Children in San Diego
 

We are visiting San Diego between Christmas and New Years with our 4 and 5 year old. Any suggestions on activities besides Zoo and Sea World? How about child-friendly eateries?

Hit the Wild Animal Park and maybe the Old Town (not sure exactly what its called), very colorful and festive. At the zoo, you can eat a meal in a 'treehouse' overlooking the monkey exhibit--I thought it was pretty cool, but it was more expensive than other food in the park.

You might want to look into Legoland in Carlsbad which is a bit North of SD. I don't have kids, but I've heard those with young kids love it!

I just got back from a San Diego vacation with somewhat older kids (9 and 12). We went during the last weekend in March.<BR><BR>They both liked the zoo and the Wild Animal Park. We visited the zoo 3 times for 2-3 hours each time. There are some nice activities in the children's section that can break up the time well. They especially enjoyed riding a gondola across the zoo.<BR><BR>They liked wandering around Balboa Park on a Sunday, because there is so much going on there - musicians, artists, ice cream vendors, a lady blowing giant soap bubbles for kids to catch, etc. The organist at the Spreckels Pavillion let my son hit the cymbal pedal (or pull a lever, or something) after the Sunday concert and make a loud noise.<BR><BR>They both enjoyed the Fleet museum. I didn't think it was a very impressive museum, but there were so many hands-on activities that we all had a good time.<BR><BR>The Wild Animal Park was a wonderful activity. We spent all day there, but we broke it up by going back out to the car for a picnic lunch. The animal shows were good, and we rode the train around the park twice. The children especially liked the butterfly exhibit, and feeding lorakeets in an aviary with special nectar.<BR><BR>My 9 year old son loved Legoland. We thought it was expensive - in the $35 range, but at least there was a coupon for a $4 per person discount on the Wild Animal Park map.<BR><BR>On the subject of saving money, we found it was cheaper to buy Zoo/WAP combined memberships (not just combined tickets) rather than paying for individual admissions. The memberships were tax deductible.<BR><BR>We ate at the Fish Market (not the more expensive Top of the Market upstairs) one evening. The place was very kid-friendly and we enjoyed the seafood.

drive over to coronado one evening. the christmas trees along Orange Avenue will still be lit up. Go into the lobby of the Hotel del and see their huge christmes tree. There are two casual and tasty mexican restaraunts across the street from the del- one is on the street under marie calendars, the other is Miguels in the El Cordova courtyard across orange Ave. Coronado has a nice beach for playing, but not swimming then, as well as a fun park on Orange and Sixth street if your kids just need to climb and swing and burn energy.<BR>My favorite with kids is the carousel in Balboa park, right inside the parking entrance. It is open during christmas but call ahead as the hours are limited. Next to that is a train ride that your children will also love.

I'm an SD native. The best restaurant for kids is the Corvette Diner in Hillcrest near downtown. For great Mexican food with a family environment (lots of kids) try the Old Town Mexican Cafe. For free activitites try going over to the tidepools during low tide at Point Loma take the road on the right going downhill just before the Cabrillo Monument entrance(Cabrillo has best view of SD City by the way). Also take them to Childrens Cove in La Jolla where there are about 50-100 seals everyday basking on the beach. The weather is hit or miss during that time so it can be sunny/warm to cold and rainy. Most likely the former though. If you have time check out www.uniontrib.com it has the best info on San Diego.

i hear that lego land is really great for kids your age. i think you may enjoy the wild animal park more then the zoo. you sit on a train to go around the park the zoo is A LOT of walking and unless you can divide it up over several days, it may be too much for 4 & 5 yr olds. that age would enjoy sea world but it is very expensive. balboa park on a sunday is a fun place to walk around. <BR>hopefully the weather will be warm and you can spent a lot of time on the beach. tide pools in la jolla are good too. down by the cove.