San Diego to Anaheim/Hollywood

[LisaKC]

We get out of school in the middle of May (yay!), so we booked a trip for the 17th-27th.

Our flight are in and out of San Diego, arriving late on the 17th, then departing early on the 27th. So far all we have semi-planned is staying in a hotel near the airport after our arrival and then moving to our base location the next day.

We want to go to LA, specifically to go to Disneyland and Universal. From what I have read about traffic/crowds, I was thinking that we may want to go in the middle of the week for that part of the trip.

Any thoughts? Does the mid-week trip to LA sound feasible? That would keep us away from theme park type activities on the weekends.

Any recommended areas to stay in San Diego, in terms of a central location? We're going to be looking for hotels in the Hilton family to hopefully use points. If we break the trip up, we could stay in two different areas of SD.

My kids will be 12 and 15 and are pretty flexible travelers. Booking travel for Memorial Day weekend was not intentional, so I realize we may need to work around that.

 

[sonnyjane]

Disneyland isn't in "LA" per se, it's in Anaheim. "LA" is farther, and to be honest, in traffic, the drive from Disneyland to LA can be two hours (been there, done that).

For your Disneyland days, I would definitely recommend staying in Anaheim, and moreover would recommend staying within walking distance of the parks.

In San Diego I'm not the best at recommending hotels since I live here and don't need a hotel. What attractions do you want to see while in San Diego? For people doing "the usuals" like Sea World, the zoo, downtown, I'd recommend a hotel near Hotel Circle, Mission Beach, or downtown.

 

[sheetz]

As an addendum to what Sonnyjane said, since the drive from Anaheim to LA can be quite arduous due to traffic many people recommend staying in an LA area hotel during that portion of the trip if you plan on visiting some of the other area attractions beyond Universal.

 

[LisaKC]

I realize Anaheim is not "in" LA, I'm just categorizing it in that area for the purposes of this trip.

The drive doesn't bother us. We're planning on trying to figure out the optimal time/route to travel from location to location.

Thanks for the hotel tips. Not sure if we're planning on doing Sea World, although the Zoo and/or Wild Animal Park are places we're considering.

Since we may drive to Disney/Universal (which I realize are not near each other) we could stay at two different areas in San Diego.

 

[sonnyjane]

Sea World and the zoo are close to each other. If you go to the Safari Park, that's about 45 minutes north of the rest of the other San Diego attractions, so you might want to do it on a transition day (either on your way to Anaheim/LA or on your way to San Diego from there).

 

[LisaKC]

So.....

If we do the midweek trip north, here is a theoretical plan:
Drive to Hollywood area, spend the night, arrive at Universal at opening.
Drive to Anaheim in the evening, DLR the next 2 or 3 days, then an evening drive back to San Diego.

We might also be interested in beaches/beach communities to stop or stay at between SD and our destinations to the north .

 

[CaptainEIEIO]

If you are going to do the Sea World, Universal Studios, and DL/CA then you should check into the Southern California City Pass. Its a great deal and you get all 3 parks for one price. It gets you 1 day at Sea World, 1 day at Universal Studios, and 3 days with park hopper to Disneyland/California adventure. They even have a add on option with the San Diego Zoo. You get the option there of doing to zoo or the wildlife park, but not both, you have to choose one or the other. That will cost you a little more, but its still a great deal. We have used it 3 times now when we fly in.

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

 

[mukwa5]

I don't see where it talks about the option. Is there a package or just Disneyland legoland and zoo?

 

[danaesacto]

I don't see where it talks about the option. Is there a package or just Disneyland legoland and zoo?

Not sure exactly what you are referring to- the option for the SD Zoo is in the middle of the page- it says "Add Zoo"....

 

[LisaKC]

We have already considered the pass, but going to SW isn't super high on the priority list in terms of time. Wish that there was a choice of the zoo or the animal park on the base ticket instead. We may end up getting it anyway because it discounts the animal park quite a bit.

As far as the zoo or the animal park, if you had to choose one, which would you choose? Having not yet researched much, I think the animal park sounds interesting.

 

[sonnyjane]

As far as the zoo or the animal park, if you had to choose one, which would you choose? Having not yet researched much, I think the animal park sounds interesting.

They are both great, but very different. The Safari Park focuses on Asian and African animals in an open setting. You take a tram ride through the park and can see them roaming. There are also walking trails.

The zoo is huge and has animals from all over the world, and includes many, many animals that the Park doesn't have, for example the polar bears, grizzlies, pandas, koalas (and on and on). There are many more animals and a far great variety of animals at the zoo.

If you only have one day, I usually recommend the zoo. If you have more than one day, both are great to see.

 

[CaptainEIEIO]

We have already considered the pass, but going to SW isn't super high on the priority list in terms of time. Wish that there was a choice of the zoo or the animal park on the base ticket instead. We may end up getting it anyway because it discounts the animal park quite a bit.

As far as the zoo or the animal park, if you had to choose one, which would you choose? Having not yet researched much, I think the animal park sounds interesting.

We have done City Pass 3 times. First time we did the zoo, second time we did the animal park, third time we did zoo. We would do zoo from now on as there is more to see and we liked it over the safari park.

 

[danaesacto]

On the whole zoo vs safari park- we have done both. The Zoo is a world renowned zoo, it has Pandas, it has animals you may have never seen before- depending on the zoos you have been to. The safari park shows the animals in a more natural setting. My girls were amazed by what they saw- but because the animals have so far to roam and places to get away from the visitors, what you see can depend on time of day, time of year, weather etc. The coolest thing is if the lion is choosing to take his nap up close, but if he is out under a tree or behind a rock you may not see him. If you have never been to a safari park - you really should go at least once- but get there early, bring binoculars and keep trying- go back to visit areas where you didn't get a good glimpse of the animals. Part of it is a tram ride, part of it is walking around. It looks like now they have a new ropes course- my girls would love something like that, and yours are old enough to enjoy it too. I guess it all really depends on what you have in your area, or what you have seen before- both parks are great. If you do the zoo- take the tram to the back of the park and work your way to the front (downhill).

Check the May 2012 calendar for Disneyland- look to see if fireworks and Fantasmic only were on weekends or all week. You may wish you had a Saturday or Sunday- yes more crowds but longer hours and if your kids can handle opening, closing and going a 14-16 hour day that might give you a chance to see and do more. Remember to factor in the hours drive between Universal and DL- going mid week puts you at commute time (so figure 2 hrs) to make it to opening at Universal if you are staying in Anaheim. You might consider driving to Universal area after arrival- yes a long drive- but then working your way back to SD, with your stop in Anaheim- you just keep going south instead of zigzagging.

 

[Fiveisaparty]

Just wanted to add you can get the city pass fr Costco 289

 

[driggs12]

Just wanted to add you can get the city pass fr Costco 289

Which Costco did you see this pricing at?

 

[Fiveisaparty]

Ugh it's only for Canadians! Sorry I didn't realize that when I posted it. It's on Costco.ca

 

[GenGen22]

Costco.com has. 3 for 1 pass for 112.99 for ages 10+. Its for Sea World, the Zoo & wild animal park.

http://m.costco.com/theme-parks.html