rizzo0904

I've started working on my trip details again and need some advice. Traveling in May with 2 boys, ages 2 and 3. We have 8 days, but two are spent traveling across the country so it's really just 6 days to work with.

All I know so far is that we are getting in to LAX around lunch time and heading to HoJo Anaheim. The jet lag will probably make for cranky kids, so the plan is to just hang at the pool area and if they happen to sleep a lot on the flight, maybe hang out at Downtown Disney. If we never get to DD, that's okay too.

Day 2: Disneyland, stay at HoJo again.

Day 3: character breakfast, then head south. Drive through Newport and Laguna beaches. Stop at San Juan Capistrano. Get to hotel in Carlsbad.

Day 4: Legoland, stay in Carlsbad.

Day 5: Drive south, go to Seaworld. Stay at Best Western Plus in Pacific Beach.

Day 6: Balboa Park and the zoo.

Day 7: head back north, stopping in La Jolla to visit the children's beach area and the seals. We'll take our time, maybe play at the beach before leaving the hotel. Spend the night near LAX somewhere.

Day 8: fly home.

Is it too much? Am I missing something?

PaulRabe

Depending on how well you've factored in how "cranky" (excellent word choice, BTW) your kids will be, your itinerary should work just fine. Since the size of this factor is difficult for you, and impossible for us, to determine; I'll trust your judgement. Your choices of Disneyland, beaches, Legoland, SeaWorld, and Balboa Park are excellent.

The only warning I'll make is to be prepared for traffic jams when going between SD and Orange County. I don't know how well you will handle two toddlers when you're stuck in traffic for three hours, but you'll need to plan for that possibility.

sf7307

IMHO, 2 is too young for Disneyland; 4 is the perfect age for a first visit. So, if it were up to me (which it isn't), I'd skip Disneyland.

sk8jade98

Wow, you are very ambitious! I agree that Disneyland is underappreciated by a two year old but I think you'll be ok; it is at least on of the places that are very accomodating to families with little ones. LEgoland is HIGHLY over rated! My personal opinion is to skip it all together; it is more geared to 7-10 age range and way too expensive for what you get. If you wanted to plug in an alternative, I would recommend Knotts Berry Farm. They have a little for everyone, not as crowded or expensive. You can actually get some great family packages at their Knotts hotel and the "mom and pop" restaurant they have is fabulous (you must have the fried chicken). Balboa Park is great for adults and even older kids but 2&4 year olds are going to be the slightest entertained and more importantly, there is no way that you can do Balboa Park and the Zoo on the same day; you would have to pick, trust me. If it were me, I would forego both Balboa Park and the Zoo and take the kids to the Wild Animal Park instead. It is much more fun, much more interactive and it goes at a pace that kids their age can get excited about...at the ZOO, it seems like all you do is walk and hike and walk and hike some more, oh and there some animals, ok time to walk and hike some more! Dont get me wrong, I love our zoo but its a bit much for me, my kids can do it.

I would definitely leave yourself a day where you didnt "have to" do anything. Its going to be long trip with all that you're doing and with 2 little ones; you and your husband are going to need a vacation from your vacation. With beaches like ours, you can spend the whole day out there, taking in the sun, reading a book, building sand castles and I guarantee it will be more fun and more enjoyable than any of the amusement/theme parks you'll go to!

Have a great trip!

daisee

Live in S.D go to Dland almost every month with my kids..
You will be tired going West. HJ has a fun pool-enjoy! (any way you can change your flights to Orange County?so much closer)-
Disneyland will be great-remember to use fast pass-every 2 hrs get a new one

Take Coast hwy from Newport down to Dana Point, then back on the 5. Capistrano does not have much for young kids-the mission will bore them, I'd skip it and go to the beach in Carlsbad (nice children's museum in town too). If it's not a weekend, this should take 3 hrs max from Anaheim. Maybe go to the pier in Oceanside and out to Ruby's at the end for an early dinner?

Legoland is really cute and fun, but 2 yr old can not do 1/2 the rides, but fun play areas. It closes early in May-around 6,-you could get to PB in 30 minutes 45 w/ traffic.

Sea World is a good choice.

Go to the Zoo early, when the animals are at their most active. THey should last about 4 hours max at the zoo. Balboa Park has nothing for kids-only museums and architechure-you could skip it. Science museum is nice, but they will probably be pooped and want to go to the beach (although they don't call it May Grey for nothing-so maybe cold). Then you could easily head to La JOlla for the afternoon and see the seals at Children's pool and walk along the seawalk. that is about an hour. there is a lovely walk past La Jolla Cave shop along the coast that is nice and easy also. You can EASILY do all that in one day. PB and La Jolla are 5 minutes apart!

Can you fly home from San Diego?'

If not, skip La Jolla shopping with kids-take them to Seaport Village near downtown, and do the Midway instead. Or-on day 7 go up to KNotts Berry Farm (way more fun than La Jolla!)and spend the night there-much closer to LAX!!

rizzo0904

Thanks for the advice!!

I know the 2 year old is too young for most places. He does love "show" type events and does better at them than his older brother so I think he'll really enjoy Seaworld.

Older brother is a thrill seeker and VERY tall for his age so he can get on all the good stuff as Disney like Space Mountain and Splash Mountain. The only reason we are doing one day at Disneyland is to say we've been. We'll be going to Disneyworld about 2 year later when they are 4 and 5. Then we are done with Disney...LOL.

I'll skip Capistrano.

I think we'll do the zoo instead of the wild animal park since that seems to get really pricey when you add in better safaris. Plus, I'm afraid they won't want to sit still on the tram. I'm sure we won't get through most of the zoo, but they can run around and go nuts. My boys have insanely high energy levels.

We'll skip Balboa Park.

Knott's appears to be very similar to some of our parks here in the White Mountains...in fact the rides are exactly the same. We are going up to the mountains in June, so I think I'll skip that.

Hoping to catch a farmer's market while we are there....

And we'll definitely hit up La Jolla and the seawalk.

nanabee

In La Jolla - you mentioned seeing the seals at the Childrens Pool. I wouldn't go down onto the sand though as it is upsetting to the seal colony plus the water is polluted from the seal poop. It is also frowned upon by the locals.

I would instead go to the La Jolla Cove about a mile north of the Children's Pool. It is much nicer for young children to play in the sand, the waves, has tide pools for exploring, and has life guards. The Cove also has sea lions which are equally fun to watch.

rizzo0904

nanabee - thanks for that info! we will definitely go to the cove and then maybe just a quick stop and look at the seals.

MonicaRichards

rizzo, I actually really like San Juan Capistrano and Balboa Park with little kids. Sure, they'll just run around the mission and the grass, but those are really pretty places where you can just stop a minute and breathe. Balboa Park also has a little train and an old carousel for the little ones.

MomDDTravel

What is the plan to do in San Juan?

If you are going to the zoo- you might as walk take a walk through Balboa Park and the old carousel is wonderful and your children are great ages for it. For that age I would 100% skip Wild Animal Park.

I did not even think you COULD go onto the beach area any longer at the Children's Pool? Can you walk out on the seawalk still? I would do that and as Nanabee suggested walk over to the cove and go down there.

I would 100% skip Knotts - I hated taking my kids there.

Seaworld is great for that age ...enjoy.

What did you decide to do about LegoLand? I would skip it at that age. \

I drove from Orange County to SD often - watch the times - the traffic is pretty bad during rush hours.

If they will sit - the double decker bus is great at the zoo - sit on the top and you get a great tour of the zoo and well worth it. The petting zoo is nice too.

I have no idea how tall your 4 year old is but many of the rides at DL require 40 or 46 inches. If you can get there first thing - it is less crowded - have fun at the character breakfast - which one are you going to? Not sure if your 4 year old would enjoy it but my girls liked to get autograph books and you can take photos and put them in the books as a memory.

sheri_lp

I would skip Seaworld and just to the beach - you need a break from all the crowds!

rizzo0904

My 3 year old is at least 42 inches tall...he's off the charts big. So there are only a few rides he can't get on...Indiana Jones for example. And he LOVES thrill rides so he'll really enjoy Space Mountain and Splash Mountain.

Will do the zoo.

Will do Seaworld.

Still debating on Legoland...Maybe we do the Orlando one instead when they are 4 and 5?? So if I don't do Legoland, maybe we skip staying in Carlsbad and just do extra time in San Diego??? Or keep Carlsbad for the beach stay and just relax for a day or two???

Character Breakfast - we are doing Surf's Up since that's the only one with Mickey and Mickey is who they want to see. I figure the food must all be basically the same.

rizzo0904

Oh, I was thinking about changing our San Diego hotel to the Marriott Residence Inn up near Seaworld. Same price, free parking, better setup with the kids, free breakfast, and social hour....just some nice pluses when traveling with kiddos.

MomDDTravel

Rizzo - what Residence Inn is that? There are a number in San Diego - We do/did like to stay at Residence Inns when traveling with our children as well - the breakfast is nice and the extra space is as well as generally the free parking.

The food is all about the same - not great and over priced in general but they do a good job - no matter what the time of the year make reservations well in advance.

I had no idea there was a lego land in Orlando ( we were just there) in general - I would pass on lego land for a variety of reasons.

Just know that May - might not be "beach" weather in San Diego at all. It is hit or miss - and can be very cool.

I would stay in San Diego - there is no reason to stay in Carlsbad really.

My children always really loved seaworld esp. at those ages. There is a huge play area they can burn off a lot of energy as well.

The crowds really should not be too bad in May. California schools do not get out until mid/end of June and even schools in other states get out at the end of May in general (through high school) so crowds really should not be too bad. The zoo can have schooling events that can make it crowded but nothing too bad -

Seaport Village is a nice place to walk around with children for something to do for a little while if you are downtown by the harbor (after the zoo or something) I do not think the MIdway is conducive at all to small children so would pass on that unless you or your spouse are dying to go.

Your son is tall! I do think the only thing he cannot get on is Indiana Jones. Go for the fast pass on all possible rides, take a look at the map. Are you planning on doing a park hopper pass and going over to California Adventure?

rizzo0904

MomDD - if we are dropping Legoland, we have an extra day, so I'll probably get a multiday pass to Disney. But I'm not sure if I should add the hopper to it or not? With kids that young, will I want to switch parks? I know it's a lot more convenient at DL than at WDW.

It's the Residence Inn on Kearny Mesa. Is that area okay? It seems convenient to the places we want to go.

Midway - have no intention of trying that with my overactive boys...I'd lose them. I've been on carriers before and I don't feel up to that challenge

Beach - they don't care about weather, they want to dig!! And my initial reason for staying at the beach is that I hate sandy messes, but then I remembered it's a rental car!! So I have no issues driving to and from.

Old Town - worth it?

rizzo0904

Oh,and Legoland Florida just opened up in the past couple of years.

spirobulldog

For the record, we took our child twice to Disney before age 4 and several times after that. She enjoyed it and we did to on all occasions. I think it is great to take a 2 year old. Of course, they won't remember it and they can't do everything, but they will enjoy it.

rizzo0904

Here is my revamped plan:

Okay, here are my changes:

Spend an extra night in Anaheim and get a 2 day pass to Disney...we'll do DL one day and DCA the other.

Day 1: arrive and hang by pool, HoJo Anaheim

Day 2: DL

Day 3: DCA

Day 4: character breakfast at Surf's Up and then head south.

Get to Residence Inn on Kearny Mesa

Day 5: Seaworld

Day 6: Zoo

Day 7: drive north, visit La Jolla and the cove, get hotel near LAX and visit friends for dinner

Day 8: head home

Does that look more manageable?

On our drive days, we'll take our time, check out the beaches, maybe a farmer's market, etc.

spirobulldog

What is DCA on day 3?

We really loved the Wild Animal Park. Zoo was great, but we liked the Wild Animal Park more. I think they call it Wild Animal Safari now. In order to get the most out of it, I think you need to do the extra' and they are expensive. We did the safari. Kids would like the Roar and Snore program.
It might be a bit more appropriate for older kids, but I think any age would like it.

They can dig in the beach, but to us, the water is very cold year round in Californina.

rizzo0904

spiro: disney california adventure...dca. as for the water...we are used to NH beaches!