Universal is geared more towards teens and Legoland is more for the younger crowd (5-8 or 9). I'd go with Knott's or maybe the San Diego Zoo if that is of interest.
Beach would be nice if OP can work it into their schedule, however I would not recommend Venice Beach. It is not close to Anaheim (or Oxnard), not sure when Vaga last visited but these days it is full of drug paraphernia shops and medical MJ doctors, etc. Not a good idea with children.

Thanks everyone for all the tips and suggestions! You guys rock!
The most difficult thing now will be to get through another 8 months of daily grind and then to hope everything comes together.

Hello AlexCatus,

So pleased to hear you're bringing your family to the US. We just had a great trip to SA last year. You have a beautiful country. Lovely people too. What city/town are you from?

Some thoughts to share with you.
- San Diego looks/feels a lot like Cape Town. So just keep that in mind. Seaworld makes a a very fun day but don't spend time travelling to SD just for that. Wild Animal Park is a great attraction but hey, you LIVE in South Africa! Best beaches are La Jolla Shores, Mission Beach and WindanSea. Don't bother with a trip across the border; this is not the pretty part of Mexico. Balboa Park has some cool stuff.

Grand Canyon is a wow. Death Valley will be hotter than all get-out but can be beautiful and interesting to some people. (It's a lot like the Karoo). I like the stars at night in the desert. Salton Sea is unique but creepy to me; dead fish, abandoned towns.

Washington DC is an incredible choice, especially for a family. Smithsonian museums are free. Air and Space is fantastic, so is natural history. The Holocaust Museum is very moving but it may be too much for your children. Walk around the monuments at night. Another consideration is spending the Fourth of July in Washington DC (sit on the grass by the reflecting pool, listen to the Pops band from the Lincoln memorial steps and watch the fireworks). You don't need a car if you stay in the city. Metro or Uber readily accessible. (Uber's also available in NYC and SF and is usually cheaper than taxis by the way).

Consider Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Three hours from San Francisco. It's incredibly beautiful (I think prettier than Yosemite). Stay on the West or North shores - Brockway, Kings Beach, Agate Bay, Tahoe City, Sunnyside, Homewood. Great hiking, biking, boating, swimming, jet skiing and camping. Another 4th July idea: incredible fireworks go off right in front of the restaurant Gar Woods; make dinner reservations in advance. Btw the Reno airport is close; maybe fly in from Vegas? Southwest Airlines has good prices.

Vegas is more of an adults place versus kids, but there are some things for them to do. Take a look at FLY AWAY. Tons of fun. Go in the morning (before the engine gets really hot). See the dancing fountains of Bellagio. See the Hoover Dam. And the Grand Canyon is really a wow.

New York: do a Broadway show. Wicked great for kids. Museum of Natural History. Top of Empire State Building. Ground Zero. MOMA. Guggenheim. Central Park. Try the Hudson Hotel in the mid town. Sometimes they have specials.

Oxnard is not close to LA. Its two to three hour drive. But there are good beaches in the area. And you could consider a day trip to the Channel Islands. It's also about a six hour trip on beautiful Highway One to Big Sur. Rugged California coastline. Stay at Treebones or Fernwood. Great hikes all over the place. Then drive on to Monterey Bay. Go to the Aquarium. Carmel by the Sea is pretty too. Spend a day or two seeing the redwoods in Big Basin park in the Santa Cruz mountains.

San Francisco: Take the ferry to Alcatraz. Walk across the Golden Gate bridge. Hike in the Presidio down to Lands End. Rent car, drive across Golden Gate to Muir Woods (another place to see the giant redwoods), Stinson Beach, Bolinas or Tomales Bay (eat at Nick's or Marshalls General Store). Hike Mt Tamalpais. Dim sum in China Town. Go to the top of Coit Tower (walk up the 100 stairs on Telegraphy Hill to get there). Watch a baseball game from the "view" seats at AT&T Park. Go to the Filmore Jazz Festival. If you want to go further to see the biggest redwoods, drive up to Avenue of the Giants towards the Calif/Oregon border. Take the Hyde Street cable car and go past Lombard, the crookedest street. Go to Golden Gate Park to see museums, picnic, etc. (go on a Sunday when the roads are closed; rent bikes in the Haight).

Websites to know: yelp.com, tripadvisor.com, uber.com, southwest.com
Have fun!!

Sass

One other thought. Take a whitewater rafting tour on the American River. From Kings Canyon or outside Sacramento.

And can you change Oxnard? Nice beaches but kind of boring otherwise....

Sass' post is a bit confusing. . . The American River is hundreds of miles from Kings Canyon. It is east of Sacramento -- in fact the main river runs right through the middle of town. The white water bits are farther east in the foothills/mountains, though there is more gentle but still fun rafting right in Sacramento . . . bit again nowhere near Kings Canyon.

Sass: They can't really change Oxnard -- it is a time share trade.

I would considering going to Disneyland on your last day in Escondido and staying overnight in Anaheim. The drive to Las Vegas would be cut down by a couple of hours and you could stay late at Disneyland and maximize your visit

I like ltr's suggestion. Makes a lot of sense.

Sell the timeshare and dump Oxnard.

Thanks Sasstraveler, glad you enjoyed South Africa. We're from the coastal city of Durban - which is not on most visitors itinerary unfortunately, but generally a great place to live in. Beaches, mountains and wildlife all in striking distance.

Thanks for the itinerary suggestions - we're pretty locked into our current itinerary, so Lake Tahoe is unfortunately not really an option this time around. Grand Canyon is a maybe. 4th of July will be in SF and apparently they have some great shows and ambience there as well? Alcatraz sounds amazing although not sure if the kids will enjoy it as much as me - planning to do the night trip.

Fortunately we have a whole week in NY, which is great. And unfortunately, we're using timeshare where possible to help reduce accommodation costs and allow more for entertainment etc - the SA Rand is a useless currency for traveling to the USA! So in or near LA, Oxnard was the best our timeshare company could offer near LA (sad!), and it'll have to do for a few nights. We'll spend a night or 2 in Anaheim as well to be close to Disneyland.

Bear900 - timeshare is great value in SA for vacations, perhaps not the best for overseas exchanges especially in bigger cities like in the US. But as far as using the points for 'free' accommodation in NY its worked out quite well. Oxnard - well - we do enjoy the beach!

Thanks also Ltr & Janis, that idea does make a lot of sense.

Regarding Alcatraz, I think your kids would enjoy it. There is an audio tour my kids thought was great. It gave them a taste of what life was like in the prison life and talked about famous prisoners. They are adults now, but when we talk about vacations and San Francisco, they mention Alcatraz as one of the memories.

For Alcatraz . . . be sure to book well ahead. It sells out nearly year round but you'll be there at the busiest time of year. Even 4 months ahead might be too late.

And a warning. Don't expect warm and balmy evenings in SF. Middle of Summer is the foggiest time of year in the city and it can be quite cold. (long technical explanation isn't necessary, but basically the hotter it is inland - and over 100F/38C is very common - the cooler and foggier it is on the coast. Could be 105F 45 miles inland and 60F on the Bay)

Just kidding alexcactus and I understand your plan. I was also going to say my best time spent in Oxnard was in Camarillo. ;)

While it's not a typical 'central' pivot point for southern CA you can actually make it work in your favor. You are about an hour (more or less) from the following attractions:

- Six Flags Magic Mountain down the 126 in Santa Clarita
- Beaches in Carpentaria and much more to do in Santa Barbara
- Malibu Beach
- Universal studios. I actually enjoy driving Ventura Blvd just past Woodland Hills right into Universal Studios. It's a good chance to get off the freeway and sometimes find a retro café for breakfast.

Mandalay Beach area and the Channel Islands are nice. Coastal morning overcast in the summer will burn off in the afternoons.

Enjoy! :)

Thanks Janis and Ltr, so Alcatraz is a must, will book as soon as possible (apparently can't book more than 3 months in advance).
Bear900, we will definitely make the most of our beach location - I'm going to have to dust off my surfboard to practise and work on that '1-pack' that's developed around my mid-riff!

Hi all. In San Francisco I am reconsidering my previous SF booking at the Travelodge Presidio, and have been looking at similarly - priced offers (+- $200-$220 p night) at Cow Hollow Inn (2190 Lombard Street), Coventry Motor Inn (1901 Lombard St), Hotel Kabuki (Japantown) and Marriott Marquis (780 Mission Street). I'm leaning towards the Marriott purely because its a well-known brand.

We decided against renting a car in SF, and will collect one on our last day in SF.

Any suggestions from the SF specialists? Thanks!

Both the Cow Hollow and Coventry are very good (and very well known/popular). But IMO the main reason to stay there would be for the parking.

W/o a car I'd stay at the Marriott. Right off of Market Street w/ all the transport options, near the Powell Street cable car turntable and across from San Francisco Center, and even walkable to Union Square and the Ferry Bldg.

thanks JanisJ. I really appreciate your reply.

alexcactus, you have gotten lots of advice and real details.
U. S. is a big country if you go from one coast to the other. We've traveled alot, once living in Midwest, now in Boston.

Regarding SA when there a few years ago we started in Jo'burg going to Apartheid Museum, Soweto (incl. Mandella house), over to Kruger safari, Blyde R. canyon, Pilgrims Rest, wonderful Maropeng cave & museum, later to Cape Town and wonderful Kirstenbosh Gardens, finally a week rental at Castle on the Cliff at Plettenberg Bay, and from there going to Tsitsikammon Natl Pk, whale watch from Bitou, hiking Robben Pk, also Knysna Elephant Pk.

I can see you are getting lots of advice and enjoy tinkering with plans...I do think travel incl. fun of planning. My comments are that you will indeed need to cater to your kids and so this might mean some places not yet considered in NYC and certainly Disneyland. But cable cars in SF and Grand Canyon will be pluses. And likely they will have their own ideas when you are here. Good luck.

Ozarksbill, you seem to have really made the best of your stay in SA, quite a few things on that list i haven't got around to doing yet - Wow!

Yes I think lots of the fun is in the planning. For me, the USA has been a long-time travel dream, so I'm trying to do this one properly! Now that I myself have enough info to go on, am I starting to involve them in planning the finer details of the trip. And who knows, one day I may yet live out the dream of a year in an RV travelling across the 50 states!

sorry - 'them' being the kids...