ANAHEIM/SAN DIEGO
Aug 30th, 2001 | 01:49 AM
#1
Guest
Posts: n/a
ANAHEIM/SAN DIEGO
I've been getting such great advice from this forum that I decided to ask for some more help.
We will be going to Anaheim (staying near Disney) in Dec. We will be there for 4 days/4 nights (arrive late PM the first night). We arrive on a Thursday evening and will have Fri,Sat,Sun,Mon to explore Disney and Universal. What days should we do which? We will be getting the 3 day park hopper for Disneyland and Disney California Adventure and 1 day for Universal. We want days with the least crowds of course for our maximum enjoyment! We will have a rental car but will probably use the hotel shuttle to avoid the $7 parking fee. We will drive to Universal though so traffic is a concern as well for that day. Then for San Diego; we will be dropping off some of my family (SNA at noon on Tues) then were thinking about heading for the Wild Animal Park for a half day visit (after 4pm tickets are discounted plus they have the Festival of Lights). We ahve Wed and Thurs in San Diego and want to do alot but unfortunately don't have time for it all! We will be staying in Old Town and will probably do Sea World (full day) on Wed. and the Zoo (closes at 4) on Thursday and also want to take a harbor cruise and trolley tour but don't know how to fit it all in! We will be leaving San Diego for SNA early Fri AM (flight leaves at 7:45AM! UGH!) and hope that our early departure will help us avoid traffic. Had some helpful posts before... tell me what you think of our plans, please. Any comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated!
We will be going to Anaheim (staying near Disney) in Dec. We will be there for 4 days/4 nights (arrive late PM the first night). We arrive on a Thursday evening and will have Fri,Sat,Sun,Mon to explore Disney and Universal. What days should we do which? We will be getting the 3 day park hopper for Disneyland and Disney California Adventure and 1 day for Universal. We want days with the least crowds of course for our maximum enjoyment! We will have a rental car but will probably use the hotel shuttle to avoid the $7 parking fee. We will drive to Universal though so traffic is a concern as well for that day. Then for San Diego; we will be dropping off some of my family (SNA at noon on Tues) then were thinking about heading for the Wild Animal Park for a half day visit (after 4pm tickets are discounted plus they have the Festival of Lights). We ahve Wed and Thurs in San Diego and want to do alot but unfortunately don't have time for it all! We will be staying in Old Town and will probably do Sea World (full day) on Wed. and the Zoo (closes at 4) on Thursday and also want to take a harbor cruise and trolley tour but don't know how to fit it all in! We will be leaving San Diego for SNA early Fri AM (flight leaves at 7:45AM! UGH!) and hope that our early departure will help us avoid traffic. Had some helpful posts before... tell me what you think of our plans, please. Any comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated!
Aug 30th, 2001 | 05:12 AM
#2
Guest
Posts: n/a
Hi Sue, We stayed in San Diego for one week this summer and had a WONDERFUL time. So, I can give you a little help on that portion of your trip. We too were going to do Sea World, but decided that since we had already been to the Sea World in San Antonio, we would rather spend our extra day exploring more of San Diego. I can't begin to tell you how great it was. Make sure you do the Old Town Trolley Tour. It was excellent. A wonderful way to spend the day. Our favorite stop on this tour was Coronado. One day, I'm going to stay on that island for my vacation!!! Also, La Jolla (not covered on the trolley tour) was wonderful. And the downtown district was great too. I guess it all depends on what type of things you and your family like to do. You won't begin scratch the surface with just 2 days, so just concentrate on what your family would enjoy. I'll try to help if you can give some more particulars about what you enjoy, your children's ages, etc., etc...... Leah
Aug 30th, 2001 | 07:55 AM
#3
Guest
Posts: n/a
Let's start off by saying that you're going to get virtually no sleep the last night in town. For a 7:45 am flight, it means that you have to be there by around 6:30 am to be able to drop off the car and get checked in. This means leaving San Diego at 4:30 am.
Keep in mind that your kids are going to be exhausted after 7 straight days of non-stop action. It's tough enough for an adult to stay happy for that many days - based on my experience, expect for some grumpy and tired kids by the end of the stay.
In terms of your Anaheim stay - there's no way around it, you're going to be faced with long lines if you're visiting on a weekend.
For the least amount of traffic, I'd suggest that you head up to Universal Studios on Sunday. You can spend two days at Disneyland and Calif Adventure and then take a day break. Then on Monday head back to the park and hit all of the kids' favorite rides.
I'd suggest heading to the store when you get into town and pick up some snacks and some juice drinks. You don't want to spend all of your money on park food.
Your San Diego aggenda is good, but I'd plan on skipping the trolley tour. It's an entire day in itself. While it's one of my favorite things in town to recommend, you're simply not going to have the time, and the kids' won't like it as well as the zoo, sea world and the wild animal park.
Have fun and rest up before you go - you'll need it!
Keep in mind that your kids are going to be exhausted after 7 straight days of non-stop action. It's tough enough for an adult to stay happy for that many days - based on my experience, expect for some grumpy and tired kids by the end of the stay.
In terms of your Anaheim stay - there's no way around it, you're going to be faced with long lines if you're visiting on a weekend.
For the least amount of traffic, I'd suggest that you head up to Universal Studios on Sunday. You can spend two days at Disneyland and Calif Adventure and then take a day break. Then on Monday head back to the park and hit all of the kids' favorite rides.
I'd suggest heading to the store when you get into town and pick up some snacks and some juice drinks. You don't want to spend all of your money on park food.
Your San Diego aggenda is good, but I'd plan on skipping the trolley tour. It's an entire day in itself. While it's one of my favorite things in town to recommend, you're simply not going to have the time, and the kids' won't like it as well as the zoo, sea world and the wild animal park.
Have fun and rest up before you go - you'll need it!
Aug 30th, 2001 | 08:29 AM
#4
Guest
Posts: n/a
Thanks to both of you! Keep the ideas coming... 
For the Anaheim portion of our trip, it'll be 4 adults (hubby, me, my dad and step-mom), 7 year old boy and 11 year old girl. Then to San Diego, hubby, me and 7 year old.
Thanks for any more help you can give.
For the Anaheim portion of our trip, it'll be 4 adults (hubby, me, my dad and step-mom), 7 year old boy and 11 year old girl. Then to San Diego, hubby, me and 7 year old.
Thanks for any more help you can give.
Aug 30th, 2001 | 10:00 AM
#5
Guest
Posts: n/a
Sue,
Don't know what hotel shuttle you will use to DisneyLand. If it is truely the shuttle from the hotel, you should be ok. A couple years back, we thought we would use the shuttle also - it was actually a bus that made a number of stops at the various hotels. We got from the hotel to the park fine. But coming back was another story (we had a 12 & 8 yr old with us.) We left near closing time, but before closing. The shutlle was only 1 bus & it came by ever 20 - 30 minutes. Well the bus got loaded with people who didn't get on the prior bus. so we didn't make it on. They did not bing in any more buses or move up the schedule at all. We finally made the 3rd bus an hour later & that after only pushing to get on, like everybody else did on the prior buses. Then we were the last hotel, from the time we went to the bus to when we got to the hotel was about 2 hrs. Hopefully your bus is noot the same. But we said never again & drove the rental car in & paid the parking. We were at Universal on a Friday, & it was fantastic, almost no crowds. When in December are you going? If during Christmas - New Years week, there will be crowds every day.
Don't know what hotel shuttle you will use to DisneyLand. If it is truely the shuttle from the hotel, you should be ok. A couple years back, we thought we would use the shuttle also - it was actually a bus that made a number of stops at the various hotels. We got from the hotel to the park fine. But coming back was another story (we had a 12 & 8 yr old with us.) We left near closing time, but before closing. The shutlle was only 1 bus & it came by ever 20 - 30 minutes. Well the bus got loaded with people who didn't get on the prior bus. so we didn't make it on. They did not bing in any more buses or move up the schedule at all. We finally made the 3rd bus an hour later & that after only pushing to get on, like everybody else did on the prior buses. Then we were the last hotel, from the time we went to the bus to when we got to the hotel was about 2 hrs. Hopefully your bus is noot the same. But we said never again & drove the rental car in & paid the parking. We were at Universal on a Friday, & it was fantastic, almost no crowds. When in December are you going? If during Christmas - New Years week, there will be crowds every day.
Trending Topics
Sep 4th, 2001 | 11:58 AM
#8
Guest
Posts: n/a
About the San Diego leg of your trip - I agree with the recommendation to visit Coronado Island. It's wonderful!!! So welcoming - SO San Diego!! The Hotel Del Coronado really fixes itself up for Christmas. While I love the Wild Animal Park - do you know that you'll need to plan for quite a drive inland to visit the park? It will take you about 45 minutes from downtown San Diego to reach the park.
Sep 5th, 2001 | 06:10 AM
#9
Guest
Posts: n/a
I have an 8 and 10 year old and I would never attempt that much, but you know your child better than me.
On the way down to San Diego, I would skip the Wild Animal park and spend a leisurely evening having dinner around your Old Town hotel (or maybe a harbor cruise at night). Then choose either the Zoo or Wild Animal Park on your designiated Zoo day (I would pick the zoo). The zoo closes for admissions at 4:00pm but I am pretty sure that the grounds actually close an hour later.
At Disneyland, spend time to figure out how the FastPass works and use it on the popular rides (Thunder Mtn, Indiana Jones, Autopia, Matterhorn).
Have fun
On the way down to San Diego, I would skip the Wild Animal park and spend a leisurely evening having dinner around your Old Town hotel (or maybe a harbor cruise at night). Then choose either the Zoo or Wild Animal Park on your designiated Zoo day (I would pick the zoo). The zoo closes for admissions at 4:00pm but I am pretty sure that the grounds actually close an hour later.
At Disneyland, spend time to figure out how the FastPass works and use it on the popular rides (Thunder Mtn, Indiana Jones, Autopia, Matterhorn).
Have fun
