If you take Clarkgriswold's suggestion, I can recommend West Inn and Suites in Carlsbad. Very close to Legoland and not a long trip to Seaworld. We have done this several times.

In Burbank, consider the Amarano hotel.

Wife wants to do seaworld the first day. How much time out of the way is Newport Beach if we stop and eat? Or should we stop their friday for lunch on our way to Glendora? Oh by the way, is Glendora a nice area?

OH, and this is Dean Dill the magician I'm going to go meet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNeFfOFJqEE

He was actually Johnny Carsons magic teacher for many years.

Yes, Glendora is a nice area. We have friends who live there and it has a nice little downtown and is safe.

I have 3 boys your kids age who are VERY active... and I would never in a million years do the trip that clarkgriswald just posted showing your plausible schedule as you have listed it so far.

Legoland is a very full day... Disneyland in one day would be tough...you really need two days there to see everything and do it justice, to enjoy to see the shows as well as go on the rides. (I personally, would drop Seaworld and Warner Bros and use the extra day for rest or for the La Brea Tar Pits...)

A full day at the parks is from 8 Am until your kids drop or until closing, whichever comes first and four amusement parks in six days would not be doable for me.

I am NOT trying to be the only mean person on this thread but I would seriously reconsider. :) Hope this helps.

I agree, you really need two days at Disneyland to do it justice. Since you are not staying near the park you will need to pace yourselves (you won't have a place to rest in the afternoons and Disney can wear you out if you're not careful).

Sea World closes at 6pm, there is no way you can fly into LAX at 11am, stop for lunch in Newport Beach, and then drive down and visit SeaWorld that same afternoon.

OK...big argument at the house but my wife likes clarks idea...stay 3 nights instead of 2 in SD, do legoland and seaworld(do we really need to do seaworld or is the zoo better?)...then travel to glendora...disney on day 5, skip burbank and do disney again on day 6. I still think it would be neat to meet the cast of "Chuck"....who knows, the next clint eastwood may be an actor on that show!

I think we could hit Newport on our way to glendora. And as far as zoo's go they are all the same to me...if you've seen on moneky you've seen them all. I personally could care less about going to another zoo but my wife thinks we should go. Is there something more at the SD zoo that Omaha, KC, and St. Louis doesn't have?????

I would not do the zoo, given the length of your trip. Many years back the San Diego Zoo was a leader in making exhibits that were more natural for the animals....other zoos have closed the gap there. San Diego Zoo also had some animals that other zoos don't. The one I remember is the koala bears.

I have 3 kids & agree with onemoneygirl that you have too much for the length of time. I would not do warner brothers. I'd either go to a beach again, or do something closer to your relatives' home...is there a local pool with water slides? Eat at In-and-Out?

The San Diego Zoo is fabulous, but so are the zoos in Omaha and St. Louis (don't know about KC), so if zoos aren't really your thing, I would drop it.

I agree with onemoneygirl that you may be planning too much for the time you have.

My grandsons love Legoland and Sea World. Disneyland takes a lot of time, so decide if that's a priority for this trip. The LaBrea Tar Pits and Page Museum are fine, but the California Science Center and/or The Natural History Museum in downtown L.A. are a better bet.

We've had some cool weather this year, so I'm not sure it will be beach weather when you are here. But maybe you'll be lucky and hit a heat wave as we had not too long ago.

Probably your kids would enjoy your wife's itinerary more than the Burbank visit.

Whatever you decide, have fun, and let us know what you did.

If you are really planning on going to all of those parks, check out the Southern California Adventure Pass that is shown (if I remember correctly) on the Disneyland Website. That may be useful for you!

"beach day" would be better planned down near san diego as it's quite a drive from Glendora to the L.A. beaches, and you're already doing a lot of driving from Glendora. Maybe Legoland when it opens in the morning, followed by late afternoon/sunset beach time nearby?

If your hosts have graciously offered to show you Warner Brothers, I think it would be a bit rude to say no. Maybe on your travel day, up from San Diego...early lunch in Newport Beach, late afternoon visit to Warner Brothers then you follow your host back to Glendora?

I understand they are having colder than normal temps in the LA/SD area....is that true??

The weather has been hit or miss with a minor heat wave one day followed by windy/chilly the next. Should warm up nicely as we get further into March which comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.

Regardless of the air temps right now in California are you aware that the ocean temps are in the 50's? Don't know where you are coming from, but regardless, that is cold!

We are from Kansas City where we just had our 2nd in a row bad winter...lots of single digit days with windchills well below zero! Bring on the 50's!!!!!!

"<i>Bring on the 50's!!!!!!</i>"

Just so you understand Barblab's post -- she is talking about <u>water temps</u> in the 50's. That is <i>cold</i> -- too cold for swimming/wading.

I think your plan of 3 days in San Diego and then cutting out Burbank is probably best. You are going to a lot of amusement parks in a short period of time. I think you should definitely stay in Carlsbad the first night and get up early to the next day for Legoland. If that's the case you could stop in Newport on the way to Carlsbad.

Day 1 Arrive and Newport - Stay in Carlsbad
Day 2 Legoland/Beach? 10-5 then drive to San Diego hotel
Day 3 SeaWorld
Day 4 Drive to Glendora
Day 5 Disney
Day 6 Disney

If you went to Newport on Day One which you'd have plenty of time to do, then you could drive straight to Glendora. Maybe even take the inland route of the 15/60/57/210 which may be quicker than up the coast. This would give you the rest of the day to relax and visit with the relatives. Your kids could probably use the downtime.

As far as weather it was beautiful today but near the beach mid-60's. So probably nice for a walk on the beach but too chilly to do anything else. Carlsbad beaches are beautiful.

Someone suggested the West Inn and Suites in Carlsbad which gets great reviews. I was also going to suggest the Hilton Garden Inn since it's right across from Carlsbad Beach but it is fully booked. I tried the West Inn and seems like they are almost full. So if you're going to change your reservation to Carlsbad, you should do that soon. The West Inn is only about a 2 minute drive to the beach and a few minute drive to Legoland. You could do Seaworld from Carlsbad but you might have trouble finding a room for two nights. It's sort of a toss-up between having to switch hotels or deal with the traffice between Carlsbad and Seaworld. For me, I hate to pack and unpack especially with kids so I'd probably stay in Carlsbad but that's my preference.

If your relatives really wanted you to go to Warner Brothers with them, then I'd probably cut out Seaworld and just head up to the LA area rather than go all the way down to San Diego. Guess that depends on what your kids really want to do.