the attractions??

As for DL, that was a last minute addition. I realized after we started planning that DL was out there...we are east coasters and always think of WDW (we are going there 1.5 years later).

The drive from Anaheim to Carlsbad won't start until 11am or so since we are doing the character breakfast that morning. Planning on Surf's Up since my boys love Mickey and the old school characters.

Anaheim: thinking of Olive Tree and Marri's for dinner??? maybe a breakfast at Mimis? we'll bring pbj sandwiches and snacks into the park, but will likely buy some treats.

Carlsbad: requested the free Lego magazine as I heard there were coupons in there, so we shall see. Any dining recs for the area? Would love to find some nice fish tacos and we can't get those up here in NH.

San Diego: if we do the zoo and Seaworld, where should we look at staying?

Also, for our last night, any recs for a hotel near the airport? Would prefer southeast side, unles that's a bad area.

 

[sonnyjane]

LA and Carlsbad aren't my strong suits, so I can't help you there.

As far as the zoo and Sea World, I'd probably look at somewhere near Mission Beach is you want to check out the beach as well. Sea World and Mission Beach are very close, and then the zoo isn't too far from there (about 10 minutes or so).

 

[rizzo0904]

Okay, here are my changes:

Spend an extra night in Anaheim and get a 2 day pass to Disney...we'll do DL one day and DCA the other.

Day 1: arrive and hang by pool

Day 2: DL

Day 3: DCA

Day 4: character breakfast at Surf's Up and then head south.

Get to Residence Inn on Kearny Mesa

Day 5: Seaworld

Day 6: Zoo

Day 7: drive north, visit La Jolla and the cove, get hotel near LAX and visit friends for dinner

Day 8: head home

Does that look more managable?

 

[sonnyjane]

That looks far more manageable. A quick head's up: the Residence Inn in Kearny Mesa is in the middle of an industrial/commercial area - not really a resort or anything and certainly not near a beach. Actually it's basically across the highway from the county landfill. It's not too far from Sea World or the zoo though (about 10 miles), so if you got a good deal, no problem. Just wanted to make sure you were aware so there were no surprises when you checked in!

 

[rizzo0904]

good to know about the hotel...it has great reviews online so i went for it. i got it for $130...the rest of the marriotts are around $200+ and all of the hiltons are sold out for my timeframe. if it's just to sleep and relax, is it that bad? i can always look elsewhere. i just thought the setup with the 2 boys would be great.

 

[sonnyjane]

good to know about the hotel...it has great reviews online so i went for it. i got it for $130...the rest of the marriotts are around $200+ and all of the hiltons are sold out for my timeframe. if it's just to sleep and relax, is it that bad? i can always look elsewhere. i just thought the setup with the 2 boys would be great.

Nope! No reason to switch. It's not in a bad neighborhood or anything, I just know originally you had booked a hotel in Pacific Beach and wanted to make sure you knew that this one was in a very different area.

 

[rizzo0904]

sonnyjane: which san diego hotel do you think would be best....

the residence inn on kearny mesa
the residence inn in la jolla
the residence in sorrento valley on pacific mesa court
best western plus in pacific beach
la quinta old town

i can get all of them for roughly the same price. we'll have 2 toddlers with us. spending 3 nights. visiting seaworld and the zoo.

thanks for your help!

 

[sonnyjane]

If you want a central location, I'd definitely choose either BW in PB or La Quinta in Old Town. Kearny Mesa is kind of far, Sorrento Valley is really far, and La Jolla isn't too far, but PB and Old Town are closer. Now, "far" means 20-30 minutes versus 10-15, so not a huge difference, but I'm all about convenience so if prices are the same, choose closer! I'd look at tripadvisor and compare the two I suggested and see which one appeals most to you.