i'd stay more nights in san diego. much more enjoyable then l.a. don't you want a day or two to enjoy the beach (rent a boggie board, rollar blade on the boardwalk, etc.)
do you need a separate room for your son at the hotel or are you three sharing a room? that's important for recommendations cause one room or two for $150 mays a lot of difference for suggestions.
"the hollywood thing" is VERY overrated. i found it a waste of a day.

Thanks for the input. We do plan to spend some time at the beach. We would be only getting one hotel room.

We just returned from an 8 day trip to S. California. We flew into LAX and spent the first three nights in Anaheim at the Embassy Suites near Disneyland. The first and second day we visited Disney California Adventure and Disneyland. On the third day, Universal Studios. On the morning of the forth day we drove to Escondido and spent the day at Wild Animal Park and then proceeded to San Diego and Coronado Island for two nights at the Hotel Del Coronado. This was a grand hotel, beautiful beach and nice pool area. Alas, two nights was all we could afford so we moved to the San Diego Marriott Resort and Marina. We got a pre paid rate of $109 per night. From there we visited Sea World, The San Diego Zoo, had a late lunch in Old Town, drove down the coast from La Jolla and on our fifth San Diego Zoo, I took my son surfing at a surf park near Pacific Beach. San Diego is a wonderful city and I could have spent another five days there and had a great time. There was still a lot we didn't get to do.

anyone else have suggestions???

Dawn:

Where did you find 109/night price! Wow!

For LA, we like Best Western's Jamaica Bay Inn in Marina Del Rey, just a few minutes from LAX. It's not on the beach, but it's on the water. Manhattan, Venice and Hermosa Beaches are short drives away. The coffee shop is excellent and the rooms are nice, but it has more of a "motel" than a "resort" feel.
Away from the water, near UCLA campus, we like Holiday Inn Bel Air, they are very convenient to freeway, Hollywood Tours, Universal and Beverly Hills. Great free shuttle to the fabulous Getty Museum which is even walking distance from the hotel. The Westwood/UCLA area nearby is full of restaurants and shoppes, and the ocean(malibu) is just a short drive from the hotel, west on Sunset Boulevard. AAA members can ask for the "AAA Member Savings Special".

For San Diego, we like to stay in Del Mar or La Jolla near the water. Both are basically tourist towns and not too long a drive down to San Diego.