Taking kids to S.F. Bay area this summer

[By-Tor and Snow Pup]

We loved our trip to Disneyland last October. We are going to San Francisco in August. My children are 6 & 8 years old. Do children in this age group enjoy the Walt Disney Museum?
Also, should we go to Gilroy Gardens or Discovery Kingdom?

 

[DTDkettleCORNfan]

We have never done Discovery Kingdom, so I can't compare the two. But if you are only going to make one of the two, my vote is for Gilroy Gardens. Your kids will outgrow that much sooner then Discovery Kingdom. We went a few years ago, and my kids really liked it. My kids are now 7 & 9, and I think they would have a great time there if we went again. Check the height requirements, as there were some rides my youngest was to small for last time. But it is a beautiful park. The grounds are just lovely. Go during the week if you can. We went on a weekday and the crowds were low. Good luck planning!

 

[disneycruising]

I personally think your children might be to young for the Walt Musuem. My youngest was 10 when we took her and it was to much for her. It didn't help that she is dyslexic & there was a ton of things to read. It took us about 2 hours to go thru the museum.

We have not done Gilroy gardens. My kids are older 17,15,13 & 11

We do like Discovery Kingdom. We live about 45 minutes away. In the past we have had annual passes. This year we bought WDW annual passes instead.

We also have a Great America (with a water park) in Santa Clara.

 

[lcasa]

The Exploratoreum is good for kids those ages.
I agree in general about the WDFM - I love it, but it's not really for kids. Maybe if you're willing to spend that much for just an hour or 2 - for an adult fan you'll need more like 6 hours. They could get a feeling for who Walt was and how animation is done though.

 

[Zarabear]

Discovery Kingdom has quite a few great animal shows, as well as an entire kids play area for younger kids. (not old enough for all the roller coasters ) In the summertime, Tava's jungle area lets them play and get wet and is really fantastic.

My son has been in love with Shouka the killer whale since he was very little. He's 8 now, and I think there are some days that he'd take Shouka over Disney!

That being said, we haven't been to Gilroy Gardens, but we travel down to that area in the fall when we participate in a big Rennaissance Faire in Gilroy. It's waaay hotter than Vallejo and pretty far driving wise. I think Vallejo/Discovery Kingdom is closer.

~Zara

A quick Google maps check tells me:

SF to Gilroy Gardens
1 hour 34 mins
2 hours 0 mins in traffic
US-101 S
80.5 mi

SF to Discovery Kingdom
45 mins
1 hour 20 mins in traffic
I-80 E
34.8 mi
(If that factors in at all)

 

[LavenderPeach]

The Exploratoreum is good for kids those ages.

That's what I was going to suggest too.

 

[joeysmommy]

My kids love the Exploratorium..you could easily spend all day there.
I also love being a tourist in my own City, this holiday we did the cable car tour of holiday lights..would be great all year long too.

On Groupon there was a Chinatown "Ghost Tour" that looked fun. Might be scary for the 8 year old?

Six Flags is fun, although my 7 year old can't ride the big roller coasters yet so we opted for not renewing our annual pass.

Gilroy Gardens might be a nice novelty with the agricultural theme.