Splitting the week between San Diego and Disneyland

[temple4]

We will be attending a wedding in LA on August 7 of next year. We are going to take the entire next week for vacation. DH will not want to spend the entire week at Disneyland. Any ideas on how we can split the week. We don't mind doing San Diego first. Should we split the hotel stay between one in Anaheim and one in San Diego or just stay in one place and drive to the other city for two days out of the trip? I was thinking to hit Legoland and either the zoo or Sea World (up to DDs age 3, 6, and 11) in addition to Disneyland. We really like Paradise Pier, but are open to other suggestions off site. I also know that some days are more crowded than others at the parks. Any suggestions would be great on making the week enjoyable for everyone including DH. Thanks in advance.

 

[roymccoy]

I think your plan sounds like a good one. San Diego is a "must see" SoCal experience.
Plan on Sea World, San Diego Zoo, Legoland (not in San Diego, but on the way) and the San Diego Wild Animal Park. We really like the Torrey Pines Hilton in La Jolla or the Hilton at Mission Bay. Both have views of the ocean. If you have time, check out downtown San Diego. Lots of art galleries, museums, good restaurants etc. Used to have the WORLD'S BEST restaurant, Lubachs, but it closed sometime in the 90's.

My 1 year old and 4 year old love Sea World and the Zoo!

Look for discounts to these parks at local fast food restaurants or grocery stores. Also, if you have a AAA card, you get a discount, too.

Have a great trip!

Roy

 

[sierranevada]

San Diege is great! I would definitely recommend two hotels, though. The drive from Anaheim/LA to San Diego can be a traffic nightmare!. My 7 yr old loved Legoland - be sure to bring your AAA card because you do get a discount. We were in San Diego for a week and did Legoland, Wild Animal Park & the Zoo and skipped Sea World - we really wanted to go but have been told that it is very difficult to do in one day - most people recommend two days. You might want to keep that in mind when planning your itinary. I highly recommend the tour at Wild Animal Park. It is very spread out and the tour is the easiest way to see everything. Then you can decide what areas you want to go back to.

San Deigo Zoo is one of my all time favorites. You may even get to see the new panda cub that was recently born!

We stayed at Vagabond Inn at Hotel Circle. We got a great rate but I wouldn't recommend it - rather run down! Next time, we would probably go either to La Jolla or Mission Bay so roymccoy's suggestion sound good.

Enjoy!

 

[jencav5]

If you are only planning on doing 2 days in San Diego, then I would stay put in one place in Anaheim. That is what we usually do. Legoland is a very easy drive from Anaheim. It is only 1 hour and it is straight down highway 5. Sea World and the Zoo are also down 5, but they take about 1 1/2 hours. I would suggest the Wild Animal Park over the Zoo, though. We enjoy it more than the Zoo. It is a different drive, but still takes about an 1 1/2 from Anaheim. Sea World is also great! If you plan in advance, you can sign up to swim with the dolphins when you're there. It's very cool! Paradise Pier sounds like a perfect place to stay. We usually stay offsite, but that is because I like to use Priceline to save on cost. Happy Planning!

 

[jencav5]

I just wanted to add that the traffic from Anaheim to San Diego has never been a problem for us. We have traveled that area just about every summer for the past few years and it always takes an hour to get to Legoland, etc. If there is traffic, we are able to use the commuter lanes and it doesn't last the whole way. Now if you want to go to LA from Anaheim, that is a different story! It is much more congested! This is my experience anyway! Good luck!

 

[Elly]

We always get two separate hotels when we combine San Diego and Anaheim. Sea World will take a (long) day in itself so it is better not to have to combine it with anything else. The San Diego Zoo is also quite large, and if you don't take the whole day to see it you can easily spend the rest of the day (or additional days) exploring all the museums etc. in Balboa Park. We usually do the Wild Animal Park on the day we drive either to or from Anaheim since it, combined with the drive, takes a day. I have found hotel prices in San Diego to be quite high, so you might consider using Hotwire or Priceline to see if you can get a better deal that way.

 

[Twigs]

As stated I would get 2 hotels. We were there this past summer. DS's age 11 loved Legoland, I'm glad we were able to go because I know they would not be that into it in a year or two. Seaworld is great and I do feel you can do most if not all of it in a day, depending on how much time you spend in each area and which shows you choose to see. The zoo and wildlife park were great too.

 

[sters]

OMG! This board is great. I'm planning a tirp next year and wanted also to split time between DL and San Diego. Thanks for the suggestions. I thought my son at age 9 might be too old for Legoland.

Our trip will either be in July or November. Are crowds in July REALLY oppressive? Just wondering as I hate crowds.

 

[ScottJoy]

What hotels in San Diego would you recommend for a family with four children?

 

[MateasMom]

If you're on a budget, definatly check out Biddingfortravel.com. It's a message board for Price Line users. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla this past summer (with our 2 and 4YO girls) for $50 a night!! I couldn't find prices that good on 2* hotels let alone 4* so I was very pleased when I found bidding for travel -- Anyways, it was a nice locations. Right next to the freeway, near lots of shopping and restraunts (there's a restraunt, Sophia, just outside the restraunt that we LOVED!).

 

[mobetsy]

On Legoland for a 9 y.o., no problem at all! I have 9 and 5 y.o. ds's, and we've had annual passes for a couple of years now; both boys still love it. Be sure to find the places where kids get to build with Legos, as that's especially popular with a lot of the slightly older ones. Also, if you aren't Lego club members (check the website...I think you can join for free), it might be worth signing up, as they sometimes have discounts that are better than AAA.

I'd do two hotels for Anaheim and San Diego. I've driven that route a lot, and it can be an absolute nightmare. I will admit to being surprised by the person who said they'd not had problems in the summer, because the beach traffic most of the way can be horrendous; however, sometimes you do get lucky. The carpool lanes can help, but only to a certain degree. But having to face the possibility of 20 mph bumper to bumper at the end of a long day is a good way to wreck a vacation...

We are big Sea World fans; I think it is very do-able in a day, though perhaps a long day. It is not nearly as big a place as D'land (and Legoland also is much smaller, or at least they both feel that way), so simply the act of getting from one place to another isn't so exhausting. Also, because of the several shows, you spend time sitting and thus having enforced rest breaks. San Diego Zoo is fun but weigh the cost against your children's interest in zoos; mine do well for a few hours and then want to go. Wild Animal Park can be very hot (though dry) in summer, and is inland and north a bit from SD, so you'd be adding more driving time. Lots to do and see in SD; don't try to cover it all, but pick a few places and enjoy them!

 

[adrien32]

I plan to go to La Jolla in February and fly into the San Diego airport. What airport is closest to Anaheim? LAX? Is there a place to turn in a rental car at Disneyland, or do I have to go to the airport?

 

[mobetsy]

John Wayne/Orange County airport is your best bet. It's a nice airport, easy to navigate, good signs, and plenty of space, bathrooms, etc.

I don't know about the rental return.

 

[robsmom]

I think that you can do Sea World in one day, just don't expect to see 100% of everything and plan to be there until the end. I am a big sea world fan because I have loved Shamu since I was a child, but I found the California Sea World to be the most disfunctional park I have been to. I think that my husband has banned us for life because he believes that it is intentional to force people to take 2 days, when in reality the number of attractions is easily done in a day if they would let you. Unfortunately, they schedule shows in such a way that it is difficult / impossible to do it all. We arrived at opening (10?) only to find that no shows started before noon. We spent an hour in line for Artic Freeze (a ride/attraction) since it was the only major item open. Later in the day, there was zero wait for this ride and the guard told us that was normal, it was always mobbed early because there was nothing else to do!! The shows are overlapped in such a way that they don't logically flow from one to the othervery well. We did all major shows but had to skip alot of the little ones.