San Diego/Disneyland

[Sherlee]

We have exactly one week (Saturday to Saturday). I would love any opinions on how to split the number of days between San Diego and Disneyland?

 

[Michelle]

Hmm, well, I think I would go for 3-4 DL days and 2-3 San Diego days, depending on your travel arrangements. There is PLENTY to do in both areas.

What a great trip!

 

[LuvTigger]

Ditto what Michelle said. We often spend 2 nights in San Diego, and 4-5 near (or in) DL. You might want to list what kinds of things you want to do, then prioritze. In San Diego, we usually do Sea World and the San Diego Zoo. One year, instead of the zoo, we did the San Diego Wild Animal Park, which is actually a little bit north of SD. There are lots of other things to do in or near SD too, but I don't want to give you TOO many options before you decide how you want to split your time!

 

[lority]

Legoland is also an option. It is in Carlbad I think. It's not far from San Diego.



Lori

 

[hookedup]

Legoland is neat if you have SMALL children (age 10 or under) or are a complete Lego fanatic. It is in Carlsbad, which is about half hour north of SD.

The Wild Animal Park is really cool - not your typical zoo - but it is a good 45 mins north of SD (inland unlike Carlsbad which is coastal). The SD Zoo and Seaworld are near downtown SD and you could easily spend one day at each with other activities for the afternoon early evening (both the zoo and Seaworld close around 5-6 most days this time of year) but check their websites to be sure about hours around Spring Break which maybe extended (esp Seaworld).

The Gaslamp Quarter in downtown is neat to check out and grab a bite to eat. And if it were me I would probably spend 3 days in SD and 4 days at DL. Or even 2 in SD and 5 at DL. Really depends on how much time you want at DL/DCA and if you want to explore LA at all.

I live in SD (but was born in LA and lived there for 18 years) so if you have any questions please feel free to ask.

 

[allforpooh]

We are also going to be there in April (first time in CA), from Sat to Sat...

We have decided after reading all of the suggestons from these boards - Flying into LAX Sat, driving down to SD (still trying to decide on a Hotel) Sat evening beach/boadwalk- Zoo on Sunday, and just hanging out Monday site seeing - then driving to Anaheim and checking in at the GC on Monday evening.

Back to Lax Sat morning....

My big question is where to stay in San Diego, we like beachs or marina, but also want to enjoy some of the historic parts of SD....
Is it easier to stay near Mission Bay or should we go downtown??

Thanks
Denise

 

[LuvTigger]

I really like the Dana Inn and Marina. They have a website, I think it's www.danainn.com

It's reasonably priced, and it's right on Mission Bay. You could walk to Sea World from there if you wanted to, but we usually just drive. They also have a great restaurant onsite. It's a short enough drive to the Zoo, Balboa Park, and other San Diego things. Check out Sea Port Village at night, and if you have time, Cabrillo National Monument during the day.

I stayed at a hotel downtown once, but didn't care for it much. We stayed at Dana Inn twice and liked it both times.

 

[Sherlee]

Thank you for your ideas! I am currently holding three nights at Paradise Point Resort in San Diego and four nights at the Disneyland Hotel, but knowing me that could change. I had it the other way around, but that fourth night free at DL was too good to pass up, so we gave up a night in SD. Our flights are in and out of SD, how long will it take us to get back to the airport from DL? It sounds like there is so much to do in San Diego, we have also considered staying there for the whole week and just driving up to DL for the day. Too many decisions!

 

[atlnewf]

Heh. We're looking at going to San Diego the last week of October (we'd be there for Halloween) and seeing the sites there. I'm going to try to convince DH to drive up to DL for Halloween, but don't know if I can. Does anyone know if the other San Diego parks do something special for Halloween? My DS will be 4 (almost 5), my DD will be 2.

Ashley

 

[LuvTigger]

Sherlee,

In my opinion, your 3-day San Diego, 4-day DL split is perfect!

We spent 4 nights in DL last year (and we go to DL frequently, at least for Hawaii-folk!), and it was a good amount of time to be able to enjoy everything at DL leisurely. If you haven't been there before, or at least since DCA opened, I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how much there is to see and do at DLR with the two parks, DD, and the three resorts. If you have a car and want to do something else non-Disney but nearby, you could always check out Knott's Berry Farm which is only about a 15-20 minute drive away. Even if you don't go into the park, they have a pretty nice shopping area (free parking if you're just shopping). I love the Snoopy store there!

As far as San Diego, yes, there are definitely lots of things to do there, and it's a beautiful place (most of it anyway!). I suppose it all depends on what you want to get out of your vacation. If you want to go shopping and you have the time, check out Horton Plaza. There's also a pretty good mall in La Jolla too.

As far as the drive, it's about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, depending on traffic, between DL and the San Diego area.

 

[JimC]

Disneyland can easily be covered in a leisurely pace in three to four days. Spend the rest at San Diego. Try Wild Animal Park, Zoo, and Balboa Park to easily consume the rest.

 

[Dana_Buckley]

I live in SD and go to DL for daytrips about once a month. In the off-season, during the week, the park doesn't open until 10am, which is actually nice, so I don't have get up and leave super early to get there at opening. I leave around 3pm with my 2 yr old, but I think DL is open until 7pm.

From downtown, airport or mission bay area it will be at least 2 hrs drive. It is very easy though, you just take the 5 hwy all the way there. You can even take the carpool lane for about half of it. There is a Disneyland exit right from the carpool lane, it is very nice!

Also, Legoland and SeaWorld do special things for halloween, though I haven't been to either. Legoland does 'brick r treating' and the kids get special lego bricks and SeaWorld has something like, frights from the deep with spooky characters wandering around the park or something.

I hope everyone has a great vacation out here in sunny california!

 

[Sherlee]

Thanks again everyone!

Dana_Buckley - Can you recommend a couple of family friendly beaches in San Diego? Thank You!

 

[Michele]

We will be splitting our week in March between San Diego and LA. In San Diego we will be staying at Capri by the Sea Condominiums. We have stayed there before and it was really nice. It is right on the beach. Here is their wed page...http://www.capribythesea.com/cbshome.html


It is a little north of Mission Bay and Sea World area. About halfway between Mission Bay and La Jolla.

 

[lexis53]

I was thinking about this too. They have that special ticket deal. 3 days at Disney, 1 at the Zoo, 1 at Seaworld, 1 at Knott's Theme Park. 166 for adults and 127 for kids seems like a pretty good deal to me.

 

[Tink33]

There is some information on the beaches in this linkSan Diego

 

[c&m]

We were in SD last Sept. with our 2 DDs (ages 3 and 7). They REALLY enjoyed the beach on Coronado, next to the Hotel Del Coronado. We had lunch at the beautiful Hotel Del, and then spent all afternoon on the beach. And to this day, our DDs still talk about the great time we had there.

Have a great time in SD!!! Wish I was going!!!