Dawn Cooper

My son and I would like to fly to LAX, stay at a Disneyland hotel, see Disneyland, Disney's Calf Adventure and Universal studios. Then we would like to drive to San Diego and spend the rest of our vacation there. If we arrive at DL by noon, could we comfortably do Ca. Adventure Park in the afternoon that we arrive, Disneyland the following day, stay another night and drive to Universal Studios the next morning, stay over night in that area and leave for San Diego early, catching some points of interest along the way. We are Disney World veterans so we don't want to spend any more time there than necessary. Also, it sounds like we might enjoy the Mission Bay area. My son will be 14 when we go. Someone recommended Paradise Pointe. An opinions regarding this location, resort or suggestions for a different one. Thank you very much, Dawn,ct.

Susan

Yikes, we had a bad experience at Paradise Point. Checking in was a nightmare -- there is NO early check-in so at 4pm the line is very long but most of the rooms were still not yet ready. The pools were not clean, the beach so-so. We rented a one bedroom with a kitchen thinking it would be nice to cook a few meals but there is a $100 charge if you want cookware, plates, etc. in your room. On top of $500 per night I thought that was outrageous! The restaurants were mediocore an over-priced. I'd steer clear if I were you. We checked out the Catamaran and tried to switch but there was no availability. It looks much nicer.

xxx

I have to say that it seems like you have a lot planned for those first few days. I don't know where you're flying in from, but there's a good chance that you might be tired after a long flight. I was just at California Adventure earlier this week and managed to spend the entire day there and this was even with no lines to wait in. But given that you'll be traveling with a 14 year old, I'm sure you'll limit your time in the shows and concentrate more on the faster rides. Given this fact, you'll be able to make it through the park by closing. Then again, $43 a person is a lot for racing through a park in a few hours.

Disneyland will obviously be a long day. And Universal Studios should keep ypu busy for the better part of a day. Keep in mind that the drive to San Diego from Universal City will take some time, particularly if you hit a lot of traffic.

Definitely plan on skipping LegoLand. Your son is way too old to enjoy this amusement park.

lcuy

Dawn- the disney stuff will be fine, but I'd skip universal studios, especially if you've been to the other one. It is tiny and crowded and compared to DL, always sort of dirty.
Get up early and drive to San Diego Zoo's Wildlife park north of San Diego and spend the day there instead. Then head to your hotel in San Diego. If you can get a place in Coronado, 14 year old love it there. The beach is big, the waves suitable for beginners or better, you can rent a bike and cruise around town (thats how us locals get around), and you can easily drive across to Mission Beach (skate or walk on the boardwalk or Sea World(15 min) the Zoo (5 min), Balboa Park and all its museums, Imax theatre, space center. make sure uou and you son ride the merry go round right at the Zoo entrance. It is very historical, and if you sit on the outside ring of horses, you get to pull rings from an arm as you spin around. toss the iron ones at the clown, and the gold ring gets you a free ride. Many big kids go on it! Tiajuana is 20 minutes- park on the american side, walk across the border,then take a taxi to Revolution avenue. Tons of fun for a few hours one afternoon.

suzy

We took our kids to san Diego and Anaheim last June. We liked the Disneyland Hotel very much. In San diego, we stayed at the Catamaran in Mission Beach and had a very good experience. when you first pull into the hotel lot, it doesn't look that great. However, the lobby is done very Hawaaian and the back of the hotel is right on the bay. You can rent bikes at the hotel. There are wandering birds on the grounds and at night they put out tiki torches. It was very scenic and we would definitely stay there again. I highly recommend a morning or afternoon in LaJolla. Reserve a patio table at the Brockton Villa for breakfast and have an unbeleievable view. I've heard the Hotel Del Coronado is marvelous in San Diego but it is pricey even compared to the Catamaran.

Dawn Cooper

Thanks for all of the replies. Actually we have been to WDW in Fla. so many times, that a visit to Disneyland would be for comparison. It sounds like Disney's California Adventure has some unique attractions but also attractions that overlap what is available in WDW. Universal Calf was the first Universal studio that we had ever visited and at least in my memory, we liked it better than Universal Fla. At the time the schedule of shows seemed to flow smoothly, we liked the animal show,etc. Of course that was before my 14 year old was born and things could be very different now.

Jo

If you are flying into LAX I would go to Universal first and then to Disneyland. Since Universal is north of Anaheim and San Diego is south of it.

Otherwise you are spending time back tracking.

franik

I have to disagree with lcuy: I like Universal Studios and now that the Universal City Walk (very teen trendy shops and restaurants) have been added, I can't imagine many 14 year old boys preferring San Diego Wild Animal Park over Universal. Also, I'd bet a 14 year old would want a beach where there are waves for boogie boarding, etc. You won't find this at Mission Bay. I agree with the other posters about Coronado, but a less expensive area is Pacific Beach.