Southern Cali Adventure!

[Panda82]

I am in the preliminary stages of planning a trip to Disneyland in October. We will most likely go for about a week to southern California. I was thinking of spending Saturday thru monday in San Diego to see the zoo and pandas then Tuesday thru Friday in Disneyland then head up to long beach to go to the aquarium of the pacific! It's just 2 of us and a lil bit of driving is ok, I haven't quite figured out how far away everything will be but I think it's manageable. So does this seem like a good plan? Not sure about hotels in San Diego or long beach but I plan on staying at the grand Californian while we are in DL...any advice or suggestions is much appreciated!!!
Thanks!

 

[Leash]

It sounds like a great trip! That's a good order for things in terms of driving, you won't have to go up and down the state. You'll have a couple of hours between San Diego and Disneyland but only like an hour to Long Beach.
San Diego
I like to stay at Old Town Inn in San Diego but it's not fancy, clean and cheap and basic (but fresh waffles for breakfast for free).
The Zoo was great and hubby and I had a lot of fun. Also Balboa Park, Old Town, Coronado Island, Sea Port Village and Gaslamp District. The Old Town Trolley Tour http://www.trolleytours.com/san-diego/ was a really good way to get around town and see a lot of stuff without having to drive.
Long Beach
We went to the Aquarium of the Pacific once and it was really fun but we didn't stay there. My friend did just spend her anniversary in the Queen Mary in Long Beach and she said it was nice and cool to sleep on a boat.

 

[Shananana]

It sounds like a great trip! That's a good order for things in terms of driving, you won't have to go up and down the state. You'll have a couple of hours between San Diego and Disneyland but only like an hour to Long Beach.
San Diego
I like to stay at Old Town Inn in San Diego but it's not fancy, clean and cheap and basic (but fresh waffles for breakfast for free).
The Zoo was great and hubby and I had a lot of fun. Also Balboa Park, Old Town, Coronado Island, Sea Port Village and Gaslamp District. The Old Town Trolley Tour http://www.trolleytours.com/san-diego/ was a really good way to get around town and see a lot of stuff without having to drive.
Long Beach
We went to the Aquarium of the Pacific once and it was really fun but we didn't stay there. My friend did just spend her anniversary in the Queen Mary in Long Beach and she said it was nice and cool to sleep on a boat.

I agree with most of this. However, if you'd also like to see the San Diego Wild Animal Park (I think it's call the Safari Zoo or something now,) you would also have to drive a bit. It's like 45 minutes from the San Diego Zoo. If you are just going to the zoo, I would recommend staying downtown.